Chapter Two
Noah
Noah watched in confusion as the blood quickly drained from the woman’s face. He slowly lowered his hand, concern blossoming in his chest. He looked around in case the guy harassing her was back, but no one was there. Was she okay?
“Noah Hawthorne? As in, owner of Hawthorne Security, Noah Hawthorne?” The woman questioned.
Had they met before? He definitely would’ve remembered the beautiful woman in front of him. Her dark brown hair was tied back in a plait, and her sharp gray eyes glared at him accusingly. “Yeah. Have we me—”
“Why are you here?” She asked, watching him closely as she rubbed the edges of her shirt between her fingertips.
Confusion trumped any other emotion he was feeling as he focused on the woman in front of him. “I had a business meet—”
“Listen, it doesn’t matter. I don’t know what Steph told you, but I don’t need a babysitter. Please…leave me alone.” Nerves laced her voice as though she wasn’t used to standing up for herself. Which was not a good thing if people were heckling her like the guy who’d been there a few minutes earlier.
“What—”
“I know that Adam and Steph called you.” She said, crossing her arms and jutting one of her hips out. “Tell him that you and Aubrey spoke and mutually decided there was no reason to work together.”
Adam? O’Shea? Oh, Aubrey Gray. Oh no.
“You’re Aubrey Gray?” Noah asked, furrowing his brow.
“Yes.” She said, lifting her chin slightly. “And I’d appreciate it if you’d leave me alone.”
Noah sighed. He didn’t have the time or energy to figure out her slightly paranoid behavior. If she didn’t want security, he certainly wasn’t going to force her. His mind flashed back to the slashed tire currently sitting in her trunk. He had one more message to give her, and then he could happily never see her again.
“Listen, your tire—” Noah tried again, his patience quickly fading as she interrupted him again. He just wanted to tell her that her tire was slashed. The damage had caught him by surprise as he put it into the trunk. Someone had intentionally caused it. Did Adam and his woman have reason to be concerned for Aubrey”s safety?
“Just stay away from me.” She said, backing away from him. She got into her car and quickly engaged the locks. Noah stepped back as she pulled away from the curb, the glare from her stare and her apparent discomfort still cutting into him long after her car had disappeared from sight.
The shrill ringing of his phone stirred him, and he swiped to answer while bringing it up to his ear.
“Hawthorne.”
“Hey man, we just got a call from Mike Sullivan over at Mountain River Studios. They’re requesting we pull Olsen and replace him immediately, or they will terminate our services.” Peter Burke said, his voice low.
“What? They’re one of our biggest clients. Did they say why?”
“Olsen couldn’t keep his hands to himself.”
“I’m about an hour out, but I’ll head that way,” Noah sighed, ending the call. They were so close to being a big name in the security industry. The right big-name project would help secure the future of the company and, thus, the financial future of his friends and colleagues. His thoughts briefly drifted back to Aubrey Gray—he’d call Adam and let him know that Hawthorne Security was not the right fit to protect her. If they lost Mountain River Studios as a client, he would need a big name, but given her reaction to meeting him, she probably wasn’t going to be it.
***
Noah watched closely as Peter and Zach walked Marcus Olsen out of Noah’s office. They would make sure he turned in his identification and weapon before escorting him out of the building. Noah leaned back in his chair, his thoughts drifting to that morning. A lingering feeling of dread pooled in his stomach as he recalled the slashed tire and the blonde man who wouldn’t leave Aubrey alone.
The last thing he wanted to do was get involved, but Adam was a friend and Noah’s gut was telling him Aubrey Gray was in more danger than she thought. And after what happened with Lettie, he always listened to his gut. He wouldn’t have the responsibility of another woman’s death on his soul if he could help it. He’d give Adam a call and give him a heads-up. Then, he could satisfy his conscience while staying away from her like she asked. He picked up his phone and dialed Adam’s business line.
“Adam O’Shea.” The deep voice answered on the other end of the line.
