Noel

by Madison Stevens

  “Claire!” Teagan swatted at her soon to be sister-in-law.

  “What?” She shrugged. “It’s a fair question.”

  “That’s what Bob is for,” Anna said and took another drink.

  “Bob? Wait, you met someone?” Claire said and stared in shock at her friend.

  Haley glanced over to Riley at the door. Suddenly, he seemed to be a real presence in the room, as if he willed himself to be noticed.

  “Battery Operated Boyfriend,” Anna said and raised a brow. “Funny how not much changed in that department. With or without Jason, there was always Bob.”

  Haley’s heart ached for her friend. Being married to Jason had been a lonely life, probably even more so than actually being alone. At least Haley had the option to see people if she wanted. It must have been so hard to love someone who just wasn’t there. She could only hope that it wouldn’t be that way after things settled with the divorce.

  “I hope you aren’t spilling all my best moves,” Finn said and stepped into the room.

  Haley watched as he scanned the room and landed on Alyssa. He only had eyes for her. She sighed. She wasn’t attracted to her friend’s boyfriend, although he was handsome, but she did envy them a bit.

  More than anything, Haley wanted what they had, wanted the sort of love that seemed to consume every fiber of her being.

  Claire’s gagging sounds cut through the room.

  “Gross. If I have to hear that shit, I’m going to need more rum.” She stood to refill her glass but stopped as Conor stepped in the room. The smile that spread on her face filled the room.

  “Seriously, Finn,” Conor said with a grin.

  Finn came over and gave Alyssa a light kiss.

  “We’ve got a meeting, so we’ll be in the back room,” he said quietly.

  Alyssa frowned. “Anything wrong?”

  He shook his head. “Just the usual.” Finn gave her another kiss on the head before stepping away. “Don’t stay up too late,” he said with a devilish grin. “Wouldn’t want you being too tired.”

  Finn gave a wink and dashed out of the room before Claire’s pillow found its mark.

  She groaned in frustration. “Keep him out of here, or I’ll make sure I’m too tired tonight.” Claire raised a brow at Conor.

  He gave a sharp nod. “On it.”

  Haley looked to the door, expecting someone else to come walking through at any moment. Her heart thumped hard in her chest at just the thought of seeing him.

  “Still haven’t given up?” Alyssa said and sat in the chair next to her.

  Haley knew it was stupid to feel that way for a man who made it more than clear he wasn’t interested. She sighed. Killing those feelings was proving to be far more difficult than she would have thought.

  “I know I should,” she said quietly. “There’s just something about him that keeps drawing me. I just can’t get him out of my thoughts.”

  She twisted her drink around in her hand. The black yoga pants hid the ring the bottom of her cup was leaving.

  Haley shrugged and looked up. The room fell silent room. A chill passed over her as she watched all the women in the room stare past her.

  “Hi, Noel,” Alyssa said awkwardly.

  Her palms started to sweat as she turned to look at the man who had captivated her for months now.

  “Well,” Noel said and cleared his throat. She expected that he’d be looking anywhere but at her, which seemed to be the standard for the last month, but it seemed that he couldn’t look anywhere but at her.

  Haley could feel her nipples tighten under his gaze. His eyes flicked down to the front of her shirt, and she knew the tank she wore hid nothing.

  “Meeting?” he said and licked his lips.

  Her cheeks heated as Noel continued to stare at her.

  Alyssa offered a quick nod. “In his office.”

  Noel tore his eyes from Haley and gave a curt nod before quickly leaving the room.

  “Well, now, that’s something,” Claire mumbled.

  Haley nearly laughed. She didn’t quite know what that was. He had at least seen her. Albeit, not in her best form, but just looking her way was something.

  Who was she kidding? The situation was bad. It was so craptastically bad that Haley didn’t know if she would recover.

  He had heard exactly what she said and still didn’t have anything to say. She’d always sort of hoped that maybe he was a little dense when it came to stuff like this. Maybe he didn’t really get women hitting on him all that often.

