“Well, why didn’t you say so?” He is on me in a heartbeat, hauling me downstairs this time, to a bathroom located on the opposite side of what looks like a utility room.
“Thanks.” I grip the basin and wait for him to leave but he just stands there with his arms crossed over his chest.
“Yeah. This isn’t happening, big guy. I’m not peeing in front of you.”
“It isn’t a big deal, Eden. What if you fall?” Noah scolds, shaking his head, making his dark hair bounce around comically
“I can honestly say I would rather you had to clean up my blood from me injuring myself than have you stand there watching me pee. Now get out before I shout for Mason to move you.”
He rolls his eyes at me like I’m exasperating. “I’m not scared of Mason, Eden, and you shouldn’t play us against each other.”
I growl at him. “If you aren’t scared of Mason then you are an idiot, Noah, but that’s beside the point. Believe it or not, I have more pressing things to do than play games, like pee in private, for instance.”
He stomps out of the room like an angry toddler, but I know he won’t have gone far. I finish, flush, and am washing my hands just as the door opens again. I roll my eyes but ignore him for a second and count to ten in my head. Thank god I only needed to pee. I have barely hung the towel back up when I find myself being carried up the stairs. I huff like a stroppy teen.
“Is it really so bad being carried by me?”
I look up and swear I see hurt flash across his features before he masks it. “No, of course not. Who in their right mind would hate being carried around by three insanely hot guys all the freaking time? It’s just that you are all treating me like I’m made of glass. I’m stronger than I look, and I hate feeling useless.”
“You think I’m hot?”
“Oh, of course that’s the only thing you heard,” I mutter and huff again, turning away from him with a scowl on my face.
Noah sits me in the chair with the footrest.
“What’s with the frown?” Eli asks as he steps up beside me and hands me a glass of water and two pain pills.
“Eden thinks I’m hot,” Noah answers for me.
“Well, shit, she must have banged her head harder than we realised. Wait, you think Noah’s hot? What about me?” He moves into some over exaggerated poses, making me giggle.
“You are all gorgeous and you know it. Stop fishing for compliments.”
He flops back down on the sofa as Mason walks in, this time wearing a pair of track pants with his T-shirt.
“It’s true, I know exactly how good-looking I am. The mirror never lies.” Eli obviously isn’t modest.
Mason looks from me to Eli before sitting on the sofa. “I don’t know, Eli, I think you have more of a baby face than a manly one. I think that qualifies you for cute doesn’t it?”
Noah finds that hilarious. Eli not so much, as he lobs a cushion at Mason.
“All right, asshat, do you want to fill us in on what’s going on?” Noah crosses his legs and faces Eli, all business again.
“Right, well, Ryan and Caleb are running security for Eden. They’re going to act as her primary guards if she needs to go somewhere and we can’t be with her. They have two of their boys, Kyle and Cory, doing random drive-bys and Sam is seeing what he can dig up on Karl and if he can locate him. Malcolm has dropped him as a client and has pretty much blacklisted him with everyone else.” He turns to face me.
“He sends his deepest apologies. He would like to help you claim your inheritance and is willing to act as a go-between for you and your solicitor or represent you if that’s what you need. I know it might not seem like it with the way things have played out so far, but he really is one of the best. That’s pretty much—” He is interrupted by his phone ringing. Pulling it out he frowns at the screen before answering.
“Hello, Sam?” Hearing a one-way conversation is frustrating when you know damn fine its information about your life. “Really? You’re sure? Okay, thanks, man.” He hangs up and looks at me in confusion.
“What?”
“That was Sam. They have confirmation that Karl is in Germany and has been since Sunday morning.”
“What? That’s impossible! That would mean he had nothing to do with the car crash or the cat.” Mason looks sceptical. “Bit too much of a coincidence for me.”
“He flew by private plane and the pilot confirms it. They looked, and he is checked into the Holiday Inn in Frankfurt. There is also a photograph in the newspaper of him at a fundraiser hosted by one of his friends that took place last night.”
