He nodded once. “Yeah that’s what Axel said, and if his intel is good, then it is just one. But I don’t like to take anything at face value. Besides, he might not know everything. There could be others out there we don’t know about.”
Suddenly the coffee in her stomach turned sour. She’d known this was a possibility, but she’d been clinging to the hope of what Axel had told them about the three men being sent after her. Two of them weren’t a problem anymore.
“We’re going to figure out who hired these guys in the first place,” her dad said, his expression harsh. In that moment she saw a flash of the brutal businessman he must be.
Next to him Brooks nodded in agreement. The two of them looked so much alike there was no denying they were related. Both tall, classic good looks, dark hair and dark eyes. She was glad that she’d gotten the trademark Alexander dimple. It made her feel more like part of the family.
“What’s wrong? I mean other than the obvious?” Brooks asked, his frown deepening.
She shook her head. “Nothing… I was actually just thinking about how glad I am to have you two in my life.”
Just like that the two men seemed to melt right in front of her. Her dad nudged Brooks once. “She’s considering moving to a place with better security after this whole mess is dealt with.”
“Good.” Brooks nodded once in approval. “And don’t you doubt that it will indeed be taken care of. That’s actually why I’m down here. As soon as you’re ready I want to meet in my office and go over some things with you.”
She knew this was really going to bother Brooks but she wasn’t going to leave Axel out of anything. Not after last night. “So, you’re probably going to be annoyed with me, but are you going to ask Axel to join us as well?”
His jaw clenched once. “I guess.”
“Seriously? You guess? He didn’t have to come and warn me. He doesn’t have to be here right now. And from what I understand he wanted to pay off that second guy who was sent after me. With his own money.”
Brooks just stood there like a statue for a long moment with what she was sure was supposed to be an intimidating expression, but it was hard to be scared of him. At least for her. Finally he spoke. “I can concede that he’s done some good things. But I don’t have to like everything about him and I don’t have to like the fact that he’s interested in you.”
“Well I’m inter—”
Her dad cleared his throat. “Hadley, why don’t you go grab a shower and I’ll get breakfast started.”
If that wasn’t a dismissal, she wasn’t sure what was. Instead of telling Brooks how she felt about Axel, she picked up her mug and kissed both men on the cheek before heading to her room. She’d let her dad and Brooks hash out whatever they needed to hash out. It wasn’t going to change the fact that she was seriously into Axel and that wasn’t changing anytime soon. He’d laid himself bare to her and she accepted him for who he was.
She just wondered what she was to him. It was pretty clear that he was attracted to her, even if he was holding off on sex. Frustrating man.
For now, she just wanted to take a shower, check her school email, and think about what she and Axel had shared not too long ago. He’d brought her to orgasm again in the middle of the night and she’d stroked him off again. Next time she wanted to taste him…and she really needed to stop thinking about that or she was going to get herself all worked up again.
Chapter 15
—I won’t be impressed with technology until I can download snacks.—
Hadley stood next to Axel, making him secure in a way he hadn’t realized he’d needed as they all stood in Brooks’s office. He hadn’t been sure how she’d act this morning in front of the others and he’d been preparing for her rejection.
After what they’d shared last night, he was pretty damn certain he wanted to eventually put a ring on her finger. Not now—it was too soon and she could decide he wasn’t worth the trouble. But if she decided he wasn’t someone she’d regret, then…one day. Probably sooner than later. Which, hell. He had to stop getting ahead of himself. It was damn hard when he had this newfound hope.
So when he’d stepped into the office with Brooks, Colt and Skye, and Gage, an apparent hacker, Axel had been inordinately pleased when she’d walked right up to him and brushed her mouth over his. He’d actually frozen for a moment, unsure how to react. Now she stood next to him, her fingers loosely linked between his, clearly making a statement to everyone in the room.
He might not deserve her, but he certainly wasn’t going to walk away from her. Not ever. Unless she told him to.
“This would be a whole lot easier if we were at the office because I could show you on bigger screens.” Gage sat behind the huge desk, working on his laptop as they all waited for him to pull up whatever he was pulling up. “But we’re going to make do with what we’ve got here. Okay, I dumped the contents of the phone you gave me,” he said, flicking a quick glance at Axel. “There wasn’t much on there. It was definitely a burner phone but I’m still running information on all the phone calls Johnson made. He thought he deleted everything but luckily I’m smarter than a phone. Next, the cameras you set up are good. If I’d set them up myself, I would have picked the same angles.”
Hadley gently squeezed Axel’s fingers and Brooks simply gave him an annoyed look. Oh yeah, it was going to take a hell of a lot to get Brooks to forgive him.
“I’ve been monitoring them and so far nothing seems out of the ordinary,” Gage continued. “Except for this. And it might not even be anything.” He paused for a moment as he fast-forwarded to an image, then pressed play. A four-door sedan with tinted windows drove by at a normal speed once. Then he fast-forwarded to another clip. It was the same vehicle driving by at a slow speed, at a different time of day, given the angle of the shadows.
“I ran the plate on his vehicle and it didn’t come back in the system. Which could mean any number of things but my guess is the plate doesn’t exist.”
“How can it not exist?” Hadley asked.
Gage didn’t look up from the computer as he answered. “More than likely someone welded two license plates together, creating a number that isn’t registered.”
“That’s pretty smart,” Hadley murmured.
Gage shrugged. “Eh. It’s Criminal Behavior 101. Anyway, since I can’t figure out where the plate is from and the car is generic enough that I can’t do much with it, my guess is this might be the guy we’re looking for. Or it could be something completely unrelated, but I don’t believe in coincidence.”
“So what do we do with this information?” Hadley asked.
“That’s where I come in,” Skye said. “I’m going to be the bait and head back to your place, pretend to be you. See if we can pull this guy out of hiding and get him to make a move.”
Next to Axel, Hadley stiffened. “I don’t like the sound of that. I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me.”
Skye snorted. “The only person getting hurt is the guy who thinks he can kidnap you. Trust me. I’m not going alone anyway. Colt is coming with me. I’m going to wear a disguise, making it look as if I’m you to a casual observer. And I’ll drive your car back to your place. Then inside the garage Colt will get out of the back seat and we’ll set up camp at your place. And Brooks is going to be nearby as backup if we need him.”
Hadley nodded but it was clear she didn’t like the idea of any of this. “What about me? What am I going to do?” she finally asked.
“You’re going to stay here where we know you’re safe. And Axel is going to be your shadow,” Skye said.
Brooks simply gave him another hard stare. But Axel nodded and gave her an encouraging smile. He hadn’t planned to leave her side anyway.