Page 98 of Something Like Hail

Nathaniel Courtney.

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Noah arrived at Studio Maltese that nightdressed to impress and smelling fantastic. He felt a little uneasywhen Dave the security guard asked him what he was doing there.Noah wondered the same. Nathaniel hadn’t seemed the type to hire anescort. He’d been preachy about that aspect of Marcello’s business,but then some clients were like that. Publicly they were all Biblequotes and baptisms, but behind closed doors…

“Appointment withNathaniel,” he said, keeping it simple.

Dave checked his list and nodded. Noahwouldn’t have been upset if the man had turned him away instead,saying the appointment was canceled. Nathaniel was a married man!Normally that was none of his business. Not everyone wasmonogamous, but more often than not, the married guys wanted tomeet him somewhere neutral, like a hotel room. Or, like now, aprivate office.

On the ride up to the second floor andduring the walk down the hall, he tried to shake these feelings andget himself into a professional mindset. Charming. Seductive. Butwhy him? Nathaniel hadn’t seemed to like Noah much. That could beit. People got off on all sorts of crazy things. He found the rightdoor and knocked.

“Come in,” barked a gruffvoice.

“Hey,” he said whenentering, still not in the correct headspace. “We have an...appointment?”

Nathaniel looked up from his laptop andnodded. “That’s right.”

“Cool.” Noah shut the doorbehind him and stood there awkwardly. “Are we stayinghere?”

“Yeah,” Nathaniel said ashe typed. “I just need to finish this and we’ll get started rightaway. Make yourself comfortable.”

So he was one of those guys! Noah camecloser, unbuttoning his shirt and shrugging it off. He let it dropto the floor, but Nathaniel didn’t even look up. Maybe he was hardto please. Size impressed most people, so Noah started on his belt,the metal buckle clanking and clattering. Nathaniel tore his eyesaway from his computer, shooting him an irritated glare. Then hedid a double-take.

“What are youdoing?”

“My job,” Noah blurtedout.

“Hold it right there.”Nathaniel said. He grabbed his phone, tapped it a few times andheld it to his ear, looking him over as he waited for an answer.“It’s me. Yeah, still at the office. There’s a guy here, just tookoff his shirt and looks like he’s about to whip it out. Seriously.No, I didn’t ask him to. Mm-hm. I think you could take him in afight. No, no knives please. What? Do we even have a rolling pin?Wait, now he’s putting his shirt back on. Looks like you can stayhome. Say hi to Zero. Okay. Bye.”

“Very funny,” Noah said,fumbling with his buttons and getting angry. “You’re the one whosent for me! Call your husband back and tell him that!”

“Just because we asked youto come here doesn’t mean—” He stopped because a phone had beenthrust in his face. Nathaniel read the screen. Then he leaned backin his chair. “Sorry. Not your fault. Marcello is messing with me.Here.” He loosened his tie and took it off. “Put this on thedoorknob outside.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s our turn tomess with him.”

Noah did what he was told, face stillburning when he returned to the desk. “I hate him. Should Igo?”

“No. We really do need youhere. Just not for that.”

“Fine by me,” he said,flopping down in a chair. Then, having regained some of his senseof humor, he added. “Your loss. Believe me.”

“I can only imagine,”Nathaniel said. Then he held a finger to his lips.

“Oh!” said a voice in thehall. “My my.” Then louder, it added, “What’s this tie doing on thefloor?”

Nathaniel rolled his eyes, Noah not needingto explain that he had put the tie firmly on the knob.

“I should probably returnit to its rightful owner,” Marcello continued. “I’ll just see ifanyone’s home. No, I mustn’t! Mustn’t I? I’m so torn! Still, itwould be a shame if some thief ran off with such a nice tie. I’lljust slip it inside. Pun intended.”

The door creaked open a crack, a beady eyeappearing and taking in the scene. Then the door flew open.

“Hollow out a mountain,”Marcello said, “and there still wouldn’t be enough room to containmy disappointment. Where’s your sense of adventure, Nathaniel? Andyou, Noah, where’s your sense of duty?”

“I already called Kelly,”Nathaniel said. “There’s a price on your head. You brought thisupon yourself.”

“I shall face my fate inthe same way I came into this world,” Marcello said. “Naked. We’llsee what your hitman thinks of that!”