Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Noel was literally one foot out the door, heading in for work, when Anne called him. He answered the call absently, patting his pocket to make sure he'd grabbed keys. "Hey, Anne."

" N-noel ?" Her voice was trembling, and she sounded scared and to the point of tears.

He stopped right in place, alert. "What's wrong?"

" He…I think he figured it out ."

Shit. "Your boyfriend?"

" Yeah. I don't know how, but Jet was threatening me this morning as he left for work. Saying stuff like I better be here when he gets home, that he'll break my kneecaps if I'm not. I can't stay here. I took today off from work, but I can't handle getting everything out on my own— "

Noel's head spun with schedules, both work and otherwise, but it didn't matter. Anne took priority. "I'm coming. Listen to me—call a moving place, rent a van, then text me the address. I'll get it on the way to you. Okay? Don't panic. We can get you out. Hell, if we can't get all of your stuff before he's off work, that just means we wait until Hunter can come in and help. He won't suffer that bastard."

" Y-yeah. Yeah, okay. I'll call and rent a van ."

"Good. Be there soon." Noel hung up and reversed directions, pounding back up the stairs to his bedroom. He couldn't help a friend move in a suit. He mentally reviewed today's work schedule, but the only item was a phone conference that Fernando had well in hand, so if he didn't show up today, no harm done. Even as he moved, he texted Crammer: Can you tell Mr. Fernando I won't be in today? Friend has an emergency. I'll be in on Monday. Thanks!

There, work was sorted. He got suit off in seconds flat, pulled on jeans and a T-shirt, then headed out the door again, all within two minutes. In that timeframe, Anne had managed to reserve a van and screenshotted the reservation, sending it to him. The rental place was only about five blocks away, so Noel chose to just jog there.

It felt like it took an hour to get the van and drive to his friend's apartment, but it was more like twenty minutes. Anne had her apartment door open and fortunately she was on the ground floor, so at least carrying furniture and stuff out wouldn't be too hard.

She greeted him with a relieved smile and hugged him as soon as he was within range. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I've got boxes squirreled away in a closet, so we can just start packing."

"Let's do it." He let go and looked her over.

Anne looked like she hadn't slept right in days. The panda circles under her eyes were no joke. She was normally sleekly put together, but right now her hair was in a messy bun, she was wearing a worn tank top and shorts, and he could see the faint outline of healing bruises on her arms. Her boyfriend had gotten physical with her, then. She just hadn't said anything to him.

After this, Noel would get Anne therapy, even if he had to drag her there. No one should put up with this kind of abuse just to be in a relationship.

He dove into the packing with dedication, as he wanted Anne out of there quickly. Just because Jet was at work, it didn't mean they had eight hours to complete this. Jet might try and come check things out during his lunch break. Paranoid bastards trusted nothing.

Noel had to get his friend out ASAP.

Fernando had neither coffee, cookies, nor his PA this morning.

Guess which one bothered him more.

To say he was grumpy was an understatement. It was Friday, which meant he'd have three full days of no Noel—three days too long by his estimation. He fetched his own coffee, sat at his desk, and tried to focus on the many things he should be doing. Effort spectacularly failed within ten seconds. More coffee might be called for.

Ever since his conversation with Seb yesterday, he'd admitted the obvious to himself. He did trust Noel. Noel had exclusive access to all business accounts, planners, work files, and likely had Fernando's social security memorized. The man could do a lot of damage to him with a careless flick of a finger, but he'd only ever tightened security and protected Fernando in his own way. He cared—and it was that obvious affection which undermined Fernando's uneasiness.

Dating probably wasn't the best idea as he would still be too much for Noel, but…well, being friends should be fine, right? Surely that was acceptable.

Back to his lack of Noel today… It wouldn't be creepy or intrusive if he called his PA, would it? Just to hear why he wasn't at work?

Giving up, he called Crammer instead. Crammer was the one who'd gotten the text from Noel to begin with. (Yes, it grated that Noel had texted Crammer instead of Fernando directly. He was an adult. He could handle petty jealousy.)

" Yeah, Boss ?" Crammer greeted.

"Why did Noel say he was out?"

" Uh, he said a friend had an emergency ."

That was so like Noel, to just drop everything to help a friend. Fernando wasn't surprised. However, there was a note in Crammer's voice he didn't like. "Is this cause for concern?"

" If it's the friend I think it is…maybe ? He's mentioned a childhood friend who has an abusive boyfriend. Someone he's been really worried about. Thing is, Boss, I've tried calling him three times since that text, but I can't reach him. Which isn't like Noel at all. He's quick to answer ."

That was weird. And indeed cause for concern. An unease came over Fernando and without hesitation, he ordered, "You can track Noel, right?"

" Sure, I can— Wait, why ?"

"If he's not answering, odds are he's in trouble."

" I can get a couple of the guys together, just in case ."

"Good. Meet me downstairs." Fernando hung up and was out of the chair in seconds.

If Noel wasn't in trouble, he had a lot of explaining to do.

If he wasn't in trouble, he still had explaining to do for worrying everyone. Going to another person's rescue without considering his own safety, that shit stopped now.

Fernando was in the hallway before he realized he was doing it again, running off to the rescue. Protecting Noel came first no matter what else was on the line. Fernando had many people in his life that he cherished, including his children, but…outside of those select few, he didn't react like this.

That's when the realization hit—being solely friends with Noel would be such a fucking waste. No wonder his brother had teased him, his men betting on the inevitable. They'd already seen what Fernando had been fighting not to realize.

He was most definitely falling for his PA.

Blowing out an agitated breath, he picked up speed, running for the car.

Secure Noel's safety first. And after that…well, he'd figure out the rest later.