by Brook Wilder
Diesel stared at me for a moment with a piece of bacon mid-way to his mouth. He dropped it back on the plate.
“Noah’s out?”
“He’s headed home on the first bus back. He’ll be here early next week.”
I grinned at the man as Diesel whooped. He and Noah had had their differences, but it was clear that the man was happy to have Noah headed home.
Diesel scooped the bacon back up and popped it into his mouth.
“I’m gonna go tell the boys,” he mumbled. “Okay, Boss?”
He was already walking to the door as I nodded my approval, and was out the door before anything else could be said.
Cassie leaned against one of the kitchen chairs.
“Liz will be excited to hear that. She really still loves him.”
“Yeah,” I said softly.
She eyed me thoughtfully.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Liz,” I said honestly, as I sank down into one of the kitchen chairs. “She doesn’t want us to tell Noah about her ordeal with Ruiz and the Cartel. I’m not sure what she does want us to say. I just avoided it on the phone with him.”
Cassie came over and put her arms around my shoulders.
“I get why she wouldn’t want to tell him about it,” she said. “He’d begged her to stay away from the life while he was gone, after all.”
She sighed.
“I get why she did it, I guess. She was helping her family. Or that’s what she said.”
“There’s something she isn’t telling,” I insisted, “and I’m worried Noah’s going to come home to a mess.”
“You always think the world is crumbling,” Cassie chided me. “You need to relax. Eat your breakfast.”
She shoved a piece of bacon at me, which I took from her with a laugh.
“Maybe you’re right,” I agreed. “But being paranoid is what’s kept me alive, so don’t expect it to go away anytime soon.”
She nodded and took her seat across from me.
“I wouldn’t dream of your being any less neurotic than you are,” she said archly.
I laughed and gave her a wink as I popped the piece of bacon into my mouth.
A short time later, there was a knock at the door. Cassie was upstairs. I went to answer it.
Liz stood in the doorway with her hands in her pockets. She wiped a tear from her eye.
“Diesel said I should come see you. It had something to do with Noah.”
It was clear the woman had gotten the wrong idea from Diesel’s attempt at subtly, and I reminded myself to beat him up about it later.
“Come in,” I said, leting her slip by me into the kitchen.
A faint scent of oranges hung to the woman. It brought back memories of the times Noah, Liz, and myself had hung out.
Liz sat down at the kitchen table and eyed me with what I’d have called distrust, but it was probably nervousness.
“I think Diesel might have given you the wrong idea,” I told her as I sat down beside her.
“Noah’s okay then?”
She asked the question cautiously, like the reassurance it promised could be snatched away at any moment.
I smiled.
“He’s fine. He’s better than fine, actually. He’s coming home,” I added softly. “He’ll be here at the beginning of next week.”
Liz stared at me for a long time, as if trying to decide whether I was telling the truth or I was playing some kind of horrible joke on her. When she finally spoke, her voice trembled.
“He’s coming home?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I didn’t tell him anything, just so you know.”
Liz nodded. Tears had started to flow. Tears of quiet happiness and relief. She tried to wipe them away, but more tears came to replace the ones she wiped away.
“I know I can’t keep it a secret. But he worked so hard to get me away from this, so Ruiz wouldn’t hurt me. I can’t tell him what all happened. I know he’ll find out I was with the Cartel. But if we could keep it brief and act like I wasn’t with them that long…”
“I’m not going to lie if he asks me. But, if he doesn’t, then I promise he won’t hear it from me.”
It was the only promise I could make. I wouldn’t lie to Noah, but I understood what she was trying to do.
She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.
“I understand.”
My phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number and I answered it cautiously.
“Hello?”
Liz sniffled and watched me curiously. I put my finger to my lips and she nodded.
“Who is this?”
“Just a friend,” a familiar voice said. “Thought you might want to know that you didn’t quite finish the job. Better watch your back.”
The line went dead and I clicked the phone off.
“Cassie,” I called, suddenly fearful that something had happened to her.
Relief flooded through me when I saw the girl bounce down the stairs.
“What is it?” she asked when she saw my face.
I looked at the two women and shook my head. My first instinct was to protect them, to lie and not tell them anything. But I realized with sudden clarity that they’d have to have a reason to listen to me when I asked them to take precautions in the future.
“That was Ruiz.”
The color drained from Liz’s face. She shook her head. It was Cassie who spoke.
