Protecting Lulu (Global Protection Agency) (20 page)

“Family
can be difficult,” Noah said.

“I
created a new family for myself.” His family was growing now that E.J. and Mark.

“With
Lulu?” Noah asked.

“Did
Lulu tell you how we met?”

“You
met at NYU,” Noah replied.

“Lulu
saved my life, not only from a bully, but from myself. I was a little suicidal
when I realized my parents and siblings refused to have me back. Lulu took me
under her wing and taught me how to walk, dress, and to be the person inside of
me who was afraid to come out. I owe her everything.”

“Even
that job with Naomi Campbell?” Noah asked.

Aiden
couldn’t help but give them the classic ‘duh’ look. “I was blinded by the
glamour of working for her even though Lulu told me not to take the job. Lulu
warned me she was hard on her personal assistants, but it was Naomi Campbell. How
could I not want to work with her?”

“Why
are you special to Lulu?” Noah asked.

Aiden
knew this wasn’t a work related question. “At the time we met, we had a lot in
common. We were going through the same thing.”

“The
same thing?” Harrison asked.

“We
were both at a point in our lives where we had decisions to make. I had to decide
who I was and she had to decide what she was.”

“You’ve
lost me,” Noah said with a frown.

Aiden
tried to order his thoughts. How did he explain the relationship he had with
Lulu? “For me, it was easy. I didn’t meet my parent’s expectations and so I
basically said ‘screw you’. I had a four year ride to NYU and everything was
paid for and all I needed was spending money. Lulu got me a part time job in
the mailroom here at Bennington Media.”

“You
delivered mail?” Harrison said.

“I
sorted it at night. Made all the little piles look pretty.” He waved his hand. He’d
had fun sorting mail. As long as everything was ready to go the next morning,
no one checked up on him. When he was done sorting mail, he could study. Sometimes
even Lulu worked with him. “Once she’d left her modeling career, she’d
recognized the need to understand how her company worked from the bottom up.”

“Really?”
Noah said. “I have a hard time seeing Lulu sorting mail.”

Aiden
held up his hand. “We’ll get to Lulu in a minute. Right now we’re talking about
Aiden.”

Harrison’s
lips twitched and amusement filled his eyes.

“That’s
how Aiden Montez was born.” Aiden and Lulu spent hours coming up with a name
for him while they pulled mail out of the carts. “She even proposed to me
once.”

The
shock registered on Noah’s face. “What?”

Aiden
rolled his eyes. “We had this elaborate plan to show my family how well I’d
done for myself. I could almost picture myself as Hector Benevides-Bennington. The
planning was so exciting, but if I’d snagged Lulu and her bazillions my parents
might have wanted back in my life and I wasn’t having that.” He fluffed his
hair. “Besides she always insists on being the pretty one.”

Harrison
burst out laughing. His laughter was so infectious, Aiden joined him and even
Noah cracked a small smile.

“What
did Lulu need to reinvent?” Noah asked curiously.

“She
couldn’t ditch the name like I did. Lulu is synonymous with …well…Lulu.”

They
both eyed him curiously waiting for him to continue.

“Being
born in Lulu’s life only leaves a person with two options. A person either
coasts through life or shoots for the stars. Lulu’s no coaster. When I met Lulu
she didn’t know what to do with herself. School was a safe place for her to
make that decision. She’d have time to regroup while getting an education. She
was reinventing what she was. One thing she discovered about herself is that
she was more than just a pretty face and wanted to do something positive. She
wanted to work in the family business, but on her terms.”

“Everything
is on her terms,” Noah said.

Everything
but you, Aiden thought. “Modeling wasn’t on her terms. She hated how she had to
live her life to maintain her body.”

“She
didn’t need to be a model,” Noah said, “Why did she feel she had to be?”

“Lulu
loves to be worshipped and adored,” Aiden grinned. “She’s unashamedly vain.” As
if he needed to explain.

“That
doesn’t answer my question,” Noah said.

