by London Casey
It was a big risk to put myself on the line like that. But I was done. No more orders from anyone that I didn’t give a damn about.
Nathan pressed a button on the phone on his desk. “Send them in.”
He stared at me.
The office door opened. I didn’t look back.
The two men grabbed my arms. I could’ve fought, but I didn’t.
Nathan picked up his cigar, stuck it between his lips, and lit it. He sucked on it for a few seconds and then smiled.
“My advice, Noah? I would start training for your fight. You’re going up against someone who is undefeated. Good luck.”
Nathan winked and the two men let me go.
I was able to walk out of the office on my own.
I paused in the hallway and looked at a mirror on the wall. My face was roughed up from what Marcos had his men do to me. My shoulder was still healing from the gunshot wound thanks to Penny. And my best friend was dead and had some really dark secrets.
I thought about the first time Penny came into the bathroom after the fight. The way she shut the door and started to strip herself. I should have just turned her around and sent her packing.
I made a fist and punched the mirror, shattering it. My hand bled and I guess I was now due for seven years of bad luck.
“Oh well,” I whispered.
What else could possibly go wrong?
Chapter 29
(Penny)
He’s going to hurt everyone you and Noah know… he won’t stop until you’re both broken… and then dead.
Andy hugged me before he left.
I then sat at the kitchen counter, a bottle of beer to my right, a gun to my left. I had gone from some nosey woman looking for a story to a woman sitting with a gun, hoping the only man who could protect me would come home soon.
I burst into laughter when I realized how much of a good story it would have all made. I laughed because if I didn’t, I was going to cry.
I heard a noise at the door and grabbed the gun. I watched the door unlock and knew it was Noah. But I still held the gun… just in case…
“Now there’s a sight,” he said as he entered the apartment.
When I saw Noah, that’s when I burst into tears. I stupidly put my hands to my face, my left hand still holding the gun. I cried onto a fucking handgun.
“Jesus, Penny,” Noah said.
He rushed to me, one hand grabbing my shoulder, the other hand grabbing the gun.
“You need to put this down before someone else gets shot,” he said.
I looked at him, the tears leaking down my face. “I’m…”
“Hey. We’re going to be okay. Marcos is gone. Nathan is working with me. He knew Marcos was bad. And Seth too. They were… it doesn’t matter. It’s going to be okay. We just need to stop Erik.”
“That’s the problem,” I said.
“Why? What happened? Was he here?”
I shook my head. “Andy was. Beaten bloody.”
“Shit.”
“Yeah. Erik really got him good. He came here to kill you, but he wouldn’t have done it. Noah, Erik is out for blood on you, big time.”
“I just need to convince him I’m sorry for what happened. Or just let him have his revenge on me. I deserve it, right?”
“No,” I said. “No you don’t. I can’t… without you…”
I reached for his face. He was still cut up and bruised, but he was so perfect and sexy. Flawlessly flawed and driving my heart into a tailspin. I wrapped my legs to the back of his legs and pulled.
“Say it,” he whispered as our foreheads touched.
“I can’t be without you,” I said. “I know that’s crazy to say right now. I know I was just some woman that wanted to fuck you after your fights, but it’s more now for me.”
“Me too,” Noah whispered. “This is going to work for us, Penny. I just have to settle this with Erik.”
“Your… whoever they are… they won’t help?”
“No. This is lingering from Seth and Marcos. This is my battle. Nathan won’t go near it. Too much heat on his family already. They weren’t people. My best friend… Seth was a hit man for Marcos. All behind the scenes.”
“Oh, Noah.”
“Yeah. Seth was a killer. A trained and paid killer. That’s why he had no fear that night with Aiden. But with you… he hesitated because of me.”
“Why?”
“Because of how I grew up. The shit my old man used to do.”
I stroked Noah’s face. “Tell me.”
“He used to beat my mother up pretty bad. And if I got involved, he’d beat me until I was unconscious. That was sort of how I learned to fight. I had to protect myself from getting knocked out by my own father. So I could protect my mother. The first time I did it… I blocked him and hit him… it felt good. So I kept doing it. Over and over. After that, my mother got mad at me for disrespecting my father. So I left.”
Noah blinked fast. I let my thumb touch the corner of his eye, but it remained dry. Too tough and too proud to cry.
“If it means anything, my entire life has been a lie too,” I said. “My mother died when I was young. My father never got over her. I think that’s why he ended up at that fight. He was into some stuff he never wanted me to know. Drugs. Gambling. Fighting.”
“Oh, honey,” Noah said. “About that…”
“I wrote letters to my mother,” I said. My lips quivered as my throat tightened up. Are you going to tell him this? The worst pain you’ve ever felt? “All the time, Noah. I would then just write the word Heaven on them and put them in the mailbox. My father would then take them. I never knew that. I thought they were going to heaven, to her. To my mother. So I started to wait. I thought I could bring her back. Or at the very least, she would write me back. She never did. So I started to lose hope. Lose faith in everything. I hated my father for living and being who he was. I hated myself for being alive. But I kept writing letters to her. I kept sending them to Heaven. Then I found something.”
