I don’t know what to say to that, so I just keep my mouth shut.
I look down at my dirty shoes standing on the white tiles. Mortified by the dirt I’m leaving behind, I quickly toe off my shoes, not wanting another strike against me.
“No, dear, what are you doing?” Noah’s mom almost cries, a look of horror on her face as she looks down at my feet.
“I… my shoes are dirty, and I don’t want to mess up your floor,” I say sheepishly, unable to look her in the eye.
“Oh goodness, I wish you were around when Astraea and the boys were growing up,” she says, moving toward a cleverly hidden door to the side of the foyer. “They never could keep my sparkling floors clean after their messy rough-housing.”
She knows I didn’t grow up here?
“Those kids should have given me a heart attack with all that shouting, but here we are. You can go on back. He’s there.”
I can see a hooded figure sitting in the expensive, comfortable outdoor couch. There’s a fancy fire pit in the middle with a blazing fire going.
I’m not sure if it’s real or not and honestly, I don’t care because the fire that’s currently consuming my soul with each step I take toward him feels so damn real to me.
I don’t know if he sees me coming, but I try to keep my movements silent, wearing the fuzzy house slippers Christina gave me. As I get closer, I can see that his jaw is clenched tight and he’s drinking something.
Jack Daniels.
Of course, why am I not surprised?
He’s staring at Astraea’s house, a solemn look on his face and I know that he’s missing her so much.
Noah’s been spiraling out of control since I met him, but then a lot happened. Heartbreaking truths were exposed and two-faced liars like me were also revealed, and now, he hates me.
When I get close, the light from the flickering flames reveals his side profile.
An involuntary gasp leaves me. I quickly slap my palm over my open mouth, but Noah heard me.
His head snaps up and he looks to my direction. I’m close enough to see that he’s not surprised to see me, but I’m surprised to see his face. He has a black eye, a cut lip that’s still bleeding.
“Noah! What happened to you?” I rush toward him only to come to a stop when he gives the coldest stare known to man.
“She let you in?” he starts, his voice deep but it lacks emotion which is so unlike Noah.
My heart starts pounding harder in my chest, my body tense as a cold breeze picks up.
I hug myself as tightly as I can, but I don’t think the breeze is making me cold.
It’s his stare.
It’s cold and so damn hard, even the flames dancing in his gorgeous eyes do nothing to thaw the ice.
“Yes,” I start, my voice a soft whisper. “Your Mom is nice.”
He grunts, and then stares down at his bottle which I think he just opened. Then he looks at the flames.
“I bet she likes you,” he mutters, but I don’t think he likes that his mother might like me. In fact, he looks disgusted by it. “Why wouldn’t she, though? She’s a liar. Just like you.”
“Noah, please—"
“Well, it’s true,” he grunts, taking a chug of his liquor. “The women I’ve chosen to care about, give my all to—including my fucked-up ice box of a heart—are all liars.”
I slowly walk over to the other couch, directly opposite him. I don’t know if I can sit close to him, and I honestly don’t think he wants me that close to him.
“At least you have her,” I murmur, my vulnerability levels spiking up again just because I can feel his intense gaze on me. That’s what happens when I’m in his presence. I just feel so damn exposed, so raw, a lot more emotional than I want to be and ridiculously vulnerable. He does that to me without even trying. “At least you have a mother who cares.”
“Wow,” he says, letting out a low, humorless chuckle. “That’s the excuse? That’s the one thing that should explain and cover up lying to me? The fact that my mother is keeping things from me is unfortunate, but I should console myself because you have the shittiest mother on the planet?”
He stares at me across the flames, his gaze penetrating deep within my shattered soul.
“That’s not fair,” I whisper. “Using that woman to try and hurt me…”
I told Noah everything about my mother before I ever told Astraea a bit of my past. I know he still hates me because of my bloodline and now when he looks at me, I know he battles disgust and lust.
“If the lie was to protect someone else, is it truly fair to hold it against her?” Against me.
He’s silent for a while, watching me, his expression unreadable. It makes me anxious when he looks at me like that.
His jaw is ticking, reminding me of a ticking time bomb, and I know that’s exactly what Noah is.
A powder keg about to explode and when that happens, he’ll not only blow himself up, but he’ll take everyone around him down along with him.
The fucked-up thing about that? None of the shit he’s been through is his fault.
Everyone he loves did this to him. Including me.
God, how do I fix this? How do I fix my Sexy Fairy?
I get up and slowly walk over to him. He doesn’t tell me off, so I go on and kneel before him, my heart racing at an excruciating pace. With a shaky palm, I tentatively reach for the side of his face, holding my breath the entire time.
He obviously got in a pretty nasty fight. It doesn’t take much to figure with who.
The Blue Boys are fierce when they are fighting for each other, but they’re even tougher on themselves. They don’t cut each other any slack, they demand the very best from each other and recently, things have been chaotic… all of it hurting my Fairy.
“We need to clean these cuts,” I whisper breathlessly.
“Why would you pretend to care?”
