I felt better the moment I stepped into the shower back in our suite. The spray of boiling hot water on my body had instantly made me feel a little better and a little less icky. Sinking to the shower floor, I wrapped my arms around my knees and bent my head forward as my mind continued to torment me about what I'd heard earlier tonight.
There was nothing I could do, I thought to myself sadly.
Nothing I said or could say was going to change Beau, Tommy, and Quincy's opinions of me.
Suddenly, I missed Lucky desperately. He was my only friend out here and I wouldn’t see him until the final leg of the tour in Vegas.
I was going to miss that strange guy something fierce.
The sound of male voices rising from outside the bathroom dragged me from my reverie, alerting me to my first sign of trouble.
The sound of a door slamming was my second.
Scrambling to my feet, I switched off the shower before reaching for the towel I had hung over the glass door. Wrapping the fluffy white towel around my body, I stepped out of the shower and padded over the bathroom tiles, stopping when I reached the door.
Curling my fingers around the brass knob, I held my breath and listened to the conversation taking place in our bedroom.
"What are you doing here?" That was Lewis – the same Lewis who had never come into our suite before without permission. His voice rang loud and clear through the air when he said, "Who's this prick?"
The very first thought that popped into my head was that Lewis McGowan was a spy and I was about to get my head blown off by JD Dennis.
Fear gripped hold of me so tight in that moment that I thought I might faint.
With my back to the door, I remained exactly where I was, heart in my mouth and my eyes clenched shut.
Praying to god for a miracle, I blessed myself repeatedly.
I didn't want to die tonight.
Please don’t let me die tonight…
"…None of your business…" a strange voice said, drawing me back to the present. "…things to discuss…"
I strained to hear the person Lewis was talking to, but I could hardly make out the voice with the sound of the contractor fan over my head and I couldn't very well stick my arm around the door to switch it off without being seen.
Releasing the door knob like it had burned me, I curled my fingers around the lock and, as slowly as I possibly could, switched it sideways.
The tiny click it made was barely audible and I sagged in relief.
"In here?" That was Lewis' booming voice again, piercing the air. "Are you fucking with me?"
"…I don't answer to you…." Definitely a man's voice, I decided. Whose, I couldn't be sure of, but the other person in my bedroom was one hundred percent male.
"Never said you had to." Lewis' tone was laced with disgust. "But you sure as shit should have to answer to your conscience."
Quiet mumbling was followed by the sound of footsteps retreating.
I didn't move a muscle.
The seconds rolled into minutes and then hours, and the longer I stayed behind the bathroom door, the longer nothing continued to happen.
Surely if JD was here he would have killed me by now?
I was in the perfect position to get my brains blown out. He was never going to get an opportunity like this again, so why wait?
It didn't matter what JD was plotting, I decided.
I wasn't going to risk my life by going out there. I knew exactly what happened to the curious kitty, and this cat planned on staying the hell alive.
Nu-uh, I had watched too many episodes of The Walking Dead to even contemplate leaving my safe place.
But that notion sprung to life a new problem for me.
They obviously knew I was in here.
I mean, Lewis would have told them.
He wasn't guarding the door for shits and giggles and it was pretty freaking obvious by the steam creeping out from under the door that I was inside the locked bathroom.
On my hands and knees, I crawled across the damp tiles in search of a weapon.
If I was going to die tonight, then I sure as hell wasn't going down without the mother of all fights.
Maybe if I drew blood from my perpetrator the cops would have enough forensic evidence to make an arrest.
Glancing wildly around the room, my eyes landed on… a bar of soap.
What the hell was I going to do with a bar of soap?
Wash my killer to death?
Stupid fucking hotel bathrooms…
I wanted to kick my own ass for being such a girl.
When had I turned into a defenseless princess that hid and waited for a man to save her?
Fuck this…
Scrambling to my feet, I grabbed the metal toilet roll holder in my hand.
Rushing over to the bathroom door, I unlocked it before swinging it open.
My mouth was open, the words Die Motherfucker were on the tip of my tongue, but the moment my eyes landed on the broad back of a man sitting on our bed, my voice vanished into thin air.
Shock encompassed my features as I stared in bewilderment at the stranger sitting on my bed – the naked stranger.
Not just any naked stranger, I realized, when my eyes landed on the tricolor green, white, and gold flag tattoo on the top of his right butt cheek.