“Hey man, it’s Noah Hawthorne.”
“Noah! How’s life in Tennessee treating you?”
Noah laughed. “Much better than life on the coast—that’s for sure. Business good?”
“It’s unfortunately booming,” Adam said, his voice serious. That was the trade-off in working protection details. Business was good—which was good for business. But the business was necessary for unfortunate reasons.
“I hear you, man. Hey, I want to touch base with you on the Aubrey Gray situation.” Noah said, working to keep his tone light and cordial despite the anxiety and dread that had been weighing him down all day.
“Have you had the chance to give her a call? I know Steph spoke with her about it this morning, and she wasn’t super receptive to the idea. She did agree to be pleasant when you call, though.”
“Actually, I happened to run into her this morning while she was changing a tire,” Noah said.
Noah could practically see Adam’s grimace through the phone. “How did that go?”
“She was…how did you phrase it? Not receptive to me being there.”
“She has a thing about men,” Adam said.
“A thing?”
“Not my story to tell. But will you still try to give her a call? See if she’ll let you look into her situation? I can have Steph work on her from our end also. I wouldn’t ask, man, but she’s the only family Steph has.”
Noah sighed. “I’ll try again. Her tire this morning was intentionally slashed.”
“Someone slashed Bree’s tire?” Adam asked, the unfettered rage clear in his voice.
Noah nodded even though Adam couldn’t see him. “Yeah, and I tried to tell her, but she was busy telling me to stay away from her.”
Adam sighed. “Thanks for letting me know. I’ll tell her.”
“Let me try first. Gives me an excuse to call her for you.” Noah said.
“Okay. If she won’t listen to you, let me know, and I’ll give her a call to tell her about the tire. She needs to know about it.”
“She does.”
“And Noah?”
“Yeah?”
“Take care of our girl. She won’t let us come to her, but she’s important. To both of us.”
“I’ll do my best, man. Take care.”
“You too.”
Noah hung up the phone and rubbed his temples, the throbbing headache he’d had since hearing about losing Claire Reynolds as a client still pounding away. Maybe Aubrey would be more receptive to a phone call since he wouldn’t be in her physical space. He doubted it, though. He shook his head and grabbed a few ibuprofen from the desk drawer, tossing them back with a swig of water. He had a feeling he was going to need it for the next call he made.
He picked up the receiver and dialed the number written on the post-it note currently attached to his computer. He had planned on giving Aubrey a call this week. He was going to introduce himself, ask her a little about her and her situation, and try to feel out if she wanted security or if her friends were just being overly concerned. Unfortunately, awful messages were part of being in an industry that thrusts you into the public eye. After meeting her today, he could hazard a guess that she would”ve turned him down. Albeit more politely, maybe.
The phone rang a couple of times as he waited for her to answer. Unsurprisingly, the phone went to voicemail.
“Hey Aubrey, this is Noah Hawthorne with Hawthorne Security. I wanted to touch base with you about your tire situation. If you could give me a call back at this number, I’d appreciate it. It’s important. Thanks.” He said, hanging up the phone and resting his head in his hands. The ball was in her court now.
***
As lunchtime approached, Noah’s stomach growled ferociously. He really should have stopped to grab something to eat this morning on his way back into town. He clicked open a new tab on his computer to order lunch, pausing as the door to his office slowly crept open. A lone head peered around the corner, an intense look on his face. Theo looked dramatically from side to side to make sure the office was empty before ducking his head back out into the hallway and giving a shrill whistle. Moments later, the door flew open, and four fully grown men tore through the space, making themselves comfortable on the couch and chairs in the office. Eli had a bag of Chinese takeout from the family-owned restaurant down the street and set it down on the coffee table.
“Those are my chopsticks, man. Give them here.” Theo argued, holding his hand out impatiently while Peter gave him an exasperated look.
