chapter fifteen
A gentle breeze sent the hair that Noah had neglected to get trimmed brushing over his forehead. The sky outside their rented hut on the beach was dotted with fluffy white clouds and reflected the color of the turquoise water. When he’d decided to take his lady on vacation, all he’d wanted was a chance to get her away from the stress and bad memories of the city. He couldn’t have gotten a better escape.
Although it wasn’t usually considered ideal to bring a group of your best friends along on a romantic getaway.
“I’m going to take a shower now that Matthias is done. Then we can go out to eat. I’ve been dreaming about that fried fish we had on the beach last night.”
Lucia stood from her chair next to his where they’d been relaxing and taking in the view while the rest of the team took turns cleaning up. The guys had a hut next door but they still spent most of their time hanging around Lucia. Now that they’d gotten used to protecting her, Noah suspected they found it just as difficult to turn off their overprotective tendencies where she was concerned. He couldn’t blame them for not being able to stay away.
He found her pretty irresistible as well.
“Want me to wash your back?” He wiggled his eyebrows when he said it mainly because it always made her laugh. The joke was on him because her pupils dilated slightly and the look she gave him could only be described as … hungry.
“Later, once we’re alone. Then I’ll let you wash anything you want.”
She left behind the scent of coconut oil and strawberries, which brought a smile to Noah’s face. Briefly, he considered the idea of not going back. Sure, she’d miss friends and family back in the city, but perhaps he could convince her it was worth it. They could travel the globe, beach-hopping, and then they’d always be one step ahead of ORUS.
“You look pretty relaxed for a guy with a target on his back,” Matthias commented as he took the seat Lucia had vacated.
Noah shook his head. He was truly out of it if he hadn’t heard Matthias approach.
“Not relaxed so much as resigned. Men like me don’t get a happily ever after. I’ve always known that. But I’d hoped I could do better than that for Lucia.”
Matthias glanced behind them. “You know I’ve been trying to crack ORUS’s internal security codes ever since we got out. It’s some of the most sophisticated encryption in existence and almost impossible to crack unless you have someone on the inside.”
“Is that right? Too bad we don’t know anyone like that.”
Matthias grunted. “That’s what I thought, too. Until last week.”
“What happened last week?” Noah kept his voice steady and calm as if they were discussing something mundane like the weather. Any of the other tourists walking the beach would see nothing more exciting than two guys shooting the breeze and watching the ocean.
“A little bird dropped a piece of information in my lap last week that changed everything.” Matthias rested his right foot casually on his left knee. “What would you do if you could find Orion?”
The air around them seemed to solidify and Noah had to concentrate to get his next breath in. Matthias was a straight shooter and not the type to engage in what-if games just for shits and giggles.
“Find him as in know his government identity?”
“Not just his government identity but his fucking street address where he lays his head every night. Where he puts out his trash every Thursday and plants pansies every spring.”
Noah looked him straight in the eye. “I would kill him. Immediately and without hesitation.”
Matthias nodded and for a few minutes they continued watching the water without conversation. Just when Noah thought he’d scream in frustration, Matthias leaned over and handed him a folded slip of paper.
“Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
Matthias stepped onto the sand and walked toward the ocean, the breeze lifting his dark hair. When he reached the water’s edge, he dipped his bare feet in. Then he looked over his shoulder at Noah and waved.
Noah waved back.
It was all so simple.
A quiet suburban neighborhood. Upscale. If there were cars parked on the street, they were BMWs and Mercedes. A Range Rover here, an Audi there. It was the kind of place that a tech developer might live, or a stockbroker. Refined, elegant. It was not the kind of place people assumed an assassin would live.
Noah used Matthias's fancy tech toys to turn on the jammer. There'd be no calls out of Orion's house tonight. He waited until he saw Orion's blond girlfriend climb into her car and drive down the street. He wanted to make sure she was gone and wouldn't be coming back for anything she might've left at the house.
