Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Noel was having a wonderful morning. Please read with all due sarcasm. First, he'd learned that his boss—along with most of the people in the company—were vampires. He'd seriously had no clue until Fernando said something, which made him feel like an idiot. Never a comfortable feeling when you realize you have zero survival instincts.

Now that the meeting was over and they were headed to the first warehouse, Noel took the opportunity to ask the many questions that had popped up since earlier. Fernando sat comfortably in the back of the car with Noel and didn't seem to mind the ensuing questions.

Thank god because each answer led to another question.

"Sir, just stop me if I get too nosey, but…do I need to schedule your feedings?"

Fernando's expression showed intrigue as if Noel continued to surprise him, but in a good way. "Yes and no. I can manage the scheduling on my own, but I will need you to leave my lunch open every two weeks."

"Got it." Noel promptly made a note in his bible. To be precise, it was a yellow legal notepad he'd started jotting notes in and was now completely dependent on. "Do you need to eat any real food?"

"No. We eat when we want as it's still pleasurable, but it has no nutritional value for us." A twinkle appeared in Fernando's eyes. "So no dino nuggies."

His words startled a laugh out of Noel. What do ya know, his boss did have a sense of humor. "Understood. What else do I need to know?"

"Hmm. Well, to start with, my immediate family and I are all generation zero."

Oh. FUCK. Noel felt his heart leap into his throat from sheer surprise. If Fernando was generation zero, then he had to be over three hundred years old. Daaaaayum, that was...Noel had no words. The generation zeroes had appeared in the late 1600s, but not many were still around. In the old days, a lot of them had died because they hadn't known how to handle their new bodies and power, so stupidity had taken them out. Or they'd made enemies of humans and were mobbed. It was very, very rare to meet a generation zero in the flesh. And here Noel was, unknowingly working for one.

"Our family business has evolved over time," Fernando mused. "We were wealthy merchants living in Italy when we were still human and after changing, we had plentiful funds to start our new lives in North America. Other generation zeroes were not as fortunate and struggled to adapt, to escape suspicion. We gave shelter to any of our kind that we could find. It ended up becoming both a clan and a business over the years, driven by our desire to protect one another. Anyway, if we're in the room and shit's going down—that goes for human or vampire—get out. I don't want you within range of my powers and getting the brunt of them."

Noel nodded vigorously in support of his words. From the rumors he'd heard, he had no desire to be under Prestige or Mesmerize while a powerful vampire like Fernando had a mad-on. That just seemed like a really poor life decision.

By that point, they had arrived at the first location, meaning Noel would have to find the time to ask the rest of his questions later.

As they exited the car, Noel took in the warehouse curiously. He'd not yet visited any of the sites prior to today. Fernando usually either held meetings in the conference room or met people in different bars, restaurants, etcetera. This was the first time Noel was seeing the distribution center, or at least one of them. It was large, which didn't surprise him, and looked pretty busy. Forklifts were driving around with multiple pallets, at least two semi-trucks were backed up against the loading docks, waiting for freight, and he saw dozens of employees in safety vests going about their tasks. That was just what he could see on the outside.

Fernando didn't announce to anyone that he was here. Just walked right up to a door on the side of the building and let himself in. Noel, Crammer, and Joe all followed him through the door.

The interior looked just as busy. Multiple rows of shelving lined the floor, almost reaching the ceiling, with crates stacked high on them. There seemed to be some kind of order to it all, but damn if Noel could figure it out at a glance. Fernando didn't seem to care about what was out in the open. He walked right past it all, obviously searching for something else.

Noel was right on his heels, but as they approached the back of the warehouse, he saw something strange out of his peripheral and slowed his pace. There seemed to be a room off to the side, behind a row of shelving. He caught a glimpse inside when two men quickly went through the door, but there weren't crates or pallets. There were…little bright blue boxes? Their size didn't match what Noel knew this warehouse was in charge of distributing. Nothing should be small enough to fit in boxes of that size.

"Joe," Noel asked without looking away from the door, "what do they distribute in this warehouse, again?"

Joe answered with a straight face. "Gardening tools."

Gardening tools. Riiiiight. Why the guys insisted on using code words for the dirtier business with Noel was beyond him. Did they not understand who handled most of the correspondence? The paperwork?

He chose not to comment, just let it go. Gardening tools it was.

Still, the actual products wouldn't fit inside those boxes. Wasn't this warehouse owned exclusively by the Lombardis? Or was it possible it handled some other business's distribution too? The other three men were now about ten feet ahead as Noel had now stopped to look, so he figured it would be fine for a quick peek and then rejoin them. If the item was under another company's logo, then he'd just leave it be and not comment on it. Noel was still catching up on who was whom, and who was in charge of what. He couldn't have it all memorized in two weeks, after all. He just needed a better look. Noel backtracked to a gap between the shelves and found the door wasn't locked, so he pushed it open and stepped partially inside, poking his head around.

A rough hand seized him, pulling him all the way in and throwing him up against the wall. He landed with a hard thump , hip twinging from the impact. A panicked yelp escaped his throat as he fell back. Shit, what was going on?! Why was he being jerked around like this?

Noel quickly turned, trying to get his bearings as panic clawed up his throat. Three men were in the room with him, and one of them had a gun pointed his direction. All three had "goon" written all over them. Tough, burly, smelling of alcohol and weed, definitely the type you'd avoid in a dark alley.

"Who the fuck are you?" the man nearest to him snapped out.

Were they just wary because of the nature of this business? Noel crossed mental fingers as he answered. "I'm Noel, Mr. Fernando's PA."

"Shit! He's here?" the man holding the gun growled, looking agitated.

Uh-oh. That response did not bode well for Noel.

