He throws up his hands. “What do you want me to do?”
“I don’t care. What I want you to promise is that you won’t go after the people responsible.”
“Why not?”
“Let’s just say it will create trouble for me. And if I have trouble, you have trouble, Senator. You’re lucky; I’m handing you an opportunity. Imagine the headlines, Senator Marlowe rescues women from sex slavery ring. It’s an election-winner. Don’t forget to thank me in your speech.” She draws a thumb-drive from her pocket and sets it on his desk. “All the information about the women is on there.”
He palms the drive, his knuckles white. He nods to Claudia, then turns to me. His eyes swim with misery, but I refuse to acknowledge it. He lost the right to hurt for the loss of Felix and Mom a long time ago. “I’ll see you out, son.”
He walks us stiffly to the front door, holding it wide open for us. “Noah, don’t forget about the alumni event.”
“Huh?”
“It’s next month at that new club in Brawley, Vault. All my old college buddies will be there. It’s the perfect chance for them to meet you. Grace is expecting you to be there.” I notice he throws it back to my stepmother. He knows I’ll do anything for her. He averts his eyes. “I think it will be… good for you to see your options after graduation.”
I stiffen. How can he assume I’ll just waltz into this stuffy event at his side, his Felix-replacement son, after everything he’s told me?
I open my mouth to give him my mind, but Claudia bats her eyelashes and stays my arm. “We wouldn’t miss it.”
40
Claudia
As soon as we get home, I kick everyone out of the ballroom. Noah’s face is a storm of emotion – he’s dancing on the knife-edge of control. There’s only one thing he wants to do right now – kill, maim, destroy.
I can help with that.
I toss him one of the bastons I purchased for practicing Arnis, and take up my position facing him on the mats. We’ve been drilling Benjie’s lesson practically every day, but Noah needs more than foot movements and drills. He needs more than the joyful destruction of the rage room.
He needs to fight someone who’s not afraid of getting hurt by him. Someone who willwelcomehis fury. He needs his rage mirrored back at him.
As soon as Noah’s hands grip the baston, he understands what I’m giving him. He flies at me with a roar. Our bastons clash together, and it takes all of my strength not to collapse under the force of his onslaught. He doesn’t hold back, and I love it.
We dance across the mats, the clash of our sticks and the roar of adrenaline in my ears the only sound in the room. I misjudge a block, and Noah whacks my arm. The sting of it pools heat in my belly. The air between our bastons crackles with anticipation. Are we fighting or fucking? There’s little difference.
In no time at all, I’m soaked in sweat, and my muscles burn so good. The warmth in my belly has grown to a full-on keeningache. I want his hands around my neck. I want his sweaty body enveloping mine. I can see in his eyes that he wants the same. So I tease him, drawing out our deadly dance.
“You don’t think that Howard Malloy’s shipment was Grey Death, do you?” I ask, ducking as Noah swings his stick at my head.
“He told Dad it wasn’t drugs.” Noah puffs as he goes for my legs. I dart out of the way, using the triangular footwork Benjie taught us, and land a hit across his shoulders. He winces, but I can see from his eyes he relishes the pain. He grabs my arm and pulls me in close, and I can feel his hard cock grind against my leg.
We’re both completely fucked up.
We’re perfect for each other.
“I don’t exactly trust Malloy to tell the truth, do you?” Noah’s eyes burn into mine. He’s frozen on the edge of winning our fight or tearing off my panties. I take the chance to go for another hit, but I’m too slow. Noah whacks my weapon away, trips me off-balance, and slams my back against the floor.
The pain drives the air from my lungs. The bullet wound twinges. Noah leans over me, pinning my arms, and for a moment his eyes darken and I feel his fingers press into my throat, and I don’t think he sees me. I’m not certain if he wants to fuck me or kill me.
“Noah,” I choke out. I remember being choked by Cali. I don’t exactly want a repeat.
His name seems to break the spell. With a howl, Noah tears his hands from my throat and slides off me. I suck in a lungful of fresh air. His shoulders sag. “Claws, I’m sor—”
His words cut off as I attack. Now it’s my turn to pin him, using his superior strength as a counterweight to trap him, the way Benjie taught me. I slap his cheek playfully, and his eyesblaze. His chest heaves, and he’s utterly entranced.
“It could explain a lot. Why Grey Death is here in Emerald Beach without a clear link to its other hotspots. We saw it at the Colosseum, remember? And Brutus…” I think of Brutus with his legs broken, the tiny rocks of grey on the silver tray beside him. “We know Cleo gave Grey Death to Dylan and she was dealing it on the show. Mackenzie could have stolen the drugs and used Cleo to get them to market. Maybe that’s why Howard disappeared, and that’s what Brentwood meant when he said Mackenzie is a murderer. Maybe he was moving the drugs for someone else and they killed him, or he’s hiding from them—”
Noah throws his body to the left, hooking his leg over mine and flipping me over. He crawls on top of me, pressing my chest into the mat. His cock grinds against my ass as his breath hitches in my ear. I grind my ass against him, and he growls in my ear.
