King dropped his gaze, and Harrison shoved him, hard, forcing him to take a backwards step.
“What was your reply?!”
“I told her not to contact me again.”
“And she died a few months later,” Harrison said, swallowing the lump in his throat, and blinking back the tears stinging his eyes. With his hands still in his pockets, he slid out the sharp, slender blade that had been concealed in the lining of his pants. “So it’s your turn now.”
He lunged at Terry with the blade between his fingers, aiming for his chest. Adrenaline rushed through him as he made contact as pushed the blade in deep, ignoring the loud crack of a gunshot, and the subsequent pain that rushed through his side. He pulled the blade out and aimed it again, but his aim was off now, and he suddenly felt dizzy. The weapon fell uselessly from his hands as he dropped to the ground, with Terry gasping in pain as he stood over him.
“Nah,” Terry said, his voice shaking with rage and pain. “It’s your turn. Tell the bitch I didn’t say hello.”
Through hazy, half-lidded eyes, Harrison watched as the barrel of a gun swam into his line of sight. He wasn’t even disappointed that he’d failed at his goal, because it had always been a long shot. Hell… this was further than he’d even imagined he’d get.
His only regret was that he hadn’t been able to tell Savi goodbye.
&
Steady.
Steady.
Steady.
As soon as they stepped out of the vehicle, Savi had them in her line of sight. She was beyond grateful – more like relieved – that she’d thought to tell Kendall to put her rifle in the car. Her stomach was still churning from how fast they’d gone to make it to that back road to the hangar, then sneak their way past the security to get to where they were now.
Kendall was hidden behind an air conditioning unit near the stairs, with his weapon aimed and waiting for anyone who might venture up to the roof. Savi was on the other side, watching Terry and Harrison through the scope of her rifle as they stopped to talk.
Looking back and forth between the two men, she still couldn’t believe her eyes.
It wasn’t that they looked exactly alike, because they definitely didn’t. But there was a similarity there, in the structure of the brow, and jaw, and the shape of the eyes… a similarity in the confidence they carried that Savi couldn’t believe she hadn’t immediately picked up.
Or maybe she had.
That night at the restaurant, something about King had seemed eerily familiar. Then, she’d chalked it up to him being related to Renata, but now she realized it wasn’t that at all. It was because of the relation to the man she loved.
And no wonder Harrison had been so upset, so disgusted by the thought of her with Terry King. If this man was his father, and also responsible for the death of his mother, well… Savi could understand that reaction as much more than macho jealousy now.
His reaction that night wasn’t even the only thing that suddenly made sense. His vendetta, his insistence that Savi not be involved, his easy relationship with Taylor and Renata… his niece and his sister, the same ones he rarely spoke about, but had mentioned the first night they met.
You’re lucky I have a sister and a niece to protect.
That’s what he’d said to her, when she had turned his own gun against him. And she’d watched him, over the last few weeks, the way he joked with and teased Renata, and it had never occurred to her that… wow. When she really thought about it… Harrison and Renata did kind of favor each other… this was crazy!
But right now, there was a much more pressing thing to consider. Through her scope, Terry and Harrison were arguing now, and it was getting heated… what the hell was about to happen?
Savi’s finger flew to the trigger when Harrison suddenly shoved King, and she fought to keep King aimed in her sights. But they kept moving, wouldn’t give her a clear shot, and then… shit, Harrison lunged at him, and the loud crack of a gunshot ripped through the air. A sob clogged Savi’s throat as she watched Harrison slump to the ground, with red stain spreading rapidly over his side. She blinked back tears, moved her fingers back to the trigger, as King stood shakily over Harrison, and then lifted a gun. She aimed right for his head.
Before she could pull the trigger, a vehicle flew up, obscuring her view. It was quickly followed by several other identical black SUVs, and there was a flurry of movement and gunfire as figures dressed in black swarmed the scene, shoving people into cars. And then they were gone. As quickly as they’d come, they moved away, leaving one SUV parked just to the side of where Harrison lay on the ground. He was moving, so he was still alive, and hope surged in Savi’s chest.
Until she saw the man standing over him. Anger filled her chest as she placed him in her scope, bringing a familiar face into focus. For the second time in less than five minutes, she watched a man point a gun at the love of her life, and this time, there was no hesitation. She pulled the trigger, putting a bullet right through Agent Barnes’ eyes.
Fifteen
“Madame Mimi, your mommy is sooo pretty!”
Naomi barely registered the excited declarations of her students as she stared at her mother. She didn’t even have to wonder how Noelle had managed to just walk into her gym without causing any alarm. With the exception of a few easily-missed fine lines and wrinkles, Noelle could easily pass for her daughter. Extended youth… one of the perks of living a luxurious life, and having the leisure time to keep yourself pampered, and well taken of.
How… lucky.
“I’m sorry,” Naomi said, tearing her gaze away from Noelle to turn to the parents. “I wasn’t expecting this visit from my mother, but since she’s here, I’m going to need to cancel today’s class.”
“Oh, nonsense.” Noelle stepped toward Naomi with a smile. “You don’t have to cancel class, I would love to watch.”
