by Brook Wilder
“I guess we were lucky.”
I glanced into the trees across the river and saw Diesel watching us. I gave him a thumbs-up behind Liz’s head and Diesel nodded with a smirk before he disappeared in amongst the trees. The picnic had been nicely protected.
“Well, what do you think, Liz?”
Liz stared at the sight. Then she turned around and stared up at me, her brows furrowing in confusion.
“Where’s Noah gone?” she accused, prodding me in the chest. “Who are you, you imposter? Noah Calder doesn’t take me out on picnics.”
I laughed and drew her close.
“This Noah does. I thought dinner out of the safe house would do you some good, especially after having a day to yourself.”
Liz was still looking flummoxed. Then she smiled and leant into me, kissing me with that smile.
“You are getting so sweet I’m beginning to feel sick.”
“It won’t happen often, so you can keep the sweet tooth.”
I led Liz over to the table, Hunter in my arms. He had his highchair leant against the bench, so I flicked it open and settled him in. He whined and tried to get out again, but then I served up some food onto one of the paper plates and put it in front of him. Hunter then quietened down and started eating, giving me a toothy grin. Liz frowned as she sat.
“He’s old enough to sit without that.”
“I didn’t know if he’d sat on a bench like this before,” I shrugged. “Didn’t want him to topple backwards.”
“Fair enough.” Liz watched me curiously as I retrieved the champagne and the ice bucket from under the table, along with two glasses. “I never thought you’d be serving me champagne and taking me on picnics.”
I grinned.
“I like to surprise. And I’m a dad now. You have to change things around a little, don’t you?”
I handed her a glass and clinked it with mine. Then I sat opposite her and we began to eat. Liz seemed to have her appetite back, munching away happily and starting to smile again. She talked about her day, what she’d got up to with Cassie and laughing at Cassie’s hangover. We grimaced over Amy’s accusations, which didn’t really surprise me, and laughed at Cassie’s imitation of Amy afterwards. I was glad I had suggested she went with Cassie. She seemed to have been the perfect companion.
I wanted to have Liz’s smile back. And it was slowly getting there. But I knew it would be disappearing again soon, so I wanted to see it as much as I could.
She deserved some happiness.
Hunter finished his food and began to whine again, trying to climb out. I chuckled and lifted him out.
“You want to have a run around, buddy? Look, I’ve got something for you.”
I retrieved a plastic toy box from underneath the table and placed it in front of Hunter with an assortment of toys I had packed from the house. Hunter squealed and tipped the box over, the toys spilling across the grass. Then he sat in the middle of it and giggled as he started picking through them. Liz laughed.
“Hunter seems to be enjoying himself.”
“I should hope so.” I grimaced as Hunter rolled onto his belly. “I just hope he doesn’t puke up now he’s throwing himself around.”
“I don’t think he really cares right now.”
He really didn’t. Hunter didn’t seem to care about anything except playing with his toys. Liz watched him with genuine love in her eyes. Something tightened in my chest and made it hard to breathe for me. She hadn’t looked at me like that in a long time. I selfishly wanted some of that for myself.
I pushed my glass aside and clasped her hand, directing her attention back to me.
“Club’s in danger, Liz. Someone other than Ruiz wants us out.”
“What are you saying?”Liz didn’t sound surprised. I nodded.
“It’s not going to be pretty. I’m just letting you know now, just in case.”
“In case I get dragged into it.” Liz murmured.
That thought had crossed my mind, but I didn’t like to think about it. Liz had been through enough and I didn’t want her becoming a victim of my troubles. She didn’t deserve that. But she needed the forewarning.
“Hopefully, you won’t be dragged in at all. But it’s going to get messy.”
Liz paused. She lowered her glass and put it aside. A shadow passed over her face, one that I wished I could make go away.
“You mean I might lose you.” she murmured.
“Possibly.”
I didn’t believe I would be harmed, or even killed, but there was a chance. I wasn’t as sharp as I had been. Prison may have hardened me in some respects but not in everything. I was going to be a big target.
Liz shook her head. Her hand tightened in mine and she leant across, her other hand covering ours.
“I’m not going to lose you.” She sounded very certain about that. “I know that much. You’re too stubborn to die like that. You’ll be arguing with God or Satan when they arrive to claim you in your old age.”
I couldn’t help but laugh at that. She was certainly right about that part. I looked over at Hunter, who was sitting happily in the middle of all his toys.
“You will need to protect Hunter if I can’t.”
