by Brook Wilder
“You got Khloe involved in this?” I knew Diesel visited Khloe’s places because of one special girl who worked for Khloe he was soft on, but I didn’t think he would be spilling secrets after spilling his seed. I scowled.
“Seriously? Khloe?” I continued “Diesel, I thought you were better than that.”
“What’s wrong with that? She’s a friend of Mason’s.”
“Diesel, she’s on the list of people I suspect of setting me up!”
Diesel waved his hand. “I was poking around her work and she caught me. Cartel’s no friend of hers either. She’s on thin ice as it is, she won’t be a problem.”
Not what I wanted to hear. Diesel was one of those people I could rely on. But I was too tired to deal with his fuck-ups. I threw my hands up.
“Okay, fine. But if it does turn out to be Khloe and she knows what we’re up to, I’ll know who to blame.”
“You got it.” Diesel nodded towards the door. “How’s Liz?”
I didn’t want to talk about Liz. We needed to talk to each other properly before we could do anything else. I needed to apologize for the way I’d spoken to her and how I’d scared her and Hunter. They were avoiding me, and I hated it.
“She found the list earlier and confronted me about it. I told her to leave it be and I accidentally knocked a glass off the counter.”
“Accidentally?”
“Yes.” I gave him a hard look. “She and Hunter have been keeping away since then. I did the wrong thing shouting at her, yes, but Liz wouldn’t back down after we’d agreed she would leave club business alone.”
“And there’s the justification,” Diesel muttered.
I stared.
“You think I’d raise my hand to my woman? Not a chance.”
The thought of attacking a female, much less Liz, turned my stomach.
“I know that.” Diesel rubbed a hand over his head. “Well, you need to calm down, Noah. This case of trying to find the guy who betrayed you is eating away at you and you’re taking it out on Liz. It’s not fair on her. She doesn’t need that and neither does Hunter. Or you.”
“Since when did you become a counselor?”
“Since I saw you were pushing your woman away more than when you did before.” Diesel clapped his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t lose Liz, buddy, or you’re going to lose both of them.”
“You make it sound like I don’t know that.”
Diesel laughed.
“I thought you might need a reminder, brother. Catch you later.”
He set off down the path. I knew he was right. Because of my added stress, I was taking it out on the person closest to me and that was the woman I loved. I was scaring her and, in turn, Hunter.
I had a lot of groveling to do.
Then I saw something tucked underneath the flowerpot by the door. It was a blue envelope. Had Diesel put it there? Curiously, I picked it up and looked at the name. It was my name written in perfect script. Certainly not Diesel’s writing.
Another anonymous letter. This was the fifth one in three weeks. I hadn’t mentioned anything to Liz about it because it wasn’t fair to her to have the worry that someone—possibly Ruiz or even the little shit Nate—were sending her love notes through me.
I should have put this straight into the outside trash can like I had with the others. But something told me to open it. And pictures spilled out onto the floor. More pictures of Liz and Ruiz together in various erotic positions. Liz didn’t look any happier in them than the last time.
And there was another note. This one had my blood going cold.
“Congratulations on the baby. Hope you name it after me.”
How did he know about the baby? I hadn’t told anyone, much as I was eager to tell my friends and the club about the second pregnancy. And I knew Liz wouldn’t have said a word; it was her who wanted to keep it quiet. How did Ruiz know?
Did that mean something that I didn’t want to contemplate? Was Ruiz trying to make me doubt Liz all over again?
Whatever he was doing, it was working.
Chapter 34
Liz
I could sense something was seriously wrong when Noah came back into the house. The tension in the house got even thicker. I could feel it prickling along the back of my neck. Sitting beside me as he played with the toy kitchen, Hunter didn’t seem to notice.
But I certainly noticed the sudden chill in the air as Noah came into the lounge. His face was tight, his eyes so dark they were practically black, and his jaw looked like he was grinding his teeth. He was furious. I hadn’t seen him look like that in a long time, not even this morning.
I sat up. What had happened in the few minutes he had been outside?
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to talk, Liz.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. Noah went to Hunter and knelt beside his son, kissing his head and ruffling his hair.
“I’m going to have a word with Mommy outside, Hunter, okay? You will be able to see us, just stay here. Let us know if you need the bathroom.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
Hunter barely looked around as he played with his toys. I wanted to stay with him. Something about Noah told me I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. I was in trouble and I had no idea why. But this was going to boil over if we didn’t deal with it now.
I followed Noah outside. Almost as soon as I had closed the sliding door, Noah rounded on me.
“Who’s the father of your baby?”
That came so far out of left field that it caught me off-guard. I stared at him.
“What the… what are you talking about, Noah?”
