Page 15

Chapter fifteen

Noel

G rant closed the blinds to his office as soon as I showed up with tears in my eyes. Now we sit in silence as I try to process that it’s all true.

“Noel, I’m sorry,” he offers after several minutes.

“What’s on this?” I ask, holding up the USB drive that I grabbed off the table when the commotion started last night.

He shakes his head. “I don’t know what is on that drive, sweetheart.”

“What does Isaiah and his club have to do with me?” I ask, trying to get some answers.

“Isaiah wanted money that his father couldn’t touch, so Nate put the account in his name. Isaiah probably doesn’t even realize it’s in your name now,” Grant speculates.

I nod my understanding and get up to leave. “What does Jaclyn mean by wanting justice?” I ask.

“Noel, do not meet that woman alone and don’t open that file. Whatever it is can’t be good,” he warns. “In fact, let me handle Jaclyn myself. She is a grieving mother grasping at straws to blame someone for her pain.”

“No, I need to know,” I say solemnly.

“Call me naive and perhaps blinded by love, but I do not believe my son would’ve done anything to hurt you,” he says, but his face says otherwise.

He and I both know the facts don’t support that assumption .

“I’ll be in touch either way.” I stand to leave.

He hands me a business card before hugging me goodbye. “Call him anytime should you find yourself in need. I’ll let him know to be on standby for you.”

“Thank you,” I say, taking the card and leaving his office.

Once inside my car on the private level of Grant Holdings parking garage, I pull my cell out to send Kate a message.

I'm coming to stay for a few nights.

My phone chimes as soon as I back out of my parking spot.

Yay!!

I smile, thankful for her more than ever today. I’m sure to watch my mirrors the entire way to her house to be sure no one is following.

Parking inside her garage, I hide the USB drive inside my glove box and get out of the car. The door in the garage opens into a mud room off of her kitchen, which is where I find her waiting for me with a glass of wine.

“Oh, you are an angel,” I moan, taking the glass from her.

She laughs and follows me into her living room where I plop down into an oversized chair and tuck my feet underneath me.

“Spill it, ma’am,” she orders, “Every juicy little detail!”

I fill her in on everything in regards to how the meeting with Jaclyn went last night and what I learned from Grant.

“Whoa. A child? As in, you need to have one?” She asks .

“I don’t know what she meant, and the only way I’ll be able to find out is if I can meet her again since Grant said he didn’t know what she meant either.”

“What about Declan? He was there? What did he think about all of this?” She asks.

“He already knew. And he’s keeping other things from me too,” I admit. Saying it out loud somehow makes it hurt worse.

“Maybe he has a good reason?” She suggests.

“Maybe, but we can’t build a relationship on secrets, Kate. My entire life has been built on fucking secrets.”

“He’s going to make up for it. I’m giving him the benefit of doubt. Your tune has changed quite a bit about him. You stayed with him again? Did you sleep with him this time?” She asks.

I sigh, knowing I can’t lie to her because she’d be able to see it in my face.

“Ah! I knew you were walking a little funny!” She squeals and giggles, not even needing my admission to know the truth.

“Great, like that’s not embarrassing,” I say, blushing.

“He gives big dick energy, so I’d be super disappointed if you weren’t sore all over. I like to pride myself on being able to read that particular quality in a man,” she says as she flips her hair.

I smile to myself and sip my wine.

“Why are you here instead of with him?” She asks.

“Because I’m going to deal with my shit. And because I’m pissed at him for keeping secrets from me. I can’t be with him until I’m done with my dead husband’s family drama. Well, and my own family drama, I suppose,” I admit.

“And why not!?” She asks, completely appalled.

“I’m more likely to get the answers I need if my parents don’t know I’m with him yet. Also, my dad threatened to keep him away from me before, and he stayed away for ten years. He could’ve come to me, but he didn’t. I need to not feel like hitting him for that before I can see him again. What if my dad threatens him again? He’s just going to leave me in the dark again?”

“For once in your life, Noel, fuck everyone else. Who cares what your parents think about who you date now? The fact that they arranged your marriage to Nate is proof enough that they don’t deserve the opportunity to explain themselves. Declan does not strike me as a coward. He must’ve had a good reason to stay away.”

If only I could bring myself to tell her that Declan wants to kill my dad, literally. Or that he chained me a fucking ceiling to literally keep me from leaving him again figuratively. It sounds dumb even in my head.

“Well, I’m going to get answers first,” I placate her.

My phone chimes in the kitchen, and I know in the depths of my soul that it’s Declan. I ditched Chance to go to Grant Holdings. I couldn’t show up there with him without having to explain who hired him to Grant. Plus, I need some space from Declan to figure this out, and I can’t have that if he knows where I am. I ignore the phone for now and ask Kate about her coffee beans.