Noah stroked my hair. Our foreheads were still touching. I had started to gently sway left to right, so nervous to be talking to him like this.
“What did you find?”
“All the letters,” I said. “He kept them. I guess that was a good thing. Such a sweet gesture, but I didn't take it like that. It was a deep feeling of betrayal. All those letters for nothing. All those words. All those emotions just wasted.”
“Ah, damn,” Noah said. “I’m so sorry.”
“I hated him even more after that. I burned as many as I could. I kept some and I still read them. So… that’s my story, Noah. I’m a broken woman. I was good at writing so I stayed with it. My father was murdered and I wanted to know why. I had to survive on my own and hide until I was eighteen. Then I worked. I took any job I could. I never forgot about what happened though. The wasted letters to Heaven and the murder of my father. I met Andy and we were a good team. We came up with great stories and angles. Each time I worked something dark, the lingering feeling of the fights stayed with me. I wanted to do it. I brought it up to him so many times and he refused because it was too personal. Then out of nowhere he wanted me to do it. That should have been a sign. But I was too stupid to see that.”
“Hey. You are not stupid. Don’t ever say that.”
“Noah, how do we escape this?”
“We fight. We survive. Nathan has me scheduled for a fight. I want you there. You’ll see. I’ll get to Erik and fix this.”
“What if you have to kill him?”
Noah kissed me gently. “If it protects you, I’ll take out the world.”
My hands slid around to his neck. I pulled at him, wanting his mouth again. We kissed over and over. His hands touched my back and he lifted me up. He sat me on the counter and quickly moved under my shirt. His bare hands to my bare skin set me on fire. I put my head back and moaned. His lips and tongue eased down my neck. I loved disappearing into his touch and his need. It made the rest of the world
seem like nothing.
As his hand slid over my breasts, I thrust my chest at him. I wish my breasts were bigger for him, but he didn’t seem to mind. He moved his arms up, taking my shirt with him. I took my hands from behind his neck and took my shirt off. I couldn’t wait any longer. We couldn't wait any longer.
Noah moved a hand to the middle of my back and unsnapped my bra. That same hand cut right back around and he cupped me. The warm palm of his hand, the strength of his squeeze, I felt myself losing complete control instantly. His other hand touched my side, his mouth slowly kissing down my chest. I reached for the counter and gripped the edge tight. I looked down just in time to see his mouth ease over my breast. He took me into his mouth and pulled back with the tip of his tongue flicking fast against my hard nipple. He moved fully away and then ran the tip of his nose up and down, teasing me. My hips started to grind against him, demanding his beautiful cock to rip me apart again.
That’s when his cell phone rang.
“Shit,” I groaned.
“Ignore it,” he said and his mouth engulfed my breast again.
I cried out, feeling a tingling pulse that spread from my chest down through my belly and right between my legs. He somehow had everything connected. I felt like I could come just from him kissing my breast, but that couldn’t happen, right?
I managed to convince myself to let go of the counter. My hand touched between his legs, feeing his cock pushing through his jeans. He was so thick and hard, there was no way it could have been comfortable in the position he was.
His cell phone started to ring again.
“Goddammit,” he growled.
His lips started to kiss my stomach. He pulled his lower half away from me, leaving my hand desperate to touch him. I grabbed at his hair, taking a handful.
“Noah…”
His tongue slithered down past my belly button. I knew his destination.
Holy fuck, yes. Do it. Taste me. Taste what you do to me.
He tugged at the top of my jeans, unbuttoning them.
For the third time, his phone started to go off.
His mouth left my body and he stood up. As he reached back to grab his phone, he looked pissed off. I purposely sat there, breathing heavy, pushing my chest out at him again. My nipples were hard nubs, tender and sensitive, waiting for more attention.
“Dalton,” he said into the phone. “All I can say is that the gym better be on fire.”
I grinned.
Noah didn’t. His face dropped.
He jumped back and took the phone away from his ear. “We have to go. Right now. Get dressed.”
“Noah, what’s wrong?”
He was already at the door.
He looked at me, his eyes glossy. “Dalton was attacked… by Erik…”
Chapter 30
(Noah)
Instinct took control and I hurried to get Dalton to a hospital. His face was beaten badly but it was his left arm that bothered me. He favored it and groaned, his eyes shut, lips fluttering as he was outstretched in the backseat over Penny. She jumped right into the fire with me, no fear, touching Dalton’s head, whispering to him that it was going to be okay.
At the hospital, nurses rushed to get Dalton a room. I was pushed into some waiting room area and had to stand there with Penny. I couldn’t take my eyes off the door. If Erik destroyed Dalton’s arm, that meant he destroyed Dalton. I had spent years helping the kid stay off the street. He was a damn good boxer and had a real chance of doing something with that. Instead, he was pulled into a scumbag detective’s revenge for something I did.