“Am I the father of your baby?”
“Of course, you are. I haven’t slept with anyone else since you got back. Who else do you think I would be sleeping with at this time?”
“Ruiz Fernandez.”
I gasped. He looked completely serious about it. He seriously thought Ruiz would be the father.
“How dare you.”
“You had sex with him recently,” Noah shot back with a snarl. “As recently as the last six months, not before we met like you claimed. Recently.”
“He raped me recently, you mean.” I tried to keep my voice down, but it wasn’t easy. “And I got myself checked out as soon as I could after he let me go. I wasn’t pregnant. Besides, the timeline doesn’t fit. Do you remember what the sonographer said? Baby is about eight weeks ago. He raped me further back than that.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Ruiz is not the father.”
Noah snorted. He began pacing, looking like a wild man.
“How do I know that, Liz? You could have been pregnant before I came back and tried to bluff by saying I’m the father. When the baby comes early, you’ll just call it a premature birth.”
I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I threw my hands up in the air, aware that Hunter was nearby, and I wanted to keep my temper in check.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Noah, for fuck’s sake! I would never do that. What Ruiz did to me was non-consensual. You know that. How many times do I have to say it before you believe me? If I had found out I was pregnant by him, I would have done something about it!”
“Or you were too scared to.”
“You really think I wanted to be tied to that man for the rest of my life?”
“How else would he know about the baby?”
“What are you talking about?”
Noah shoved a letter into my hands.
“Read that. It says congratulations on the baby. That’s Ruiz’s handwriting.”
“He knows where we are. This is just to scare us.”
“How would he know about a baby?” Noah’s eyes narrowed at me. “Did you tell him?”
“Of course, I didn’t! He could have had someone fish around in our trash and then did that to scare us. Make you paranoid.” I scrunched up the letter, throwing it onto the ground. “And it’s clearly working. I’ve never said anythin
g.”
“Well, Ruiz knows and it’s a personal message to us. Who did you tell, Liz?”
“I haven’t, just you.” I found myself backing away as Noah advanced on me. “I told you the reasons why. Why would I tell Ruiz about it?”
“Because he’s the father.”
I felt like Noah had slapped me in the face. The air seemed to be pressing down on me and I could feel a panic attack coming on.
“Ruiz is not the father!” I shrieked, shoving Noah in the chest. Pushing him away helped but not much. I still felt suffocated. “He will never be the father to any of my children. Hunter and this baby are yours. No one else’s.”
Noah didn’t say anything. He just stood there staring at me. I didn’t need to be a genius to read the expression on his face. He really didn’t believe a word I was saying. It had to be more than just this letter. Noah wasn’t one of those people who doubted others so easily. Ruiz had to have been leaving notes before now that had been eating away at Noah’s mind.
And it was working. Now the doubts were firmly lodged there, and I wasn’t able to shift them.
“You don’t believe me,” I murmured. “You believe… Ruiz? Noah, I thought you trusted me!”
“I thought I did as well.”
I felt my panic attack building. As well as my anger. I lashed out and punched him, catching Noah on the jaw. His head jerked around, and he grunted. When he looked back at me, rubbing his jaw, fury was blazing even brighter. For a moment, I thought he was going to hit me. But then I was too angry to care. I was trying not to fall to pieces.
“You are a complete and utter bastard,” I hissed, jabbing him in the chest. “You really think I would cheat on you? I was bought and raped by that man and you think I did all that willingly? You are disgusting. Completely disgusting.” I swung away and kicked a chair over. “Get away from me. Just get away from me.”
Noah growled. He stormed to the door and flung it open, glaring back at me.
“I haven’t finished with you yet.”
I bared my teeth at him before I shoved past him into the house.
“Yes, you have.”
I turned to Hunter, who was still playing happily with the kitchen set, pretending to pour some tea. I sat beside him and focused on my son. I was aware of Noah behind me watching us. Then his footsteps stomped through the house and the door slammed a moment later.
Chapter 35
Liz
He was keeping things from me. He was lying to me. Noah knew I hated it when things were kept from me. It was nothing to do with being for my own good. I wanted to know what was happening if anything Noah was looking into involved me.
And to see the look on his face when I told him the truth about Ruiz and that I wasn’t having an affair with the vile man… that simply broke my heart. He didn’t believe me.
I didn’t understand how he couldn’t believe me now. Noah had always taken my word as gospel before. We had trusted each other. Even though I wasn’t happy with some of the company he kept, I trusted Noah. His love for me had never been in question.