Liam…
"Liam?" I repeated his name out loud as I stood mere feet away from the bed absolutely shell-shocked. "What the hell are you doing here? And naked?" I squeezed out, mortified.
"Teegs." Liam jerked to his feet. He turned to face me and immediately I felt a deep flush of embarrassment waft through me as I took in his nakedness.
I watched Liam's gaze rake over my bare skin. "Do you mind?" I snapped, tightening my hold on the towel covering my dignity.
Liam shrugged. "It's nothing I haven't seen before." Resting his hands on his hips, he added, "Nothing you haven’t seen either." A cocky smirk lifted his full lips.
"Or ever will again," I shot back with a glare. Rushing over to the pile of clothes on the floor, I grabbed the jeans and tossed them at my ex-boyfriend.
"Are you sure you want me to put those on, Teegs?" he purred. "We could go again – for old time's sake."
And just like that everything began to make sense.
Liam's reappearance.
The hushed voices outside the bathroom.
"He might just do that," Beau piped up, voice suddenly smug. "When he sees what I've got planned tonight, Noah might just put her on a plane and send her packing…"
Awareness smacked me straight in the face.
I was being set up.
This room was stinking of betrayal.
I wasn't stupid. I knew exactly how this looked. I was soaking wet and naked beneath the towel I had wrapped around me. My ex-boyfriend was alone with me.
Bending down, I grabbed the rest of Liam's pile of clothes and tossed them at him. "Do you honestly think I don’t know what you're doing?" I shook my head in disgust. "Get the hell out of here before I call the cops on your dumb ass."
"I'm here for two things," Liam countered evenly. "Once I get them, I'll go."
I stood, unmoving, on the opposite side of the bed, refusing to speak to him until put his pants back on.
Finally, he did.
"I need you to sign off on the business," he told me as he dragged the denim up his narrow waist and slipped his feet back into his shoes. Pulling a folded envelope out of the back pocket of his jeans, Liam tossed it towards me.
The envelope landed in the middle of bed and I frowned.
Hoisting myself onto the bed, I reached over and retrieved the envelope before quickly opening it.
"You want to buy me out?"
"No, Teagan, I don't want to buy you out," Liam replied in a clipped tone.
I shook my head in confusion as I reread the paperwork in my hands.
"This says you want to buy me out." I lifted my gaze to his face. "For less than a quarter of what I'm owed."
"Yeah, well, I didn't sign up to run a business on my own, but shit happens," Liam shot back coolly.
"So, you're trying to rip me off because I left and sabotage my relationship with Noah?" I narrowed my eyes in disgust. "I never would've put you down as so vindictive, Liam."
"Come home with me and we'll forget about it," he blurted out, stunning me.
"You must be joking," I deadpanned.
"Come on, Teegs," Liam urged, tone gentler. "You don't belong over here with these people." Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, Liam stared into my eyes. "You belong at home with me."
"I belong with Noah." My voice was rising like the panic in my gut.
"Are you sure about that?" he countered.
"Liam, why are you making this harder than it needs to be?" I sighed. "Just leave."
"You loved me once," Liam countered with a smirk.
"When we were children," I retorted, purposefully bursting his bubble. "And it was puppy love, Liam. It wasn't real." It wasn't a smidgen of the love I felt for Noah.
"If you hadn't moved to America in sixth year, then we'd still be together!" Liam hissed. "We were supposed to be together, Teagan."
"Well shit on a stick," I shot back sarcastically. "I'm so sorry that my mother's death and my father's imprisonment inconvenienced your plans for the future. If I recall, you found someone pretty fast to make you feel better." My stomach churned inside of me again, but I was too furious to acknowledge the pain.
"You haven’t thought this through," Liam argued, meeting my glare with one of his own. "You're spontaneous and reckless so I understand the appeal a guy like Messina has," he added. "I truly do. But it's not permanent, Teagan. He's not permanent." Letting out a heavy sigh, Liam twisted his body to face me. "This won't last," he continued to say. "It's lust. It's not real."
Shaking my head, I forced myself to rein in my temper. "It's about as real and permanent as it gets," I shot back. "He married me."
"You're kidding?" Liam deadpanned. The tattoo circling my ring finger caught his attention then and Liam yanked my hand towards him. "Teagan, tell me you are fucking joking?"
