“Noah, stop.” Noah stopped, but refused to look at his future father-in-law, who was also his current boss. Sort of. Ugh. Why had Adam done this to him?
Thomas gave him a patient smile. “Why don’t you throw some clothes on and meet me downstairs. Okay?”
Noah closed his eyes, but nodded. He didn’t open them again until the sound of Thomas’s steps receded. When it was safe, he bolted from the bed, shoving his legs into the closest thing he could find, which were Adam’s basketball shorts which had been on the floor for at least two days, then yanked open a drawer, grabbing the first t-shirt he could, pulling it over his head as he made his way down the stairs.
Thomas sat on their sofa, his elbows propped on his knees. When he saw Noah, he patted the spot beside him. “Come. Sit.”
Noah’s stomach churned, but he did as Thomas asked, though his pace implied he was wading through molasses. His only solace on his way to the sofa was contemplating all the ways he was going to murder Adam when he returned home.
At least then the wedding would no longer be an issue.
Noah finally took a seat beside him, hunching in on himself and staring at his hands which he now clenched in his lap.
“Please look at me.”
Noah would rather gouge out his own eyes with a rusty spoon, still he dragged his gaze to Thomas only to find the man looking at him with so much sorrow, Noah wanted to melt into a puddle on the floor.
“Sorry,” Noah muttered.
“For what?” Thomas asked, frowning. “I should be the one apologizing.”
Noah scoffed. “You, why?”
Thomas tilted his head, studying him. “Because I’ve somehow led you to believe that you could embarrass me, or this family, when that is very much not the case.”
Noah’s skin was on fire. “Adam told you that?”
Thomas gave him a grim smile. “My son loves you. When you’re upset, he tends to panic and send out the SOS. It’s really rather miraculous the effect you’ve had on him.”
Noah tried to smile, but didn’t quite make it. His emotions were at the tipping point, ready to spill over again at any moment. “Still, he didn’t need to call you about this. I’m just…It’s just been a really bad day.”
Thomas nodded. “He told me what your mother did. I’m sorry.” Noah opened his mouth to defend her, but Thomas raised a hand before he could. “For both of you. It’s an impossible situation.”
Noah nodded, relieved he didn’t have to defend the woman when he really didn’t want to.
Thomas met his gaze once more. “But she still made the wrong choice. When we have children, you’re saying that you agree to take any burden, any pain you can, to bear the weight of any decision so they don’t have to. She didn’t do that for you.”
Noah blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears forming. “Yeah.”
“That being said—Hey, I need you to hear me when I say this.” Noah forced his gaze to Thomas, tears spilling once again. “We’re your family, Noah. You’re a Mulvaney. Whether you take that next step and marry my son or not. You’re one of us. And I know I’m not your actual father, but I very much consider you one of my children. I need to know you believe that.”
Noah nodded rapidly, certain his chest would burst from the pressure. He was too raw. This was too real. This was all so fucking much. And part of him, the worst parts of him whispered that Thomas didn’t mean a word of it.
As if Thomas knew what Noah was thinking, he said, “You have far more people in your corner than you know. And you’re more important to this family than you could ever imagine. And I’m not just saying that.”
Noah whimpered, gritting his teeth until his jaw ached. He wasn’t sure he could make it through this conversation.
Thomas put a hand on his back. “Do you know why I chose you to take over for me one day?”
“No,” Noah managed, choking on his tears.
Thomas gave another there-and-gone smile. “On the surface, Lucas seems like a no-brainer. He’s a psychic and an FBI profiler. But even he is too clinical. Too analytical. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Noah nodded, but then frowned, shaking his head. “Not really, no.”
Thomas sighed. “You are the heart of this family, Noah. You show up for everybody else. Every time. You look at every case,every file from the perspective of the victim. You put yourself in their shoes and you make the right call, every time.”
Noah didn’t know what to say to any of that. He wasn’t sure that was true. But it didn’t matter anyway, because Thomas wasn’t done.
