“Saw that,” Noah said. “Let’s see if they follow us.”
Rowe pulled out and sure enough, the sedan started after them. “Let’s give them something to worry about. What’s that address on the card? I’ll key it into the GPS and we’ll drive by.”
Noah grinned at him. “Nothing like a little live bait.”
“Aren’t you ballsy?” JB laughed from the back seat, then read off the address.
It took them thirty minutes in traffic to reach Clayborne Security. They kept their tail the entire way, not that Rowe had tried anything fancy to lose them. No, he wanted to see if he could rattle their cages a little bit. Get these assholes to put their full attention on them rather than Sally. The poor woman had already been through enough.
Rowe stopped the car across from the building. It was nothing special—an old box of a three-story brick with a sign out front. There weren’t even that many windows, so he could only imagine how stifling and dark it was inside. A few men milled near the front door. He glanced in the rearview mirror to find the sedan behind them.
“Whoever is following us isn’t even trying to be subtle. I don’t know whether they’re cocky or just idiots.”
“Probably both,” Noah muttered.
JB leaned between the seats. “If our suspicions are correct, they probably work for this company, and now they know we’re on to them. I expect they’ll bump up their attempts to get rid of us.”
“I’d like to see them try,” Noah said with a wicked glee in his voice. He rubbed his hands together. “So, what should we do next?”
“Go to the motel and wait for Gidget to work her magic. We need more info.”
JB flopped back in the seat. “Boring.”
“But first, we lose this tail.” Rowe pulled into traffic and proceeded to do just that.Chapter EightThe motel they’d settled in was only a couple of small steps above the motel they’d found JB in two nights earlier. Noah frowned at the single double bed with faded blue comforter and ridiculously flat pillows. He tried to remind himself that he’d survived worse conditions. That he’d slept on the cold ground with only his arm for a pillow and a gun clutched to his chest. But this…this somehow felt just as bad.
And just one double bed. He would have preferred a king or at least two queens. But last night hadn’t been too bad. He’d fallen asleep with Rowe wrapped around him, the covers mostly kicked down to their feet. He was also lucky Rowe had been worn out. The fucker liked to kick in his sleep, and Noah wasn’t fond of being woken in the middle of the night by taking a knee to the balls.
Standing in the center of the room, he rubbed his hands over his face and shoved them through his hair. “I think Lucas has been a bad influence on me. I’m turning into a hotel snob.”
Rowe hissed at Noah, ducking his head down to his shoulders as if to protect himself. “Don’t say his name!”
“Whose? Lucas?” Noah asked with a chuckle.
“He’s like fucking Candyman.”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“Who’s Lucas?” JB said.
“Come on! I’m serious. It’s like he can sense it,” Rowe said in a near whine. He glanced around the room like he expected Lucas to step out of the mirror and start berating him for not reporting his most recent adventure to the rest of the family.
Noah looked over to find JB leaning against the doorjamb in the opening that connected their rooms. His arms were loosely folded over his chest and he was grinning at Rowe like he was a lunatic, which was kind of true.
“He’s a good friend.”
Rowe snorted. “Billionaire, property mogul, philanthropist, reformed playboy, and nosy motherfucker.”
“Who loves you like a brother,” Noah firmly added.
Rowe’s expression softened and he looked up at Noah. “Loves you too.”
Noah found himself smiling at Rowe, the thought warming some dark part of Noah’s soul. Rowe’s words shouldn’t have surprised him. He did love Lucas like a brother. He loved Andrei, Snow, Jude, Ian, and Hollis as well. Adored the beautiful Daciana too.
But he hadn’t thought much about it. Hadn’t thought that the love he felt for those men, his family, flowed both ways. But it did.
He couldn’t believe how lucky he was. When he’d hoped and prayed for a second chance with Rowe, he’d never expected that he’d also be welcomed into an incredibly tight-knit family. That he’d find a home he’d been longing for his entire life.
“Doesn’t change that he’s a nosy, bossy ass who likes to micromanage everyone’s life,” Rowe grumbled as he went back to cleaning the gun in his hand.
“I think he’s going to do that less now that he’s got Daci.” Noah reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He stepped over to JB while flipping through the pictures to his favorites from Ian’s wedding. Yeah, he was that uncle and he didn’t give a shit. He was going to show off his perfect niece to everyone smart enough to let him. “Daciana Vallois. She’s about six months old and so damn smart already. Got her poppa’s smarts and looks,” he added when he got to a picture of Andrei holding the little girl. “But I’m sure her other daddy will help her with her plans for taking over the world.”