  She snorted. After all the time she’d spent at Finn’s house, she knew one thing for sure. The men were hot, sexy and dangerous, and that was a combination that lit a fire in most women.

  She frowned. Would some women be turned off by his scars? Maybe, she thought, but he was so much more than a few scars, and they weren’t something he had all his life. She’d known him before the scars, but his new appearance hadn’t dampened her desire in the slightest.

  Alyssa patted her on the leg. As her best friend, Alyssa knew how much she’d struggled with her attraction to Noel. It seemed like from the first moment she’d met him, Haley had been swept away. He was charming, and despite his gruff manner, he was sweet deep down. She’d seen that sweet side when she fainted from fright at having a gun pointed at her. A gun he had held.

  When her eyes had blinked open, his faced hovered over hers, concern etched in his brow. Haley had been so taken away by his nearness that she said the first thing that popped into her head.

  She had babbled something about pointing a gun at her. The words slipped out before she could even stop herself. Embarrassment flooded her cheeks at the juvenile way she’d handled things.

  He was a man who carried a gun. How could she even think of saying something so silly?

  But instead of the eye roll she was expecting, Noel laughed. The sound of it reached the very center of her and nudged something deep inside.

  She’d said something to make him laugh, and that was all it had taken. From that moment, all she wanted to do was get to know him better. To have one more chance to make him laugh.

  But that was before that terrible night. The one that changed everything.

  Haley sighed. Before she thought she might have had a chance with Noel, but now the idea seemed like a far-off dream.

  Noel had always been reserved, and now he’d become completely closed off. His mind didn’t seem to have room for something like romance. One all-consuming thought filled his being: revenge.

  “Ahem,” Teagan said, clearing her throat and drawing the attention of all the women. “Thanks to everyone for coming.”

  She paused for a moment and frowned at Alyssa.

  “Meg isn’t coming?” She said.

  Alyssa gave a funny smile. “She and Liam are getting in a little R&R while things are quiet.”

  Claire snorted. “Renting a cabin in the woods for the week so you can screw like bunnies isn’t R&R.”

  “With a man like Liam,” Anna said, “I’m betting she’d need a vacation from her vacation.”

  Riley coughed loudly at the door. They turned to look at him. It was clearly not going to be a girls’ night like they hoped with him standing guard.

  “It’s okay, Riley,” Claire said loudly. “I’m sure you’d measure up in Anna’s eyes.”

  His face grew scarlet, and he turned the other direction.

  “Well,” Teagan said, her voice wavering. “So we’re here to talk about my new line.”

  Haley pulled her attention from Riley and back to Teagan. She’d started wearing her long rich brown hair up in a bun on her head. Haley wondered if she did it to keep the hair out of her face or that it added a few years to her appearance.

  “Things have been going really well with the adult line, so I’ve decided to branch out to kids,” Teagan said.

  They watched as she pulled up the most darling little button dress Haley had ever seen. The bright swaths of fabric were all so different and yet seemed
to work well together.

  “I love it,” Haley said without hesitation.

  Teagan froze, the dress still held up. “Really?”

  Haley nodded furiously. “Absolutely. If I know kid fashion, this dress would sell like hotcakes at my school.”

  Teagan grinned from ear to ear.

  “I knew you would be the right person to see these.” She looked around to the others in the room. “And you all as well.”

  Claire picked up her glass and took a drink. “I think you’re just lucky I like alcohol so much.”

  Chapter Three

  Noel paced the floor of Finn’s office, clenching and unclenching his fists.

  Most people would have said the room was huge, but it seemed smaller with all the men in one place. It made him feel trapped, and he hated it.

  This used to not be such a big deal to him, but things had changed. He had changed, and he was pretty sure he could never go back to the man he once was.

