by A. C. Arthur
“By breaking and entering?” Pulling the sheets up to her neck, she sat up in the bed.
“No. By getting us out of here. Now I’ve got a car waiting. You just need to get dressed and we can go.”
“Go where?”
He’d been pacing back and forth, tiny beads of sweat peppering his forehead. He wore jeans and tennis shoes. That should have been the first tip off that he wasn’t exactly stable at the moment. No, the fact that he’d obviously broken into Brock’s house clearly stated he’d gone overboard.
“The way I see it, the only way we can get away from Claudette and her crazy scheme is to leave the country. That way even if she shows the pictures it doesn’t matter because we’ll be long gone.”
For a moment Noelle could only stare at him.
“What?” he exclaimed. “Get out of bed and get dressed.”
This fool had definitely bumped his head if he thought for one second she was going anywhere with him. “Luther, I’m going to give you about ten seconds to get the hell out of this room, out of this house before I call the cops.” Or worse, Noelle thought as their voices were steadily escalating, Brock.
Why hadn’t she just stayed in his room last night? Oh, no, she’d had to try and prove another point. They were going to take their relationship slow if it was the last thing she did. Still, had she stayed wrapped safely in his arms, she wouldn’t be staring at this lunatic right now.
Throwing the covers to the side she finally climbed out of bed, only to stand in front of Luther, poking her finger into his chest.
“You have lost your everlasting mind! First you lie to me and cheat on your wife. Then you harass me with a bunch of bull about wanting to leave her and be with me. Then, as if the previous actions weren’t bad enough, you try to help your wife blackmail me. And now…now you bring your silly behind in here talking about running away like we’re some star-crossed lovers!”
Luther had been backing up with each poke, each word she tossed at him, while Noelle’s anger was steadily brewing.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, now or ever. But I will tell you what I’m going to do,” she said, then reached for the first thing in her line of vision—the wire trashcan near the door. Picking it up she hauled it over her head and brought it down with a loud crack over Luther’s skull.
“I’m going to beat some sense into you once and for all!”
That’s the scene Brock walked in on—Noelle yelling and screaming as she cornered a man in her bedroom, beating him with, of all things, a trash can.
“What the hell?” he asked, not expecting to receive an answer. Then he took another step, snagging Noelle around the waist and spinning her in the opposite direction.
“Let me go! I’m not finished with him yet!” she yelled as he set her down a good distance from the man now sliding to the floor.
“Put that down,” Brock told her. When she didn’t comply, he reached for her arm and yanked the trash can from her grip.
“He deserves it for all he’s put me through! I should—” her words ended abruptly as she made another dive for the man.
If he weren’t facing an intruder in his house and a maniacal woman, Brock might have found the situation funny as hell. Instead, with a grip that was much sterner, much tighter than before, he moved Noelle back, pushing her onto the bed until her mouth dropped open, then clapped shut. “Stay there!” he warned her, and watched with fascination as all she did in response was huff and fold her arms over her chest.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, he turned to the intruder. “Get up!” Brock yelled at him.
“Nah, man. She’s crazy. I’m not moving until you tie her up somewhere.”
What? Was he in the twilight zone? Was this grown man huddled in the corner, afraid to move for fear of being attacked by Noelle?
Reaching down, Brock grabbed him by the front of the hooded jacket he wore and hauled him up. “Who the hell are you?”
“I—I—” He was stuttering like a child who’d stolen something.
“That’s Luther! With his dumb, conniving behind!” Noelle shot back.
Well, wasn’t this just peachy, Brock thought, then unceremoniously let go of the hold he had on Luther’s jacket, watching him stumble to stay upright.
“How did he get in here, Noelle?”
For a moment she didn’t answer, then in a very clipped, very purposeful tone she said, “He broke in. How do you think he got in here?”
Brock raised his fist and brought it crashing down into Luther’s jaw. The man, or the sorry excuse for a man, fell straight back against the wall, holding his face.
Not hesitating, Brock landed another blow to his nose this time and watched as blood instantly spurt into the air.
“Dammit! You broke my nose!” Luther whined as Brock gave him about a minute to touch and feel the damage to his face before hitting him with a gut blow that was designed to bring up every meal Luther had eaten since around noon the day before.
The sound he made as he crumbled to the floor was sickening and invigorating all at the same time.
“Oh, great. I missed all the action,” Trent said, pushing through the bedroom door to see Brock shaking his fist and Luther Simmons balled up in the corner moaning.
Chapter 22
“Oh, honey, you should have called me and told me what was going on,” Jade said, folding Noelle into a hug the minute the men were all huddled on the other side of the dining room.
The last twelve hours had been a frantic blur for Jade, from the moment she’d overheard Trent telling Linc that Luther was on his way to Maryland. She’d never dressed so quickly in her life. Linc had tried to convince her that she didn’t need to come, but she wasn’t trying to hear any of his excuses. She’d deal with him keeping secrets from her later.
On the plane ride she’d made Linc tell her the whole sordid tale of how Luther had involved her sister in an affair while he was still married and then had the audacity to try and blackmail her. Jade had been furious with both Linc and Noelle for not telling her any of this over the last few months.
