Shattered: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novels)

by Love, Michelle

  As they dressed he grinned. Lila smirked back. ‘What?’

  ‘I love the fact that you’re going to dinner with my seed still deep inside you.’

  She laughed, half-shocked. ‘Well…yes. It makes me feel kind of sexy to know that, carrying a little bit of you with me.’

  ‘Actually, quite a lot…’

  ‘Don’t be gross,’ she was giggling furiously now, lobbing a towel at him. ‘God, how did you get the position you are being such a goofball?’

  Noah slid his tie around his neck. ‘I blame you. I used to be so serious…’

  ‘Yeah, right. How do I look?’

  She was wearing a white silk slip which hugged her curves and had cut outs at the waist, showing of her creamy olive skin. She pulled her hair into a messy ponytail on one side, and skipped all but the lightest make-up. Noah’s obvious admiration made her feel even sexier.

  ‘Are we going to make it to dinner?’ She said with an eyebrow raised. Noah grinned.

  ‘We’d better go now or we definitely won’t.’

  At the restaurant, she told him all about the Quilla Chen Mallory Foundation and the role Quilla envisioned her playing. Noah was impressed.

  ‘I gotta say,’ he said, ‘that sounds amazing.’

  Lila nodded. ‘Doesn’t it? And as much as I do not want to be defined by what happened to me, I think this is a positive thing. I can’t wait to get started.’

  They chatted about it for a while then Noah reached into his pocket. ‘Now, before you give me a lecture, this is not an engagement ring. It’s not big or ostentatious but something to celebrate you and me. I had the idea a while back but it took me some time to design it and have it made, so…’

  He opened the ring box and there was a small, delicate silver ring, with three interlocking rings on top of the band. It was beautiful and Lila’s chest got tight.

  ‘Oh Noah, it’s perfect…’ She touched the three tiny rings with her fingertip.

  ‘You, me and Matty,’ Noah said in a gruff voice. Lila covered her mouth, tears dripping down her cheeks.

  ‘Noah…’ She leaned over the table to kiss him. ‘Thank you. Thank you.’

  He smiled, obviously as moved at her reaction as she was by his gift. ‘Do you want to try it on?’

  Smiling she shook her head and he looked stung but she put her hand on his. ‘I would like to wear it as my wedding band…if that’s okay with you.’

  His relief – and joy – was palpable. ‘Of course…god, of course, I never even thought of that.’

  They both laughed, their fingers interlocking. Lila gazed at him then back at the ring and she grinned. ‘I suppose I ought to try it, you know, because of the fit.’

  Noah laughed. ‘Oh, absolutely.’ He slid it onto her ring finger. ‘Wow’.

  ‘Wow is right. What an incredible man you are, Noah Applebaum. How the hell was I so lucky to meet you?’

  She asked the question then they both remembered the circumstances. Lila gave a soft laugh. ‘If it meant not meeting you, I would happily take that knife over and over.’

  Noah flinched. ‘Don’t say that.’

  ‘You know what I mean. My life began when I met you, Noah.’

  Their food got cold and other diners kept casting amused glances in their direction but neither of them cared. Tonight was about them.

  At a quarter of midnight, Noah helped her into her coat. She put her hands on his chest and gazed up at him, with soft eyes. ‘Noah, I want you to know…’

  Noah pressed his lips to hers. ‘What, Lila?’

  ‘I want you to know…that I’m going to do very naughty things to you when we get back home.’

  Noah chuckled. ‘Then let’s get there quicker.’

  The Seattle night was cold and steam blew out of their mouths when they breathed. Lila hugged her coat closer and Noah grinned down at her.

  Then all hell broke loose. Into Lila’s eye line stumbled a woman, long dirty blonde strewn across her face. Something glinted in her hand and then there was a loud popping sound. Screaming.

  Noah staggered back and as Lila turned to look at him, her eyes widened in horror as blood started to bloom across the front of his shirt. He looked back at her confused, reached out and then collapsed.

  All Lila could hear was the frantic beat of her heart. She didn’t care of the next bullet came her way, all she could think about was Noah, his big frame sprawled on the sidewalk. She dropped to her knees beside him, every sane thought in her head gone as she screamed his name over and over…

  And he didn’t answer.

