Page 52 of Noel
“Please, I just ate,” Remy replies and snorts.“Okay, Holly, why don’t you go with Kai?He’ll get you situated.Kane—my office.We need to talk about the breach.”
Remy levels a look at Noel, all warmth gone in an instant, and gestures toward a sleek black door with his name etched in chrome lettering.
“You.With me.”
Noel hesitates just long enough to glance back at me.
“I’ll be fine,” I say quickly.“Go.”
“Don’t wander,” he mutters before turning and following Connor inside.
The moment the door clicks shut behind him, the shift is palpable.Like the air pressure dropped.The lighting dimmed.
I’m not just standing in his world now.I’minsideit.Behind the veil.And I’m not sure what that makes me.
I’m still wearing jeans, lip gloss, and a parka with fake fur trim, like I belong in a small-town holiday rom-com—definitely not inside a high-security command center run by men who probably have bloodstains on their tactical boots.
And then the testosterone wall arrives.
Four men step out of the conference area like they were summoned by instinct alone.
The first is tall and lean, with a devil-may-care grin and eyes that saytrouble.I recognize him from yesterday, though barely.I think they call him Ego.
He gives me a slow once-over, not in a creepy way, but like he’s trying to read my whole personality in a single glance—and maybe finding it amusing.
Next to him is someone I’d call beautiful if he didn’t look like he could shatter bones with his pinky.His features are sharper than Ego’s, but similar—jawline, cheekbones.
Definitely brothers.This must be Kai.
The third man is built like a linebacker—broad, scarred, and solid enough to walk through walls without flinching.His dark eyes are cool but not unkind.
And the fourth has dark hair and a beard, intense eyes, and a quiet, assessing presence.
He moves like someone who’s always one step away from vanishing—or striking.
I straighten my spine instinctively.“Uh, hi?”
Ego steps forward and hands me a steaming paper cup.
“Figured you’d need this.We’re notcompletelyheartless.Just mostly.”
“Thanks,” I murmur, curling my fingers around the cup.
It’s warm.Smells like real espresso.Bless him.
Kai inclines his head slightly.“So, you Noel’s girl now?”
I blink.“I—no.I mean, nothisgirl.We’re just—uh,” I grimace.
“Say less,” Ego says with a smirk.“Our lips are sealed.”
The big guy—Jack, I think—grunts, “Come on, sunshine.Let’s get you an office.”
They lead me down a corridor lined with steel-trimmed glass.The office they show me is clean, minimalist, and secure.
A single desk, a high-end monitor, and a laptop that looks like it could survive a bomb blast.
“Here you go,” another quiet hulking bodyguard—Less, I think his name is—says.“Clean machine.No spyware.No trackers.You’re good to go.”
