‘Sounds perfect. I’ll come home first and we’ll go together.’
‘I’ll book a table.’
‘Splendid. See you later, then, love you.’
‘Love you too,’ Lila suppressed another laugh, ‘and your enormous cock.’
‘Oh dear God, woman,’ now there were cheers as Noah laughed and said goodbye.
Lila put her phone away and laughed to herself. She loved that she could be as cheeky and silly with him as she liked and he didn’t care. Even in front of his peers and subordinates, he had a sense of humor and total lack of arrogance because he was the best at his job so he didn’t feel the need to impress anyone else.
‘I love you so much Noah Applebaum,' she uttered to herself as she finished her tea and gathered her stuff. She walked out into the cold, crisp air and hailed a cab to take her home.
Manhattan
Tinsley felt she was sitting with a complete stranger. Charlie looked…odd. Almost gleeful, which for him and his classic ‘resting bitch face’, was very strange. She grinned at him. She had expected this meeting – the first since he’d left her – to be awkward; in fact it was almost jovial.
‘What’s up with you? You look weird. Why is your face making that shape?’
Charlie grinned. ‘What shape?’
‘That weird smiling thing. You’re freaking me out.’
Charlie shrugged good-naturedly. ‘I’m going home, Tins. I’m a west coast boy, I belong there.’
‘Is Lila excited?’
‘Think so. She’s scouting places for me and I’m staying with her and Noah until I get settled.’
Tinsley drank some beer. ‘So this is it, then?’
He took her hand. ‘Not forever, I hope.’
She smiled but pulled her hand away. ‘I hope not too. When do you leave?’
‘Saturday.’
She nodded, thinking how quickly life moved on. ‘Well, I hope you find your peace there, Charlie.’
‘You too, kiddo. Got any plans?’
Tinsley laughed softly. ‘Not a one.’
‘Will you come out to Seattle sometime?’
‘Of course. I’ll be there for the wedding, of course, whenever that is.’
Charlie smiled, relaxing back in his seat. ‘I’m glad you and Lila have made up. She really didn’t know what to do about Cora.’
Tinsley nodded. ‘I know. Speaking of whom, any news?’
‘Last I heard, D.A. pushing for the attempted murder of Lila to be dropped but to press ahead with your case.’
‘God, what a fucking mess,’ she muttered. ‘Look, Cora’s a messed up kid who needs proper mental health care and a stint away from the ivory tower. I don’t want her in prison.’
Charlie shrugged. ‘Sorry, I have no sympathy.’
‘Cold.’
‘In this case, yes.’
Tinsley blew out her cheeks. ‘Okay then. But I might go talk to someone, I really think…’
‘Stay out of it, Tinsley,’ Charlie said vehemently. ‘The girl tried to have you killed. End of story, she goes to jail.’
Tinsley found her palms were sweating, that her chest was tight. ‘Okay, if it’ll make you happy.’ She didn’t like the malicious gleam she suddenly saw in his eyes and she suddenly realized that it wasn’t her welfare he was concerned with.
‘You still think she had Lila stabbed?’
‘I think she’s more than capable.’
The rest of the evening passed quickly and Charlie, never one for long goodbyes, left early. Tinsley was relieved again – she had been feeling that around him for a while now, as if something was wrong, off kilter. God. She hoped Charlie didn’t intrude on Lila and Noah’s life too much. She went back to the bar and helped Mikey to close up even thought it was her night off.
Mikey looked at her amused. ‘You sure you wanna be doing this?’
‘I need to keep occupied or I’m going to come up with mad conspiracy theories about my ex.’
‘Which one?’
She grinned slightly. ‘The moody one.’
Mikey rolled his eyes. He’d never taken to Charlie. ‘Good riddance, if you ask me. There’s something off about that guy. I know Lila always said he’s a teddy bear…well, I reckon less teddy, more bear.’
Tinsley tried and failed to give her partner a disapproving look. ‘He’s okay, just…’
‘A douche?’
Tinsley laughed. ‘Oh come on now, he’s always looked after Lila.’
‘I’ll give him that, but I always thought –' He stopped when he saw Tinsley’s stricken face. She was staring at the TV. above the bar.