One of the guys was now sheet-white and sweating, looking around frantically. "We've got to get rid of all this. If he sees the drugs—"

"Dumbass, why'd you mention the drugs? Now we have to kill him!" his partner snapped.

"They're literally sitting all over the counters, how is me talking about it worse than them being out in the open ?"

It didn't take Noel more than a second to catalogue everything sitting on the counters. Lots of piles of white powder, digital scales, little baggies, and sharpies. They were literally cutting drugs in here, which was NOT a business the Lombardis endorsed.

Shiiiit, Fernando had been dead right on at least one of the warehouses doing something stupid under the table. Noel's fear ratcheted up a notch. He was now a witness and the other two were pulling out their own guns.

"Fuck. Can you kill a vampire with a gun?" Scared dumbass kept checking the safety on his gun, like a tic. "He's a generation zero, right?"

"All we can do is try, man. Maybe if we hit him enough? Gotta get the drop on him, though."

This conversation did indeed not bode well. Noel, for one, wasn't going to just sit there and wait out the storm. The situation wouldn't end well for him no matter how you looked at it. He promptly sucked in a breath and projected. "MR. FERNANDO! HELP!"

Fernando reached the back portion of the warehouse, hand on the office door, when he realized he was missing a PA. He stopped dead and looked around. "Where's Noel?"

Joe and Crammer also stopped and looked around as if realizing he wasn't with them.

"He was right behind me," Joe said in bewilderment. "He asked me a question not even a minute ago."

Shit. That meant something had distracted him. Fernando trusted absolutely nothing about this warehouse right now. Worry and alarm were insidious snakes inside his stomach, writing in an unpleasant way. Noel wouldn't know how to defend himself if his life depended on it. He just wasn't a fighter. Fernando tried to convince himself Noel was likely fine, just out of sight, but his gut insisted on throwing up signals and alarms. Even if that was all true, he didn't want Noel out of sight right now.

"Find him," Fernando snarled. " Now ."

Joe and Crammer moved to split off when they all heard it, a muffled shout in the direction they'd just come from. "MR. FERNANDO! HELP!"

Fernando was running toward the sound before he'd even made the conscious decision to move. He crossed the distance in a dead sprint to where he'd pinpointed the noise, reaching a metal door nestled in behind a row of shelving. His shoes slid a little as he stopped enough to grab the doorknob, his gun in his hand as he wrenched the door open.

There Noel was, back pressed against a wall, hands in the air. Fernando whirled to put his back to Noel in a protective stance even as his gun came up. Three men faced them, none of them familiar to Fernando, and each with a gun in hand. Fernando's blood boiled seeing that. These cunts dared to point weapons at Noel?

His rage was a living beast as he snarled, "Noel, close your eyes."

One of the other men, his gruff face pale beneath his beard, dared to speak. "Uh. Boss, this isn't what it looks like—"

"You aimed a gun at one of mine." Rage crawled through his veins and only blood would slake its base need. "There is nothing you can do, say, or offer that will undo this. Cutting drugs in my own damn warehouse just seals your coffin."

Noel was pressed tightly against his back, clinging so tightly Fernando could feel him shaking, and it made his rage burn that much hotter. Without compunction, Fernando fired and killed all three men within seconds. He paid no attention to them after that, their bodies hitting the ground as he whirled, caught Noel up in a firm embrace, and immediately removed him from the room. He didn't need to see Fernando's dirty work.

Joe had his gun up as he approached them. "Crammer's already calling the Cleaners in, Boss."

This was why he always took Joe and Crammer with him. They were quick on the uptake and didn't just wait around for his orders. Still, he'd have a stern word with them later about letting Noel out of sight.

"Joe, sit on the three bodies and make sure no one moves the evidence."

"Yes, sir."

Fernando took Noel's hand and led him further away from the room. He could feel the tremor in that hand even though Noel didn't say a word. He was likely in shock—an understandable reaction. Despite the gravity of the situation, Fernando couldn't help but notice how small the other man's hand felt in his, which was interesting as Noel didn't come off as frail. Then again, he was slender in build.

Fernando's protective instincts stirred. Which, where the hell had those been hiding? He didn't think he was protective of anything outside of his family and children.

Question for a later time. He didn't have the luxury of self-analysis right then. He stopped near Crammer, just outside the side door they'd originally entered through, and carefully looked Noel over. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be hurt.

"I'm sorry," Noel said, wincing. "I just saw a glimpse of something through the door that didn't make sense, so I wanted to double-check. I didn't mean to get into trouble—"

"Noel." Fernando swallowed a groan, guilt now mixing with his anger. "Do not apologize. You shouldn't be in danger just walking around my own damn warehouse."

Noel nodded, but he couldn't seem to meet Fernando's eyes, either. Dammit, now he felt even more guilty. He'd known something shady was going on here, so why had he taken Noel—a human—in with him? Why had he risked it?

And why did he have this unexplainable urge to pull Noel in, hug him, comfort him? Fernando was not a hugger. Where had the impulse even come from?

Shaking off the urge, he ordered, "You're going straight home after backup gets here. Crammer, escort him home."

Crammer snapped to attention. "Yes, sir."

Noel visibly rallied, chin coming up. "No, Mr. Fernando, I'm okay—"

Coming in a half step, Fernando spoke close to Noel's ear, meaning every word. "For my sake, then, go home. The next person who even looks at you wrong will end up dead at my feet. I'm trying not to murder anyone else today."

Noel didn't seem to know how to respond, blushing slightly as he nodded.

With reluctance, he let go of Noel's hand. "Crammer, I leave him to you."

"Yes, sir."

Fernando turned and stalked for the main office. He'd already been peeved before coming here, but now he had no fucks left to give. His field of fucks was, in fact, barren, with no possible harvest in the future.

If today didn't end in a bloodbath, it would be a freaking miracle.