“I’ve always protected him. He’s my life, Noah.” Liz sighed heavily and lifted my hand to her face, my palm stroking her cheek. “Let’s not talk about things like that. Let’s just have a nice evening.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
Chapter 27
Liz
“That went better than I expected.” Noah declared as he drove us home.
It certainly had. The day had been very good all round. Noah had really surprised me, something I had thought he had forgotten how to do. And there was a sweet side to him that I never thought existed. He had changed. And I liked it.
The evening picnic had been amazing. Hunter had worn himself out with his toys and being chased by Noah by the river. He was fast asleep before I had fastened him into his car seat, sucking his thumb happily as we drove home.
Hopefully, there wouldn’t be any problems getting him to bed.
We pulled up outside the safe house and then I noticed a car across the road. It looked familiar, even in the dark. The driver was a shadow behind the wheel, but I knew that shadow. And I knew the car. It had bothered me for a good period of time a while back.
He was still bothering me. My heart sank.
How had he found us? This was meant to be a safe house and now everyone seemed to know where I was.
“Liz?” Noah was staring at me. He reached out and touched my arm. “Liz, what is it?”
“I…”
Then Noah was looking out the window at the car. His expression darkened, and he scowled.
“Who’s that? Ruiz?”
“No, not him.” I swallowed. Noah wasn’t going to like this. “It’s a guy who wants to get me into bed with him. He’s been bugging me since you were put away.”
Noah growled. I couldn’t blame him; Nate put my back up as well. The bastard just didn’t know when to quit.
“How did he know where we were?”
“He could have followed us.”
“Either way.” Noah started to open the door. “I’m going to deal with the little shit.”
“No, don’t.” I reached over and grabbed Noah’s arm. “Don’t go to him. I’ll deal with it.”
“Are you sure?” Noah didn’t look happy about it. “What if he…?”
“He’s not going to do anything.” I looked back at Hunter, who was still fast asleep. “Let’s focus on getting Hunter inside and then I’ll handle it.”
Noah grunted. He was still unhappy, but he didn’t argue. He got Hunter out of his car seat and took him into the house, cradling the baby like his life depended on it. I grabbed the picnic things and the toy box and followed after them. Noah was at the foot of the stairs, kicking off his sneakers.
“I’ll put him to bed.” He raised an eyebrow at me. “You rain hell down
on that piece of shit.”
“No problem.”
I was looking forward to that bit, even if talking to Nate gave me a headache. I went out into the back yard and fished out my cell phone. Finding Nate’s number, I unblocked it and called him. He answered on the second ring.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he purred. “I was beginning to think you were ignoring me.”
“That was the point, Nate.”
“Then why are you calling me? It wasn’t to talk about the weather.”
He was acting like I had never blocked him. I bit back a growl and began to pace. Hopefully, his thick head would get it this time.
“No, I didn’t. I told you to fuck off and leave me alone.”
He had pushed things too far. I was willing to consider him a friend in the beginning and, if he had stayed platonic, he would have been a loyal friend. But the way he was acting made me want to run a million miles away.
“All I wanted to do is talk, Liz.”
“No, you didn’t,” I snapped. “You wanted to rock the boat. And there was a very good reason why you couldn’t follow me, and it was more that Noah would have killed you.”
“You mean that I would find out about the love nest of yours?”
“How did you find out about it?”
“I got told by Amy you were at a spa outside town and went to look for you. I followed you and your friend back.” Nate grunted. “Not too bad a place. Perfect family home.”
“You were stalking me?”
“I wanted to talk.”
“No, you didn’t.” I was prepared to charge out the house and attack Nate and his car across the street. “If Noah didn’t do the job of killing you, I would have finished you off.”
“Oh, would you?” Nate chuckled. “I like the idea of you finishing me off.”
“Stop it!” I rubbed at my belly. My stomach had been rolling since I realized that Nate was outside. “Thanks for ruining a perfect day for me. Thanks for deciding you still want me despite knowing I want nothing to do with you.”
“I want you in my bed and you know you want it, too. You’re just scared because your big junkie boyfriend will kill you if you stray from him.”
I barked out a laugh. That was far from the truth.
“You think I’m scared of Noah? I stay with him because I give a shit about him. I care for him. I don’t want to sleep with you because I don’t even like you. You’re a fucking pervert who won’t take no for an answer and you’re stalking me.” She kicked at a flowerpot and knocked it off, spilling soil and the plant onto the patio. “The next call I’m going to make if you call again is to the police or even to the club’s enforcers to deal with you. One won’t be as nice as the other and I don’t think you want to find out which one.”
“Did you just threaten me?”
I smirked.
“Yes. I did. Anything to protect my family. Now, fuck off out of my life!”