"You have no right coming here demanding anything of me." Burying my hurt under my sarcasm, I snatched my hand away from him and sneered up at my oldest friend. "You screwed me over years ago when you dumped me and fell into bed with Katie Horgan."
Liam paled and I continued, furious.
"Yeah," I sneered. "You didn’t think I knew about her? Well I did."
"I was seventeen," he shot back, tone shakier now.
"You were twenty-five when you allowed a man to sexually harass me for months," I countered, not giving an inch. "What's your excuse for Ciarán O Reilly?" I demanded. "Your age? Or the financial state of our business."
"I didn’t allow him to harass you," Liam shot back, clearly disgusted. "It wasn’t like that."
"It's always excuses with you, Liam," I hissed. "You're full of them."
"And you're a fucking idiot!" he roared into my face. "You've made a huge mistake with that one, Teagan."
"The only mistake I ever made was taking you into my bed."
Liam flinched. "Don't."
"I thought of him the whole time I was with you," I continued to taunt him. "It was the only way I could bear your touch – pretending it was Noah."
"You know what?" Liam stood up and sneered down at me. "You deserve him." Laughing humorlessly, Liam ran a hand through his blonde hair before retreating a few steps. "Don't say you weren't warned when he loses his temper and uses you as a punching bag or when he comes home reeking of perfume and sex."
"Get out of here," I seethed. He wanted to make me mad. Well, I was burning mad, but I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing his words were getting to me. Reaching for the pen on my nightstand, I scrawled my signature on the paper he'd given me. Replacing the cap on the pen, I placed it back down on the nightstand. "Take you papers and your pathetic attempts of ruining my marriage and get the hell out of here. Don’t ever contact me again."
Liam glowered at me. "You're only a body for that one, kid," he said, continuing to taunt me. "A hole to get his kicks off."
"Enjoy it, dickhead," I sneered. Scrunching the paper in a tight ball in my fist, I tossed it towards Liam. "Now get the hell out of my life."
Liam bent down and picked up the papers. "I am going to enjoy reading about your life going to shit – because it will go to shit, Teagan."
"Burn in hell."
Smoothing the paper against his thigh, Liam shoved it back into the ass pocket of his jeans and glared at me. "Last chance, Teagan. Walk out of here with me now and we can forget this ever happened."
I stifled a scream. "Just get the hell out of here before Noah –"
"Gets back?"
Noah appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, flanked by a baffled looking Quincy and a smug looking Beau.
Dread bloomed inside of me.
I was alone in a hotel room with my ex-boyfriend, and naked beneath the towel I had wrapped around my body...
"Noah!" My voice was strangled as I slid off the bed and rushed towards my husband. "Listen to me." Reaching him, I cupped his face in my hands and forced him to look at me. "This is not what it looks like."
"How does it look, Thorn?" Noah asked in a deceptively soft voice. His entire body was trembling. His dark eyes were wild, flickering between my face and the bed. He was breathing hard and I felt like I was holding a bomb in my hands. "Hmm?" Noah was holding onto his self-restraint by the skin of his teeth and the rage emanating from him terrified me.
A bomb that was about to detonate at any moment…
"Bad," I admitted, voice torn. "It looks bad, but it's not, I swear."
"Yeah, Noah," Liam mocked, clearly provoking my husband. "It's not what it looks like."
His provocation caused Noah to explode like a firecracker.
Roughly shoving me out of his way, Noah lunged towards the bed, taking Liam to the carpet with a spear to his midsection. "You must have a fucking death wish." Straddling Liam, Noah tortured him with punch after violent punch to the face.
"I didn't touch her…" Liam threw his arms up to protect his face, but it was no use. Noah was destroying him with blow after blow. "Get the hell off me, man…"
"Do something," I begged. Grabbing my hair with my hands, I turned to Quincy and Beau. "Stop him!"
Neither one moved a muscle.
"Don't hurt him," I begged as tears pooled in my eyes. "Noah, please!"
"Hurt him?" Noah roared. "I'm not going to hurt him, Teagan. I'm going to kill him."
Petrified of what was unfolding before me, but knowing I couldn't stand aside and do nothing, I raced over to where I was pretty sure my husband was killing my former flame. "He's not worth going to prison for!" I cried out as I pulled on Noah's shoulders, desperate to stop him from making a mistake that could take him away from me again. "Please," I growled. A bead of sweat trickled down my brow from the sheer force of trying to pull my husband off Liam.