  Tinsley yanked her suitcase from the luggage wheel and practically ran through SeaTac airport. She hailed a cab, jabbering the name of the hospital to the driver, who took one look at her stricken face and broke every speed limit in the city to get her there.

  At the desk, she lied and said she was Lila’s cousin and they directed up to the emergency room waiting area.

  Lila was pale, shaken, her white dress covered in blood. She sat with another woman Tinsley didn’t recognize, and a tall, handsome man who was taking to Charlie. When Charlie saw her, he came over.

  ‘How is he?’ Tinsley whispered and Charlie shook his head.

  ‘We won’t know for hours. He was shot in the chest, just once, but it’s bad.’

  Tinsley peeked around Charlie to see Lila, her head down. ‘How’s Lila?’

  ‘In shock. She hasn’t said a word.’

  Tinsley looked at Charlie’s closed face, and then ducked around him to go to her friend. ‘Lila?’

  Lila looked up and the raw pain in her eyes was almost more than Tinsley could bear to look at. She frowned as if trying to place Tinsley and Tinsley crouched down in front of her.

  ‘Darling, I’m here for whatever you need.’ She took Lila’s hands and smiled at the woman next to her. ‘Hey, there, I’m Tinsley.’

  The other woman smiled, touched her arm. ‘Quilla Mallory. It’s…’ She broke off and looked away and Tinsley nodded.

  ‘Yeah, I know.’ She got up and took the seat on the opposite side to Lila. Charlie was right, Lila was almost catatonic. She had a small black velvet box in her hand that she kept turning and turning around. She bent her head and Tinsley heard her whispering something over and over.

  Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease….

  Tinsley ached for her friend. So much pain, so much loss. Not Noah. Please let him live. She found herself echoing the mantra of her friend. She looked at Quilla over her friend’s head and the other woman looked as devastated as she did. They must be friends of Noah’s, she thought.

  As if reading her mind, Quilla spoke. ‘This is my husband, Jakob. We’re old friend of Noah’s.’

  Tinsley nodded to the other man, who spoke in a low voice. ‘It was Lauren, Noah’s ex. She was arrested, didn’t even put up a struggle. Said she wanted to kill them both but she never got off more than one shot before a passerby tackled her.’

  ‘God,’ Tinsley spoke before she could catch herself, ‘what the fuck is wrong with people?’

  She leaned her head against Lila’s, felt her friend stiffen then Lila’s hand crept into hers.

  ‘Why can’t they just let us be?’ Her voice was gruff, broken. ‘All we want is to be happy, be together. What possible good comes of this?’

  ‘I know, sweetheart.’

  The depths of Lila’s despair were searing. Tinsley felt tears coming and got up, not wanting Lila to see them. She went to Charlie who was staring out of the window. It was early morning but the city was still dark. Charlie didn’t turn to her, just kept his gaze fixed in front of him. It took Tinsley a moment to realize he was staring at Lila’s reflection in the glass. Her heart went out to him and she touched his arm. He started and turned to her, his eyes flat and cold.

  ‘Charlie, I’m here for whatever you two need…’

  He jerked his head towards the corridor and she followed him out. He closed the door, before turning to her. ‘We’re fine. She’s fine, I’
m here now.’

  Tinsley was stung. ‘She’s my friend too, Charlie.’

  ‘We don’t need you here. Thank you for coming but we’re fine.’

  Tinsley’s hands clenched into fists and her temper swelled. ‘Why are you being like this? Lila needs all the friends she can get right now.’

  Charlie had stopped even looking at her directly. ‘You should go.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere, asshole,’ she hissed at him. She took a deep breath in, trying to calm herself. Anger and confusion was giving way to something else now, something more tangible. Fear. Was Charlie losing it? Tinsley studied the man she had been so intimate with and saw nothing there that she recognized. Was he just in shock? No…it was something else.

  ‘Charlie, I am here for Lila and believe it or not, I don’t need your permission to stay with my friend.’ She tried to push past him to go back into the waiting area but he grabbed her wrist. Hard. Sh winced and pulled away just as she heard someone say Lila’s name. She turned to see an elderly, distinguished looking gentleman, his face etched in pain hurrying towards them. Noah’s father. The gentle looking woman to his right had tears flooding down her cheeks.