Kate’s family owns a coffee shop, and she recently began experimenting with roasting her own coffee beans. She says it’s her way of having her own piece of the pie. Her brothers have handled the business since her parents retired a few years ago.

She was a surprise baby when her brothers were already in high school. Her father has always spoiled her, and her brothers do the same. The only difference is her father turns a blind eye to her wild lifestyle while her brothers watch her like a hawk, always there to protect and save her when she takes things too far. They were all shocked when she said she wanted to roast coffee beans and mass produce them when she settled on the right flavors .

“Hello?” Kate is staring at me from across the room.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you,” I admit, my mind wandering.

“Aren’t you going to check your phone?” She’s looking at me like I’m losing my mind.

“Yeah, I better check it,” I say, getting up.

I have two messages from my mom. I reply that I do want to meet her for lunch on Tuesday. That works out even better than going to their house. I’d much rather ask her some of these questions in person without Dad around.

Setting my phone back down, I realize how much I wanted it to be Declan. The man admits to wanting to kill my own father and keeping life-altering secrets from me, but I desperately want a text from him. What does that say about me?

“Was it him?” Kate asks.

“No,” I reply, unable to keep the disappointment out of my voice.

She looks at me like I’m missing something. “So, call him, Noel.”

“Maybe later.”

“Okay. Why don’t you tell me what really happened between you two in high school?” She asks, crossing her arms.

I sigh and decide it’s time to come clean.

“Declan and I met at school and exchanged numbers for a group project. After the project was done, we kept talking. My parents found out about him after we had hung out with groups a few times and basically wouldn’t let me do anything with anyone. They never told me I couldn’t talk to him, but they started coming up with other plans or excuses as to why I couldn’t leave the house.

When I finally convinced them to let me go to a baseball game with friends, my dad showed up early to find us right before we kissed. That same weekend there had been a party that I wasn’t allowed to go to because my parents were keeping me from him. He got mad because I refused to sneak out to meet him there.

That Monday, the rumors were everywhere. He had hooked up with two girls at the same time. I didn’t want to believe it. The guy I thought he was wouldn’t have done that. But he avoided me the rest of that week.

I finally worked up the courage to call him the following weekend. He immediately asked me if my dad knew I was calling him, and the conversation crashed and burned from there. He wouldn’t admit or deny the rumors, but I didn’t push. We ended up agreeing that we couldn’t be together because of my dad, and that was that.”

Kate sits quietly when I finish giving her the gist of the situation. It sounds so simple and silly, but it didn’t feel that way at the time.

“So you never found out if he really did it?” She asks.

Surprised by that being the part she focuses on, I shake my head. “Not until last night.”

Kate clears her throat. “And…?”

“My dad threatened to send me away to an all girls boarding school if he didn’t make me believe it was true. He said he didn’t want to put me through that and that my dad had resources to keep us apart. I’m not sure what that last part meant. I guess that he knew my dad could send me to a school like that?”

“Damn,” she says in disbelief.

“Yep. I need a change of subject.” Grabbing my wine glass, I gulp the rest down.

“Then let me tell you about the ridiculous first date experience I had last night!” Kate takes the sad mood and flips everything upright again with her bubbly story .

“I thought you were in love with the other guy from the charity event?” I ask, laughing.

“Oh, I am! But we’re seeing other people when he’s out of town,” she explains as though this is perfectly normal.

We spend the rest of the evening cooking dinner, watching TV and drinking way too much wine. We both stumble into her bed, and I don’t even think to look at my phone before I pass out.

The pounding in my head wakes me up to Kate’s sunlit room. My eyes and mouth are dry and scratchy from too much wine last night, so I stumble out of bed rubbing my eyes on my way to the kitchen.

The aroma of fresh coffee fills the air. This will be the first time I’ve tried Kate’s newest blend. It smells amazing, and I desperately need it. The Cozy Cup’s Ember Roast. Based on our conversation last night, Kate is ready to talk to Declan about shipping logistics.

Declan.

The thought of him has me searching for my phone.

Know this, sunshine. I'm in every shadow.

“Jesus Christ!” I yell.

Kate comes running. “What’s wrong?!”

I show her the message from Declan, and she stares at me with wide eyes.

“Stalker, much?” She says, laughing .

I glare at her.

“Noel, men like him don’t play by the rules. You think he’s ever had to chase a woman? I don’t think he’s even considered dating one other than you. Your house was broken into, and you’ve got all this shit going on with your in-laws and dad. He’s probably actually keeping tabs on you to keep you safe.”

She’s right. He probably knows where she lives by now and has Chance following me again.

Stay in the shadows as long as you'd like. I'm going to find a flashlight.

He responds immediately.

Tick Tock

A shiver runs through me at his threat.