“You don’t even know how to use chopsticks,” Peter replied, pulling the chopsticks out and making a show of the correct way to hold and use them. ”But did you know that 33 percent of the world”s population uses them on a daily basis?”
“I could be part of the 33 percent if you give them back. I’m learning.” Theo countered, grabbing the chopsticks out of Peter’s hand and jabbing them aggressively into the bowl. Peter gave a long-suffering sigh before picking up a fork and digging into his food.
Zach observed from his position in the chair nearest to the door and shook his head, chuckling. He looked over at Noah, still sitting at his desk, and gestured to the open chair across from him. “We grabbed you some sesame chicken. How did the meeting in Rhodes go this morning?”
Noah grabbed his water bottle before heading over and picking up his plate of food and a fork. “It went well. They were happy with our security team when we worked with Maria Garzas during her appearance at the festival and let me know that we’ll be on the top of their call list the next time she’s scheduled to have an event in the area.”
There was a chorus of happy grunts and a “Hell yeah!” from Theo before the room quieted again.
“You got back late this morning,” Zach mentioned.
“Yeah, there was a woman who had a flat tire. Some jerk was bugging her while she tried to change it so I stepped in until he left.” Noah said the memory of Aubrey’s small hand tightening on the tire iron as though she’d need to use it to defend herself flashed through his mind while a sickening feeling soured his stomach.
“She get her tire changed?” Eli asked, arching an eyebrow.
Noah nodded. “I offered to help, but she said she could do it on her own. I didn’t want to leave her alone there, so I put the bad tire in the trunk and helped tighten the lug nuts, but she wouldn’t have needed me. She had it handled.”
“That’s a good skill to have,” Theo said. “Did you get her number?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
Noah barely held in his eye roll. He had no desire to date, and Theo knew it. “No, I was busy being her human traffic triangle, so she didn’t get hit by a car.”
“Very noble of you,” Theo said deadpanned.
“They really should make some sort of cone or triangle standard in vehicles like they do with spare tires. I can’t tell you how many times people are on the side of the road and others drive way too close.” Zach frowned.
“You could always look her up and send her one.” Theo joked.
“Nothing says romance like a traffic triangle.” Eli agreed with a laugh.
Noah grabbed the now empty water bottle and chucked it at Eli’s head. “Let it go. I was busy wondering who would’ve slashed her tire. Besides, she was not receptive to me being there.”
“Someone slashed her tire?” Zach asked, concern lacing his voice.
“Why wasn’t she receptive to you being there?” Theo asked, sounding offended on Noah’s behalf.
Noah sighed. “Remember the call we got from O’Shea asking us to look into that friend of his who just moved to our area?” The men collectively nodded. “That was Aubrey Gray. And apparently, she knew who I was, so when I introduced myself, it didn’t go well. She ‘doesn’t need a babysitter.’” Noah said, adding air quotes around the last phase.
“And the slashed tire?”
Noah shrugged. “Don’t know. I tried to tell her about it, but she was too busy trying to get away from me after I told her to get a new tire put on her car. I left her a voicemail today, so hopefully, she’ll give me a call. Otherwise, O’Shea can deal with it. Anyway, I was going to message you, but since we are all here, I wanted to ask you all about a call I got a few minutes ago. We were asked to provide a security detail for a celebrity meet and greet this afternoon—It starts at four. Whoever they’d hired before backed out at the last minute, and they called to see if we could take it on. I need to let them know in the next half hour. I’m booked this afternoon, but would anyone else like to take the assignment on? It’s for an event at a music store in downtown Trenton. There will be a few different artists doing signings and meet and greets. That kind of thing.”
“I’m on a tech assignment, and then I am teaching a self-defense class at the gym,” Peter said, the only one who didn’t have to check the calendar on his phone. The perks of having a photographic memory.
“I’m with the Senator for a meeting between him and one of his more volatile constituents who’s been causing a raucous,” Eli replied.
“I have a personal matter I’m out of the office for,” Zach said vaguely.