“I’m not pretending.”
“Aren’t you?” he counters. “These days it’s pretty hard to tell.”
“What are you thinking?” I whisper, interlocking my fingers with his. His nostrils flare, anger starting to light up his eyes as he looks down at me.
He stares at my lips, his eyes narrowing just a bit then he looks into my eyes.
“These lips,” he says softly, his thumb softly grazing my bottom lip. “These sweet, plump lips, Kimberly.”
“Noah…”
“You know I’d do anything to get a taste of these lips,” he seethes hotly. “I’d move mountains and brave my fucking darkness just to come and get a taste of these lips.”
It’s like being butchered with a dull knife. The pain is excruciating, unbearable, and it’s not yet over.
“And now each time you speak, each time you say my fucking name, Butterfly, I’m left with the knowledge that every word these lips have ever uttered, every time you whispered my name when I kissed you, when I made you come and when you mumbled my name in your sleep—each of those times you were in fact, lying to me.”
Oh God.
My stomach flutters, my insides tighten and for a moment, I get this intuition, a little voice really that’s telling me to run.
“No, I never lied to you about us,” I whisper hotly. “Everything I ever told you was the honest truth.”
“Do you expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to trust me.”
“Trust you?” he demands, standing up suddenly. I fall over on my ass, looking up at him. “You expect me to fucking trust you?”
“Yes!” I say seriously, trying my best to hold my own. “Noah, I’d never do anything to hurt you or Astraea or anyone else for that matter! I had no choice!”
He starts pacing then, occasionally drinking his Jack and trying not to look at me, but just like me, we’re both so helplessly drawn to each other it’s not even funny.
“Please tell me what you’re thinking, baby.”
I used to have access to the rawest, truest form of him and now… nothing.
“I’m just wondering where I fucking went wrong,” he says, his voice clipped, hard and angry.
“What do you mean?”
“I totally missed the mark with you.”
Oh God.
“The first day I saw you, I thought you were it for me and fuck me, when you looked into my eyes, you saw it too, didn’t you?”
I did, but I’m not brave enough to admit it, so I look away as hate, bitterness and something that feels a lot like longing filters between us until the blood in my veins starts rushing.
“You know the shittiest thing about that moment was?” he questions, then takes a sip of his liquor. “I fucking knew you’d obliterate me.”
Funny, that’s what I thought the moment I allowed him into my soul.
“I saw the hunger in your eyes, Kim,” he says my name like a curse he can’t shake, and he knows it’s going to end his life. “I knew you were one of those people who would do anything to get ahead in life. I knew you would be a fighter. I knew you had issues. I knew you were dirty, twisted and a goddess-freak in bed. I knew that. I fucking saw that in you. I felt it in my cock that you love sucking so much.”
My God, that filthy mouth does things to me…
“But what I didn’t count on was that you’d be a liar,” he grits out. “And now, you’re sitting in front of me, on my land, looking like the trailer trash you are.” Oh God. “But fuck me if you’re not the fiercest, sexiest little thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. And now here you sit, trying to justify your lies like you don’t know how much I fucking hate them!”
Shame crashes into me and I look down now, unbale to hold his gaze. I can feel the heat from the flame but I’m still cold, so I hug myself even tighter.
“I didn’t lie to you by choice!” I cry.
“You fucking did, and you know it!” he growls now. “You had so many opportunities to come clean, so many times that you could’ve warned the girl you call your best friend.”
In that moment, something in me just snaps. I stand up to face him, too wound up, hurt and emotional to keep it all in.
“How could I tell her?” I shout now, guilt and helplessness churning in me.
“Noah,” I start, unshed tears flooding my eyes, making my voice and chin tremble with repressed sobs. “Don’t hate me because I look like my sperm-donor of a father.”
* * *
Now, years later the fact that I’m driving up to the Montreal mansion as an official employee to the madam of the house is pretty strange but I don’t have much time to dwell on that.
“Deep breaths, bitch. We need the money, not a murder charge.”
When I drive up to the stately golden gates, they stand open as if they were already waiting for me.
As I approach the estate, my jaw drops to the floor of the car when I take in the scene before me.
I’d thought the gates were open for me; they weren’t because in the driveway, there are moving trucks, and then there’s one huge semi at the end. A semi unloading…. cars.
There’s a sleek fire-engine red Lamborghini, a black Aston Martin, a Ferrari, a G-Wagon and the only one that’s so out of place and a bit peculiar from the tastes of a guy who likes fast, sexy machines he can control, is a black and blue Range Rover Sport—just like this car.
“Oh, hell no.”
This asshole is moving back in!
I mean after what happened last night and the threat he made, I thought he’d just crawl back into whatever hole he’d slithered his way out of and die, but instead, that alcoholic with a death wish has decided to come back home.
I mean what else was I expecting when he literally told me to my face that he was going to make my life a living hell?
But that’s the thing about Noah. Contrary to what most people think, he always keeps his word.