  “He knew you’d go there,” Finn said from behind his desk. He examined the card and placed it carefully on his desk. “This isn’t a huge surprise. Anton’s a lot of things, but he’s not stupid. If he wasn’t such a careful bastard, we’d have already found him and taken care of him a long time ago. We both know that.”

  Noel stopped pacing and turned to look at Finn. He fought down the flare of irritation. Finn was his boss and his friend. He knew the other man would have his back in the end.

  “That’s not the problem,” Noel said. “It’s not just that he knew I’d be there, but that he could get in a fucking card without anyone knowing. Without me knowing.” He stared at his boss, knowing he’d understand why this was such a big deal.

  “But you said that it was someone else who delivered the card,” Conor said.

  He looked over at the former traitor and nodded. They stared hard at one another before Conor looked away.

  Finn might trust him, but Noel wasn’t sure if he could the same way again. Not after the way he had left them. Once you made that move, it suggested you might do it again in the future.

  Sure, he could understand Conor’s desperation to find a way to help his sister, but turning your back on the rest of your family? And to work with Finn’s traitor brother, Ennis? It just didn’t make sense to him. Any of the men would have done just about anything to help with Teagan. All he had to do was ask.

  Besides, it had always bugged him that Boris had seemed ready for the night Noel had driven Alyssa home. The night he was taken and tortured for hours. He’d like to think that it was all a coincidence, but in his line of work, there was no such thing.

  The thought that his cousin might have sold him out burned deeply inside him. Noel’s jaw tightened and turned away from the man he’d known for most of his life and focused on the thing he could do something about. He’d take down Anton, then he’d figure out everything else. There was no mystery about the Russian’s guilt.

  Finn glanced from Noel to Conor and sighed. The tension might not be noticeable to most, but Finn was the most perceptive man Noel knew. And that was saying something. In their business, the guys who couldn’t spot trouble ended up dead.

  “I’ll send Riley to talk to the bartender,” Finn said and slowly stood.

  Noel bristled. There was no fucking way he was letting someone else muscle in on the catch that was rightfully his. He needed to be the one who took Anton down.

  “What the fuck?” he spat out. “I can handle this.”

  Finn held up a hand, and Noel closed his mouth.

  “You’re too noticeable,” Finn said, his expression firm. “Riley goes in and has a little chat to see what he can find out. The point is to get Anton, right? You know we’ll let you be the one to finish this.”

  Noel scowled. “If he gets rough with the bartender, the guy will never call, and my one decent lead will be gone.”

  “It doesn’t have to go down that way,” Conor said.

  Noel snorted and kept his eyes trained on the large picture window just behind Finn. How could one cockroach keep escaping them?

  “Look, it’s a start,” Finn said, cutting into the silence. Noel glanced over to his boss. He could see that all this was wearing on him. Often he wondered how much the former mob boss slept.

  As strange as it might seem, Noel had a feeling that Fubb slept much easier before when they didn’t have to think about the law or how to live within the bounds of it. Things just weren’t as easy when you had to obey the rules. It was frustrating, constraining and made a lot of things more complicated than they needed to be.

  Sure, they were still going to take care of Anton and Boris, but he doubted the cops were going to lose a lot of sleep over the loss of two walking cancers.

  Finn’s crew had always been rough and definitely threw their weight around, but they still fundamentally respected the people of their town, at least the ones who didn’t fuck with them. Boris and his crew viewed the people of the city as nothing more than means to an end for shit like human trafficking.

  “And if the bastard doesn’t cooperate…” Finn said. He gave a nasty smile, and Noel could see the spark of the old Finn.

  Being ruthless wasn’t something to commend in people, but it was something that kept them safe at times. Being betrayals and the invading Russians, they had to be careful. Noel’s scars were proof of how far their enemies were willing to go.

  He nodded. He didn’t want Riley involved, but it would do. A giant yawn escaped his mouth, and his eyes started to droop. The damn late nights were killing him. He wasn’t as young as he used to be, and even the fire of vengeance only provided so much energy.

  He jumped a little when Finn clapped him on the back.