“I’ll do it.” Theo offered.
Zach looked at Theo shrewdly. “You sure?”
“I got it. If anything urgent comes in you can just give me a call. I can operate some of my information systems remotely.” Theo replied confidently. Noah hesitated for a moment. Theo was a whiz at all things information systems and technology, and he was their go-to source for any and all information needed while they were in the field. If someone needed him while he was on assignment, that could end up being very complicated.
“I can be on call in case anything comes up, too. It”ll just take me a little bit to get there.” Zach supplied, watching Noah closely. Apparently, his poker face needed work.
“Thanks, Zach. Alright, Theo, you’ll be on the protection detail for the signing event this afternoon. I’ll send you details as soon as I get them. The label is sending them over once I confirm.” Noah said, relaxing more now that that assignment was out of the way.
There were a few minutes of silence before Eli gave Zach a side-eye. “So…what personal ‘thing’ are you gonna be out of the office for? You never take time off.”
”Did you know when women take leave from work, it’s for medical reasons or illness 42 percent of the time, but for forty percent of men, it’s usually errands or personal reasons.” Peter chimed in.
“I have to look into something back home,” Zach said vaguely.
“Is everything okay? Do you need someone to go with you?” Noah asked, mentally trying to figure out how they could coordinate that.
“Nah, man. This is something I need to do on my own. Thanks, though.”
“You’ll let us know if that changes?”
“Of course.”
Noah nodded and turned back to the rest of his friends as Theo started a debate—the benefits of chopsticks versus forks— while giving Peter a pointed look, laughter, and friendly banter going back and forth across the room. Noah sat back and let the warmth settle in his chest as he took in the scene around him—not just friends or coworkers, but brothers. Not by blood but by choice.
***
The clock struck seven, and Noah Hawthorne was still bent over his desk, desperately trying to finish up the day’s paperwork so he could go home and grill a steak. And maybe some vegetables. Just so Mrs. Garcia didn’t harp on him the next time he saw her. He could reassure her that he was, in fact, eating vegetables…as long as they could be grilled. The door to the office opened, and Noah frowned. It was unlikely anyone coming in at seven p.m. would be bearing good news. Theo’s unruly mop of hair preceded him into the room, and he shut the door softly before collapsing into one of the chairs directly across from Noah’s desk, his hands busy squeezing one of the little stress balls they kept around the office…mostly to throw at each other when they felt like it.
“How’d the signing go?” Noah asked, furrowing his eyebrows. On the occasions Theo was in the field, he usually liked to go straight home after an assignment and sleep on it before filing any reports. Noah, on the other hand, had to go back to the office and get all of the day’s paperwork squared away so he wouldn’t have to think about it anymore. Plus, the information was always more fresh the same day. Just a couple more quick forms to complete and file, and then he could go home. A drink and sitting on his deck while looking at the lake and grilling steak sounded heavenly right now.
“It went great. Guess who I ran into.”
Feeling particularly ornery, Noah smirked at him and tossed out the name of Theo’s current crush, “Cecily Thompson?”
Theo threw the stress ball he’d been squeezing at Noah’s head. Noah ducked out of the way, laughing as it flew by. Theo smirked and relaxed back into the chair. “Very funny.” He deadpanned. “Actually, I ran into someone who knows you.”
Noah raised an eyebrow.“I only hang out with you guys and everyone was in the field today. Kind of narrows the options down a bit. So must’ve been a professional connection…” Noah thought for a moment.
He shrugged after a few moments, “I don’t know, man. Who was it?”
“Miss Aubrey Gray.”
Aubrey Gray? Flashes of sharp eyes, a pretty smile, and grit rolled through Noah’s head as he replayed the tire change while he looked at Theo thoughtfully. Theo was handsome, funny, and tended to attract invitations from many of the clients he worked with—though he would never accept. There was a strict no-fraternizing rule with clients for a reason.
“How did you meet her? Was she attending the signing?”
