It only took a minute before they’d sacrificed the tie from Laurel’s robe and the cords from the toaster and a lamp to lash the bastard to one of their mismatched kitchen chairs. Then they stood back, getting their first good look at the man.
He seemed more like someone Jace would screw than one of Draven’s lackeys. Black cargo pants doing a piss poor job of hiding shredded quads and his pristine windbreaker unable to camouflage his excellent upper body conditioning. What the hell had they gotten themselves into?
Jace went into the bedroom and grabbed a bandana, which he used to blindfold their captive.
Then he turned to Laurel. “What now?”
4
“You’re asking me?” Laurel’s semi-shriek roused Nolan from unconsciousness. He stifled a groan when the pounding in his jaw and the base of his neck brought him the rest of the way out of his fog. He gingerly ran his tongue over his teeth to make sure they were all still there and not-so wiggly without alerting Laurel and the guy who’d come to her rescue that he was awake. “This was your idea!”
“I had to do something! You’re the one who ran off without a plan and didn’t even bother to wait a damn second for me to come around when you leapt out of bed and decided to singlehandedly save the world.”
“Fuck. I didn’t help anyone.” Laurel sounded defeated. “The only thing I did was risk what we’ve built. I’m sorry, Jace.”
Jace, huh? So that was the guy with the steely eyes who’d seen too damn much and knew his way around a street fight. He hadn’t been suave, but he sure as hell had been effective and brave, attacking without hesitation. Nolan could appreciate that.
“Nah, it’s me who fucked up. I should have stuck with you, no matter what. But I’m not as decent as you. I’m not a superhero. I’m just some guy who’s trying to put his life together after being shit on. And, I admit it, the thought of being sucked back into that scares the piss out of me.”
Now that made Nolan groan under his breath. The raw emotion, their vulnerability, and how easy it was for them to be honest about it with each other. Damn. These two had been through so much.
He probably shouldn’t have touched Laurel, and certainly not in the aggressive way he had, grabbing her and subduing her as he hauled her into the woods. Except she’d been so damn close to giving herself away, and he was at heart a covert operator. Storming the club by himself, unprepared, to bring her out again wasn’t a possibility. Losing her wasn’t an option. No way was he going to report back to the Shields, and especially James, that she’d slipped through his fingers. He hadn’t had time for subtlety.
It was only because Nolan had been trying to avoid hurting either of them that Laurel’s bodyguard, boyfriend—or whatever the hell Jace was to her—had gotten that hook in. The one that had given her the opening to squash his poor balls, which even now felt like they’d been relocated somewhere around his navel.Ugh.
Still, it was obvious his captors weren’t professionals. And he was.
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?Whyhad 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. Iwaslooking 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. Hewaswearing 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.”