Penny touched my back. “He’ll be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I said. “I don’t want to hear that.”
“Okay. Sorry.”
Penny started to move and I turned, grabbing her arm. “Hey. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“What you did there. Dalton… he’s had a bad life, honey. I’ve been working hard to keep him away from this kind of shit. And it’s me who brings the danger right to him. He was in the gym working out. Not hustling on the street. And he gets hurt. But you were right there with me. With him. Thank you.”
“I’m here, Noah,” Penny said. “I’m here. No matter what happens between us.”
There was a lingering pause. Maybe it was my moment to tell Penny exactly how I felt about her. It wasn’t the time or the place. Shit, I didn’t even know what was real.
“How about a coffee?” Penny asked.
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Got something you put in that?”
Penny grinned. “You Irishmen. Do you put whiskey in everything?”
“Of course. We even put whiskey in our whiskey. Makes us strong.”
Penny slipped away.
I watched her walk away and touched my chest.
It was happening. All those old feelings. They were all getting dusted off and being put to use again. This time, it mattered. This time, it was important.
I sighed when the words came to me.
I loved Penny.
I touched Dalton’s right arm. He was cleaned up but still fucked up. I asked about his left arm and the doctor said it wasn’t broken. He had been hit with an object and Dalton used his arm to block the blows. It was bad because of what it did to his arm, but it was smart because it saved the blows from hitting his head and killing him.
I sat down in a chair and stared at the bed.
Penny touched my shoulder.
I reached up and touched her hand.
“Dalton,” I said. “I’m right here, man.”
Dalton made a noise and his eyes slowly opened. His left eye was swollen and half shut.
“Noah,” he said.
“I’m right here.” I looked up at Penny. “Give us a minute?”
“Of course,” she said. “Feel better, Dalton. I’m sorry.”
Penny left the hospital room.
“Jesus Christ,” I said. “What happened?”
“I didn’t say anything, just so you know,” Dalton said. “I don’t do the street thing, but I know how it works. I told the doctors that I was jumped. There was a cop here and I gave him nothing. Said the guys were wearing black masks and shit.”
I nodded. “I’m sorry this happened.”
“Someone is after you, Noah.”
“I know, Dalton. It’s hard to explain. You know my buddy Seth?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s dead,” I said. “He was killed.”
“Oh, damn.”
“Yeah. There’s some old street dirt being dug up. That guy…”
“He’s a cop.”
“His name is Erik. He’s coming at me hard. All off the record, too. He’s lost his mind.”
Dalton licked his lips. “He showed up and flashed his badge at me. Said he needed to talk. He started asking me questions about you. About the gym. Just real random stuff. He asked about my life. Then he brought up some robberies or something and tried to pin me. Like he was justifying himself being there, you know? I caught on and pushed back at him. I wouldn’t do shit wrong, Noah.”
“I know,” I said. “He wasn’t looking for you for a robbery.”
“I told him I was closing up and getting ready to leave. I said if he didn’t have anything to charge me with then to leave me the hell alone. Then I walked out back.” Dalton turned his head. “Two guys were waiting for me.”
“Cops?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “But they went right at me. I didn’t have a chance to fight back, Noah. All that training…”
“Shit, no,” I said. I stood up. “Fuck, don’t do that. Don’t think of that. That’s not how it works. Look at my face, Dalton. I got jumped and beat up. It happens. It wasn’t a fair fight. That’s not on you.”
Dalton looked at me. “I want to kill that man, Noah.”
“I plan on it. You need to get healthy. Rest that body and arm. Okay?”
“They wanted to break my arm,” Dalton said. “I wrestled with t
hem as best I could. Erik then said they had to go. So they threw me against the back of the building. That’s when I grabbed my phone and called you. I knew it had to do with you, Noah. I just… knew…”
“Dalton, I can never make this up to you. I tried to protect you from this and I brought it to you.”
“It’s okay,” Dalton said. “Just… how bad is this?”
I made a fist and put it to Dalton’s shoulder. “It’s bad, man. But you said nothing. I’m proud of you for that. I have a fight coming up. There’s new power taking control. Things are going to settle down. I will help you through this, Dalton. You’re safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you again. This was a message to me. Erik is going after family.”
“I’m not your family.”
“Not by blood,” I said. “But you’re my family, Dalton.”
Dalton looked at me. His eyes glistened. The painkillers were working. “Nobody has ever said that to me before.”
“Ah, shit,” I whispered. I leaned down and tried to hug him. “It’s going to be okay, man.”
“I love you, Noah,” Dalton said. “I would fight for you…”
“Okay, okay,” I said. “Close your eyes and get some rest. I’ll check up on you.” I looked at Dalton. “Thank you, Dalton. You’re a tough son of a bitch. Remember that.”
Dalton nodded.
I left the hospital room and put my back against the wall. I saw Penny at the end of the hall, biting her nails, pacing.
Everyone around me was getting hurt. And they were going to keep getting hurt.