  ‘Charles,’ Mr. Applebaum looked at Charlie, ‘We came as soon as we could.’

  ‘We drove from Portland,’ the woman said, presumably Mrs. Applebaum.

  Charlie greeted them warmly, much to Tinsley’s shock. He showed them into the waiting room and she heard them comforting Lila. Charlie stood at the door and looked at her icily.

  ‘Go back to New York, Tinsley, we’re fine here.’

  Tinsley stood her ground. ‘No fucking way, Sherman. I’m here for Lila, not you.’

  He stepped towards her and smiled. It did not reach his eyes. ‘Don’t be a little cunt. Get out of here.’ And he was gone, into the waiting room, closing the door firmly behind him.

  Tinsley could barely believe what had happened. She stumbled down the corridor blindly and out into the frigid morning air. She stood there for a while then realized she had left her suitcase upstairs. God, she didn’t want to go back to that room now…for the first time, she was afraid of Charlie Sherman.

  She sat on a small wall outside of the front entrance and tried to stop the trembling that wracked her body. ‘What the hell is going on?’ she whispered to herself then jumped as a voice behind her said, ‘Excuse me, are you Tinsley Chang?’

  A young orderly was standing behind her – her suitcase at his side. She nodded and, smiling awkwardly, the orderly handed her the case and disappeared back into the hospital.

  She had been banished. She took the case and wheeled it to where the cabs waited but before she got in, she looked up to the fourth floor where the waiting room was.

  Charlie Sherman looked down at her – and straight through her as if she didn’t exist.

  Lila sat at Noah’s bedside, her hand in his, watching the machines breathe for him. He had been out of surgery for just a couple of hours now but he looked so still, so pale that she couldn’t believe he was actually still alive.

  The surgeon had come to find her just after ten a.m. and told her that they’d stabilized Noah but the bullet had destroyed one lung and clipped his heart. ‘I don’t want to give you false hope,’ he’d said.

  Hope. That seemed like a ridiculous notion now and Lila was at her breaking point. Richard, Matty, Riley…now Noah. She put her head down onto the bed and sobbed silently, her fingers twisting in Noah’s. She cried all of her despair out and eventually fell asleep next to him.

  There was someone stroking her hair and her head shot up eagerly – was he awake? Her heart thudded with disappointment when she saw Noah was still unconscious. Charlie was sitting beside her, his arm around her shoulders. She sat up and he pulled her into a hug. Lila, drained and exhausted, didn’t much feel like being held – by anyone other than Noah – and she pulled away after a second.

  ‘How long have you been here?’ She tubbed her face.

  ‘Long enough,’ Charlie said. ‘Any change?’

  ‘No.’ Lila sighed, stroking Noah’s hand. ‘Hey,’ she said looking back at Charlie. ‘Where did Tinsley go? She was there one minute, gone the next.’

  Charlie smiled coolly. ‘She’s in town somewhere, I don’t know. I thought you had too many people around you last night so I sent her back to the hotel.’

  Lila sighed. ‘You didn’t need to do that, Charlie, she could have stayed.’

  ‘Too many people.’

  Lila couldn’t be bothered to argue but Charlie’s attitude was irritating her. Ever since she’d called him, hysterical, after Noah had been shot, he’d taken over, speaking to the doctors on her behalf without her consent, talking to Noah’s parents as if he’d known them for years. It shouldn’t irk her, she knew, he was only doing what was best but his attitude that she couldn’t handle things for herself was annoying.

  It wasn’t just that…his entire manner was that of a consoling husband – not a friend. He was dismissive of any positive news about Noah’s condition – not that there was much – and he seemed to be ‘preparing’ her for the worst, as if it were a foregone conclusion that Noah would die.

  Lila shook off Charlie’s hand on her shoulder. ‘Please, Charlie, I just want to be alone, right now.’

  ‘I’m not sure that’s a good idea.’

  ‘I wasn’t asking for your opinion.’ She snapped back at him. Charlie stared at her, and she looked away. ‘Please, Charlie, I want to be with Noah.’

