‘Awful,’ Molly looked upset. Noah smiled at her.
‘Lila’s much better now; I mean, there’s still some way to go with her range of motion but we’re waiting until after the baby is born to complete her rehab.’
‘When is she due?’
Noah cleared his throat. ‘About three months.’
His dad’s eyebrows shot up. ‘And you’re just now telling us?’
‘It’s a long story.’
Seattle
Charlie Sherman left Lila at the condo and went to meet his compatriots at the Seattle police department. The detective he met with, a middle-aged tired looking man named Cabot Marin, greeted him with a resigned sigh. ‘If I earned a dollar for every nut-bag stalking a woman…’
Charlie filled him in on Lila’s case. ‘No, I have to be fair, apart from Riley’s disappearance and what we found at his apartment, we have no other evidence to suggest Riley is the man who stabbed Lila, or that he has ever committed any crime. But he is our only lead and the fact he went missing on the day we linked him to the attack…’
‘Yup. Sometimes we have to go where the investigation points, even if it is somewhere that’s uncomfortable. Well, look, we already know that Dr. Applebaum had employed extra-security – they applied for concealed weapons licenses, which they were granted. Miss Tierney appears to be well-protected, both out on the island and at the doctor’s condominium. Is she the type to follow instructions to keep herself safe?’
Charlie half-smiled. ‘Not in the least, which is what worries me. Lila is street-smart but headstrong – she rubs against any restrictions. She says she won’t take unnecessary risks but if I were Riley, I’d wait for the necessary risks and strike then.’
Cabot Marin nodded. ‘Yup. Well, all we can do right now is be vigilant.’
Charlie shook his hand. ‘I appreciate it.’
He left the police building and walked back to his hotel. He had told Lila he would meet Noah and Lila for breakfast the next day and then fly back to New York. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number, smiling when he heard Tinsley’s Australian accent. ‘Hey, you,’ he said warmly, ‘you got any plans for tomorrow night?’
Seattle
Noah crept quietly into the bedroom, pulling his clothes off and hanging them over the chair, as quiet as he could be. Lila was asleep, lying on her side, one hand under her cheek, the other reaching out towards his side of the bed. Noah slipped in beside her and she stirred, opening her eyes and smiling at him.
‘Hey gorgeous.’
Noah brushed his lips against hers, tasting her minty toothpaste on her breath. ‘Hey yourself, baby.’ He nuzzled her nose with his, then slid his arms around her and pulled her close. She smelt of sleepy warmth and fresh linen, and her skin was so soft, he couldn't help but run his hands over her bare skin.
‘Your hands are cold,’ she grumbled but giggled when he tickled her.
‘I love you when you’re all sleepy like this,’ he ran his fingers through her hair; ‘you’re so funny.’
She grumbled something unintelligible.
‘What was that?’
Lila rubbed her eyes. ‘Sorry, I said, how was your dinner with the parental units?’
Noah smiled. ‘Good…they can’t wait to meet you but they had to go back to Portland tonight, so Dad suggests we go down there for the weekend. What do you think?’
‘I’m in. Hey, the baby’s kicking again.’
Noah slid his hand onto her belly and she guided it to where the baby was kicking her. Noah’s eyes widened. ‘Wow…that feels so weird.’
‘Doesn’t it? God, she’s a little bruiser too, I swear, she’s been kicking up a storm all day. Go to sleep, Matty Apple.’
Noah grinned. ‘Matty Apple?’ Lila smiled and kissed him.
‘I maybe know a way to, um, rock her to sleep.’ She pulled herself up and straddled him, reaching for his cock.
Noah lay back, and relaxed as she stroked him gently between her hands then traced the tip up and down her sex.
‘Do you want me?’ Lila asked softly and he nodded, unable to tear his eyes from her body, lit by the moonlight flooding into the room, her dark hair tumbling down in messy waves.
They made love slowly, each movement sensual and languid, drinking each other in. When they had finished, Noah wrapped her in his big arms and they fell asleep.
The phone woke them both a little before three am. Lila groaned as Noah reached for it. ‘Yup? Okay. Okay. I’ll be right in.’