‘Mikey, turn the sound up. Turn the sound up now….oh god….oh god…’
Seattle
Lila was in the shower when Noah got home and he grinned as he pulled his clothes off and stepped into the cubicle with her. She started slightly as he touched her then turned, shampoo suds on her face. He laughed, brushing them away and kissed her. ‘You, Miss Tierney, are a very, very bad girl.’
With one swift movement, he turned her and pushed her against the cool tiles. Lila giggled, knowing what was coming next and as she spread her legs, he thrust into her. Gasping as his engorged cock plunged deep into her cunt, Lila moaned, leaning her head back on his shoulder as he fucked her, his hands pressing hers to the tile. His teeth nipped at her earlobe as he took her, releasing one hand so he could reach down to her clit and stroke it.
Lila gave a long gasp, tensed and came; moments later he followed, groaning and murmuring her name over and over as his cum pumped deep into her.
As they dressed he grinned. Lila smirked back. ‘What?’
‘I love the fact that you’re going to dinner with my seed still deep inside you.’
She laughed, half-shocked. ‘Well…yes. It makes me feel kind of sexy to know that, carrying a little bit of you with me.’
‘Actually, quite a lot…’
‘Don’t be gross,’ she was giggling furiously now, lobbing a towel at him. ‘God, how did you get the position you are being such a goofball?’
Noah slid his tie around his neck. ‘I blame you. I used to be so serious…’
‘Yeah, right. How do I look?’
She was wearing a white silk slip which hugged her curves and had cut outs at the waist, showing off her creamy olive skin. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail on one side, and skipped all but the lightest make-up. Noah’s obvious admiration made her feel even sexier.
‘Are we going to make it to dinner?’ She said with an eyebrow raised. Noah grinned.
‘We’d better go now or we definitely won’t.’
At the restaurant, she told him all about the Quilla Chen Mallory Foundation and the role Quilla envisioned her playing. Noah was impressed.
‘I gotta say,’ he said, ‘that sounds amazing.’
Lila nodded. ‘Doesn’t it? And as much as I do not want to be defined by what happened to me, I think this is a positive thing. I can’t wait to get started.’
They chatted about it for a while then Noah reached into his pocket. ‘Now, before you give me a lecture, this is not an engagement ring. It’s not big or ostentatious but something to celebrate you and me. I had the idea a while back but it took me some time to design it and have it made, so…’
He opened the ring box and there was a small, delicate silver ring, with three interlocking rings on top of the band. It was beautiful and Lila’s chest got tight.
‘Oh Noah, it’s perfect…’ She touched the three tiny rings with her fingertip.
‘You, me and Matty,’ Noah said in a gruff voice. Lila covered her mouth, tears dripping down her cheeks.
‘Noah…’ She leaned over the table to kiss him. ‘Thank you. Thank you.’
He smiled, obviously as moved at her reaction as she was by his gift. ‘Do you want to try it on?’
Smiling she shook her head and he looked stung but she put her hand on his. ‘I would like to wear it as my wedding band…if that’s okay with you.’
/>
His relief – and joy – was palpable. ‘Of course…god, of course, I never even thought of that.’
They both laughed, their fingers interlocking. Lila gazed at him then back at the ring and she grinned. ‘I suppose I ought to try it, you know, because of the fit.’
Noah laughed. ‘Oh, absolutely.’ He slid it onto her ring finger. ‘Wow’.
‘Wow is right. What an incredible man you are, Noah Applebaum. How the hell was I so lucky to meet you?’
She asked the question then they both remembered the circumstances. Lila gave a soft laugh. ‘If it meant not meeting you, I would happily take that knife over and over.’
Noah flinched. ‘Don’t say that.’
‘You know what I mean. My life began when I met you, Noah.’
Their food got cold and other diners kept casting amused glances in their direction but neither of them cared. Tonight was about them.
At a quarter of midnight, Noah helped her into her coat. She put her hands on his chest and gazed up at him, with soft eyes. ‘Noah, I want you to know…’
Noah pressed his lips to hers. ‘What, Lila?’
‘I want you to know…that I’m going to do very naughty things to you when we get back home.’
Noah chuckled. ‘Then let’s get there quicker.’
