“I know. You’re his Kim Possible.” Shocked, I stare at her with my mouth dropped. “Oh, don’t look so stunned, dear. Years ago, I just happened to walk in on him laughing at some text he said he received from ‘Kim Possible.’”
Anguish crawls its way into my veins like it always does when I’m hit with painful nostalgia.
Noah and I texted a lot. Before.
We could go hours just texting, talking about nothing and everything.
We shared secrets, shared our most intimate thoughts and feelings, but now… there’s just nothing.
Before everything went to shit with Emmett pretending to die just to get the key to George’s room, there wasn’t a day that went by that Noah and I didn’t talk.
And then the truth came out.
I was the liar, the villain, the deceptive bitch that hurt him, and for my penance, I lost a whole lot more than anyone will ever know.
More than that, I lost a significant part of my life. Him.
And now, he hates me.
“Well, that was a long time ago. We’re no longer kids, Christina.”
“Oh, it’s much worse. You’re both behaving like toddlers.”
I sigh. She’s not wrong and now I’m faced with a dilemma I knew was coming the moment I agreed to hear Christina out about this… strange as fuck job she offered in the most peculiar way.
“Either way, dear, you have to understand that my son is—”
“Unhinged? Livid? A hateful asshole who knows how to hold a grudge like nothing else in this world?” As soon as I say that last part, I wince. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to curse your son.”
“Why not?” she shrugs carelessly. “He was pretty rude to you just now.”
“You really are down to earth,” I murmur. “The first time I saw you, I thought you were…”
“An uptight rich housewife whose only problem was which diamonds to wear for the day?”
Well, then.
“Actually, I was going to say you scared me shitless.”
“That’s what I was going for.”
“Really?”
“Well, I’d picked up the tail end of the chat you were having with Astraea.”
“You eavesdropped?”
“Err, just the end.”
“Just how much did you hear?”
“Well, I heard the part where you told her that you would do anything for your sisters, so it was in that moment that I knew how strong and loving you are.”
“Didn’t you hear your son? I’m also a liar and could betray you.”
“Not when both your sisters’ futures are on the line.”
And here lies my fucking problem.
See, the dollar amount Christina offered me was enough to set up their futures so that they’d never have to depend on anyone for anything ever again. They’d become their own people, lacking nothing.
They wouldn’t grow up like I did and that’s the whole point of me taking this fucking job.
But accepting this job means giving someone who loathes me power over my time, my worth, and ultimately, my cold, broken heart.
“Listen, Christina, I really like you and after today, I can definitely say I respect the hell out of you but I…” I suck in a deep breath, turning to look at where Noah was sitting. “I don’t think I can do this.” If I have to find three or four jobs, work like a dog to give my sisters a better life than I ever had so that they don’t starve or beg or have to steal, then I’ll do that. “I can’t take this seriously overpaid job.”
I keep my shoulders straight and my voice level. For all I know, her son might be eavesdropping like the little piece of shit he is.
I expect Christina to look surprised or disappointed, but she just watches me.
“Tell me why not.”
“Your son,” I whisper with shame. “He might be a problem.”
“So let me get this straight,” she starts. “You know exactly what’s on the line if you refuse this job since you’ve already signed the contract, but you want to do it anyway because of… a man.”
It’s the way she says it that slithers under my skin and reminds me of the one person I never want to be.
My mother.
“No, that’s not—”
“I mean don’t get me wrong, you had your own first impression of me when we met, and I had mine. I looked at you and do you know what I saw?” I shiver, suddenly missing my best friend with an acuteness that makes me want to cry. “That day, you looked so defeated, so sad and a bit out of sorts but even through all that, all I could feel and see was how strong you were.”
“Maybe I was pretending to be strong.”
“No. No one can pretend to have strength like that. You don’t cower to anyone but as soon as my son walks in—the same one you assured me was persona non grata to you—you are ready to quit?”
Fuck.
“Christina, you have to understand. Your son…” I trail off. How do I tell her when what I used to have with Noah is still so sacred and secret to just us, well, to me? Everything we ever talked about, everything we went through, our brand of sass, it was just for us. “Your son is not just a random guy to me.”
We stare at each other. I see that she knows what I’m not saying and I hate that she can read it so clearly in me.
“And just to be clear, as evidenced by what just happened, whatever we had, it’s all in the past.”
“Then show me,” she states calmly. “Prove to me that it’s in the past, Kimmy. Take the job and do it as well as I know you will.”
“Planning out and organizing your life?”
“Every aspect of my life, Kim. You are now my eyes, my ears, actually, you are the face of Christina Reneé Montreal and that my dear is more work than you might think.”
I think I might have an idea of that.
“Okay, fine. I’m not quitting,” I say with a frustrated sigh. “But I do need you to be honest with me.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“That will do,” I smile sadly then we both grow serious. “Was everything he said true? Will I be working for your son instead of you?”