Jade also had to learn, on the plane ride to Maryland—thank goodness they were traveling across the country or she might still be in the dark—Trent’s role in this little episode.
Apparently Brock had called Trent, asking him to look into Luther’s background. Well, that was right up Trent’s alley, and her military-trained brother-in-law had instantly done just that. He’d also gone to see Claudette Simmons and had her arrested. News after that had led to their little trip out here. Jade was more than angry with a few members of the Donovan family, but she’d have to deal with all that later. Right now, she had to take care of Noelle.
“Jade, you shouldn’t have come all the way out here. The girls need you,” Noelle said, trying desperately to let go of the hurt she still felt from Brock’s question. Did he really believe she’d invited Luther to his home? If not, then why ask her how Luther got there? Last night with Brock and the couple of days prior had been so good. She’d thought they were actually on their way to a meaningful relationship. Now, she wasn’t quite sure.
“Beverly will keep the girls. And with Tia and Camille hanging around, they’ll be well taken care of. You, on the other hand…” Jade shook her head. “What am I going to do with you? I knew I shouldn’t have let you come out here. But I was trying to give you a chance. It was just too soon after the fiasco with Luther. Whew, I’m glad that’s over with.”
“Hold on,” Noelle said, trying to get her thoughts straight. “What do you mean you shouldn’t have let me come? Jade, I’m a grown woman. I make my own decisions.”
Her sister didn’t say anything, just continued brushing the sides of her hair and not looking at her.
“That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t think I can make my own decisions? That’s why you left your newborn twins to come and rescue poor little Noelle, again.” She huffed then pulled out of Jade’s grasp. “This was not my fault! I didn’t mess up this time
. Luther did.”
Noelle walked across the room, waiting for Jade to say something, hoping she was wrong and that her sister was only here out of concern and not her usual protective instincts.
“I didn’t say it was your fault,” Jade said quietly.
Noelle sighed. “But that’s exactly what you’re thinking. You think because I messed up by being with Luther I created this whole situation. But I didn’t, Jade.”
Running her fingers through her hair, which probably looked a hot mess, Noelle glared at her sister. “I met a man. I liked him so I went out with him. We began what I thought was a relationship. Unfortunately, because he happened to be a liar and a cheat, that wasn’t true. But I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t go looking to be used this way.”
“Noelle,” Jade tried to interject.
“No.” Holding up her hand to silence her sister, Noelle kept right on talking. “I’m tired of everybody looking at me as if they’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. You’ve done that all my life and it’s time for it to stop. Poor Linc just picked up where you left off. While he’s not as intense as you are, he still maneuvers things for me. First the job at the Gramercy, school and now this job. I can do things for myself. I can work and live and find love, all by myself.”
Her heart was hammering in her chest and Noelle figured she was probably going overboard but it felt so good to be releasing all this pent-up frustration. She was actually saying the things she’d been thinking for quite some time and it was taking a tremendous load off to do so.
“I’m not perfect, so things are going to go wrong in my life the same way they do in everybody else’s, but it’s okay because that’s normal.”
By now everyone had stopped talking to stare at her. Noelle didn’t give a damn—they all needed to hear it. They all needed to know that Noelle Vincent was her own woman, with her own goals and aspirations.
“I don’t need to be protected or cushioned from bad things and I definitely don’t need to be bailed out of every scrape I get into. For God’s sake, the best lessons learned are the ones learned the hard way. If you all keep picking up the pieces, how do you ever expect me to learn? Well, it doesn’t matter because despite your efforts I have learned how to be an adult and how to make adult decisions and—”
“Shhh.”
Noelle felt his hands on her shoulders, stopping her next steps and her next words. It was Brock. Only his touch could soothe and quiet her at the same time.
“It’s all right, baby. Nobody’s going to do those things to you anymore. We know this wasn’t your fault.”
She was already shaking her head, denying his claim. “No, Jade doesn’t know. She thinks I’m a screwup. She had to come all the way across the country to fix my mess again.”
“Jade came all the way across the country because she’s your sister and she loves you. She wanted to make sure you were safe.”
With tear-filled eyes Noelle looked up at Jade. She was dressed in a cream-colored linen pantsuit, her auburn hair curling at her shoulders, her eyes almost identical to Noelle’s misting with tears as she nodded, agreeing to what Brock had just said.
“I guess I’ve been mothering you for so long it’s kind of hard to stop,” Jade said when Linc came to wrap an arm around her.
“We all just care about you, Noelle. If it’s a bit overbearing, blame it on our hearts, not our minds,” Linc offered.
Brock was rubbing his hands up and down her arms now as the tears continuously flowed down her cheeks. Sure, she felt like a colossal ass for making such a scene, but she also felt relief that they all understood where she was coming from.
“Why don’t I take you back upstairs so you can lay down? It’s been a pretty eventful morning. I’m sure you’re tired.”
She wasn’t really tired, not anymore. But she’d take this as a way to get Brock alone. There were some things she needed to get off her chest where he was concerned also.