Now it was. I could tell. He was beginning to doubt me. Noah thought I had been messing around while he had been inside. That was far from the truth. And I would never do anything with Ruiz. The bastard had raped me. Noah knew that. I didn’t have anything to do with the piece of shit, but Ruiz was intent on making sure Noah and I had no trust between us, that we were divided.
And it was working. Noah was falling for the bait. I had thought he was better than that. Clearly not. Being inside had made him paranoid.
I wasn’t going to wait around and be accused of anything else. As soon as Noah was out the house, I started packing. Thankfully, we hadn’t brought much, so I only packed the essentials for myself and Hunter. Then I called Cassie. I needed help and she had vowed to be there whenever I needed a helping hand. I certainly needed it now.
I did debate leaving a note for Noah, but I decided against it. There were things I wouldn’t be able to put into words and, by the time I’d finished the note, he would be back. I just wanted to get out of there, Ruiz be damned. It wasn’t safe out there for me, but I wasn’t safe in the safe house either. Not if Ruiz was sending letters to Noah, goading him about a forced relationship and putting doubts into his head.
If I ever got hold of the bastard, I was going to rip him to shreds myself.
Cassie came over very quickly, not needing to ask any questions. Just one look at my face told her everything. She silently gathered our bags and took them out to her car while I carried Hunter and his car seat outside, buckling him in. Hunter had been playing lots that morning and he was already getting cranky. The boy needed a nap and he barely slept in the car. I could only hope it didn’t take long to get back home.
Home. It was feeling less and less like a home now, especially now Noah and I were on the precipice of no return and Ruiz had had his men attack the one place that should have been a refuge. But it was better than going to my mother’s and fighting with her over my son’s upbringing. The moment Gloria heard what had happened, she would grab Hunter and refuse to let go, threatening custody. I wasn’t in the mood to go through that right now.
We were silent as we drove back into town. Cassie kept glancing over at me, clearly wanting to say something, but she didn’t. I was grateful about that. If I started talking, chances were I was going to burst into tears. That wasn’t what I wanted to do. I needed to be strong, both for me and for Hunter. This had been our life for the past couple of years and I wasn’t about to let a man turn it upside-down, just because he was trying to act like Papa Bear and take charge. That was my job.
If Noah wanted to be Papa Bear, he needed a kick up the backside. I wasn’t letting him around me if he didn’t trust me.
It was mid-afternoon by the time we pulled up outside my house. Surprisingly, Hunter was asleep, sucking away on his thumb. I eased him out of the seat and carried him inside. It felt strange coming home; it was almost like we had been on holiday. There was something bittersweet about it, especially with the knots in my stomach.
I went into Hunter’s room and laid him down in his crib. He was going to get annoyed with that when he woke up, I was sure about it. Somehow, I would get him his baby bed. He had been getting on with it perfectly at the safe house. But I wasn’t going to ask for it; I would get it myself. I wasn’t going to rely on anyone else.
Making sure the window was firmly locked, I tiptoed out of Hunter’s bedroom, closing the door gently behind me. Cassie had carried the bags inside and was standing in the hall, looking nervous. I couldn’t blame her; the tension was very thick in the air.
“Did he go to sleep okay?” Cassie whispered.
“Yes. He didn’t even wake up.” Liz hugged her friend. “Thanks for doing this, Cassie. I know it was a lot to ask.”
“It’s fine.” Cassie grimaced as she drew back. “But Mason is going to kill me when he finds out.”
“Send him to me and then he can try shouting at me.” I was prepared to shout right back if that happened. “I had to get out of there. Noah was scaring me, and Hunter didn’t need to see us fighting. I don’t want him scared of his father.” I rubbed absently at my belly. “And, at this early stage, I can’t have the stress right now.”
Cassie nodded sagely.
“I understand that, babe. You should have left a note, though.”
“I kept thinking what to write but that would have slowed our leaving process. And I didn’t want to lose my nerve.” I kicked at the nearest bag, wincing as I stubbed my toe. “I can’t believe he thought the baby wasn’t his.”
“You’re certain it’s not Ruiz’s baby?” Cassie asked.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I glared at Cassie, who almost took a step back.
“Of course, I am!” I hissed. “I checked with the doctor and the fetus is only five weeks along. Ruiz raped me months ago. The dates don’t add up at all and I don’t have a place in my uterus to store sperm.”
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br /> Not that sperm would have lasted that long, anyway. If anything, I was relieved that I had never gotten pregnant by Ruiz. That would have been the ultimate nightmare for me. Be forever tied to the bastard.
“I was just checking,” Cassie said hurriedly.
“It sounded like you didn’t believe me, either.”
“I believe you. I just wanted to check.” Cassie ran a hand through her hair. “It’s one of those things that we need to make sure of, so it doesn’t come back to bite us in the ass.”