At first, he'd been shocked to see the blonde walking around in the house through the windows. She'd been waiting on him. Taking care of him. Or maybe she wasn't his girlfriend at all. Maybe she was from a home health service, one where you could hire some hot girl to come and look after you. Generally, he'd call that an escort service, but he didn't judge.
Next order of business was to turn off the security system. That was more difficult, and required Matthias's help.
"Kid, you there?"
"I'm reading you loud and clear, Noah. Are you ready?"
"Yep, I'm here."
"Hold up the red remote to his lock and let me take care of the rest."
Since Orion had one of those smart houses, hacking would be slightly easier. Although, since he would've added his own layer of security, Noah was ready for all kinds of special booby-traps. He wasn't really interested in Orion knowing he was coming for him.
"Okay, you should be all good."
Riding the razor’s edge of anticipation and adrenaline, Noah tried the door. And sure enough, there was no alarm. And no sound, which suited him just fine.
He found Orion in the kitchen. The guy was cooking. As if he hadn't just tried to take out Noah's girlfriend. The woman he loved. His reason for breathing.
"You know, I’m surprised to find that you cook. I assumed you would get one of those shitty meal delivery services."
Orion seemed completely unperturbed. Considering an ex-operative was standing in his home. With a gun at the ready.
"Noah, I wondered when I'd see you again. I am a little surprised to find you in my home, unannounced, but it's not like me to be a rude host. Would you like a drink?"
"No, I think I'll pass. What I want is the code generator and the sat phone."
Orion laughed. "What do you want those for? Only the director of ORUS has those. You know the rules. And there is no way you're making it past biometric scans to steal it."
Noah just gave him a slight smile. "So how long?"
Orion didn't play coy. "Since I became Orion. I've always had my own little side projects. I started to see the real advantage of taking out certain players years ago. Before Libra had to go and get involved. But then, he lost his life for that."
"I actually believed in what ORUS stood for. You had us all believing."
"That's because I'm a leader. You think you can run ORUS? You haven't got what it takes. You've gone soft. The fact that I could even get to Lucia tells me you don't deserve this."
Orion might think that Noah was rusty, but his reflexes were razor-sharp. When Orion sent the knife toward his chest, Noah sidestepped easily. He fired one shot from his gun, the silencer dampening the sound, and hit his target in the shoulder.
"Fuck you. Clearly you don't even know how to make the kill shot anymore."
Orion sent another knife. This one came slightly closer, but that was how Noah wanted it. He fired another shot, this time grazing Orion's ear. He frowned and touched the bloody spot at his ear.
"Oh, so now you're showing off. I'm still not going to give you what you want.”
"Yes. You will."
"Oh really? Why would I do that? You'll never have it."
Noah fought with the part of him that wanted to take his time. That wanted to incapacitate Orion enough that he could tie him to a chair and play. But he suppressed the part of him that liked to kill. He wasn't letting that part of himself out anymore. Not ever.
This was a job. Clean, simple. He had one goal. And it wasn't retribution. It was a matter of safety. He took aim and hit Orion’s other shoulder. And his former boss cursed again.
"You might not want to give me the code, but I'm taking it one way or the other."
A series of throwing stars came his way, but he saw that they caused Orion significant pain to wield them. One of them clipped Noah in the shoulder. He barely felt the burn. And bonus, Orion had to step out from around the island to fire them off. And then Noah saw his opening. With one perfectly placed shot, he hit Orion in the exact place Lucia had stabbed him. His former boss went down in a heap.
Without preamble, Noah walked over calmly and dragged Orion up by the arm.
Orion writhed and tried to get away, but Noah was having none of it. Thanks to the schematics Matthias had found, locating the safe was easy enough. When Orion tried to fight him, Noah calmly but efficiently sent a blow to the back of his skull, forcing him to collapse. The biometric scan was easy. One handprint. Done.