“No.” Naomi’s answer was firm, offering no room for argument. “I need you to take them,” she said to the parents, fighting to keep her face frozen in a pleasant smile. “Now please.”
Noelle’s shoulders drooped as everyone began to move, and Naomi kept her mother locked in her sights as she apologized to the girls and their parents. It took several minutes, but eventually, she and Noelle were alone in the room as the door swung closed.
She cared.
Naomi definitely cared.
“Why are you here?” she asked, her voice coming out just barely above a harsh whisper.
“I wanted to see you. My Mimi… I’ve waited so long to see you in person.” Noelle approached her with her hands out, as if to cup her face, and Naomi smacked her hands away.
“Don’t you dare touch me,” Naomi snapped, backing away. “Are you out of your mind? You wanted to see me? Why, all of a sudden? Why now?”
“Naomi…” Noelle’s eyes flashed with hurt as she stared at her firstborn child. “My dear, I thought… I thought you’d be happy to see me, after all this time…”
“You thought wrong! And I’ve seen you.” Naomi didn’t stop her tone from dripping disgust as she backed away from Noelle again. “I saw you, drugged up and laid out in Terry King’s bed like a whore. Why didn’t you come see me sooner, instead of doing that? Or all the time you were with Damien Wolfe, after he killed my father?!”
Noelle let out a heavy sigh as she shook her head. “Mimi, if you’d let me explain…”
“There’s nothing to explain! You are a selfish, sorry, slut, and a horrible excuse for a mother!”
Naomi recoiled in pain as Noelle closed the short distance between them, smacking her across the face. “Be upset all you want, but you will not disrespect me, especially when you don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“I know you betrayed my father,” Naomi spat, her eyes narrowed in hatred. “I know you sleep with whoever seems to have the money, and the power. I know you abandoned me.”
“No, you think I abandoned you!” Noelle’s nostrils flared as she stepped into Naomi�
�s face. “You may not agree with my methods, my dear, but understand that I’ve only ever wanted to protect you. Yes, I’ve made some mistakes. I had an affair with Damien, while I was with your father. But know that man you knew as your father was no noble hero.”
Naomi shook her head. “What does that even mean?”
“It means that Nelson was a mean, abusive son-of-a-bitch, and I was too young and stupid to realize that the things he did weren’t out of love. On the surface, Nelson and Damien were like night and day. Nelson was sweet, harmless, charming. Damien was ruthless, scary, but equally charming. But while Nelson was whooping my ass in private, breaking me down every chance he got, Damien was the one who put me back together. We had an affair, and Nelson began to suspect, so I left Damien alone. And he got very, very angry. He didn’t speak to me for a long time, and for a while, things between Nelson and me were better. But then they got bad again, and again… Damien was there. And that time, Nelson didn’t just suspect. He found out, and he made me pay for it.”
Naomi swallowed hard, averting her gaze as she ran her tongue over her teeth. “That was… when you were abducted?”
“Yes.” Noelle’s voice was choked with emotion, but she continued anyway. “Nelson did that, even though he swore it was his brother. He beat and raped me for weeks. Threatened to… threatened to harm you, if I didn’t “get in line”. So… obviously, I did.”
“That’s why you seemed so… vacant, when you came back?”
Noelle nodded. “Yes. I was… empty, inside. I wanted to die. And then one day, Damien contacted me. Offered a solution… and I took it. I thought I’d clean myself up, heal, get healthy, and be able to come back for you, but… Nelson figured it out. He knew. He sent along the message that he was done with me… but he was keeping you. That if I even attempted to come for you, he would kill you. So I had to wait. Damien promised me he would keep you safe, and get you away from Nelson, so we could be together.”
“Okay, so what happened?” Naomi asked, throwing her hands in the air. “Nelson has been dead for fifteen years! Why am I just now seeing you?!”
“Because Damien thought it was best! He has… a lot of enemies, Mimi. You know that! It was best to let people believe that you were Nelson’s child, that Wolfe wanted nothing to do with you, that I wasn’t alive, so you wouldn’t have people coming after you, to get to him!”
“That’s not good enough!” Naomi yelled, inches from Noelle’s face. “That is… that is weak! No… no, that doesn’t work. I think you stayed away cause that was easier. Cause you’re a coward. Because you didn’t want to face your mistakes, you didn’t want to face me, knowing that you’d abandoned me. You don’t get to stand here and act as if you’ve done something noble. All this time… you could have reached out. You could have said something.”
“You’ve been safe, haven’t you? Mostly? When you were running around stealing, when your gym was targeted, when Victor Lucas came after you… we intervened, in all of that.”
Naomi sucked her teeth, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t have needed intervention if it weren’t for you! No one would be after me, I wouldn’t have pursued that life, Victor Lucas wouldn’t even know my name, if it wasn’t for you!”
“I know that!” Noelle hands shook as she turned away, then pushed her hair back from her face. “I know. And that… Mimi, that tortures me. That the things we did, our mistakes… that you, and your friends… that you are the ones who’ve had to pay. As much as I try to forget that, I can’t!”
