Page 142 of Lust & Lies

“I’ll tell her everything in the morning.”

“And if she decides she wants to leave you, what will you do?”

I closed my eyes as pain clawed at my insides. I knew what Tristan wanted me to say. I knew what I was supposed to say. If she wanted to leave, I had to let her go. But fuck... I couldn’t do that. I could not let her go. I didn’t have that kind of strength in me. I just didn’t.

“I....” I went silent. “I need to focus on this stuff with the hotel,” I stated, trying to change the subject.

“I’ll handle it. You sound exhausted. And if you’re exhausted, how are you going to take care of Noe? She and I may argue every time we meet, but she’s always been like a sister to me. Take care of her. I’ll take care of the hotel, the board, monitoring Scott Pollard, and dealing with Julian. I’ll also handle grandfather when he learns about what’s going on with the Clarks. And if after you talk to Noe, if she wants to leave, let me know. I’ll come pick her up and let her stay at one of my houses until she decides what she wants to do.”

I clenched my teeth. Why did both Ethan and Tristan keep trying to take her from me? Why did everyone want to take her from me?Grandfather. Ellie. My brothers. Seo-Jin. The Watchdogs. Her enemies. Fuck!

“Do you hear me, Aiden?” Tristan asked.

“How can I not hear you? I don’t need your help with Noe. And I’ll handle my end of things with the Clarks. You focus on your end. I need to go. I’ve got some emails to answer.”

Tristan sighed. “Just when I feel like I’m getting through to you, you become guarded again. Okay. Handle things the way you want to. But don’t come to my house, drunk and hurt when Noe leaves you.”

“Bye, Tristan.”

I ended the call and stared at the wall for a long time, mind on Noe. Tristan didn’t have to worry about me coming to his house drunk and heartbroken due to Noe leaving me, because I wasn’t going to allow her to leave.

Yeah, I regretted the way I’d handled things. But regret wasn’t going to erase what I’d done. All I could do now was convince her that the man who made those mistakes was not the one standing in front of her now.

I understood what I’d done wrong. And in the future, I wouldn’t do shit like that again. But breaking up wasn’t an option. Years ago, she’d given me permission to kidnap her anytime I wanted to.

That time was now.

NOELLE

TODAY HAD BEEN THElongest day ever!

I’d been avoiding Aiden all day. I only left the bedroom when I knew he was in his office. And even when I did venture out, I made sure I didn’t stay gone long. I hadn’t wanted our paths to cross. I went downstairs a couple of times to get food and water.

Oh, and to get a few books from the garden room. Other than that, I stayed holed up in my room, and by doing so, I managed to stay away from Aiden. Likewise, he stayed away from me also, which left me irrationally angry.

I wanted space. Yet, I didn’t want him towantto give me space. I understood how insane that sounded. Even so, it was how I felt. Every time I heard him walk past my door, I held my breath, hoping he’d keep walking while also hoping he’d enter so I could see him.

My heart was pulling me in two different directions. One part said flee. The other said this cage wasn’t so bad. There was food here. And a garden. And a big cock that I could ride whenever I wanted.

The part of me that felt that way was horny and craving her savage, so I ignored her. She was thinking with her heart and her pussy, not her mind. That was the part of me that was foolishly in love with Aiden Park.

That part of me wanted to keep believing his sweet lies. They said ignorance was bliss. But I was no longer ignorant of my past. Not all of it. More memories were returning, and with them came clarity.

I had to leave this place. This morning, while I’d been reading a thriller novel about a girl who’d been kidnapped by a serial killer, I’d had a memory that left me disturbed as hell. In the book, the girl had tried to escape.

She’d fought her attacker and almost got away. But he knocked her out, then drugged her to keep her out while hechained her up in the basement. Reading that scene caused a sense of Deja vu to wash over me.

Flashes of memory fragments had bombarded me. I’d closed my eyes, trying to shut them out. But there was no shutting them out.

In my memory, I’d been arguing with someone. A woman. I couldn’t see her face or hear what we were saying. The memory was too hazy. However, I knew we were yelling at each other.

There was a moment when she was standing directly in front of me. But no matter how hard I tried to remember her face, I couldn’t see her clearly. I heard a noise behind me. I spun around fast, but I wasn’t fast enough.

A sharp sting pricked the side of my neck. I gasped and reached for the needle, yanking it out. But my body had already started to react to whatever drug they’d given me. However, I still had enough control to land one hit against my attacker.

I punched him in his face, feeling his nose crack under my knuckles. A grunt followed. Whoever it was stumbled back out of focus as my vision blurred. The woman was yelling louder now, tone angrier.

She rushed toward me, her voice desperate. “Calm down, Noe! Just go with us! If you don’t, Aiden won’t help us! All you had to do was come with us, and none of this would’ve happened. Why are you always so difficult? Why do you always do things that will ruin my life?”