  Charlie said no more but the door to Noah’s room slammed after him. Lila sighed. Forget him, Noah is what’s important. She moved her chair closer and stroked his face. Already lean, he seemed to have lost even more weight overnight, his cheeks were hollow, his skin looked pinched.

  He was still the most beautiful sight in the world to Lila though and she stood and bent over him, kissed him where she could. ‘I love you so much,’ she whispered, ‘Please come home to me.’

  She imagined she felt a slight pressure on her hand from his fingers but it was so slight she knew she imagined it. There was a small tap on the door and Quilla Mallory poked her head around the door. Lila felt relieved, glad to see her friend. Quilla tiptoed in. ‘How is he?’

  Her lovely dark eyes were full of sorrow and compassion. ‘The same,’ Lila said, ‘Which I’m looking at as good at the moment. His body needs to heal, rest. I’d rather he sleep and….well, we both know how it is, don’t we?’

  ‘We do,’ Quilla nodded. ‘May I stay with you a while?’

  Lila nodded, smiling. ‘I would like that.’ She needed her friend’s gentle presence here; not only that, but she knew Quilla really understood what being a victim of violence meant to both the sufferer and their loved ones.

  Quilla took the chair vacated by Charlie and placed her hand on Lila’s back gently. ‘I want you to know, you are not alone in this. Whatever you need, just ask, please.’

  Lila felt tears spring up in her eyes. ‘Thank you, Quilla.’

  ‘I hope you don’t mind; I spoke to the staff and they’re going to bring a cot in here for you to sleep on. You need to rest as well.’

  See, Charlie? This is the way to care for someone. ‘I will, I promise and thank you, Quilla.’

  Quilla smiled at her, and then nodded at Noah. ‘I think he looks a little brighter, don’t you?’

  Lila was grateful for her friend’s attempt to make Noah seem better but they both knew his life was hanging in the balance.

  Lila thought about Lauren, about what she’d stolen from Lila – her child and no possibly her love – for what reason? Was she any different from Cora and her jealousy of Tinsley? Nope.

  So much hatred, so much fucking entitlement, she thought angrily. Who the fuck do these people think they are?

  She said as much to Quilla now and her friend nodded. ‘I know. It’s twisted and disgusting and sadly all too prevalent.’ Quilla sighed. ‘Gregor Fisk decided that I was his to decide who I fucked and when I died. But I survived, ba
rely, but I’m still here. You’re still here, Lila, and Noah will get better.’

  Lila looked her with hopeful eyes. ‘You promise?’

  Quilla smiled. ‘Lila, this is man who can run a half-marathon and not even break a sweat. Hell, even if he runs a marathon, he just says ‘woo, that was a tough one’ and jogs to the water stand.’

  Lila laughed softly. ‘You’re right.’ She looked back at Noah. ‘It’s going to be okay.

  He’s going to come back to me.’

  Tinsley holed up in the motel for a couple of days. Because of the prominence of Noah’s family, the local news ran reports on his condition on every bulletin – critical but stable.

  God. Tinsley, even forty-eight hours after the event was still seething about Charlie’s treatment of her. Angry and confused. Had their relationship deteriorated that much or was it because Charlie was stressed out.

  Don’t be a little cunt.

  Every time she thought of that and the look on Charlie’s face, she would stop, take in a sharp breath. It was so vicious, so spiteful, and so full of rage. When had they got to this?

  The letter. It all began when I read that letter that night. It had been the catalyst she was sure but thinking back to its contents, she couldn’t figure out why he would take exception to her reading it. It was a simple goodbye letter from one friend to another.

  Please don’t try to find me.

  Well, Charlie had ignored that and…Tinsley sat up. Charlie had ignored Lila’s plea for privacy. He had found her. So what? Tinsley told herself, he’s a cop, he had connections and he was probably worried about her. Except…would he have been able to find her? He hardly had the cash to hire someone to do it for him, but if he had been watching her. An insane theory began to form in Tinsley head and she closed her eyes trying to sort through the melee.

  Why was Charlie upset about the letter? Because it proved Lila had asked him to stay away. So what? He was a friend anxious about another friend. Charlie had disliked Richard. Maybe he knew Rich cheated on Lila – Lila may well have confided in her oldest friend. Except she knew Lila hadn’t…