Lila protested as he slid out of bed. ‘What is it?’
‘A patient took a fall…Mackie; he’s sort of a friend. He wasn’t even supposed to be out of bed…damn it.’
‘Did he hit his head? Is that why they called you in?’
‘Yes…god, I’m sorry, baby.’ He was frantically pulling his clothes on, now.
‘Don’t worry, I hope he’s okay.’
He leaned over to kiss her. ‘Will you be okay?’
‘Of course, go, go.’
‘Lock the door behind me.’
She followed him sleepily to the front door and kissed him again. ‘Go save a life, superman.’
She closed and locked the door behind him and went to bed, not seeing the alarm pad blinking. She curled up beneath the covers and was asleep in minutes.
She didn’t hear the doors to the balcony being slid open and a figure entering her home. The intruder made their way to the bedroom and stood at the side of Lila’s bed, watching her sleep…
Noah went to look for Joanne just after six am. The woman was staring out of the window of the relatives room at the dawn creeping over the horizon. She saw his reflection and turned and by the expression on her face, she was already prepared for his news.
‘I’m so sorry, Joanne.’
She nodded once. ‘I know. I felt him go…not just tonight but years ago. It wasn’t a life, Noah, he’s at peace now.’
‘What about you? Will you be okay?’
She smiled at him and patted the seat beside her. Noah sat down and took her hands in his. She smiled at him. ‘I will be,’ she said, ‘and probably sooner than I ought to be. What was it in the end, the fall?’
Noah nodded. ‘The hell of it is that if he had been healthier, he might have made it but because of the smoking, he was already depriving his brain of oxygen. His cause of death will be hypoxic brain injury due to fall and life style choices.’
‘Well,’ Joanne was stoic, ‘that’s just it. They were his choices.’ She sighed and got up. ‘Guess I’ll just go home then. Will they take care of Mackie until I can get things arranged?’
‘Of course,’ Noah stood and hugged her. ‘I’m so sorry, Joanne, again, if there’s anything I can do.’
‘You’ve done plenty,’ she said, ‘if Mackie’d had any chance after that fall, it would have been you that handed it to him. Some people can’t be saved.’
After she’d gone, Noah slumped down into a chair and buried his head in his hands. Jeez, how quickly lives can change. He thought of Joanne going home to an empty bed for the first time in fifty years. God…
An image of Lila in that fitting room all those months ago…okay, so he hadn’t been there but he’d seen enough stabbing victims – and now he pictured her, curled up in a fetal position, her blood pooling around her, her hand pressed hard against her belly as she tried to stem the blood….stop it. That’s in the past.
He got up and strode to the doctor’s changing room, stripping off his scrubs and dumping them in a laundry bin.
He didn’t know if it was the combination of losing Mackie, the lateness of the hour or the visions of Lila bleeding that haunted him, but he knew that right now, there was only one thing he wanted to do.
Get home. Now.
Barely breathing, she kept her eyes closed but her senses were on the edge as she listened to the intruder walk around the condo. She’d woken – but thankfully not opened her eyes – when she heard the floorboards creak and immediately felt the presence next to t
he bed. She waited for the knife or the bullet or hands on her body but none came.
She risked opening her eyes a crack. She saw the figure through the doorway in the living area, and mentally ran a scan of anything in the bedroom she could use as a weapon. Her eyes lit upon a small marble lion’s head sculpture on Noah’s nightstand.
She smiled grimly to herself and shifted slowly across the bed to grab it. She sat up and slid out of bed and to the door, peaking around it to see where the intruder was. The kitchen area. Good.
Lila slipped into the living area silently, her bare feet making no noise on the carpet. As she reached the intruder, they turned and Lila raised the sculpture. The intruder batted her arm away but Lila let go and the marble lion’s head smashed down on the intruder’s shoulder. A high-pitched yell – feminine – made Lila lose concentration for a moment then the assailant was on her, hands around her neck, choking, pushing her down to the floor. Lila rammed her fingers into the attacker’s eyes and there was a scream – this time, Lila was sure. It was a woman.