Well, that shuts us all up. I don’t know what to say. I understand they have evidence but, in my heart, I’m still convinced it’s him. Who else could it be?
“Any other enemies we need to worry about?” Noah snaps.
“Fuck off, Noah. This isn’t Eden’s fault, so stop acting like it fucking is,” Mason barks at him.
“There isn’t anybody else, Noah. I never spoke a word to the customers and most of the girls kept to themselves. Mason, Russ, Candy, and Jackie were the only people that I really spoke to.”
“Fuck. Either he has someone else doing his dirty work or chances are you have a stalker, darlin’,” Eli guesses
“I can’t see Karl giving control over to anyone else but a stalker just seems like too much of a coincidence.” I’m just not buying it.
“If you had somebody following you and they heard us talking in the carpark and found out you were leaving, then yeah. That could be the catalyst that set him off,” Mason concedes.
“Doesn’t change anything, really. We need to be hypervigilant and wait him out.” Noah shrugs.
I sigh in frustration but I guess he’s right.
“Anyone hungry?” We all turn to stare at Noah with matching looks of what the fuck?
“I can make a fucking sandwich, Jesus.” He must be thinking our looks are about his inability to cook as opposed to his random change in conversation.
I go to answer but my stomach chooses that moment to growl. Fuck it. What else is there to even say at this point?
“I could eat.” I shrug, making Noah smile.
“I’ll just make a bunch and you two can come and grab some when you’re ready. Eden, you want to come and help?”
I nod, bored from doing nothing. Cooking might be beyond him but surely he can’t fuck up sandwiches, right? I sit at the table that is piled high with the mail that Eli must have brought in earlier. I guess that’s one of the drawbacks of being on the road for months on end. I spot a heart-shaped box of chocolates and raise my eyebrow at Noah.
“Eli must be trying to earn himself some brownie points, the fucker.” He slides them across to me and heads over to the fridge. “Help yourself.”
I’ll just have a couple as I don’t want to spoil my lunch. Thank god Eli remembered to grab some food. I untie the bow on the box and slide the lid off.
“So, we have ham, chicken, some cheese.”
It takes my brain a couple of seconds to compute what I’m seeing but when it does, I throw the box to the floor.
“Noah.”
He spins at the tone in my voice. My head is throbbing, and I swear I can actually feel the colour draining from my face.
“Jesus, Eden you’re as white as a sheet what’s wrong?”
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. All I can do is stare at the chocolates scattered across the floor. He turns to see where I’m looking and I see the exact moment he figures out what has me so spooked.
“Fuck!” he shouts at the top of his voice as we both watch a dozen or so maggots crawling through the box of chocolates that were just in my hands.
I hear feet pounding on the stairs a second or so before Mason and Eli appear, clearly having heard him shout.
“What’s going on?” Mason asks, wrapping his arms around me.
“It’s the chocolate you got for Eden, Eli, they were off. They’re riddled with maggots.”
Mason rubs
his hand up and down my back but the look on Eli’s face has my blood running cold.
“I didn’t buy her any chocolates, Noah. I brought the post in, that’s all. They must have been in there. I didn’t even notice them.”
“Shit. Is there a note?” Mason asks, looking at Noah.
He grabs the box and the disregarded lid, shaking the chocolates and remaining maggots free so Eli can sweep them up.
“Yeah, there’s one inside the lid. It says, ‘See you soon.’”
“It’s him isn’t it?” I knew it was too good to be true.
“We don’t know that, Eden. It could be completely unrelated. Hell, it could be for Noah or me. After all, it’s in our mailbox and we don’t know how long it’s been in there. Plus, we know for a fact that he is in Germany.”
“Let’s just clear it up and go out for a bit instead. We can take a drive down to the Italian place on the corner.
“Okay, sounds good. Come on, Eden, let’s get you ready.” Mason swoops me up before I can protest, leaving Noah to help finish cleaning up the nasty little fuckers with Eli.
