Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Fernando was very insistent on Noel moving in with him permanently. Honestly, Noel was fine with that. For as much as he'd fought and bled for his childhood home, it had also become a place that no longer felt safe and welcoming to him. Having a fresh start with Fernando appealed very strongly to Noel.

Plus, you know, sexy vampire in his bed every night. What was not to like?

Hunter still wanted to live in the house and that was fine by Noel. With a little elbow grease and some money, Hunter would get the house back into good shape again. Noel would contribute to that goal as he could.

He did have several items at the house that he didn't want to leave behind, though. Fernando was closing in on Uncle Travis, the security team hot on the asshole's trail, and Noel was just as happy to not be involved in all that. Just thinking of Uncle Travis smarted, and Noel would rather leave the revenge up to Fernando.

All that said, he chose to sort out his own shit so he could properly move in with Fernando. After work on Monday, he borrowed one of Fernando's SUVs and skipped over to the family home with some boxes, intending to gather everything up. It wouldn't take more than an hour, or so he judged, and then he'd be able to go properly "home" to the man who cherished him more than anything.

That sounded sappy even in his own head, but it was true, nonetheless.

Noel pulled into the driveway of his childhood home, grabbed out boxes, a mental game plan on loop in his head.

The second he reached the front door, Hunter called. Grumbling, Noel juggled empty boxes in one hand, keys in the other, all while hitting Accept on the Bluetooth in his ear. Thankfully, he'd forgotten to take it out after work.

"Hey, Bro. What's up?"

" Hey, I just wanted to give you a heads-up. Security team tailing Uncle lost track of him about an hour ago. Slippery bastard. We're not sure where he went, but we're trying to find him again. Your boyfriend is beyond pissed ."

It was a sad state of affairs when he was more worried about pissed boyfriend than missing uncle. "Great."

" Sorry. Trust me, none of us like the situation. Where are you and how fast can you get here to calm down Fernando ?"

"Uh, well, I'm at the house."

There was a pregnant pause. " Noel, under the circumstances, I don't think that's a great place for you to be ."

A sense of unease overtook him. "I agree with you. I was going to grab some things, but now I'm thinking…not today. Uh, tell you what, I'm just going to leave these boxes inside the foyer and then go—"

Something hit him sharply on the back of his head and Noel's vision went instantly black.

"—figured the bastard was blowing smoke up our asses, but this guy is cute. He should fetch a good price at the auction."

Where was that voice coming from? Noel felt beyond groggy, and there was a sharp throbbing at the base of his skull. A coarse material rubbed against his face and when he opened his eyes, he was met with some sort of fabric which blocked out any light. He also noted that for some reason, he was laying on cold, hard ground. Perhaps concrete? He tried to push himself up, but finally noticed his hands were tied behind him.

Well, shit. This didn't look good.

Noel had, unfortunately, been in enough dangerous situations that he didn't feel panicked. Resigned? Yes. But not panicked. Also a little worried because normally he didn't get kidnapped and hog-tied like this, but he also knew that Hunter would be tracking him already. Having been on the phone with him, his brother would know something bad had happened, and the A-team was likely already on its way.

Where were his bodyguards, though? Had they somehow been taken out before Noel was kidnapped? Luckily, vampires were hard to kill, so hopefully no one was dead. Noel clung to that knowledge even as he tried to assess where he was.

"Hey, I think he's awake."

Rough hands grabbed him, hauling him upright, and the bag over his head was lifted off. Noel grimaced as his eyes went from pitch darkness to florescent light, although the single bulb in the middle of the room was the only illumination. Ugh, and the place smelled. Like vomit, stale beer, and cigarettes. He'd need to thoroughly wash in the shower to remove all the stench from this place. You know what, make it twice.

The man leaning over him had a cut on his mouth that stretched it up into a permanent sneer, his body odor indicating he didn't believe in regular showers, and hair receding so sharply that he might as well shave the rest off. Typical henchman.

Henchman glared at him for a long second. "What? Nothing to say? Most people are begging for their lives by now."

