She had a straight line to the doors, but Noah had to run around his own furniture. As big and quick as he was, he wasn’t fast enough to get to her before she was out the door and running across the yard. It also helped that he was still wearing his tuxedo shoes and he didn’t have good traction in the grass.
She made it to the wall and used a lawn ornament as a stepping stool to jump on top of the fence and scale over it. She ran until she reached her hiding spot where she gathered her purse. She took off the mask, shirt, and gloves, stuffed them into her purse, and then nonchalantly walked down the sidewalk.
“Where’d he go? Where is he?” Noah yelled, severely pissed by this point. Bull had pulled up just as the intruder went over the fence. Noah ran to the gate, punched in the numbers, and impatiently waited for it to open wide enough for him to get through it. He jumped into the SUV with Bull and yelled, “Go! Go!” Next, he only had to find the son of a bitch and secure him until the police got there.
Bull slowed down when he reached the intersection and they scanned the few people milling about for anyone who fit the description. There were very few men on the street and none of them had the right build. Noah kept looking down the street, his eyes scanned each person and mentally calculated if he or she could be the one. Then he saw her, with the short black hair, lean, muscular body, black pants, and black tank top. There was something black that protruded out of her bag.
Noah yelled, “Her! Right there in the black! Don’t let her get away!”
Bull punched the gas and the tires screeched. She turned and looked in their direction, and Noah immediately recognized her as the woman at the banquet earlier. Bull relayed their location and situation to Rebel, who had also called in a couple of extra guys. No way was anyone getting the best of him two times in one night.
When she heard screeching tires behind her, she took off in a sprint.
Oh, shit, she screamed in her mind.
Brianna immediately realized she’d been made. As she turned the corner at the end of the block, she took off running in a dead heat. Her fear and adrenalin pushed her harder and harder. The sound of SUVs closing in on her drove her to a near panic attack.
She turned a sharp left and ran across a vacant lot. The SUVs had already passed the street where they could’ve turned and the next street up was a one-way street in the wrong direction. She kept running until she came to a dark parking garage. She needed a break to catch her breath, so she ran inside and hid between two cars. The garage required a key card to enter and had orange and white wooden arms to prevent unauthorized entry.
The sound of wood splitting and splintering told her the arms were of very little use in this situation. They were too determined to find her. She stayed crouched down and moved between the cars as she worked her way to the exit. She didn’t know where she would go next, but she knew she was a sitting duck in this garage.
She stayed down until she didn’t hear the vehicles any longer, and then she made a run for it. As quickly as she darted out from between the cars, the SUVs descended on her from everywhere and boxed her in with the concrete wall behind her.
Several large men stepped out of the SUVs, guns drawn, yelling at her to put her hands up. She raised her hands above her head and watched as Noah exited the SUV directly in front of her. She tried to resist openly staring at him and only allowed her eyes to fleetingly glance up at him. She was still in her costume, with her wig, colored contact lenses, and thick eyeliner to change the shape of her eyes, but she knew she’d be found out in a split second.
As Noah stepped out of the vehicle, his eyes lasered in on the woman who dared to break into his house. He reverted to his years of training to keep his anger under control with her. He took a step toward her and momentarily froze in his tracks. The way her body moved and the way she carried herself reminded him so much of Brianna.
She’s thinner than Brianna, he thought. Her hair is all wrong, and so is her eye color. But I see Brianna when I look at her.
Just the thought of someone else reminding him of Brianna pissed him off. He was infuriated because a common criminal caused him to even compare her to his Brianna. He walked slowly toward her and never took his eyes off her as his anger rolled off of him in waves.
Brianna knew he didn’t recognize her yet, but she recognized the look on his face. He smiled, but it wasn’t his friendly smile at all. There was absolutely no humor in his eyes. For the first time ever, she was literally afraid of him.
“I have a few questions to ask you. And you will answer them. You will give me all the information I want, or you will be sorry. We understand each other.” He didn’t ask a question. He made a statement and it was not up for debate.
Noah glared at the lady in black who refused to look up at him. If she thought not making eye contact with him while he spoke was a sign of submission that would make him go easy on her, she was dead wrong. She didn’t move a muscle. He wasn’t even sure she was breathing.
Definitely scared. Definitely an amateur, he thought.
“You were at the banquet tonight.”
Even though he didn’t state it as a question, she knew he expected confirmation.
The large men with him moved toward her. She couldn’t turn her head to look, but she was certain the biggest one of them had moved directly behind her. She couldn’t see him, but she felt the power emanating from him. She kept her eyes trained to the floor and watched as Noah’s feet approached her.
When his feet stopped, she chanced a glance up at him. He narrowed his eyes slightly at her and tilted his head to the side. From the look he shot her, he was very pissed that he hadn’t received a response from her yet, but there was a hint of recognition in his eyes. She knew he’d figure it out at any second. She quickly lowered her eyes, tilted her head, and allowed the short hair from her wig to partially cover her face.
“And then you were in my house.” This time he bit the words out, anger laced each syllable. “Now, I want to know why.”