‘Get off me, you fucking bitch,’ she kicked the attacker in the groin and she rolled off of her. Every single emotion that Lila used to feel defending herself on the streets came back to her, and she darted around the prone attacker, yanked open a drawer and pulled out the biggest knife she could find and held it in front of her.
‘Come at me, bro,’ she growled, fury raging through her, daring the attacker to try again.
Instead, the attacker gave a sob and crumpled to the floor. Lila stared at the figure in black in disbelief, then reached over, flipped on the lights and yanked the mask from the attacker’s very blonde head. The young woman didn’t look at her.
‘I’m sorry, okay-y-y-y,’ her voice wobbled as she sobbed, ‘I just wanted to see you.’
Lila dropped her arm but not the knife. ‘Who are you?’
The woman looked up finally, and Lila saw she was young, about Lila’s age, and very pretty – when she wasn’t covered in snot and tears.
‘Are you Lauren?’
Noah had told her about his ex-girlfriend months ago, when Lila was still going through rehab. The girl nodded.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said again and scrambled to her feet. Lila took a step back and raised the blade in front of her. Lauren held up her hands.
‘I promise, I never intended to hurt you…I’m sorry about before but you did just hit me in the shoulder.’
‘You broke into my home.’
Lauren nodded, looking at her curiously. ‘Who are you?’
Lila took a deep breath in. ‘Lila Tierney. I’m…with Noah now.’ Almost unconsciously, her hand moved to her belly, protectively and Lauren’s eyes followed.
‘Oh.’
‘Yes.’
Lauren’s eyes filled with tears again. ‘Noah’s?’
Lila nodded. ‘Look, Lauren, could you just…go? Or tell me what you want? If you leave now, I won’t tell Noah – or the police – this happened.’
Lauren nodded but dipped her head shyly. ‘Just a couple of questions before I go and I won’t bother you anymore.’
Lila sighed. ‘What do you want to know?’
Lauren studied her. ‘Where did you meet Noah?’
Lila hesitated. ‘At work. His work.’
‘You’re a doctor?’
‘No.’
‘A patient?’
Lila hesitated. ‘Not any more. Look, Lauren, I’m sorry but you really have to go now.’
‘I will, I will, just…do you love him?’
Lila’s expression softened. ‘Very much.’
‘And he loves you?’
‘That’s what he tells me.’
Lauren smiled sadly. ‘He never once told he loved me.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Lila said evenly. Lauren nodded and walked to the front door.
‘I am, too. Sorry if I hurt you, I didn’t see you were pregnant. Good luck with it all.’
‘Goodbye Lauren.’
Lila closed the door after the woman and leaned back against it, shaking her head. ‘The world is full of fruit loops, little Matty,’ she said to her bump. She was getting used to that name – if it was a boy, he might have to be called Matthew, she pondered now as she locked the door and this time remembered to set the alarm. She locked the balcony windows – how the hell did Lauren climb up this high? Crazy.
She padded back to bed but couldn’t sleep, instead staring at the ceiling. All the adrenaline had left her body now, and the shock of the assault began to sink in.
‘Jesus,’ she whispered to herself. Will I ever be safe again? Every time she felt settled, something happened to rock her equilibrium. Eventually she fell into an uneasy sleep, full of nightmares and dreams of being stalked by an unknown menace.
Lila flipped the pancakes onto a plate, covering a yawn as she listened to Noah and Charlie talk. Noah had come home a couple of hours after Lauren had left and one look at his face told her that Mackie didn’t make it. She held out her arms and he had gone into them, holding her tightly. They held each other until they both fell back to sleep and when Charlie had rung their door bell, they both groaned.
Charlie grinned at them both, their hurriedly tugged on clothes and bed-head hair. ‘Should I give you an hour? I can come back.’
Noah and Lila waved away his suggestion. ‘You’re family,’ Noah said and Lila shot him a grateful smile. Her two favorite men in the world were getting along and that made her unbelievably happy.
But now, of course, they had to go and spoil it by talking about Riley. She wondered if she should tell them that she’d slept with Riley that night so long ago. God, am I a slut? She shook her head. Both of the men in this room, Riley, Richard, a couple of guys when she was younger. By modern standards she was practically a novice.