“That’s not possible. I shot him. He burned to death on that roof.”
“Apparently he didn’t. He was calling to let me know, taunt me about it.” I stood up. “You girls stay at headquarters until further notice. The first thing he’ll want to do is get his hands back on you two, especially with Noah out of prison.”
Cassie shook her head. Her hands went to her hips.
“I’m not letting that psycho rule my life. That’s what he wants, Mason. He wants us scared. He has no power anymore over us or anyone. Don’t give him back that power.”
“She’s right,” Liz said defiantly. “Fuck him. We’re free and we intend to stay that way. If he wants me, then let him waddle his fat ass over here and try it.”
I looked between the two of them and shook my head. They were right. Ruiz ruled people by fear. If we didn’t give it to him, then what did he have to rule us with?
I nodded.
“Okay. I can see that you two aren’t going to listen, no matter what. We’ll do this your way… for now.”
Liz and Cassie shared a smile.
“See?” Cassie said. “Women will rule the world one day.”
“One club at a time,” Liz agreed with a grin.
I grinned wryly. I went over and wrapped my arms around Cassie.
“That may very well be. But until that time, be careful. I couldn’t stand it if anything were to happen to you.”
Cassie smiled and gave my cheek a kiss.
“Don’t worry. Ruiz isn’t man enough to hurt me.”
I shook my head and chuckled at the woman. She was still the spitfire she’d been when I first encountered her. After all she’d been through, Cassie still held her head high.
“I pity him if he tries,” I agreed with a smile.
Epilogue
Cassie
“You’re serious, aren’t you?” Mason glared at me.
I crossed my arms and stared at the man.
“Yes, I am,” I told him. “Look, I gotta live my life and, believe it or not, I’m a nurse.”
“But with Ruiz…”
I held up my hand.
“You wanted me to marry you, and I did. But just because I love you doesn’t mean I’m going to change who I am. I’m going back to work.”
“This is ridiculous,” Mason said, even as he threw up his hands in defeat. “Fine.”
He stalked out the door, startling Liz who had just been about to knock. She quickly stepped aside and let the irate man go by.
Liz stepped up beside me as I leaned on the doorframe. We wat
ched Mason drive off before either of us spoke.
“Trouble in paradise?” Liz asked.
“Nah,” I said with a laugh. “He just hasn’t quite yet let go of the idea that he’s in charge.”
I changed the subject as I waved Liz into the house.
“Speaking of paradise, Noah should be in soon.” I gave her a grin. “Nervous?”
Liz nodded. “Hell yeah, I am.”
“It’s been a long time since you’ve seen him. It’s normal to be nervous.”
I walked past the woman into the living room. She shook her head as she followed me.
She sat down next to me on the couch. She rubbed her palms nervously across the legs of her jeans.
“It’s not just that, Cassie. I’ve hidden things from him.”
I didn’t know quite what to say. I looked at the woman’s face. There was worry there, deep worry etched into her eyes and face. My heart clenched at what it could mean.
“What sort of things, Liz?”
She sat staring for a moment.
“You know that I asked Mason not to tell Noah about my time with the Cartel, beyond the fact that it happened.”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “You look like there’s something else.”
Liz slowly nodded.
“There is, and it’s a pretty big something, Cassie. What if I shouldn’t have kept it from him? What if he doesn’t forgive me?”
“Well,” I spoke hesitantly. “Did you have a good reason for keeping it from him?”
“I did,” Liz said without hesitation, then frowned. “Or I thought I did.”
It was clear she didn’t want to talk about it any further. I gave her shoulders a squeeze.
“I’m gonna grab us something to eat. It’ll calm your nerves.”
I got up and headed to the kitchen.
When I came back with some sandwiches and a couple of sodas, Liz hadn’t moved a muscle. I held out her plate to her and she took it robotically.
“Thanks,” she mumbled.
I set my plate down on the table and sighed.
“Okay, you gotta snap out of it, girl. Remember how nervous I was about talking to my family again?”
She nodded.
“Well,” I continued, “a good friend gave me some good advice.”
Her eyes snapped up to my face and I gave her a smile.
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassured her. “Give him the chance to support you.”
She took a shaky breath and picked up her sandwich.
“Yeah, okay. I’ll try.”
“That’s all I’m asking,” I said brightly as I popped the lid on my soda.