“That sounds good,” she said in a tiny voice, then went to Jade, hugging her and Linc. “Thanks, you guys, for everything.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. You can vent whenever you feel like it,” Jade said.
Linc tweaked her nose. “Yeah, but keep the tears to a minimum. I’m just a man, you know.”
“I’ll remember that,” Noelle said with a smile, then turned to walk out of the room beside Brock.
“Wow, I thought she was going to skin you both alive,” Sam Desdune said from his perch on the chair in the corner of the dining room.
“Be quiet, Desdune. I’m sure your family has the same types of blowups,” Trent said, thanking God Noelle hadn’t turned her wrath on him. However, he knew the moment she got herself together she’d be gunning for him.
Sam was Trent’s partner in D&D Investigations. He was also a good friend, so when Trent had mentioned what he was working on Sam had immediately offered his help. Trent knew that Sam was still feeling guilty for the stalker from an earlier case coming all the way to Vegas to get back at Trent through Tia. But that was water under the bridge. He had Tia and she was safe, so Trent was happy.
Sam, however, Trent wasn’t so sure of. Earlier this year Sam had been engaged to Leeza Purdy, a snobby Connecticut socialite with a voice that would drive a crazy man to sanity. Two months ago, when Sam had come to Vegas to warn Trent about the stalker, he’d told him that he’d broken his engagement to Leeza, citing he just couldn’t take it any longer. Trent had laughed and congratulated his friend. That, no doubt, had been a good move.
Because Sam was only a few hours away from Maryland, he’d come down to lend a hand with the Luther issue. Luckily for them all, Luther had been smart enough—in the end—to go quietly with the police officers who had arrived after Trent had found the man in Noelle’s bedroom.
Brock’s right hand was a little swollen and would probably hurt for the duration of the day, but he sensed it had felt good to break Luther’s nose. Trent only wished he’d been the one to hit him.
“Yeah, but this is way more entertaining,” Sam told him.
“There’s never a dull moment where the Donovans are involved,” Max added.
“So I’m going to head down to the police station just to make sure all the loose ends with Luther are tied up,” Sam said, standing and stretching his long arms. Taller and leaner than the Donovans, Sam had the look of a half African-American, half Frenchman, and the Creole background to go along with the look.
“That sounds like a plan,” Trent conceded. “You up for a ride, Max?”
“Nah, I was thinking more along the lines of a round of golf,” he said with a grin.
Max was younger than Trent by a year. His brother Ben was a year younger than Adam. Out of all the cousins Trent, Adam and Linc were closest to Uncle Everette’s children because Uncle Albert had opted to live in Texas instead of on the west coast with the rest of the clan. As far as Trent knew Max didn’t have a steady woman in his life, either—something about the accident he’d had in college kept him from being with a woman on an extended basis, and since the Donovan men—until recently—weren’t interested in tying themselves down with a woman, Trent had never questioned it. But it was said that once you fell in love you looked at everyone around you to fall in the same fashion. Well, Trent was wondering about Max’s bachelorhood, as well.
“Golf sounds good. We can stop by the police station, finish up with Luther and then hit the course.”
“Should we wait for Linc and Brock?”
Max shook his head. “I think Brock is going to be detained for a while.”
Trent laughed as they all looked toward the doorway and the stairs that Brock and Noelle had climbed up just moments before. “You might be right. And Jade will probably keep Linc occupied, as well. So it looks like it’s just us, fellas.”
“Cool. Let’s go.”
Chapter 23
In the bedroom Brock attempted to pull Noelle close for a hug, but she easily pulled away.
“I’m sorry they upset you,
” he said, undoubtedly speaking of Linc and Jade.
“They aren’t the only ones,” she quipped. Her mind was simply reeling, first with her conflicting feelings about Brock, then with Luther and his fool actions and Linc and Jade’s overprotectiveness, right back to Brock and her doubts where he was concerned.
“Tell me what else is bothering you,” he said calmly, moving over to sit in the chair closest to the window.
“Do you trust me?” she blurted out.
Brock didn’t falter. “Yes.”
“Remember when I told you that, despite all my mistakes, I only sleep with one man at a time?”
“Yes.”
“Did you believe me?”
“Of course I believed you.”
“Then why did you ask how Luther got into my room? Did you think I let him in?” Her heart beat wildly as she waited for the answer, hoping and praying it would be what she wanted—no, what she needed—so desperately to hear.
“Baby, I asked you because I wanted you to tell me he broke in. I wanted one more excuse to whip his ass. You thought I was accusing you?”
Noelle turned away, unable to fully bask in the euphoria of his words. “I don’t know what to think right now. Everything is happening so fast. A month ago I came here to work, then I met you and we…we—Things are just out of control.”
His hands were on her shoulders, slipping down her arms to wrap around her, cradling her. “I know. It seems like just yesterday I was walking around this big house by myself. And then I got a call saying that a site manager was on her way. From the moment you stepped off that plane, my life’s been in an uproar. Everything I thought I knew or thought I wanted has changed and you’re the reason.”
“That wasn’t my intention,” she said quietly.
“Mine, either. But we’re both adults. We can handle this, baby.”