He stood so close to her she could smell his cologne. She felt the scrutiny of his eyes as he assessed her. She knew he read her body language, read her eyes, and looked for information to use against her. She knew she probably gave him more than he needed, because she hadn’t formulated a plan in the event she was caught.
She quickly considered her choices.
If I speak, he will recognize my voice.
If I don’t speak, I really don’t know what he will do with me.
If he calls the cops, then what do I do?
Is there any chance in hell I can run and get away from all these guys?
All of these questions flew through her mind in all of about one second, but she felt like she had been standing there, tongue-tied, for hours. She realized too late that she’d taken her eyes off of the floor and had looked at the exit. That told him exactly what she thought about.
She realized her mistake and her eyes flew back to Noah. She saw the slight nod of his head toward the giant that stood behind her and instantly knew that she’d been busted. Before she could move, the man behind her grabbed her upper arms and Noah moved in on her. He then stood directly in her face.
Mmmm…he smells so good.
Stop that! Focus!
Brianna suppressed a groan. If she wasn’t careful, her inner dialogue could be the death of her.
Noah grabbed her wrists in his massive hands, dug his fingers in her flesh, and squeezed as he pulled them down to put a pair of zip-tie cuffs on her.
“Ooowwww! Damn it!” She scowled at the sudden pain in her wrists.
Noah stopped and looked at her, really looked at her, as if he was just seeing her for the first time. As if he’d just seen a ghost.
“What the hell?” He looked hard into her eyes, took a step back, as his hand flew to his face. He raked his hand across the stubble forming on his jaw, and then bent to look more closely at her face.
“Bri-Brianna?”
Noah, Bull, and Rebel all looked as if
they had seen a ghost. They all stood still and simply gawked at her. She knew the very second they finally saw past her disguise. Noah’s normally unreadable face clearly displayed his wide variety of emotion. It ranged from complete surprise and shock, to elation, and then to anger.
He was really, really angry.
Well, hell, here it comes, Brianna thought.
He paced back and forth in the garage as he tried to burn off the extra energy from his sudden adrenalin dump. His body temperature spiked from his intense fury. When he first realized she actually was Brianna, he thought his prayers had finally been answered. But when he realized that she was alive, had been at the gala, and then in his house, he knew he had been played a fool. The Brianna he loved became a figment of his imagination, replaced by the liar who’d put him through hell.
He vowed to himself to break her, just as she’d broken him.
“I understand now. Did you miss me, Bri? You crashed the party at the banquet. Then you broke into my house.” His voice trailed off, but the anger was definitely still there and his words dripped with sarcasm.
Brianna looked from Noah to Bull. His narrowed eyes and the blatant glare in his gaze told her any trust she had previously earned from him was completely gone. And that fact really hurt.
“No, on second thought, missing me couldn’t be why you’re here now. Because you let me believe you died three years ago. Clearly you’re not dead. So no, you didn’t miss me,” Noah continued.
Brianna looked at Rebel and tried to get a read on him, but his face was expressionless. His face was like stone, except for the muscle that twitched ever so slightly in his jaw from where his teeth were clinched so hard. That wasn’t a good sign either.
Noah continued, “So, baby, what exactly did you steal from my house?”
Steal from him? He thinks I broke in to take his things? Brianna’s mind raced.
Brianna tried to comprehend his question, but could only shake her head. The man behind her still held onto her shoulders, so she couldn’t run. But at that moment, she knew he was probably the only thing that prevented her knees from buckling under her.
One side of Noah’s mouth curved into a half-grin, but she knew he found nothing funny about this situation. He took a few steps closer to her, and she instinctively tried to back up, but found the man behind her was as hard as a concrete wall and just as immovable. Noah took another step closer so that they then stood toe to toe. Noah towered over her in front and the concrete mountain of a man towered over her from behind.
In a flash, Noah raised his hand to her cheek and she winced as though she prepared for him to hit her. His hand froze beside her face, not having made contact yet. His eyes squinted in obvious disgust and dislike of her response to him.
Like I would ever intentionally hurt her, Noah thought.
He rubbed his knuckles across her cheek and then cupped it in the palm of his hand. She longingly leaned into it as she savored the feel of his hand on her. He ran his hand around to the back of her neck and pulled her face to his. He covered her mouth with his then his tongue pushed against her lips to ask for access.
She opened her mouth to him and he kissed her passionately. His other hand came up to meet her neckline. He softly caressed her collarbone before he moved down across the skin of her chest that showed through her tank top. The other hand moved down her back and around to her side before he gripped her hip.
Damn, you feel so good. I’ve missed you so much, Noah. Brianna’s thoughts betrayed her.
Lost in his kiss and her thoughts, she realized too late what he’d done. He pulled her hotel key card out from under her bra strap and backed away from her. He turned to Bull and Rebel without so much as a single word to her.
“Interesting place to keep a hotel room key,” Noah said, as he handed the card to Bull. Brianna knew her face displayed the shock, then the anger at how easily he manipulated her. However, she was glad he had not felt any lower, or he would’ve found what else she had hidden in her bra.