Noel blew out a breath, already done with this shit show. "I imagine that my uncle is somehow behind my kidnapping. Which is it? Gambling debt or drugs?"

"Heh, get a load of this kid. Calm as a cucumber." Henchman straightened, revealing two other men lounging on a stained couch behind him. Frankly, they looked about as rough as Henchman One. "You know what's up, don'tcha? Yeah, your uncle bartered you for his own freedom. Said he'd give you over if we got him out of the country with 10K in his pocket. Sweet deal for us. You'll go for more than that at the auction. The vamps will love you."

Auction? As in a blood slave auction? Yikes, now that's a plot twist. Noel had never been threatened with that before. Not that he was particularly worried. The second he was in range, every vampire would be able to smell Fernando on him and they wouldn't come within fifty feet of him after that. These guys must be human if they couldn't tell. They also must have somehow incapacitated his bodyguards from a distance. Only way for them to have gotten to Noel without a bloodbath.

He now understood why Fernando and the security team had lost track of Uncle Travis. He'd literally gone underground and was likely being smuggled out in a shipping container about now.

"Can I ask a question? Where's my bodyguards?"

"Them? Took them out before getting to you. They're still breathing, but you should be more worried about yourself, dumbass."

Relief just about bowled him over. His bodyguards were friends, after all. Noel would have to treat them to something good to soothe over their ire as they'd no doubt be pissed as hell once they awoke.

"Since you answered a question, I'm going to return the favor. Here's the thing: You should have asked why my uncle was so desperate to get out of the country."

Henchman One's black eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not just gambling debts he's running from. He pissed off the most dangerous mafia boss in the whole country, a generation zero vampire: Fernando Lombardi. And now, so have you."

Henchman One looked doubtful, like he wasn't sure if he was being played or not. "And how'd we do that, asshole?"

"I'm his mate."

Dead silence. Noel could tell they weren't sure whether or not to believe him. It could be a ploy, after all. But there was a very, very easy way to convince them.

"Who's got my phone? Look at the lock screen."

One of the guys sitting on the couch pulled it out of a pocket and looked at it. Then he jumped up from the couch, swore, and dropped the phone to the ground like it was a viper about to bite him.

The phone skittered near Noel and Henchman One, landing screen-side up, displaying the picture Noel had taken on his first real date with Fernando. Fernando was hugging him from behind, Noel taking the selfie, both of them smiling into the camera. It was clearly a couple's shot. Fernando had the same on his wallpaper because his lover, while much older, was not above bragging.

"Shit, that really is Fernando Lombardi," The man next to Noel breathed, all color draining from his face, and he looked like a dead man walking.

Ah, good. They believed him now. That would make negotiations much easier. "Now, here's the thing, gentlemen. We can turn this situation around. Untie me, let me call Fernando. I can spin this so that you were hired to kidnap me, but you knew who I was, so instead snatched me up before someone else could get to me. You'll be heroes instead of villains."

Henchman One had a fine tremor in his hands and his eyes were glued to the image on the phone. "You'd do that?"

"I'd rather not play into my uncle's schemes anymore. He's done this to me too many times already. Really, he set you guys up to be the scapegoats while he got off scot-free. Now, does that sound fair to you? It doesn't to me."

The guy who'd remained on the couch until now, looking like a retired boxer with his smushed up nose, abruptly darted over to Noel. He had the keys to the cuffs in his hand. "I'm unlocking him. He's gotta call his boyfriend now ."

"You fucking idiot! If you do that, he'll just run away!"

"Rather he run away than stay here and get us all killed , you fucking moron!"

Noel didn't think they had enough time to argue. He had no idea how long he'd been out, but the fact they still had his phone? He was absolutely certain this location was being tracked. Any second now, his rescuers would arrive, and they'd do so with guns blazing. No one else in this building was safe once they had Noel in hand.

The three were now screaming at each other, Noel's hands were still cuffed, and yeah…these guys were too stupid to live. He could see how Uncle had so easily scammed them. Noel didn't even try to interrupt, he'd just sit here and wait. So long as they argued, he was fine. Could really use some aspirin, though. He had the worst headache after being knocked out.