“From
the outside looking in,” Aiden said, “the industry looks very glamorous. A
model gets to wear beautiful clothes, they are all pretty and at the end of the
day she can collect a hefty check. All she has to do is sacrifice her life. It’s
sort of like making a deal with the devil. Lulu didn’t want it anymore.”

“Did
you know,” Harrison said, “that if something happened to Lulu you stand to
inherit ten million dollars?”

Aiden
was so astonished he didn’t know what to say. He stared at Harrison. “You’re
kidding me, aren’t you?”

“No,”
Harrison replied.

Aiden
blinked. “Ten million dollars!” That was a lot of cash. A hell of a lot of
cash. What was Lulu thinking? She paid him well. He had a place to live, and
she gave him a lot of freedom to do his job. “Damn her.” He didn’t need to be
remembered in her will.

He
sat back to contemplate what she had done. He wondered if she’d left her best
friend, Isabel Montgomery, money too. Lulu and Belle had been friends since
seventh grade. Belle was a doctor with Doctors Without Borders and part of her
charity was funded by the Bennington Foundation. Should he ask Lulu about
Belle? No, he didn’t think he was supposed to know about the ten million
dollars.

As
he thought about the money he started to feel better. Not because Lulu was
leaving him money, but what the generous offer meant. Lulu intended Aiden to be
a part of her family for the rest of her life. That level of profound trust
humbled him. He wanted to jump up and find her and give her a big hug. Right
after he yelled at her for giving the money to him. But then he thought, he
wasn’t meant to know about the money.

“If
I wanted to kill Lulu for the money, trust me, I don’t have the patience to
stalk her. I’d just get it done.”

“We
kind of figured that,” Harrison said, “but we wanted to talk to you anyway.”

Aiden
pursed his lips. He and little Ms. Moneybags were going to have themselves a
long talk. “Are we done?”

“Are
you okay?” Harrison eyed him.

Aiden
pursed his lips. “Mmmhmm.”

“Are
you upset about the money?”

“Just
a smidge. Plus I have to deal with TCB today and trust me there isn’t enough Prozac,
bourbon, and chocolate to deal with that woman.”

“TCB?”
Noah said suddenly alert.

“That
Crazy Bitch Bethany Forrester. You know, Jake O’Malley’s girlfriend. You met
her at the premier. She horns in on Lulu’s action. Bethany thinks she can just
walk off with Lulu’s man and then work for Lulu’s charity just like that.” He
snapped his fingers. “They are having lunch today and there are wars that have
taken less planning.”

“Don’t
like Miss Forrester much, do you?” Harrison asked.

“Hate
her,” Aiden replied.

Noah
and Harrison exchanged looks.

 “If
something ever happens to Miss Forrester, we should probably take a hard look
at you,” Harrison said.

“I
wouldn’t kill her, I’d ruin her career. If I could just find the right scandal
I’d put an end to her with just a word.” Aiden snapped his fingers.

“Jake
is next on my list,” Harrison said with a glance at Noah.

Noah
nodded. He wrote something on his notepad and then glanced up at Aiden. “Thank
you for coming in. We appreciate the enlightening experience,”

“
De
nada
, you’re welcome,” Aiden said. “Not a problem. Always happy to help.” He
rose from the chair and walked to the door, happy to be gone. He needed to yell
at Lulu.

Lulu’s
office was empty except for her secretary Maris who crouched in front of an
open file drawer.

“Where’s
Lulu,” Aiden asked when Maris looked up from her filing.

“She’s
on the
Interludes
set. Some trouble with one of the actors. Be careful
she’s riding her broom.”

That’s
good. He was getting out his flying monkeys because she was going to change
that will today.

Aiden
took the elevator down to the set. Besides hosting her own talk show, she also
filmed a TV show,
Interludes
, that was sexy enough only to be broadcast
on cable. Aiden loved her talk show, but he adored
Interludes
. Lulu had
wanted a show with a sexy plus size woman. It was one of the top rated cable
shows in the nation. The lead actress, Chloe DeNova, was a plus sized woman and
as proud of her curves as Lulu.