  “Why don’t you get a little sleep before you drive home?” Finn said. “It’s a long drive back.”

  “Yeah, okay.”

  Noel blinked his sleepy eyes. It was likely for the best. His ability to focus was shot to shit, and if anything were to happen on the drive, he couldn’t be sure that he’d be at the top of his game. This wasn’t a time to go making rookie mistakes, especially now that he knew Anton was one step ahead of him.

  Noel glanced over to Conor. Having him know his whereabouts was unnerving. His hand instinctively went to the gun at his side. No one was getting the drop on him again. Anton or otherwise.

  Chapter Four

  Haley blinked several times at the newest dress Teagan was holding up. It was purple and maybe green. The lines all seemed to blur into a giant ball of dress.

  Two damn drinks. That was all it took to knock her on her ass. Everyone used to laugh that it was so cute she was such a cheap date. Haley never seemed to find the joke funny.

  She was always the one nursing her one drink. It annoyed her to no end. Everyone always assumed that it meant she was some sort of prude who was afraid to let herself go. That hadn’t been what her last boyfriend said.

  Actually, his words were something along the lines of “insatiable” and “demanding.” What the hell was so wrong with knowing what you wanted and asking for it?

  She huffed loudly at the rogue thought.

  “You don’t like it?” Teagan said in a quiet voice.

  The question brought Haley’s attention back to the room full of women.

  “Oh, no,” she said, trying not to slur her words. “It’s great.”

  She smiled at the young woman, hoping that she’d gotten the words out like she planned in her head.

  “Oh, I’m so glad you do,” Teagan said and beamed. “I’ve been so unsure about this move with the children’s line. You never know how people might respond.”

  “They are going to love it,” Alyssa said and smiled at her. She chewed on her lip as she looked around the room and stopped when she landed on Haley. “Actually, I might be ordering from you very soon.”

  The wheels in Haley head began to crank in ways that weren’t so great when she’d had one too many. Well, or just two total. Her eyes grew round as she continued to star
e at her friend.

  “Does he know?” Haley blurted out, not really caring that she might sound drunk.

  “He does,” Finn said. They turned to find Finn and Conor standing next to Riley at the door. Finn stepped forward until he had Alyssa wrapped in his arms. “And I couldn’t be happier.”

  He rubbed her still small stomach.

  They smiled at one another, their love obvious. This was just the product of that happiness.

  Tears leaked out of Haley’s eyes.

  “Haley?” Alyssa said. The smile on her face fell.

  Haley shook her head. She quickly stepped to her friend and wrapped her arms tightly around her neck.

  “I am so happy for you,” she said into her friend’s neck. Haley pulled back to look at Finn. He stood awkwardly as she wrapped her arms around him. “So happy for you both.”

  “I guess drunk Haley is handsy.” He chuckled.

  He grunted when she poked him in the ribs. “Shut up, you. I’m a hugger.”

  “All right,” Claire said from behind her. “Out of the way you. It’s my turn.”

  “Shit.” Finn grumbled as she pulled away.

  Claire glared hard at him. “I heard that.”

  She pulled Alyssa into a hug, still glaring at her cousin. “You sure you want to have a baby with this ass-hat?”

  “Um,” Alyssa said and looked to Finn for help.

  He raised a brow, and Alyssa sighed.

  “I think it’s a little late to go back.”

  “Whatever,” Claire said and stepped back. “Just wait till you have little Finn Junior.”

  “All right,” Conor said and walked over to Claire. “I think you’ve scared her enough for one night.”

  Haley watched as Teagan began to box up all the clothes she’d brought. It had been a long night, and after the baby surprise, she was feeling far more drained than she ever had.

  “I think I should head to bed as well,” Haley said to Alyssa.

  She turned to look at Finn, who nodded to her unspoken message.

  “I’ll follow you up,” she said quietly.

  Alyssa turned to the other women and gave quick goodnight hugs before following her into the hall.