I can hear them talking as we make our way upstairs.
“What do you think?” I hear Noah ask.
“I don’t know, man. If the mailbox wasn’t full, I would be screaming foul play, but it was stuffed, and the truth is we just don’t know how long that box has been in there. It could just as simply be a rather unfortunate, but completely unrelated, incident. We just have to stay alert.”
“Yeah, all right. I’m going to get changed really quick. I swear I can feel the little fuckers crawling on me.”
I can faintly hear Eli laughing at him.
Am I overreacting? Is it a coincidence? I doubt it. I shut down those thoughts for now and get changed into a soft grey cotton long-sleeved, floor-length dress. I slip on a pair of black ballet pumps and run a brush through my hair, securing the front of it with a couple of bobby pins to keep it off my face. Thirty minutes later the house is maggot free and the four of us pull up down the street for something to eat. The tantalising aroma of garlic and onion reaches us as soon as we step out of the car, making my stomach clench in anticipation. Noah offers me his arm which I take gratefully as he leads us into the restaurant.
“God, I’m starving,” Mason grouses but, to be honest, he is always hungry.
It’s still too early for the dinner rush so the place is quiet and we have no trouble finding somewhere to sit. Mason and Eli squeeze into the booth on one side of the table leaving Noah and me to slide in opposite them.
“What do you fancy, pretty girl?” Mason asks me, watching closely as I chew my lip indecisively. Carbs and cheese, that’s what I need.
“I’m going to go for the carbonara. It’s been years since I’ve had it.”
“Sounds good, I’ll have that too, with a side of garlic bread.” Mason nods his head.
“Well, you better keep your lips away from mine then, stinky,” I joke, kind of.
“Hey, now, that’s harsh.” He balls up the napkin and tosses it at me, making me laugh. I’m thankful this afternoon’s incident is starting to fade away.
“If I promise not to order anything with garlic, do I get to kiss you?” Noah whispers into my ear but I can’t tell if he is joking or not.
“Sure, why not? How about I just kiss you all?” The table goes quiet, making me look up from the menu. They’re all staring at me wistfully. Men.
“Down, boys, and stop distracting me. I’m starving.”
The conversation resumes but we keep it light, avoiding subjects that might bring a shadow over us. I watch them as we eat, chatting away. Mason fits in like he has known them years, making me grateful that I took a chance. It’s hard to picture where I would be now if the events of the last few days hadn’t taken place.
Only time will tell if it was the right decision or if I have just placed the very people trying to help me in grave danger.
Chapter Seven
NOAH
It’s been two weeks since Eden and Mason moved in and it has been a challenge, to say the least. I like Mason, I didn’t think I would, but he has this easy-going nature about him that is completely at odds with his appearance which screams give me your wallet. What I’m finding hard is watching him become more and more tactile with Eden. Not because he is touching her but because I want to touch her too. Two weeks now, she has been here. For two weeks, I’ve had my world flipped upside down. I knew the moment I saw her at the club there was something special about this girl. I just never knew how special and I hate that Mason beat me to her. Not only that, but I’ve seen the looks Eli throws at her when he thinks nobody is looking. It might not seem like much but after his ex, Eli has been nothing but a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kind of guy in some misguided game to protect his heart. Eden threatens all that and I fear the longer she is here the harder it is going to be for all of us.
I’ve been up for a couple of hours finding that sleep is becoming more and more elusive. I lean over the edge of my bedroom balcony and grip my cooling cup of coffee tighter to keep my hands warm. It’s grey and bleak today with an eerie fog covering the city. The river is choppy and as I watch a police boat make its way downstream, I wonder if it has claimed another victim. I step back and am about to head inside when I hear the doors open downstairs. When I hear Eden speak, I sit in the chair closest to me and just listen to the soft, sensual voice that seems to have a direct link to my dick.
“Shit, Eden, it’s freezing out here. You sure you don’t want to sit with Mason?” Eli grumbles.