Aiden
entered the studio. The light outside the door wasn’t on which meant the
cameras were not filming. Lulu stood in the center of the sound stage talking
to the lead guest actor for the current episode. He looked mutinous as he
glared at Lulu. In the background, Chloe stood holding a thick robe closed
while tears dripped down her cheeks.

Aiden
approached carefully. He didn’t like the anger showing on Lulu’s face even as
she maintained a façade of control.

“Sweetie,
you knew what this show was about when you accepted the role,” Lulu said
calmly.

“I
can’t find my motivation,” the actor said almost smugly. He was handsome in a
slick, almost too perfect manner. Blond hair fell over his forehead giving him
a vulnerable look. The pout on his lips was probably supposed to disarm Lulu,
but Aiden knew she wasn’t charmed by his act.

“You
mean a paycheck isn’t enough?” Lulu asked.

“Look
at her.” The actor pointed at Chloe. “How can anyone be turned on by that?”

Oh
no! Aiden thought. He braced himself for Hurricane Lulu.

Lulu
placed her hands on her hips. “Sweetie, you should go. I think you should call
your agent and let him know that you won’t be paying him his commission.”

“What
the fuck?”

“Do
you want a check for doing something you find morally repugnant? People will
call you a whore.”

The
actor lifted his chin defiantly. “I’m not afraid of you. I don’t like fat
women. What man does?”

Ian
stepped up to him, grabbed the actor by his wrist and twisted. “I like them. Now
apologize. You’ve offended every person here.”

The
actor stumbled to his knees, lips pressed together tightly. He glared at Ian
but refused to say anything.

“Apologize
to Ms. Bennington and Ms. DeNova,” Ian twisted harder.

“Sorry.”

“Not
good enough,” Ian said as he twisted the actor’s arm.

Lulu
put her hand on Ian’s arm. “Let him go. You can’t break his wrist, he’s going
to need his hand for flipping burgers.”

Ian
let go and the actor stumbled forward, but caught himself on the arm of a
chair. He stumbled away without looking back.

“Thank
you, Ian,” Lulu said.

“He’s
lucky Noah wasn’t here,” Ian said.

Lulu
turned to comfort Chloe. Leading her off the set, Aiden followed. “Aiden,” Lulu
said, “run over to the commissary and get Chloe some chocolate, please. You
know the ones she likes. Those white ones with the caramel inside.”

“Before
I do that, we need to have a little talk.”

“Oh
dear,” Lulu said, finally looking at Aiden. She settled Chloe in her dressing
room. Lulu stepped out into the hall and eyed Aiden. “That’s your ‘I’m angry
with Lulu’ face.”

Aiden
crossed his arms over his chest. “Ten million dollars worth of angry. Really?”

Her
eyes widened. “Do you think it’s not enough?”

“It’s
ten million too much.” She paid him well and helped him invest his money
wisely. He didn’t want to be dependent on anybody and the fact that she’d
written this into her will bothered him. “Did you rewrite your will because
you’re afraid the stalker will get you?”

“No,”
she said. “The provision has been in my will for a couple years. Who’s going to
take care of you if something happens to me?”

“I
don’t need you to take care of me. I’m all grown-up now. I think I’ll manage. I
want you to take me out of your will today.”

Lulu
tilted her head at him. “No. It’s my money and if want to leave some to you, I
can. There is absolutely, positively nothing you can do to make me change my
mind.” She crossed her arms over her chest, mimicking him.

He
turned over in his mind what to do. “I could quit,” Aiden threatened. That was
a hollow threat. He’d never leave Lulu. He could probably just donate the whole
amount to charity. But then again, he would never need to worry. Nothing would
happen to Lulu. She was indestructible.

“No
you won’t,” Lulu said her lower lip quivering. “You love me. You would never
abandon me.”