If he tells you he’s got you, then that’s true; but when he tells you that he’s going to make you sorry…
But I don’t take any crap from anyone.
If he’s going to make me sorry, I’m going to make him beg!
I slowly drive toward the parking space where I assume is the back entrance used by employees but as I park and get out of the car, I’m met with an elegantly dressed Christina, seeping a cup of tea as she frowns at me.
“Uh, good morning,” I mutter, trying to be polite.
“Why did you park here?”
Ah, so she was watching me.
“I saw how busy the front was with all the…uh, moving trucks and hauling trucks that are clearly moving hell into your beautiful home.”
She chuckles softly. I round to the back of the car and take out my little gift.
“That’s a lovely box. What’s in there?” Christina questions.
“Oh nothing, just a few things that will help me settle into my new job.” I keep my voice neutral and pleasant enough so she doesn’t suspect a thing.
“Aww, this is what I like to hear!” she says gleefully. “It’s such a relief to see how excited you are even though last night went a bit sideways.” I smile and nod, not revealing a glimpse of the ire I’m feeling right now. “You even dressed up!”
Yeah, today I ditched the jeans and decided to wear my black strapless corset style jumpsuit, paired with a white lace top with the buttons open just slightly at the top.
“You have great fashion sense, don’t you?”
“I love dressing up. Well, when I can, I do.”
“Well, my dear, you’ll be dressing up quite a lot,” she says as we start walking toward the house,
Of the three mansions I’ve been to, Astraea’s, King’s, and now the Montreal’s, I think I love the design of the Montreal’s best.
There’s just something about it that makes it stand out. I haven’t been to Emmett’s, and honestly, I’ve never heard a word about their mansion, but I think this one is the winner because of Christina.
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, your first assignment is pretty huge, my dear.”
“My first assignment?”
“Oh yes.” She sips her cup of coffee and ignores the workers who are bringing in random pieces of furniture and taking some stuff out as well.
“I’m sorry, doesn’t he have furniture already?”
“He’s redecorating his wing.”
Well, I’m sorry I asked. Rich people problems are just so frustrating. But when it comes to Noah and what that jerk did, I choose violence.
“And you’re okay with that?” I start, knowing damn well that I’m instigating. “I mean, it’s you who decorated every inch of this beautiful home, right?”
“Yes! I put my heart and soul into this.”
“And now he’s redecorating? If it were me, I’d be offended because the message this is sending is that the skills and competency of the person who decorated his place initially are lacking. He probably thinks it’s crap or else, why would he do all this? He obviously doesn’t appreciate the time you put into all of this elegance and style.
Christina stops walking, her face transforming with realization.
“Oh my God! You’re so right!” she exclaims. “That’s exactly how I feel.”
Good.
“I know, Christina. The message he’s sending is pretty clear, and to be very honest with you, it’s very disrespectful. As your right-hand woman, I say you tell these men to stop what they’re doing, go up there and remove every piece of furniture that you ever bought him and take it away.”
Christina looks at me with wide eyes filled with excitement.
“Yes! That’s exactly what we’re going to do!”
And with that, she walks over to the nearest worker and tells him exactly what she wants done.
“Are you sure ma’am?”
“It’s my house and I say take it all away.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The guy whistles, gaining the attention of his team. Christina and I stand on the patio, watching as the plan changes. Instead of moving furniture in and out, their
workload becomes easier and more efficient as they move things out. In just a few more trips, the men are done.
“And good riddance,” Christina says. “Now, I just need to go lock all the bedrooms and make sure he won’t have a choice but to talk to me.”
“There you go, Christina! He might be sole proprietor, but you are still his mother.”
Yeah, I choose violence any day over feeling pathetic.
Christina has one side down and this box has the other.
Freaking asshole left dead cats on the hood of my car! I say this is justified.
Chapter 20
KIM
Past
ME: Noah…
Blue Fairy: ???
Blue Fairy: Are you physically safe?
ME: Yes.
Blue Fairy: Then what the fuck do you want?
ME: What ever happened to Brittney?
ME: Noah, please! I had a bad dream…
Blue Fairy: You always have bad dreams.
ME: Noah, I’m going crazy. My sisters… please just tell me.
Blue Fairy: That bitch will never hurt you or your sisters ever again.
Present
“Just how many entrances does this mansion have?”
“Well, if you count the French doors at the back where the pool is, then seven.”
“Seven,” I whisper.
What would’ve happened in my life had we lived in a place where there was more than one way in and out? Maybe I’d have escaped some things…
“Of course, some of them are for the staff, but you’re now my right-hand boss so you use the front entrance. Here’s your key but we need to get you scanned right now.”
“Scanned?” I mutter, accepting the fancy looking key in my grasp.
“Just wait, I think it’s the best security system,” she says, weirdly excited over security.
We enter the house and head straight for her office which I remember from last night.
There, I notice two men waiting. I recognize one of them almost immediately. Christina’s Head of Security and according to Raea, her head of something else as well.
Petty Rage: Westbrook Blues Book 4 Page 24