“Whatever. This isn’t over,” he mutters, slipping away from us and darting through a set of double doors.
We’re ushered out by another set of workers, both standing just inside the automatic doors, watching us head back to our car.
They don’t move from their spots until we’re halfway across the small parking lot.
Callum sighs, turning his face toward the sky and shoving both hands inside his jacket pocket. “So much for not starting anything. Too bad you didn’t get a good punch in, though. That bastard was asking for it.”
My head shakes. “Wouldn’t have helped. Like he said, he’d just use it against her. Twist it into harassment and make her life hell.”
My blood’s still pounding in my ears, Jared’s words looping in my head over and over.
My kid, my business.
He’s lying, he has to be, but Noelle’s refusal to say otherwise is still gnawing at me.
Why doesn’t she deny it?
Why is she continuing to let us believe Eli is his?
It’s not like Jared’s the safer option, or the easier one for that matter. So why continue to let everyone believe differently?
The thought of Noelle and Eli being left unprotected after we leave twists my gut.
Richard’s my brother, not by blood but by years of loyalty.
Noelle is his heart and Eli his world. If Eli’s mine—or Callum’s, or Dean’s—the truth could shatter that bond, but letting Jared keep hurting her is worse.
Richard can only do so much on his own, and it’s not as if he’s getting any younger, just like the rest of us.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair before climbing back into the car, Callum following.
I’d take Noelle home with me if I could, but she’ll never give up her shop, nor should she have to.
But I can’t just pack up a ranch and move it here.
I’m already paying help far too much while I’m out of town.
We’re halfway back to the hotel when my phone buzzes on the console, vibrating against the cheap plastic cup angrily.
Noelle’s name flashes on the screen.
For half a second, I feel relieved that maybe she’s calling to invite us out somewhere with her and Eli.
Wishful thinking.
I tap the speaker button and set the phone on the dash. “Hey, we?—”
She cuts me off before I can finish.
Her voice bursts through the speaker, sharp, frantic. “What the hell, Grant? Jared just called me screaming that you and Callum went to his job to fight him! He’s threatening to call the cops for harassment. Onme!”
My stomach drops.
I grip the wheel tighter, the world outside the windshield turning into a blur of traffic and red lights. “What? How the hell did he get to you that fast?”
Callum doesn’t wait for her to respond.
He snatches the phone off the dash and holds it close to his face. “Noelle, listen. We were just?—”
