Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Noel went home because The Boss Had Spoken and because he didn't have much choice in the matter. He almost felt sorry for whomever else Fernando deemed responsible for the drugs. With the mood Fernando was in, the building might not remain standing.

All that said, Noel was actually happy to go home and process. Oh boy did he need to process. First time seeing three men killed in front of him kinda required it. He'd lived through rough times as a teen, and he'd thought himself to be pretty desensitized to violence, but today had been…yeah. A bit much. Seeing his vampire boss suddenly lose his shit and kill three men for threatening Noel had caused a mixed reaction. On the one hand, he was super happy to have been protected. On the other, those three might not have been killed if not for his actions, so maybe there was a touch of guilt, too?

Then again, they'd been bad men, and the world was going to be a better place without them in it, soooo…maybe not that much guilt.

Look, it was a morally complicated day. Noel was well within his rights to be emotionally confused about the whole thing.

It made him happy, though, that he'd apparently gotten past a big hurdle. Noel had started out his employment as "I don't know what to do with you" and had now graduated to "You're one of my people." Fernando was not a man who did things by half measures. If he decided you were one of his, then you were one of his, and that was the end of the matter. The way he'd come so automatically to Noel's defense, like an avenging angel, had told Noel as much.

Mr. Sebastian had really made a good point earlier. You couldn't judge how well you were accepted by Fernando through his words. It was his actions that spoke volumes.

Noel entered the house and decided that since he had time, he might as well cook something for dinner. Do laundry, even. Process life, perhaps.

His childhood home needed some cosmetic updates and minor repairs from past thug visits, but Noel was still trying to get bills under control, so he ignored the now familiar dings and scrapes on the white kitchen surfaces as he pulled ingredients out of the fridge. The house was old, with the charm and character of the 1940s—ginger-colored trim on the outside, and all the wood trim on the inside. His grandfather had been heavily influenced by the Craftsman style when he'd built the house. While updates had occurred over the years, the home's main style had never really changed. The interior was a little more barren now than it had been in his childhood—mostly because if something broke past repair, they didn't have the means to replace it. They simply did without. Anything of value had been sold off long ago to help cover bills.

Noel shook off the ruminations and focused on food, knowing the familiar process would soothe his frazzled thoughts. He set something out to thaw, went upstairs to change into shorts and a T-shirt, then came back down again to really start cooking. Hunter was likely already at the bar, prepping for opening that night. He might as well cook enough that Hunter could reheat the food for breakfast. Or lunch, whenever it was he chose to wake up.

Noel had things sizzling in pans when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Oh, good. His friend Anne was calling, and she was always a balm when he needed support. They'd known each other since elementary school, and her home life had sucked as much as his, so they'd always been each other's support during rough times. He swiped Accept and put the phone under his ear before answering. "Hi, Anne."

" Uh. Hey, um …"

Shit. He knew that tone. "What's wrong?"

" It's just…things have gotten bad ."

Noel braced a hand against the edge of the counter, head hanging forward. "On a scale of one to ten…?"

" Like, an eight ?"

"Anne, please. Please, just move out of there. You can stay with me until you can put that deposit down."

" Trust me, I'm tempted, but I don't want to move twice, and I'm literally a paycheck away from getting enough for the deposit ."

This had been a six-month argument between them. Anne was the type who like to be in a relationship, which meant she often put up with crap she shouldn't have to. Her current boyfriend had always been verbally abusive and manipulative, but the past month he'd been borderline physically abusive. It was only after his behavior had taken a turn she agreed with Noel that she had to get out. She'd been saving steadily to get a new apartment, and she was so close, but…Jet was also getting more suspicious of her.

Noel trusted that abusive motherfucker about as far as he could throw him. Which wasn't far. Guy outweighed Noel by a good hundred pounds.

Anne wasn't the type to impose on others, it just wasn't in her nature, and it's why Noel had failed to convince her to move in with him temporarily. Still, he tried again.

"Listen, if you even suspect that Jet's going to do something, call me. I'll drop everything and come get you. Okay? I'll help you move out."

" I know you will. Honestly, Noel, it might come to that. I just wanted to give you a heads-up. He was drunk and saying weird things last night, so I don't know if I can stay here much longer. I wanted you cued up that I might need you in a second's notice ."

"Consider me cued."

" Thank you. Anyway, I know you're at work and can't chat —"

"I'm home, actually."

" Eh ?" Her soprano voice dragged the syllable out. " Why ? Are you sick ?"

"Hah, no. So, funny story—"

" It's never a funny story when people start out like that ."

"Tell me about it. Anyway, I went with the boss today to a warehouse for a surprise inspection. Something was off with the paperwork, they were shipping things and the invoices weren't matching the productivity numbers, so my boss's suspicions were raised. We get over there only to discover they're distributing drugs out of a back room—"

" Oh my god ! WHAT ?"

"Pretty much my reaction. It got ugly fast. My boss got me out of there and sent me home, said he didn't want me in the middle of it. I was just as glad to escape the blast radius, honestly. He's mad . I did not want to linger around ground zero."

" I bet. It's a good sign that he's protecting you, right ? I mean, you weren't sure the first week if he would keep you on board ."

"His attitude has done a sharp one-eighty. I've proved my worth, so now he considers me one of his people, I think. At least, he's treating me that way."

" Good ! Job security is always a good thing. Oh, Noel. I just had a stroke of genius. Why don't you bake cookies and bring those into work tomorrow ?"

"Uh?" Noel turned back toward the stove and stirred things in the pans and tried to make sense of how her thought connected. Nope, still failed. "Why?"

" You're a really good baker, and bringing in treats for coworkers shows how much you appreciate them. You got to go home early, but everyone else had to stay, right ? Bring in cookies so there's no hard feelings ."

Oh, that's how her thought connected. Still, Noel tried to imagine bringing in cookies to a building full of hardened mafia men and his brain almost seized in place. He wasn't so sure of the idea. Well, Fernando had said even vampires could enjoy food soooo… "Well, no harm, I guess."

" Do the macadamia nut ones. Those are delicious ."

"Why do I sense an ulterior motive here?"

Anne cackled. " I might swing by to taste test them for you ."

"Uh-huh. Figured that was coming. If you're going to taste test, how about you buy the ingredients on the way over?"

" I guess that's fair. If I get a half dozen to take home, that is ."

"Fine, fine. You get off soon, right?"

" I'm actually getting off now. I came in early, so I'm leaving early ."

Hence why she'd called. Her boyfriend normally went drinking right after work, so she was likely hoping to hide at Noel's place until the man passed out on the couch. Or the floor. Preferably, at the bottom of a lake. "Then why don't you just grab things for me and come over? I'm cooking dinner now."

" Wow, I don't have to cook ? Sold. Text me what you need, I'm on my way ."

"Will do." Noel hung up the phone and then stared at it for a moment, blowing out a stressed breath. He really, really wanted Anne out of that apartment sooner rather than later. His friend just didn't have the mindset to protect herself. And she was tiny. One of the most petite women he knew. She wouldn't stand a chance against her hulking boyfriend if he truly got physical with her.

Hopefully she got out of there before he did something.

Noel wasn't holding his breath.