The Seattle night was cold and steam blew out of their mouths when they breathed. Lila hugged her coat closer and Noah grinned down at her.
Then all hell broke loose. Into Lila’s eye line stumbled a woman, long dirty blonde strewn across her face. Something glinted in her hand and then there was a loud popping sound. Screaming.
Noah staggered back and as Lila turned to look at him, her eyes widened in horror as blood started to bloom across the front of his shirt. He looked back at her confused, reached out and then collapsed.
All Lila could hear was the frantic beat of her heart. She didn’t care if the next bullet came her way, all she could think about was Noah, his big frame sprawled on the sidewalk. She dropped to her knees beside him, every sane thought in her head gone as she screamed his name over and over…
And he didn’t answer.
Tinsley yanked her suitcase from the luggage wheel and practically ran through SeaTac airport. She hailed a cab, jabbering the name of the hospital to the driver, who took one look at her stricken face and broke every speed limit in the city to get her there.
At the desk, she lied and said she was Lila’s cousin and they directed up to the emergency room waiting area.
Lila was pale, shaken, her white dress covered in blood. She sat with another woman Tinsley didn’t recognize, and a tall, handsome man who was taking to Charlie. When Charlie saw her, he came over.
‘How is he?’ Tinsley whispered and Charlie shook his head.
‘We won’t know for hours. He was shot in the chest, just once, but it’s bad.’
Tinsley peeked around Charlie to see Lila, her head down. ‘How’s Lila?’
‘In shock. She hasn’t said a word.’
Tinsley looked at Charlie’s closed face, and then ducked around him to go to her friend. ‘Lila?’
Lila looked up and the raw pain in her eyes was almost more than Tinsley could bear to look at. She frowned as if trying to place Tinsley and Tinsley crouched down in front of her.
‘Darling, I’m here for whatever you need.’ She took Lila’s hands and smiled at the woman next to her. ‘Hey, there, I’m Tinsley.’
The other woman smiled, touched her arm. ‘Quilla Mallory. It’s…’ She broke off and looked away and Tinsley nodded.
‘Yeah, I know.’ She got up and took the seat on the opposite side to Lila. Charlie was right, Lila was almost catatonic. She had a small black velvet box in her hand that she kept turning and turning around. She bent her head and Tinsley heard her whispering something over and over.
Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease….
Tinsley ached for her friend. So much pain, so much loss. Not Noah. Please let him live. She found herself echoing the mantra of her friend. She looked at Quilla over her friend’s head and the other woman looked as devastated as she did. They must be friends of Noah’s, she thought.
As if reading her mind, Quilla spoke. ‘This is my husband, Jakob. We’re old friend of Noah’s.’
Tinsley nodded to the other man, who spoke in a low voice. ‘It was Lauren, Noah’s ex. She was arrested, didn’t even put up a struggle. Said she wanted to kill them both but she never got off more than one shot before a passerby tackled her.’
‘God,’ Tinsley spoke before she could catch herself, ‘what the fuck is wrong with people?’
She leaned her head against Lila’s, felt her friend stiffen then Lila’s hand crept into hers.
‘Why can’t they just let us be?’ Her voice was gruff, broken. ‘All we want is to be happy, be together. What possible good comes of this?’
‘I know, sweetheart.’
The depths of Lila’s despair were searing. Tinsley felt tears coming and got up, not wanting Lila to see them. She went to Charlie who was staring out of the window. It was early morning but the city was still dark. Charlie didn’t turn to her, just kept his gaze fixed in front of him. It took Tinsley a moment to realize he was staring at Lila’s reflection in the glass. Her heart went out to him and she touched his arm. He started and turned to her, his eyes flat and cold.
‘Charlie, I’m here for whatever you two need…’
He jerked his head towards the corridor and she followed him out. He closed the door, before turning to her. ‘We’re fine. She’s fine, I’m here now.’
Tinsley was stung. ‘She’s my friend too, Charlie.’
‘We don’t need you here. Thank you for coming but we’re fine.’
Tinsley’s hands clenched into fists and her temper swelled. ‘Why are you being like this? Lila needs all the friends she can get right now.’