The eye scan was a little trickier as he had to hold Orion up, awkwardly bracing him against the wall with the panel. Noah leaned his head back and pried an eyelid open. And when he had the clear scan, he let Orion fall to the ground as the safe clicked open.
Noah turned the latch, and inside there were several papers and exactly what he was looking for. He took the sat phone and the code generator, as well as the stack of papers in there. Then he turned back to Orion and fired one kill shot to the head.
He had more work to do tonight.
When Ian came out of the shower, he stopped mid-stride when he saw Noah standing in the middle of his room. Anyone else would have shit a brick to see an uninvited guest in their locked home in the middle of the night, but Ian just shrugged and then walked to his dresser where he calmly selected a shirt and jeans.
“So I guess my number finally came up, huh? Just make it fast, kid. I think you owe me that much.”
Noah chuckled. Ian had always been such a grumpy bastard, but no one could call him anything less than a professional. He wasn’t the type to whine and beg for his life. Truth be told, the idea of dying at the hands of a friend was probably Ian’s idea of an honorable death.
“I’m not here to take you out. Who would I call when I need advice?”
Ian pushed up his sleeves and leaned against the dresser. “What’s the occasion? Don’t tell me you missed my pretty face?” He stroked the edge of his scarred jaw absently.
“I was in the neighborhood.”
“This place was locked up tighter than the Pentagon. Or so I thought anyway. My guys are good, too.”
“Matthias is better.”
Ian didn’t bother arguing. They both knew it was the truth. Noah looked around the room, taking in the minimalist décor and looking toward the closet with the military grade weapons that he’d checked out while Ian was in the bathroom. Once he made this decision, there was no undoing it. But Ian had worked alongside him many times and taught him a lot along the way. He was a sonofabitch, no doubt about it, but he was fair and once upon a time had actually believed in the original mission of ORUS.
After a short pause, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal the series of connected dots that formed his ORUS identification. Ian’s eyes fell to his own exposed wrists.
“Phoenix,” Noah said. “Your name is strangely prophetic.”
“What does that mean?”
His mind made up, Noah pulled the sat phone and code generator from the interior pocket of his jacket and set them carefully on the desk. Such innocuous items to hold such power.
Ian stood up straight. The items didn’t exactly broadcast what they were, but Noah figured the other man knew something was up just by how strangely he’d been behaving.
“It’s time to change your tattoos. You’re Orion now.”
“What the hell?”
For the first time, Noah had the supreme pleasure of seeing Ian smile. Just as quickly, his face returned to its usual sullen expression.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, kid.”
The name brought a smile to Noah’s face, reminding him of how he talked to Matthias. It had been so long since he’d felt like a kid, where everything was fresh and new. When everything was possible.
But now it was. And he wasn’t going to waste a single moment.
“What I’m doing is something that should have been done long ago. The original goal and purpose of ORUS has been twisted for profit long enough. Now things are going to be different. It’s time for control to be back with the people who believed that we could do some good.”
Ian held out a hand and when they shook, Noah could feel it. They were starting something solid. Something right.
“Good luck, kid.” Ian paused and then asked, “Do you really think it’s possible for men like us to get a second chance? The ORUS I was trained to serve is a shadow organization at its core. You really think we can turn this around?”
“First, I’m not turning it around. You are. And I believe you can do it.”
Ian’s eyes rounded. “You’re really out? For good?”
An image of Lucia waiting for him in their bed, all bright eyes and smooth skin, spread warmth and contentment through him until he felt like he could have actually walked on air.
“Some men can exist in that place between the dark and the light. But I’m tired of being in the shadows. From now on I’m walking in the light.”
With one last handshake, Noah walked out and into a future where anything seemed possible.
THANK YOU for reading Unashamed, the final book of the exciting new romantic misadventure trilogy, Shameless.
We told you Noah Blake was #SHAMELESS. We hope you enjoyed Noah and Lucia’s story. Find out now how the Blake Security Saga continues with JJ & Jonas’s story, #FORCE. at malonesquared.com
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