"Noah, don’t!" Tommy's voice suddenly came from behind me.
Brushing me gently aside, Tommy lunged forward and wrapped his arms around Noah's chest before roughly dragging him off Liam. Lewis, who had followed Tommy, reached down and picked the bloodied heap that was Liam up off the floor. "Get him out of here," Tommy hissed as he struggled to retain his grip on Noah.
Wordlessly, Lewis walked from the room with a battered, but thankfully breathing, Liam in his grasp.
The other two men followed until it was just Tommy, Noah, and myself left alone.
"Are you stable?" Tommy asked.
"I wouldn't hurt her," Noah snarled, shoving hard against his friend's hold.
Releasing Noah, Tommy backed away slowly.
"I'll get rid of him," he added, eyes locked on me in pure and utter disgust.
The second he closed the door behind him, Noah went berserk.
Ripping one of the dressers clean off the floor with his bare hands, he tossed it against the wall, cracking the plaster when it landed with a huge bang.
"Fuck!" Snarling, he picked up a vase and tossed it across the room.
I watched the vase smash into pieces in a horrified daze.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
This man was violent, he was deranged – dangerous…
So why did I have an unstoppable urge to comfort him?
To reassure him and calm him down.
When had I become a masochist?
Everything inside of my body was telling me to run.
Get the hell out of here before he does worse.
I didn't move a muscle.
Walking over to the window, Noah kept his back to me as he spoke. "What was he doing here?" His body was shaking violently. Broken pieces of furniture shattered everywhere, fragments of glass sprayed over every surface of the room. His hands were gripping the window sill so hard, his corded arms were bulging with veins. "Why was he in here, Thorn?"
I approached with caution. "I know what it must have looked like, but you have to believe me when I tell you I have no idea why he was here." Shaking my head, I racked my brain for a better way of explaining this shit storm and came up empty. "I was in the bathroom and I came out and he was just…there. I've been set up."
Noah laughed humorlessly. "Set up."
"Yes!" I nodded vigorously. "I've been set up."
Closing the gap between us, I wrapped my arms around his waist and pressed my cheek to his back, but Noah wasn’t having any of it. He roughly shook me off before swinging around to face me.
"Did you do it on purpose?" he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. "Pretend you were sick so you could flake out on me and meet up with him?"
"What?" I balked. "Of course not. I told you, I've been set up."
"It's too fucking late to leave me now," he blurted out, as if the thought just entered his mind. "I'm not like Jordan, Thorn. You're not leaving me without a fight."
"I don't want to leave you at all!" I screamed, desperate to make him calm down. "You're my husband."
"I can't…" Running a hand through his hair, Noah grabbed his wallet off the dresser and moved towards the bedroom door.
"Where are you going?" I demanded, appalled.
Noah's tone was clipped. "Out."
"I haven't done anything wrong. You can't just walk away from me." I cried out. "We're not done talking here."
"I'm done talking, Teagan. I am," he tossed over his shoulder, not stopping. "But hey, if you get lonely, you can always call him over again."
"Noah!" Springing into action, I raced after him. "Don’t go." I was making a habit of chasing after this man. The second my eyes landed on the rosewood six string resting on the couch, my feet came to an abrupt halt. "Martin?"
I approached the six string like it was an oasis that could disappear at any moment.
Closing in on the guitar, I reached a hand out trailed my fingers over the strings. My eyes roamed over the body. It looked exactly like the one my mother gave me when I was a child.
"This is…" Pausing, I shook my head and trailed my fingers over the strings. Tears pooled my eyes. "Why would you do this?"
"I ordered it a while back," he said gruffly. "Must have arrived tonight."
I didn't know why I was being so emotional.
I was built from tougher bricks than this.
Crying over men because they hurt my feelings wasn't me.
Crying when a man bought me a gift was even more out of character.
"I couldn't afford to replace it for you back in school," Noah added, tone clipped, jaw straining. "I can now."
"But you didn't break it back then."
He didn't reply.
"Thank you," I choked out. "This means a lot to me."
"Do whatever you want with it." With one final glance, he walked towards the door. "Use it for firewood for all I care."