Charlie had stopped even looking at her directly. ‘You should go.’
‘I’m not going anywhere, asshole,’ she hissed at him. She took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself. Anger and confusion was giving way to something else now, something more tangible. Fear. Was Charlie losing it? Tinsley studied the man she had been so intimate with and saw nothing there that she recognized. Was he just in shock? No…it was something else.
‘Charlie, I am here for Lila and believe it or not, I don’t need your permission to stay with my friend.’ She tried to push past him to go back into the waiting area but he grabbed her wrist. Hard. She winced and pulled away just as she heard someone say Lila’s name. She turned to see an elderly, distinguished looking gentleman, his face etched in pain hurrying towards them. Noah’s father. The gentle looking woman to his right had tears flooding down her cheeks.
‘Charles,’ Mr. Applebaum looked at Charlie, ‘We came as soon as we could.’
‘We drove from Portland,’ the woman said, presumably Mrs. Applebaum.
Charlie greeted them warmly, much to Tinsley’s shock. He showed them into the waiting room and she heard them comforting Lila. Charlie stood at the door and looked at her icily.
‘Go back to New York, Tinsley, we’re fine here.’
Tinsley stood her ground. ‘No fucking way, Sherman. I’m here for Lila, not you.’
He stepped towards her and smiled. It did not reach his eyes. ‘Don’t be a little cunt. Get out of here.’ And he was gone, into the waiting room, closing the door firmly behind him.
Tinsley could barely believe what had happened. She stumbled down the corridor blindly and out into the frigid morning air. She stood there for a while then realized she had left her suitcase upstairs. God, she didn’t want to go back to that room now…for the first time, she was afraid of Charlie Sherman.
She sat on a small wall outside of the front entrance and tried to stop the trembling that wracked her body. ‘What the hell is going on?’ she whispered to herself then jumped as a voice behind her said, ‘Excuse me, are you Tinsley Chang?’
A young orderly
was standing behind her – her suitcase at his side. She nodded and, smiling awkwardly, the orderly handed her the case and disappeared back into the hospital.
She had been banished. She took the case and wheeled it to where the cabs waited but before she got in, she looked up to the fourth floor where the waiting room was.
Charlie Sherman looked down at her – and straight through her as if she didn’t exist.
Lila sat at Noah’s bedside, her hand in his, watching the machines breathe for him. He had been out of surgery for just a couple of hours now but he looked so still, so pale that she couldn’t believe he was actually still alive.
The surgeon had come to find her just after ten am. and told her that they’d stabilized Noah but the bullet had destroyed one lung and clipped his heart. ‘I don’t want to give you false hope,’ he’d said.
Hope. That seemed like a ridiculous notion now and Lila was at her breaking point. Richard, Matty, Riley…now Noah. She put her head down onto the bed and sobbed silently, her fingers twisting in Noah’s. She cried all of her despair out and eventually fell asleep next to him.
There was someone stroking her hair and her head shot up eagerly – was he awake? Her heart thudded with disappointment when she saw Noah was still unconscious. Charlie was sitting beside her, his arm around her shoulders. She sat up and he pulled her into a hug. Lila, drained and exhausted, didn’t much feel like being held – by anyone other than Noah – and she pulled away after a second.
‘How long have you been here?’ She tubbed her face.
‘Long enough,’ Charlie said. ‘Any change?’
‘No.’ Lila sighed, stroking Noah’s hand. ‘Hey,’ she said looking back at Charlie. ‘Where did Tinsley go? She was there one minute, gone the next.’
Charlie smiled coolly. ‘She’s in town somewhere, I don’t know. I thought you had too many people around you last night so I sent her back to the hotel.’
Lila sighed. ‘You didn’t need to do that, Charlie, she could have stayed.’
‘Too many people.’
Lila couldn’t be bothered to argue but Charlie’s attitude was irritating her. Ever since she’d called him, hysterical, after Noah had been shot, he’d taken over, speaking to the doctors on her behalf without her consent, talking to Noah’s parents as if he’d known them for years. It shouldn’t irk her, she knew, he was only doing what was best but his attitude that she couldn’t handle things for herself was annoying.
Nightclub Sins: A Billionaire Romance Series Page 116