I hung up, tossing the phone onto the table at my elbow. That had felt really good. Better than I’d thought. A movement had me turning and I saw Noah leaning against the doorframe, two beers in his hand.
“Handled?”
“Yeah.” I went over to him and took one of the bottles, taking a strong swig. “Fucking handled.”
It wasn’t, but all I wanted to do right now was get drunk. And fuck. Lots of both. From the look in his eyes, Noah was more than happy to oblige.
Chapter 28
Noah
Seeing Liz’s stalker outside the safe house had unnerved me. I didn’t like the fact we were almost becoming like Madison Square Gardens. Nobody outside of me, Mason, Diesel and Cassie were supposed to know the location. Now everyone seemed to be visiting. That had to stop.
I made a quick call to Mason to let him know and to see if he could find Nate’s name and address, before going over and having a quiet word with him about what he was doing. Mason was just as angry that this was happening, but it didn’t contend with my fury. Liz was mine and Nate thought he could seduce her away? He was going to realize he had been playing with serious fire.
By the next morning, after drinking half of the beer and fucking each other until we passed out, both Liz and I were in slightly better moods, albeit rather delicate. I certainly was, although I wasn’t sure about Liz. She could handle her drink better than I ever could. While she looked pale and worn-out, she didn’t look as though she was struggling with a headache, carrying on with Hunter as if she hadn’t been drinking herself into a stupor the night before.
I had to admire that. She was a tough cookie, but that cookie was crumbling. It wouldn’t take much for her to snap.
I took a long shower, hoping to get rid of the splitting headache that wouldn’t leave me alone. Then I dressed slowly and headed downstairs, intending to try and put some food in my belly.
I was heading across the hall when someone knocked at the door. That had me freezing. Mason and Diesel would have let me know if they were coming over. And it wouldn’t be Cassie, as Liz would have said something.
Who was…?
Grabbing my gun from the hall dresser, I went to the front door and checked the spyhole. There was nobody there. But a car was pulling away. I opened the door and saw an envelope on the step. It was one of those big manila-type envelopes with my name stamped on the front.
What was going on?
Checking no one was nearby, I snatched it up and ducked back inside, putting the chain on the door. Then I opened the envelope and took out the contents.
What I saw almost had me dropping it. They were photographs. Quite a few of them. Of Liz. Naked, in sexual poses, with a man on top of her, behind her. Her wrists were tied together and there were pictures in which she was gagged. Her eyes were wide and terrified. That broke my heart.
Then I saw the face of the man fucking her. It was Ruiz. He looked damned pleased with himself, bending Liz to his will.
Ruiz. Now I felt sick. Liz had said she had never done anything with Ruiz. How could she lie to me? I couldn’t believe it.
When had this happened? And why now?
“Noah?”
I looked up. Liz was coming down the hallway. She looked confused, brushing her hair over her shoulder. Why did she have to look so lovely?
“Where’s Hunter?”
“He’s playing in the lounge. I set up his train track. What…” Then Liz saw the photographs. I saw her face pale. “Oh, God.”
“Never did anything with Ruiz?” I brandished the photos in her face. I was angry. Very angry. “You said that, and I believed you. So what the fuck are these?”
Liz looked like she was about to faint. She started breathing fast, swaying on her feet. But I wasn’t going to let her walk away from this. She was going to answer my questions right now. I didn’t care how long it took, but she was.
“When the fuck were you with Ruiz? Now I know what he meant the other night.”
“It’s not what it looks like,” Liz protested. She snatched the photos and held them up. “Seriously, does it look like I’m enjoying myself?”
“What else does it look like?” I snapped. “I’m getting answers right now, Liz.”
Liz looked ready to bolt. Then Hunter appeared in the hall, carrying his rabbit blanket.
“Mommy? Daddy?”
Liz gave me a look that said to keep quiet and then she turned to our son.
“Come on, Hunter, let’s get the TV on. Mommy and Daddy need to talk.”
Hunter gave me a worried look before he went with Liz into the lounge. Moments later, I heard the TV going and Liz came back out, closing the door behind her. She hurried over, wrapping her arms around her waist and huddling over herself.
“Where did these pictures come from?” She asked.
“They were on the porch just now, addressed to me.”
“So, someone other than Nate knows where we are?”
I growled, causing her to take a step back. “Don’t try and change the subject. What is going on, Liz? Why were yo
u with Ruiz?”
“It wasn’t my choice, Noah.”
“What are you talking about?”
“He bought me!”
Liz realized how loud she had said that and clamped her hands over her mouth. That hit me like she had punched me in the face. She had been bought by Ruiz?