The door abruptly exploded inward. Fernando slammed through like an avenging angel, his fury like a halo all around him. He moved so quickly, Noel could barely track him with his eyes. He seemed to know the second he entered the room where Noel was, as he didn't pause to look, just turned and sprinted. The three idiots were knocked forcefully to the side, all of them flying into the back wall where they left imprints in the sheetrock before landing in a disheveled pile.

Noel greeted him with a brilliant smile. "Hi, honey!"

Fernando's violence abruptly stilled, his demeanor beyond gentle as he knelt in front of Noel. "My heart, are you hurt?"

"Wicked headache, a bit sore, but nothing too worrisome. Get these cuffs off me?"

Fernando gathered him up into an embrace, leaning around him and taking the expedient method of just tearing the cuffs free. Because metal cuffs which were made to keep criminals in check were easy to rip up.

Relieved to finally have his hands freed, Noel promptly threw his arms around Fernando's neck and hugged him tight. They both needed the contact just then. Fernando held him just as strongly for a long second before standing, taking Noel up with him.

"We're leaving."

Hunter dashed in, panting from the mad sprint. Fernando must have been moving at full vampiric speed to have left his brother in the dust. "Noel, you okay?!"

"I'm fine." Noel gave him a smile and small wave over Fernando's shoulder. He had a feeling his lover wasn't going to let him go anytime soon. "Don't kill those three; they were the ones who smuggled Uncle out. They know where he is."

"Got it."

Fernando lifted Noel up into a bridal carry. "Hunter, put those three somewhere secure after you're done interrogating them."

He didn't need to elaborate, as interrogation was easy with vampires present. Throw some Prestige at a person and they'd answer any question. There were enough older generation vampires in the family that finding one free to ask the questions would be a piece of cake. As for detaining them after, everyone in the room understood that Fernando would be exacting vengeance later. Noel didn't even try to stop him, as they kind of had it coming.

He knew that Fernando wouldn't be willing to put him down for the rest of the day. Noel was okay with it, honestly. It was nice to feel so safe after being in a dangerous situation, and there wasn't anything short of an atomic bomb that could get past Fernando in this overprotective mood.

Instead, he just decided to enjoy it. "How long was I out for?"

"Thirty minutes. We tracked your phone to this location." Fernando's eyes flicked to him, evaluating, as he headed toward the door. "You got them arguing to buy more time."

"Eh, I was actually trying to negotiate my way out, but they ended up arguing. Same result, I guess."

"You negotiated. Of course you did." Fernando's eyes closed in a sort of fatalistic manner. "Please stop getting into dangerous situations. My heart can't take it anymore."

"You say that like I deliberately get into danger all on my own, which is not the case. I don't like it any more than you do."

"You're not allowed to leave my side ever again."

Yeah, he was too upset to see reason. Noel would talk him down later, when Fernando's very long life wasn't flashing in front of his eyes. Instead he kissed Fernando's cheek and grinned. "If that's my punishment, chain me to the wall while you're at it."

"I'm allowed to be upset."

"Yes, you are. I'm not stopping you. And for the record, I'm happy you saved me."

Fernando stopped in the warped doorway, turning his head to look at Noel squarely, then sighed. "How can I possibly stay upset when you're smiling at me?"

Noel leaned in and kissed him, then leaned back and continued to smile. "I love you."

His boyfriend's eyes flared wide, an expression of surprise that melted into pure joy. He was a much, much happier man than a second before. "I love you too. Very much."

Noel had known he would respond that way. But still, he'd felt somehow nervous when thinking of saying those words. Now that they were out, he wondered why he'd ever entertained those nerves to begin with. Fernando's love for him was obvious, sometimes overwhelming, but never in doubt.

Putting joy back on this man's face where worry and stress had been was only part of the reason he'd said those words. Right now, after all they had been through, the least Noel could do was assure Fernando that he loved him just as much.

"Let's go home?"

"Sure."

Boyfriend successfully disarmed: check.