24/7

Noah had instructed Max to reschedule his appointments and hold all his calls and Steve did the same with his assistant, while each of them got to working on their individual tasks. They had agreed to reconvene in Noah's office after about an hour to get to work on the gathered data. In the time before that Steve, reached out to his friends from out of town and his contacts in the body security field. While Steve handled a few of his own matters, Noah called up Laila.

Laila picked up the phone sounding quite cheerful, as if she had forgotten about the pictures she had sent him, and Noah dreaded having to give her the bad news.

"Hi honey, how is it going?" Laila asked, in a sweet voice. Noah answered with a calm, "Hmm, Good. How are things going at home? Are you and Maria working on your company?" Laila shook her head and said, "No, not really. Somehow we are in a really big laughing mood. Every little thing seems to set us off." Noah built up the energy to what he had to say in his mind and said, "That is great. I am happy to hear you two are having a good time but... the reason I called wasn't just to check in on how you are doing..." Laila's voice shifted and she started to sound a bit more concerned as she asked, "Oh, okay...I see. Why did you call?"

Noah let out a small sigh, because he really didn't want to worry Laila. Especially not now, knowing she was actually enjoying herself. But he did what he had to do and said, "Well, remember those photo's you sent me this morning. The ones from Jake."

Laila nodded and said, "Yes, of course. I forgot about them for a minute but yes." Noah nodded as well, although the nodding was subconsciously in his case. In both cases their nodding was amusing as neither of them was able to see what the other person is doing, since they were calling regularly, not with video. But regardless of that, after he had nodded, Noah began his explanation.

"Well, I had some of my people visit the restaurant, where the pictures have been taken, and ask some questions, retrieve the security tapes and maybe get some answers on who and why those pictures had been taken. But when they went, they discovered something really interesting yet dangerous." Laila let out a worried, 'Oh no', as she continued to listen to Noah's story anxiously.

"Because the person who took those pictures is none other than the nephew of Harold Richardson. As you know, he is a dangerous man and he was able to get so close to me without any of us being aware of his involvement in what took place that evening. This showed me and Steve just how long his shadow is and that we should move things along faster before he catches on and does something. But, we also realized that we should be more careful. A lot more careful. For that, you and I will have to give up a bit of our privacy. This time it was just pictures. Who knows what he will do next time. So, for now, me and him think that you and I should have personal bodyguards."

Laila let out a gasp as soon as she heard Harold Richardson's name fall. She hated hearing his name. His name was never good news. Now that Noah had said all of this, she had been proved right once again. She let out a sigh and said, "I see. Well, I can't say that I am thrilled by the idea but I also know that this is something we have to do for now. For how long would they be around? Is this an around the clock type of thing? Or just during certain hours of the day?"

Noah hesitantly answered Laila's questions. "I'm afraid it will be 24/7 and for as long as Harold poses a threat to us. I hope it won't be long. Steve is looking into ways we can get to him and after our talk, me and him will be going over the data we gathered from Olivia. This also brings me to what we have to ask from you and Maria. We want you to see if you can get into Jake's phone. We want to know what he knows and how he and Harold are involved as well. Right now seems perfect for this as he is already sniffing around and he thinks our marriage is on the rocks. Might as well take advantage of his naivete and get some useful information."

"Yeah, of course. Anything we can do to help. Though I don't look forward to seeing him again. He already said he would be looking in on me tomorrow as he was 'worried'. Since he is convinced that you have cheated on me or soon will, he won't be going very far until we can prove this isn't the case. So, I am all for not wasting our efforts on that and instead making use of his stubbornness."

Noah chuckled, feeling happy that Laila was taking his news so well. Making him feel more at ease about the situation as well. He always found this so impressive. Laila was always saying that he hwas the one calming him down but in moments like these, that couldn't be more wrong. It was her who calmed him down and made his focus return to what was important.

"I am glad you feel the same way. Remember that device you used on Olivia's phone?"

"Yeah."

"It's in my desk drawer upstairs. You can grab it and keep it with you. So, that if the opportunity arises, you have it ready. Don't take any unnecessary risks. Though I doubt Jake would actually physically harm you, there is no need to put that to the test. You are pregnant, which makes you a bit too vulnerable for my taste."

Laila chuckled, before she assured him she wouldn't do anything stupid. "No worries. I will let Maria do all the heavy lifting and dirty work. I'll only use my tears to make him lower his guard and I might have to give him a hug or two to take the phone away from him."

Noah closed his eyes for a minute as he clenched his jaw, before he said through his teeth, "Do whatever you have to do. Just don't tell me about it. I don't want to imagine that type of thing. Just let me remain blissfully ignorant of the process, that is the only way I'll be able to get through this."

Laila chuckled once more and said, "As you wish", before they said their goodbyes and got started on the tasks at hand.