Chapter 48

Holly spent the next day shopping for furniture. A lot of stores had great sales, and she bought a new couch, kitchen table, bed, and tables for the living room for a steal. To make the day even better, the shop owner said they’d deliver in just a few hours.

When she returned to her apartment, Griffin was singing at the top of his lungs. She smiled and made a note to get a hummingbird feeder for the balcony. She should have done that while out.

The furniture arrived right on time, and just as she finished laying her new sheets on her bed, the doorbell rang.

Taking a deep breath, she figured it would be Justice. After he’d told her he loved her, she’d been stunned. When she thought about the whole situation logically, it became apparent that his lies had been necessary. He’d only been protecting himself and the others like him, but it still hurt.

However, she couldn’t deny her feelings for him. Regardless of what he’d done, she still cared for him and still found herself terribly attracted to him. The fact he happened to be an alien trapped inside a black man’s body didn’t seem to freak her out too badly. He had been a good, moral man who’d only wanted to help her, and then in the end, set things right. She admired and appreciated that.

Opening the door, surprise rolled through her at her visitors.

Noah pushed his way in, followed by two other huge men. One had a long, black ponytail down to the middle of his shoulder blades and dressed impeccably. The other had blond hair hanging down to his shoulders in messy waves.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Holly said, taking a few steps back as Noah shut the door.

“Is Justice here?” he asked.

“No, he’s not. Now get out of my apartment!”

Noah sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “Holly, as you know, I’m Noah, and this is Jovan and Hudson.”

“I don’t give a shit who you are. I didn’t invite you in—so get out!”

Griffin began squawking and flapping his wings.

She glanced over at Jovan and realized she’d seen him before. “I know you! You’re the guy that broke into Area 2 to get Micah out!”

“Oh, hell,” Noah said, reaching for her arm.

“She knows too much,” Hudson mumbled, cracking his knuckles.

Holly slipped out of Noah’s grasp and ran for her bedroom. She definitely didn’t like the sound of knows too much. Why the hell had they shown up, anyway?

She saw her gun on the nightstand and almost reached it, but was grabbed from behind.

Fear tore through her as she recalled the way Billy’s killer had gotten the best of her.

It wouldn’t happen again.

She brought her head back and connected with whoever had captured her.

“Mother—” he began, but she also nailed him in the shin with her heel, then peeled his pinky finger back, causing him to let go with a grunt. Turning around, she hit him squarely in the jaw, and he stumbled backward as Noah rounded the corner.

“Enough!” Noah bellowed.

“Jesus, Hudson. You just got beaten up by a girl,” Jovan murmured, staring at Holly approvingly.

She turned and palmed her gun, keeping it trained on all three of them.

“I’m not afraid to shoot you,” she said, her breathing coming in short spurts. “Now get out of my apartment.”

Noah raised his hands to his shoulders. “There’s no need for guns and violence. We just wanted to talk to you. We wanted to find Justice. That’s it.”

The question was why, but she didn’t think he’d be giving her any answers.

“You found me. He’s not here. Get out.”

She moved forward, and all three stepped back into the living room. “Keep going, boys. Keep going all the way out the door.”

Griffin squawked and bobbed his head up and down, obviously excited or upset about the day’s events so far.

“Holly—”

“Go!” she yelled, interrupting Noah.

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded. She hoped it wouldn’t be her neighbors, because she had no excuse for all the noise and the fact that she had a gun pointed at three huge men.

“Should we get that?” Noah asked.

“No.”

A voice called from the hallway. “Holly?”

She immediately recognized Justice’s voice and relief went through her. With him here, she’d have someone on her side. Or, could he be working with Noah?

Only one way to find out.

“It’s open, Justice.”