Even now, he was sure the Shields were dispatching someone to his location. He, and the rest of their team, wore trackers for a damn good reason, and he hadn’t reported a new intended destination. James would be on that deviation from the plan as quick as if his husband and wife had invited him to skinny dip in the indoor pool at their temporary headquarters again.
While he appreciated the backup, it was obvious Laurel and Jace weren’t a real danger to him. Probably.
It would take a hell of a lot of fast talking to convince them he wasn’t going to harm them either. In fact, he thought he might be able to help them. If they’d let him.
“Excuse me. This is a really lovely moment you’re sharing, but I thought you should know I’m eavesdropping.” Nolan figured he might as well out himself. Then maybe they’d start to trust him. Of course, he’d sound more like a gentleman than a scoundrel if his voice weren’t raspy as fuck after his impromptu nap.
“Son of a bitch!” Jace snarled, and Nolan scrunched his eyes closed behind the blindfold, half expecting to get walloped again.
“Who are you?” Laurel asked.
“My name is Nolan Skalbeck. I’m thirty-four. A Gemini. And I like snuggles on the couch while watching movies. What else would you like to know?” Why? Why had he said that? Especially when he couldn’t read their expressions to see if his attempt at levity was having any impact at all. The Shields were always telling him his mouth and bad jokes were going to get him in trouble one day. He hoped it wasn’t this one.
“Why were you stalking this woman?” Jace obviously had his head on straight despite being a novice interrogator. He didn’t give away her name, though Nolan already knew it.
“I wasn’t.” Nolan hedged. “I mean, not exactly. I was looking for her, but not for any nefarious purpose, and I wouldn’t have manhandled her like that if she hadn’t been about to run into Draven’s escalated security, who might not have believed her if she told them she was a free woman after tonight’s drama. You know what I mean?” He drew a deep breath as he heard Laurel gasp. “If you let me go, I can explain everything.”
He had to break their perception of him as the enemy. As their prisoner.
“How stupid do you think we are?” Jace sneered.
“I mean, I don’t have any inherent objections to being tied up by a woman and man as hot as you two.” Nolan grinned, trying to keep things light and disarm them with a flash of his straight, white teeth. “But you might as well take this blindfold off me. I’m not going to forget what you look like any time soon. I already know you’re Laurel. And Jace, your big strong fella here, has straight dark hair, a handsome face, and the kind of build that comes from doing real work. He’s also got some pretty identifiable tattoos on his hands and the side of his neck. While I didn’t get a great look at them, I am wearing a body cam so the team at our headquarters definitely did. P.S. Feel free to wave hello if you like.”
Okay, so that part was a fib. He was wearing a body cam, but it wasn’t running at the moment.
“How do you know my name?” Laurel asked.
Jace hissed, “Don’t tell him anything. He’s probably guessing. Bullshitting us.”
Nolan took a deep breath. This time it might be best to stick to the truth. These two obviously had trust issues, and for good reason. If they caught him in the teensiest lie, this game would be over. “I work for a private security service. We work on cases that land in the gray areas of the law, or where legal agencies can’t quite cut through enough red tape to be effective. Basically, we stop trash human beings from hurting more people. Tonight it was us that took out the cannery. We shut down that arm of Draven’s operation, because no one should ever be treated like that. But even more, we were really hoping to find someone in particular. You, Laurel.”
“Why?” She whispered.
“Because your brother desperately wants to know what happened to you.”
The sound of a dull thud and the vibration of the floor through Nolan’s boots worried him. Despite his concern, he took the chance to shift in his chair and make some adjustments to his bonds. Meanwhile he asked Jace, “Is she okay?”
“Shut your fucking mouth until we ask you questions,” he snapped at Nolan. Possessive enough that he was probably her lover. Yet he was so gentle it tugged at Nolan’s heart when he murmured to Laurel, “I’ll knock him out again right now. We can get in another cab and drive him somewhere far away, and you’ll never have to deal with this if you don’t want to.”
Ah, now that was his kind of romantic.
“But what if I do?” Laurel’s voice cracked. For a moment there was near silence interrupted only by the swish of fabric, making Nolan sure Jace was rocking her as he consoled her. His fingers clenched on the arms of the chair as he wished he could do the same.
Maybe for both her and Jace.
This was why he worked for the Shields in the first place. To make a difference in the lives of people like them who’d fallen through the cracks of an imperfect system. Victims who fell prey to assholes with enough money to corrupt. Dickheads with power they didn’t deserve. He preferred to work on missions like these, where they were in time to improve the situation. Though if they weren’t, he had no problem delivering justice instead.
Nolan held perfectly still when light, tentative steps approached. He didn’t dare breathe to keep from spooking Laurel.
Her fingers were deft yet gentle as they slid the blindfold from his eyes and even paused to fix his hair, combing the front highlighted bits into their trademark swoosh before running them down the shorter sections at his temple as he so often did. He blinked into the buttery light of a miniscule, worn and dated, but spotless kitchen. “Thank you.”
It said a lot about her, and how much better she was than the people who’d wrecked her childhood. Nolan fought the urge to lean forward and show his appreciation with a quick peck on the cheek. He didn’t want to add a black eye from Jace to his already throbbing face.
“How do I know you’re telling the truth? Maybe I don’t even have a brother, huh?” She talked tough, but he could see the longing in her eyes, and he wanted nothing more than to give her what solace he could. Since he figured drawing her into his lap and attempting to mollify her by banding his arms around her in a protective hug would only result in her boot in his crotch…again…he stuck to his original strategy.
“James would be very hurt to hear you say that.” Nolan winced, thankful he didn’t have his comms engaged at the moment. He hadn’t expected Laurel to trot past him the moment he’d arrived at Heels. No excuses, though. He was certain when he got back to the office Jordan was going to tear him a new one for not adhering to protocol and doing it before he’d stepped on site. That guy was not the sort of boss you wanted unhappy with your job performance either.
Laurel’s jaw dropped open. Her gaze winged to Jace, who nodded slowly before saying, “Let’s hear him out.”
Nolan figured he was going to have to work extra hard since both of them rightfully questioned everything and didn’t trust worth a damn. At least when it came to confronting strangers, it seemed like their bond was plenty strong. Must be nice.