Theo looked at Noah as though he’d grown an extra head and paused. “No…” He said slowly. “She was doing the signing. She’s one of the celebrities that were there to do the meet and greet.”
“I thought she was retired?” Noah asked flatly.
“She is—she said this is one of her last events before she’s officially in retirement. She mentioned a couple of endorsement deals she needed to follow through on as well.”
Noah nodded, immediately assessing what that could mean for Aubrey—and possibly for Hawthorne Security. If Aubrey was in danger, like O’Shea thought, then she would benefit from their security. As a world-famous celebrity, successfully completing her case could be the bolster the firm needed to go to the next level which would ensure the firm”s success and provide financially for himself and his employees.
He wasn’t using Aubrey’s situation—it would be a mutually beneficial agreement. If she’d agree to it, that is. Noah pushed thoughts of Aubrey Gray to the back of his mind to think over later and clicked through the document he was working on. The sooner he finished, the sooner he could sit on his deck.
“Was the record company satisfied with our services?”
Theo nodded. “I think they were. The woman who hired the original company was out on maternity leave, so I gave our card to her replacement.” Theo said.
Noah nodded, his thoughts drifting back to Aubrey. He truthfully had no interest in Aubrey Gray—aside from the possibility of her becoming the client who took the company to the next level. And even that was contingent on whether she could get her on board with following orders if she hired them.
Celebrities who didn’t feel the need to abide by the rules set for their protection were a liability to themselves and to the people protecting them. He wouldn’t risk his brothers for anyone. But if she needed security and could listen to himself or his teammates, then she’d be the perfect client to drive up business. While he wasn’t interested in her personally, he was very interested in that.
Theo continued, “Aubrey seemed pretty happy with the event itself until she got a phone call at the end…” He trailed off, appearing lost in thought regarding the call. From the concerned look in his eye, it didn’t appear to be a pleasant one.
Concern rose up in Noah’s chest as he watched Theo thoughtfully. Aubrey didn’t seem to think she was in danger. Despite the blonde man bugging her, the notes O’Shea mentioned, and the slash in her tire which she was currently unaware of. With the addition of the phone call—which could have been unrelated but could be someone harassing her—there was definitely reason to believe she could be at risk. Theo didn’t usually get worked up enough to come and give him the info in person, so the call must have been bad. Hmm.
Noah looked up at Theo briefly, frowning, when he realized Theo was still preoccupied with whatever he’d overheard from the call. “Is there something I need to know regarding the call?” Noah asked evenly. If someone was threatening Aubrey, there wasn’t much he could do since he wasn’t personally or professionally involved with her. He could inform O’Shea, though, and let him handle whatever it was. Noah clicked through the last form, looking up at Theo and waiting for his answer.
“Nah, I just wanted to let you know I met her and give you the overall update. See you tomorrow, man.” Theo slapped his leg and stood up, crossing the room in a few steps, and shut the door behind him softly, the click sounding particularly sharp in the otherwise silent room.
Noah sat back in his chair, staring at the door for a few moments. Was Aubrey in trouble? Did she need help? Would she call if she did?
“Not. My. Problem.” Noah muttered, submitting the file, jabbing the keys as he typed. Noah’s hands had a mind of their own as they opened a new tab and typed Aubrey’s name into the search engine to see if any red-flag articles or threads appeared. Photo after photo of her beautiful face flooded the screen. News stories of her retirement, her social media links, and YouTube videos all popped up on the first page of the search. Even after going into retirement, she was still a celebrity—and a pretty popular one at that.
“Get a grip, Hawthorne.” He muttered, quickly closing the tabs and shutting down the computer before he could do something stupid like click on one of those articles and fall down the rabbit hole that was Aubrey Gray. He shut the computer down, determined to only daydream about a drink on the deck, a nice juicy steak, and watching the sun set. He certainly wasn’t going to be thinking of mysterious notes, slashed tires, or Aubrey Gray.