Page 177 of A Quick Buck

Almost two months passed before Noah was able to have a funeral for Patrick.

Even with Alistair’s connections, it was a difficult process. The police had a lot of questions about how Patrick had died and were investigating it as a homicide. Which it was, of course, and the story they were selling was that Patrick had died from a heart attack while gardening out back and no one had found him for a while.

With Noah out constantly partying and so much of the staff being gone, the story was almost believable.

Almost.

The cops were skeptical, and they even questioned Noah in connection with his death. Patrick was well known, apparently, for his dislike of physical labor, and the idea he’d kicked the bucket while gardening was a hard sell to the detectives. They thought it was more likely Noah had done the deed himself to gain access to the family fortune.

Luckily, he had a spectacular alibi—he was with Alistair Star.

That was also a lie, naturally. Noah had actually been sleeping with the very man who had done the murdering, but none of that ever came up thanks to Alistair’s incredible lawyer and their clever legal maneuvering. Noah only had to sit down with the police once, and the lawyer did all the talking. It was great. It was fine…

Okay, it wasweird.

Especially when he compared the investigation into Patrick’s death to Landon’s.

Noah was only able to lay his uncle to rest after the very time-consuming headache of dealing with the cops and waiting for them to close the case.

He had buried Landon with his parents within a week of his passing.

Alistair’s business associates had made sure Landon was said to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and the investigation was very brief.

It was weird, and honestly, sort of sad.

No one seemed to care about Landon’s death. It was accepted as suicide almost immediately, and not one person was suspicious. Noah wondered if it was because Landon hadn’t been rich like Patrick, knowing all too well how money affected people’s attitudes. Between the two murders, it had been Landon’s that Noah had been more worried about, and he remembered even Alistair being concerned…

Whatever.

It didn’t matter. Landon was crazy, dead, and gone. Court was going to be a nightmare getting the family estate settled, and Noah was grateful he didn’t have to deal with any of this alone.

After all, he had Alistair to guide him.

Since moving in with him officially, Noah had never been happier.

Alistair always made time in his busy schedule as a businessman to be with Noah, often surprising him by coming home early with little gifts, and Noah loved the attention. Noah was on a schedule too, following a solid routine, and he was sleeping so much better. He actually got up every morning without a hangover, and he hadn’t felt this good in years. He was eating real food, usually cooked at home by Alistair with Noah’s help or by Frida, who Alistair had hired on as his new personal chef. For the first time in his life, Noah was excited about the future.

Every day had become an adventure to see what Alistair was going to teach him next.

Okay, some of it sucked, though.

Changing oil? Hard pass. Filling out applications for that fancy culinary school? So boring. Balancing a checkbook? Ugh, way too much math. Taking out the trash? Absolute vomit-fest.

No matter how much he whined or complained or struggled, Alistair was endlessly patient. The praise Noah received when he was finally successful was worth its weight in gold, and working to make someone proud was a new and wonderful pastime.

Definitely beat the hell out of trying to see how many shots he could do before passing out.

Alistair was always there with an encouraging word, boundless determination, and a warm smile, and Noah could not have asked for a better teacher, companion, or lover to be his Daddy.

Heavy emphasis on the ‘lover’ part.

Yes, Alistair was very patient, but that didn’t mean he was ever going to tolerate Noah’s poor attitude, especially not without some wonderfully intense consequences.

Noah loved pushing Alistair’s buttons almost as much as he enjoyed making him proud, and the push and pull of their relationship was immensely satisfying both in and out of the bedroom. He had done a lot of growing as a person. He was less materialistic, much kinder, and more thoughtful with his words, particularly his cursing.

But…

He was still Noah Allan, and sometimes Noah Allan wanted to get his way.