We stare at each other, studying each other. She’s the first to break.
“You’ll be working for us both.”
Noah Montreal is many things.
He’s drop dead sexy, cocky and now, he’s become a flawless liar who caused me to lose my job, but when he knew it would fuck me up in some way, he tells the truth.
“Will I be answering to him?”
“To us both, yes.”
“Will I be working in some capacity for him only?”
“In a manner of speaking,” she says with a cringe. “But at some point, you’ll be working together with him.”
Fuck. Me.
“Does that mean he has power, at any given time, to fire me?”
“Actually, no.”
“What?”
“That contract that you just signed still gives me the ability to hire and fire, not my son, even though he has all this power now.”
Well then. This changes things significantly. Noah can’t fire me, but still, he can make my life a living hell.
“Thank you for your thorough candor,” I say sarcastically.
“You’re welcome, but I do have one question for you though. Just one.”
“Yes?”
“Will you let him walk all over you?”
* * *
NOAH
“She’s never going to last,” I state, watching as Kimberly walks to her raggedy car and drives away.
“You were in rare form tonight,” Mom says with a sigh. I can feel her questioning gaze on me but I’m not in the mood to entertain her.
I had one extra-long week from hell.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do,” she counters. “I’ve never seen you so bent out of shape like that before.”
I’ve never felt that kind of crazy before either.
On
one hand I wanted her to leave and never fucking come back, but then before I saw her car outside, I was already contemplating going to her.
Who knows, I might still do that tonight.
“I had a long week but that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re making a huge mistake bringing her in like that,” I mutter, looking at her with a frown.
“That’s what you think,” Mom hums, looking suspiciously oblivious as she reads something on her iPad.
“Where the fuck did you even find her?”
“Around.”
“Mom!” I snap, feeling exasperated. “This is serious.”
“No, you want to throw a tantrum and I’m not having it.”
“A tantrum?” I walk over to her desk, staring her down. “What I want to know is why you hired her.”
“She’s good.”
“How do you know? She doesn’t even have any qualifications. No education besides a fucking common high school diploma.”
“As far as I see it, you’re both in the same boat. It’s not like you have your college degree yet.”
“That’s a low blow, Mom. I took a gap year.”
“Yeah, and she’s getting her life together too, doing her best to take care of her sisters and I think her character is exactly the right one I need.”
“But we’re talking about your seat here!” I snap. “You own thirty-five percent of Montreal Inc and you’re just going to give her your proxy!”
“Yes.”
“She’s a stranger!”
Mom looks up at me then. I see her eyes twinkling with mischief. She’s seriously entertained by this! The fuck?
“Is she?” she whispers conspiratorially. “Is she really a stranger to you?”
Fuck this! I push past the chair in front of her desk and give her one last withering look.
“Tantrum,” she mutters.
“Annoyance.”
“Over Kimmy? It’s funny, she said the same thing about you!”
My nostrils flare.
“She won’t last!”
“You seem to really believe that so how about we make a wager?” she says, leaning in, with a smirk on her face. “If she’s still here after your birthday, then you’ll tell me everything you’ve been hiding.”
I grow incredibly tense, blinking at her.
“I don’t know what that means.”
“You know exactly what that means,” she says, eyes narrowed. “You’ve been running around with this look on your face… you’re more paranoid than usual which means you’re searching for something.”
“I’m just not interested in being in the same space as that…”
The intercom rings and a voice crackles, announcing that Kim Possible is leaving the estates.
Mom looks up at me, eyebrow raised.
“Fine! But if I win, I want her out! And she’s not going to get a fucking dime.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Crystal.”
“Well then,” she reaches for the intercom button and while looking at me the whole time she says, “Let her pass and next time she comes back, she’s been granted full access.”
Chapter 18
NOAH
Present
ME: Just to be fucking clear, I give it three days.
Kim Possible: Excuse you? Why the fuck do you still have my number?
ME: Why do you still have mine? I’m going to make you quit.
Kim Possible: Like hell.
ME: Kimmy, you don’t want to play this game with me.
Kim Possible: Bring it on, asshole!
Kim Possible: And one more thing, FUCK YOU!
I smirk as I read her last text, then tuck my phone back in my pocket.
For what I’m about to do right now, I should be fucking arrested and charged, and have the key thrown in the deepest part of the ocean.
I know all that, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to turn back and go home, praying that no one sees me. Instead, I keep going anyway, clutching the knife I have in my leather clad hands.
I pull my hoodie down, looking left then right, then I climb over the stupid, decorative fence the compound has for their tenants.
Her car stands out—I mean why the fuck not—even though it’s new, it’s an ugly piece of shit that deserves to be in the dumpster. I have no idea why it fucking bothered me that she got rid of her other car. I mean it had some kind of sentimental value.