“I’m fine. I won’t stay out here long, I promise. I just want to clear my head a little.”
“If you say so.”
The balcony down there is much larger than the bedroom one. It has two large chairs and a sofa that faces the water with a low glass table in the centre of them. I peek over my railing and see Eli suggest a seat on the sofa, offering her the best view of the river and providing me with an even better one. He tucks the blanket around her and pulls the hood of her sweater up over her ears making her laugh. Come to think of it, I think that’s one of his hoodies. Interesting.
“I’m fine, Eli, but thank you.”
He smiles and turns to walk away when she snags his arm. “Be careful, okay?”
He looks at her with a peculiar expression on his face before offering her a small grin. Guess he isn’t used to women giving a shit about him, but that’s what happens when you offer them nothing in return.
“I knew you worried about me. I’ll be careful, and I won’t be too long. I’ll pick up a couple of pizzas from Carlos for lunch.”
“Sounds good. Yum, I haven’t had Carlos pizza in years.”
He leaves, passing Mason on his way through the door.
“Hey. You up for some company?” Mason is standing in the doorway in nothing but a pair of white Calvin Klein boxers.
I roll my eyes. For fuck’s sake man, that’s not even subtle. No way will she fall for that. When she says nothing, I turn back to her and can tell from one glace that her brain has short-circuited. The bastard. Maybe I should start walking around in my boxers too. What do you think of that, asshole? He has a six pack, so what? So do I. I might not have the sheer body mass he does but I work out. She looks like she wants to reach out and touch them. Yep, that does it, I am definitely going to start walking around in mine.
“Eden, earth to Eden.”
“Huh?” She snaps out of her perv-a-thon and blushes when he smirks at her with a knowing look in his eyes.
“I said, do you mind if I join you?”
She glances down and quickly back up again, a blush blooming on her cheeks. Oh, for fuck’s sake is he hard? What. The. Fuck? Don’t look, Eden. Don’t look. Fuck it. She looked. There is no way that she hasn’t noticed the tent has definitely been pitched.
“Eden…” His voice growls at her in warning.
Yeah, I’m done. I really don’t need to hear or see what happens next.
“You nee
d to stop looking at me like that or I am going to lose my shit and, pretty girl, you are not ready for that yet.”
“Yet?”
“Yet. This is happening, Eden, but I refuse to rush you.”
I stop in my tracks and realise nothing has progressed further than the touches I’ve seen. Somehow that makes me feel less like I’m trying to steal someone’s girl and more like I’m a contender for the prize. Although I have a lot of work to do to get her anywhere near as relaxed with me as she appears to be with Mason.
“Yes, you can join me but grab a blanket, it’s freezing out here and I don’t want you poking my eye out with that thing.”
He snorts but heads inside, returning with the quilt he used last night. Of course, the fucker has to sit next to her and wrap the quilt around them both, placing his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close. Okay, now it’s time to go. I stand quietly and creep slowly toward the door.
“How you doing with everything?”
“Eh.”
“That’s not an answer. You’ve had a shitty few weeks but hopefully, things are starting to settle down now. What do you think of Noah and Eli?”
I freeze again with my hand on the door handle.
“Eli seems nice, but the jury is still out with Noah.”
My stomach pitches. It’s a bitter pill to swallow that the girl I’m half in love with isn’t even sure if she likes me.
“I think that’s just his way.” Mason surprises me by defending me. “I get the sense he feels deep, he just doesn’t know how to process that shit, so it comes out completely wrong. You just have to look past it. You, more than anyone, can appreciate the many layers a person has. Don’t judge him too harshly until you reach the centre.
“You seem awfully keen to convince me. Why is that?”
Yeah, Mason, why is that?
“I don’t know, Eden, but watching him carry you in here that first night, you didn’t see his face. It was as if he were carrying this precious gift. Since then every time he’s in the same room as you, his eyes never leave you the whole time. He likes you. I just don’t think he knows that yet.”
The Promise of Tomorrow: An Inheritance Novel Page 7