‘So, best thing to do is take normal precautions, lock doors, set alarms, don’t go walking alone at night.’
Lila turned and stared at Charlie and he grinned. ‘Thought that would get your attention.’
Lila waved the pancake slice at them both. ‘You two know I’m in the room, yes?’
Noah snorted with laughter. ‘Lila Belle, it’s your safety we’re concerned about, is all.’
Lila turned back to the stove, hiding a guilty expression. She’d promised Lauren she wouldn’t say anything….ah, screw it, the woman had broken into their home.
‘Well, in that case, you might want to tell your ex-girlfriend not to break in in the middle of the night.’ She dumped a plate of pancakes on the breakfast bar a little too hard. Noah blinked.
‘Excuse me?’
Lila sat down and looked at both men. ‘Lauren. She shimmied up the side of our building last night, came in through the balcony. I had to throw down with her.’
Noah bugged at her. ‘What the actual fuck? Why didn’t you say anything? I’ll fucking kill her…’ He stood up but Lila grabbed his hand.
‘Sit. Down. Now. No biggie,’ she stared him down. Noah sat.
‘Whipped,’ muttered Charlie but Lila glared at him. Noah looked between the two of them then rubbed his face trying to wake up enough to think clearly.
‘Let me get this straight. Lauren broke into this house last night?’
‘Yup.’
‘And you, what, wrestled?’
‘She was snooping around, I ambushed her, she choked me, and I kicked her in the lady nuts.’
Charlie spat his coffee out, choking on laughter.
‘This isn’t funny,’ Noah snapped at the laughing man. ‘Jesus Christ, Lila.’
Her face softened. ‘It’s fine, babe. We calmed down, talked stuff through. She’s a weird one but no harm done. Mostly. I may have fractured her shoulder with your lion’s head thing.’
‘This just gets better.’ Charlie looked at Noah’s set face and shut up again.
‘You have to tell me stuff like this. Where the hell was security?’
‘To be fair, they weren’t expecting Spider Woman.’
Noah sighed. ‘We
’re moving. If someone can get in that easily...’
‘No way, I love this place.’
Noah shook his head. ‘We’ll talk about this later.’
Charlie cleared his throat. ‘That’s my cue.’ He stood and Lila hugged him, pouting.
‘You really have to go?’
‘’Fraid so, munchkin.’ He hugged her back tightly. ‘I’ll see you both soon.’
‘Sure we can’t take you to the airport?’ Noah shook Charlie’s hand.
‘Thanks but no, cab’s easier.’
‘He hates goodbyes,’ Lila rolled her eyes, ‘He cries. You should see it, it’s like Love Actually.’
‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ Charlie waved her teasing away. ‘Take care of each other.’
When Charlie had gone, Lila knew Noah would want to return to the subject of Lauren so she pre-empted him. ‘So, you should have maybe told Lauren about the bambino.’
Noah sighed. ‘I don’t see that it’s any of her concern; we were over months ago.’
‘Still, your really quite recent ex has a baby on the way. That’s gotta sting.’
‘Do you care?’
Lila considered. ‘I suppose not. I felt sorry for her.’
‘Don’t. She’s a viper, don’t trust the innocent little girl act.’
‘Oh, I don’t. Look, can we not talk about her anymore?’
Noah smiled and wrapped his arms around her. ‘Good idea. Thank god it’s the weekend. What shall we do?’
She laughed at his suggestive grin. ‘Well, apart from that, we could see if your dad and step-mom want to come out to the cottage with us?’
Her voice shook at the end, nervous, but Noah grinned widely. ‘Really? You ready?’
Lila kissed him and nodded, her eyes excited. ‘I’m ready.’
Manhattan
Tinsley Chang cheered as Charlie made his way into the bar that night. ‘At damn last,’ she said, going to hug him, ‘Man, I want all the gossip.’
Charlie chuckled, but lowering his tone, he glanced around the busy bar. ‘Any sign of Riley?’
His Sweet Torment: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 94