Page 57 of Saving Noah

Connor, in response to Noah’s “you did okay” comment, spewed his orange juice across the table, sprinkling Zach’s bare chest with bits of orange pulp. “Ha! Good one, little man. Keep him on his toes.”

Zach frowned and grabbed a handful of paper towels. “How about you keep it in your mouth, Conn? That was disgusting,” he said as he wiped off his chest. After clean-up detail, he turned to Noah and asked, “Where did you get that sugary cereal? You know you aren’t supposed to eat things coated with sugar and caffeine.” He stood and backed Noah against the countertop. “And what the fuckity fuck did you mean by ‘okay’? I was there, babe. Your moans and screams indicated better than okay. What’s up?”

Noah’s face heated with a blush that turned blazing hot when his eyes landed on Connor’s smirk.Blast it to hell, but the man has a point about my moaning and screaming.

“You know what’s up, Zach. Stop playing dumb. I’m pissed and you know why I’m pissed.” He tried to edge away, but Zach placed his hands on the counter on either side of Noah, successfully trapping him between his body and the granite countertop. When he realized he couldn’t escape, he rolled his eyes and huffed. “Move.”

“Not moving,” Zach answered.

“Listen, I know I’m just the bestie and I shouldn’t involve myself in your childish squabbles, but shouldn’t you be getting ready for work, Zach?” Connor glanced down at his watch and added, “You’re already thirty minutes late and you smell like sex…a shower is required.”

Noah looked smug. “Yes, he should be getting ready for work. Would you please tell him I don’t need a babysitter?”

“Is that what all this posturing and slamming of dishes is about?” Connor asked in amazement. “That’s ridiculous guys.” Looking at Zach, he said, “You need to get your ass to work. Noah doesn’t need you babysitting him.”

“Thank you,” Noah chimed in with a smirk. “See?”

“I wasn’t finished. Noah doesn’t need you babysitting him today, because I’m protecting him this week. I’ve already gotten the time off approved by my commander this morning. Zach, you finish up this week and see about getting some time off. We’ll take turns until we can eliminate the threat. Easy peasy.”

Noah suspected there was a huge possibility the top of his head blew straight off. Easy-fucking-peasy? Were they kidding right now? He wasn’t sure who to be maddest at—Connor or Zach. Either way, he was pissed.

“You’ve already called in?” Zach asked. “Why didn’t you tell me? We’re going to have to communicate better than this if we plan to make this work.” He shook his head and reached around Noah to pull a bagel from the toaster where it’d sat long enough to be cold. “Grab a seat, babe. Let’s eat breakfast together, let Connor update us on what he found out last night, and then I’ve got to get to work. I can’t believe you made me late.”

He moved to sit down at the small breakfast table and started smearing cream cheese on the bagel like it was nobody’s business. Noah stood there, trying to determine if he should slug Zach in the gut or be thankful it was Connor watching him. He would have a better chance ditching Connor than he would Zach…if Moretti was ready for him. After several seconds, he decided to pick his battles and plopped down in the chair between Connor and Zach.

“I still don’t understand why you are eating that, babe. It isn’t good for you. It can cause a negative reaction between the caffeine and your meds.”

Noah shoveled an oversized spoonful of the delicious cereal into his mouth and answered, “I’m good. Thanks for the info, though.” Some milk dribbled down his chin and he started to wipe it off, but Zach leaned over and licked it off for him.

“Hmmm, that is yummy.”

All of Noah’s anger dissolved in an instant. He was so fucking easy.

Zach winked at him playfully, but his gray eyes begged Noah for forgiveness. Noah knew Zach was only doing what he thought was best for him…just like Noah was only doing what he thought was best for Zach.

“Forgiven,” he said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Zach answered.

“You all are disgusting,” Connor said with a shake of his head. “Okay, so I talked to my friend at the prison last night. There’s been a flurry of visitors in to see Moretti, some of his regulars and some new unknowns. Caleb’s going to try to get me a list of every visitor he’s had over the past three months, but it will probably take him a couple of days to pull something like that together. On top of that, his lawyer is working on an appeal that seems to be getting some legs beneath it. My guess is he thinks there’s a damned good chance he’s either going to get the conviction tossed out, or he will, at the least, get a new trial.” Connor’s eyes locked with Noah. “A new trial is bad, Noah. That may be why he’s coming for you all of a sudden.”

“Stop trying to scare him,” Zach warned. “We don’t know what’s going on in that sick fucker’s head, but we know we’re going to fuck him up if he tries to come for Noah.”

“He isn’t trying to scare me, Zach. He’s treating me like an adult. I know you’re worried, but you’ve got to quit trying to protect me by keeping me in the dark. The more I know, the better prepared I’ll be.” That was bullshit, but Noah thought it sounded brave, like he planned on fighting Moretti’s attack.

“Once we get the visitor list, we can start trying to narrow down the names to determine who Moretti might trust enough to pull a job as important as this.” Connor frowned and asked Noah, “Did you know his son, Dante, has been running the family business while his father’s been in prison?”

Noah frowned. That sure didn’t sound right. “I haven’t followed the Moretti family in the news at all. I didn’t have any idea Dante was in charge. It’s weird, actually. Dante hated the business almost as much as he hated his father.” In fact, the whole reason Dante dragged Noah into his shit show was to be free of the business. Why would he have stuck around if his father wasn’t there to force him? Had his plans backfired? Noah couldn’t help but find some solace in the fact Dante might have been trapped in his own personal hell for the past four years. He’d been more than willing and plenty eager to throw Noah under the bus, so if he’d been suffering, Noah wouldn’t spend a second of pity on him. He might even go as far as to say the fucker deserved it.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d said.” Connor rubbed the stubble on his chin as he pondered what the latest revelation might mean. “From everything I’ve read and from what you’ve told me, Dante seemed too soft to run a criminal empire. Maybe he’s just a figurehead and somebody else is behind the scenes, pulling the strings for Donovan. Who knows.”

“So, what’s our brilliant plan? You guys can’t spend the rest of your lives taking turns sitting home with me. Are we going to go on the offensive?” Hell to the no they weren’t going on the offensive. Noah wouldn’t allow it but didn’t see any reason to let Zach or Connor know how he really felt about their odds against the Moretti clan.

“We’re definitely going on the offensive,” Connor and Zach both answered quickly. Then Zach added, “Just as soon as we can get an idea of who we need to attack, we’re attacking. Nobody messes with what’s mine.”

Noah liked belonging to Zach…if only for a short period of time.

“Hey, Noah,” Connor said. “Can you check your cell and computer to see if you’ve gotten any more messages? I’m interested in seeing if Cameron has reached out any more, and I definitely need to know if Moretti has thrown out another threat.”

---