We sat and ate while we talked about much of nothing. I turned on the TV and we let the time slip mindlessly away. When we heard a noise outside, we both sat up straight.
I grabbed up the plates and glasses and took them into the kitchen. Liz ran upstairs to the bathroom. As I put the dishes in the sink, the door opened. Mason and another man came in.
Mason extended his hand to me.
“Noah this is Cassie. Cassie this is Noah.”
“Hi,” I said and held out my hand to the man.
Noah took my hand and shook it with a grin.
“Nice to meet you, Cassie.”
His voice was deep and rumbled when he talked.
I heard Liz’s feet on the stairs. Noah must have heard them too because he went into the living room, with Mason and myself behind him. The moment the two of them saw each other they both froze. They stared at each other for a long moment. I held my breath. Then, suddenly, they were both moving again. The two of them met in the middle of the room and kissed.
My heart leaped with happiness at the sight of them. I glanced at Mason and I saw the worry in his expression. I grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. He looked at me, but the worry was still there.
Liz pulled back and took Noah’s hand. She led him over to the sofa. She looked over at us.
“Maybe we should leave?” I suggested hurriedly.
“No,” Liz said swiftly. “I’d like you to stay.”
I agreed with a nod. Mason and I settled down on the loveseat and sat quietly.
Noah frowned.
“What’s going on, Liz?”
The red-haired woman took Noah’s hands in both of hers and looked at him with fear.
“I have to tell you something. I don’t know if I did the right thing in keeping it from you. I just didn’t know what else to do… Noah, I was scared.”
“Just tell me,” Noah’s voice rumbled with worry. “Whatever it is.”
Liz slowly nodded. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
“After you left…”
Noah shook his head.
“I know you didn’t stay out of the life, Liz. It was pretty obvious you hadn’t.”
She tugged on his hands.
“Please, let me talk, Noah,” she pleaded. “You always do that. You try to smooth things over before you even know what’s going on. Let me tell you what’s going on.”
“Okay,” Noah responded quietly.
Liz took a deep breath. Her eyes slid over to me and I wondered if she was going to tell him about the time at the Cartel’s warehouse. She hadn’t even managed to talk to me about that privately, let alone in a group.
I squeezed Mason’s hand for support. Liz swallowed.
“After you left,” she began, “I did what you asked. I left. I went and stayed with my Mom.” She paused and closed her eyes. “I found out I was pregnant a few months after you’d been locked up.”
Noah’s mouth fell open in shock. Mason, too, looked taken aback. Clearly, neither of them had been expecting her to say that.
There was a deafening silence.
“You…” Noah started then rubbed his eyes. “You were… How did I not know?” Noah looked over at Mason. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Mason held up his hands to ward off his friend’s wrath.
“I didn’t know, I swear.”
“He’s telling the truth,” Liz said. She sighed, “I didn’t tell anyone, except my Mom. He’s beautiful, Noah. Looks just like you.”
Noah was processing the information. He stood up and began pacing the room.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I couldn’t risk it. You told me to get out of the life because Ruiz was after you. Can you imagine what he’d have done if he’d known I was pregnant with your kid?”
Liz shook her head. Gone were her reservations as she stood up to face Noah.
She spoke firmly.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to. I wanted to tell you a thousand things and share the first time he walked or talked and such, but I couldn’t risk it.”
Noah spun around.
“So, why are you back in the life now?”
“I had to,” Liz said softly. “I couldn’t make enough to support him and Mom was sick. I was desperate. I needed the money.”
Noah looked over at Mason.
“Why didn’t you help her?”
“She never told me any of that. I hadn’t even seen her until…”
Mason stopped short. He looked over at Liz. His promise had made him stop.
Liz finished for Mason.
“Until he saw me at the auction.”
“Auction?” Noah looked at the two of them.
Liz put her hand on Noah’s cheek.
“You’re back. Ruiz is down if not out, and we’re safe. I’ll tell you everything in good time. But can we just have this moment? Can’t you go see your son and just let us be a family for a little bit?”
The words softened Noah. I saw the change in him. His shoulders sagged a bit, but his face held a fragile hope. He nodded and held out his hand.
“Let’s go have our moment.”
Noah looked over at Mason.
Mason nodded.
“Take the bike. I’ll have Diesel drop yours off once it’s out of the shop and he can pick mine up.”
&nb
sp;