“What do you want to do with her, boss? Want me to call the police?” The man behind her asked Noah. She didn’t know him, and he obviously didn’t know her connection to Noah, Bull, and Rebel. She wondered where Shadow was, but didn’t dare ask.
Noah looked at Brianna as he considered what to do with her. She didn’t realize she shook her head from side to side until he spoke.
“No? Don’t want the police involved?” It was a rhetorical question. He stared at her for a few seconds longer.
Brianna finally spoke. “I really don’t think you want the police involved. Can we decide this somewhere other than here? I’m not sure it’s safe here.”
Noah’s anger was in full fury then, as he growled, “Put her in the car. Bull, Rebel, you two ride with us.”
Bull took Brianna’s arm and put her in the backseat of the SUV, behind the passenger seat. Bull walked around to slide in behind the wheel, Rebel climbed in the front passenger seat, and Noah sat in the backseat with her, his back against the door and his body turned in the seat to face her.
“Where to, boss?” Bull asked.
“My house,” Noah replied, as Bull put the SUV in gear. Brianna felt Noah’s eyes on her as Bull pulled out of the garage. She didn’t dare look at him yet. Traffic was light just after one o’clock in the morning, and Bull easily maneuvered into the right hand lane of the highway. She leaned her head to her left to look around the seat and saw a traffic light a couple hundred yards away. Her eyes drifted up to the rearview mirror where she saw Bull intently watched her.
The hatred in his eyes made her shrink back into her seat. She was glad she couldn’t see Rebel’s eyes, but she knew he wouldn’t feel any differently. She finally looked over her shoulder at Noah, saw the same look in his eyes, and felt the vise cinch around her heart a little tighter.
She swallowed hard and said, “Look, I know this is…complicated…but it would really be best for everyone if you just let me go.”
From the front seat, she heard Rebel’s sarcastic tone, “You must be joking.”
Trying her hardest to keep her voice even, Brianna answered. “No, I’m not. Let me go. I will leave, and you will never see me again. I won’t make any trouble. We were all friends once, weren’t we?”
No response, so she continued. “I really tried not to disrupt your lives. When you realized I was really alive, how did you feel at first? Honestly?”
She had seen their faces when they realized who she was and knew they were shocked. But if they were glad to see her at all, she’d use that to try to convince them to let her go.
Noah and Bull answered in unison, “Angry.”
Brianna’s eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped open. She had not expected that response at all. She felt as though all the air had been sucked out of her lungs, and the vise around her heart split it in two. She barely choked back the tears that stung the back of her eyes before she managed a response, her voice just above a whisper.
“Angry? You’re angry that I’m still alive? You don’t even care why?” Her eyes were darting back and forth between Noah and Bull, searching for any sliver of remorse. But she found none–only cold stares.
Softly, and with great difficulty, she choked out, “Rebel? You, too?”
He had no response.
She stared out the window, pulled her feet up in the seat, and curled into her legs. As hard as she tried, she couldn’t stop the tears that flowed down her face. She had expected Noah to be angry that she hadn’t called or come back in the last three years. Mad that he was fooled and that she had been living somewhere else. But being mad that she was alive was just cruel. Even though their relationship was strained before she disappeared, she never even considered that he didn’t care about her welfare at all.
The past three years had been pure hell on her. Noah, her friends, her family, they were always on her mind. The love she had for them was overwhelming, and each day away from them made it worse, not better. The loneliness was hard t
o deal with, but their safety kept her going.
Mostly to herself, she whispered, “I’ve lost everything.” She could see Noah’s face in the reflection of the glass, as he watched her, studied her, and determined his next move.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you.” She knew damn well he heard her. He was just being an ass.
She shook her head, “Nothing.”
She didn’t turn to look at him. She continued to stare out the window at nothing in particular. The tears continued to flow down her cheeks and down her neck, but she didn’t bother to wipe them away.
Bull pulled into the left lane to maneuver around a slow moving car. Just as they passed it, the car sped up and pulled alongside them. Brianna shifted her eyes to look at the driver and saw him point a pistol with a silencer out of the driver’s window.
She screamed, “Gun! Get down!”
She hurled her body to the left, landed with her back against Noah, and faced the gunman. She waited for the shattered glass and searing pain of the bullet. She held her breath, but didn’t move until Noah put his hands on her shoulders, picked her up, and sat her back in her seat. She opened her eyes and saw the glass still intact. Bewildered, she looked at him and he simply said, “Bullet proof glass.”
The man shot two rounds at the SUV before he realized his mistake. He then turned and raced down a side street away from them. Rebel called one of the other men in the second SUV to pursue the shooter. Brianna was shaken to the core when she realized that man was probably the one who found her in Colorado.
She looked at Noah. Her voice was watery and quivered, and she was unable to stop her body from shaking. She pleaded, “Please, Noah. Just stop and let me out here. I’ll find my way back on my own.”
He looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. “A man just shot at us, and you want me to stop and let you out? You want him to come back and shoot you point blank?”
Wicked Games: The Extended Edition (Steele Security #1) Page 18