“As much as you…” Naomi covered her mouth, biting her lip in attempt to quell the fresh tears that were forming in her eyes. “That’s why… isn’t it? That’s why you never came for me… cause I remind you of a time you’d rather forget. A reminder of all those awful decisions from your past. You… I bet you hate me.”
“Never.”
Naomi scoffed. “Oh, please. I’m a living, breathing reminder of Nelson. Proof that you whored yourself between two –”
“Watch your mouth, little girl. I don’t hate you. I have protected you.”
“Because you felt guilty! Of course you did. So maybe you aren’t a monster. Maybe you’re not as bad as Nelson, or Wolfe, or even King, but you know what else you aren’t? A mother. You’re just the woman who happened to give birth to me.”
Noelle shrank back at the venom Naomi spat out, shaking her head. “You’re angry. Okay. But don’t tell me I haven’t done anything for you. You were my everything, Naomi, and I have still been trying to protect you. It was the only thing I asked of Damien, to make sure you stayed safe. And when I failed at that, with Terry King, I went to bat for you. I planted in his head to leave you in peace, convinced him that keeping you alive, making you hate your father was the worst thing he could do to Damien.”
“Is that what you were doing, in your lingerie, in his bed?”
“He drugged me,” Noelle shot back. I had him convinced I was on heavy mood adjusters, tranquilizers. He would give me the pills, and I would spit them out. One night... he beat me up, and forced those pills down my throat, and… he did God knows what else. But I have played that role, to get close. To plant ideas, to sabotage, to do whatever I could to get us out of this, and away from this man, so we can have a life, a normal life.”
“We can’t have anything!” Naomi yelled. “I’ve given up enough, because of you and your men. Maybe you should have gotten to Terry King before he raided the house, before I had to kill people to stay alive, before I fell on my stomach, before I lost my child!” Naomi sucked in a deep breath, trying to hold back tears. “So… whatever. Thanks a bunch, mom.”
“The baby… the baby is gone?” Noelle sounded hollow when she said that, like she was wounded. “You’re not pregnant anymore?”
Naomi shook her head, crossing her arms as she swallowed her emotions. “No. I’m not. And you can’t convince me that you actually care. You are really an insane piece of work. And I do not believe you, about any of this. Not about a single word that has come out of your mouth.”
“You don’t have to.” Noelle shrugged. “That’s not why I’m here anyway.”
“Then why are you here?” Naomi snapped. “After damn near twenty years of absence, mother, please do tell me why you’re here?”
Noelle rolled her eyes. “Because your father wants to see you.”
“My father is dead. I watched him die – watched your husband kill him.”
“No,” Noelle shook her head. “You have that backwards. Haven’t you been listening, this whole time? Damien didn’t kill your father. Your father killed Nelson.”
&
“Where’s Naomi?”
Irritation pricked Marcus’s chest as Quentin kept staring at the screen, his fingers flying over the keyboard as if he hadn’t heard him.
“Quentin!”
The other man looked up that time, his eyes filled with alarm as they moved away from the computer screen to look at Marcus. “What’s up?”
“Naomi,” Marcus repeated. “Where is she?”
Quentin’s face wrinkled in confusion. “She came through here twenty, thirty minutes ago dressed for class. So… in her classroom, I guess.”
“No.”
Quentin frowned. “No?”
“No,” Marcus said, stepping fully into the room as a twinge of concern sparked in the back of his mind. “She’s not in her classroom, I stopped by there first. And she not anywhere else in the gym.”
“Shit.” Quentin stood, moving over to another set of computer monitors, the main ones for the gym. “None of the agents outside saw anything?”
“None of the agents outside are there. We have a fucking problem. You know how I mentioned feeling a little uneasy about Barnes?”
The other man nodded. “Yeah, but I looked into it. Couldn’t find anything dirty on him.”
“I guess he’d just good at hiding it then, but I’m almost positive SSA Barnes works for Damien Wolfe, and has for years.”
His convenient abse
nce when Marcus’s father was killed, him “catching” Naomi and positioning himself in her life for all these years, his “mistrust” of Harrison, and his agents “losing” Noelle were all key indicators. Add to that the fact that he’d just talked to SSA Black – Barnes hadn’t even tried to get a warrant, and he’d just gotten a call from Kendall that Barnes’ men were in the wind with Terry King, while Agent Barnes himself was dead, after making an attempt to kill Harrison. And now… the fact that the agents he’d put in the gym to supposedly keep Naomi safe were nowhere to be found, and neither was Naomi… a double-cross was the only thing that made any sense.
“Never fully trusted his ass,” Quentin muttered under his breath as he pulled up the cameras from the last hour. “Okay… here she is right here,” he said, pointing to one of the screens that showed Naomi walking through the gym on the way to her classroom. That angle showed her face, and Marcus smiled when she smiled, reacting to the noise from her students.
“And this is inside the class,” Quentin said, pointing at a different screen. “Who is that, the woman her students are crowded around?”
Marcus shook his head. “I don’t know…” The woman’s back was to the camera, and there wasn’t another angle. But he could tell by Naomi’s body language that it was someone she wasn’t happy to see. He watched Naomi dismiss the classroom, and then he watched her talk to the woman, and then… they switched positions, but he was… how was he still looking at Naomi’s face? Or was it…
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