In the back of it, she and I sat in the dark and drank Jack without saying a fucking word to each other.
It wasn’t that big of a deal but fuck if I understood it all.
For the longest time I didn’t want to know where she lived, too afraid that if I had her location, if I could imagine where she might be, I’d find myself in my fucking car, driving to her.
But nope, not this time.
This is war and she played with the wrong one!
Things are different now and I need to nip this in the fucking bud and make sure she fucks off and leaves my family alone.
So, I do what all good sons do when their mothers are faced with a threat they can’t see.
I slash all her tires.
But I’m not a coward. I don’t want her to wonder who could’ve done this or why; so, I take out the little sticker in my pocket, then stick it right where she’ll see it and know that it was me who did this to her ugly ass car. I mean it’s only fair, she did a fucking number on my baby.
With a smile, I walk away as quietly as I came and make my way home.
Kiss my fucking ass, Kimberly.
* * *
After dealing with Kimberly’s ugly car, I drive back home and head straight to my room. The envelope I left is still fucking there, unopened, creased to death, judging by the number of times I messed with it.
I want to read it. I want to open it and see how else Craig is going to fuck up my life but at the same time, I don’t want to because now I can’t stop thinking about what fucking Spider said.
So, I grab my phone and call up the boys—this time, I even include George on the call.
“Do you fucking know what time it is?” King is the first to speak up and the first to curse me out all at the same time.
Emmett’s stoic and impassive face comes on, and then finally, George shows his face.
George is literally next door but for the time being, I can’t stand being face to face with him. I’d knock his teeth out if I looked at him for long.
“I have an issue,” I grit out.
You can almost physically see King and Emmett reel back all the insults that were getting ready to be launched at me.
“What’s going on?”
“I talked to Spider.”
“Well shit,” King mutters.
“What was that?” I hear a soft feminine voice in the background. King winces, then he looks to someone beside him, his fucking facial features softening. I swear, King has never been one to look like a love-struck ass, but here he is now, gone, whipped and fucking happy.
It feels right in a wrong type of way…
“It’s okay, baby,” the asshole mutters softly. “I have to take this call.”
“At this time?” Astraea asks sleepily.
“That’s what I said. Give me a moment to curse the fuck out of Noah.”
“Oh, it’s Noah? Tell him not to mess with Kim and her job,” Astraea whispers as if we all can’t hear her. I close my eyes, feeling the onset of a headache coming on. So, Kim told her that she’s now working for my mother? Fucking brilliant! It just makes things better.
Not!
She so fucking deserved those slashed tires now.
King turns to look at me through the screen, but he doesn’t say anything.
“I’ll tell him, Star. Rest, baby,” he whispers. “Precious cargo and all.”
Fuck! I’m going to be a freaking uncle—well, I already am, but I haven’t spent any time with George’s kid. Too much enmity between us.
King starts moving away
. Soon, he enters into a familiar room he does all his undercover shit in: his fucking office.
“Kimberly is working for you?” he mutters. I guess that unmutes Emmett as well because the asshole has the nerve to crack a smile.
“Do you see Kimberly working for Noah?” he scoffs. “She’d eat him alive. She’s working for Christina.”
“Well damn,” George whistles. “Christina just stepped her game up.”
I think all eyes shift to him but then again, it’s difficult to tell. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
If George was a simpering fool who couldn’t hold his own, if he wasn’t the son of a fucking legend, then he’d probably cower from all the hate he’s currently getting on this call alone.
But George has never been that guy and he’ll probably never be that fool either.
“Oh, come on,” he starts. “Wasn’t it you who said Christina is keeping something from you?”
“Yeah…”
“And then you also said she got a cryptic letter from that lawyer you both saw two weeks ago.”
I stare at George, blinking slowly. There’s only one person I told all that shit to and…
“How the hell does he know all this?” I seethe, staring directly at Emmett.
“What? You think there’s nothing George can’t find out about? Now that he’s being bankrolled by his long-lost daddy?” Emmett says. “Besides, I was helping you?”
“Helping me with what? We still have no answers! We still don’t know if what Spider said is true or not.”
“What did he tell you to begin with?” King asks, looking annoyed now that he’s away from Astraea.
“He told me that I was looking at the whole Craig thing as if the guy actually committed suicide.”
“Well, didn’t he?” Emmett asks, now paying attention.
“I don’t remember seeing the gun.”
It grows quiet.
I swear I can hear the hum of King’s refrigerator we all stare at each other, no one saying a word.
The absence of the gun speaks volumes and we all know it.
“Then what does that mean?” King demands.
“I don’t fucking know is what I’m telling you!” I snap. “If the gun wasn’t there, then what happened to it? It’s not like he blew half his brains out then walked to the fucking window and chucked it out.”
Petty Rage: Westbrook Blues Book 4 Page 22
