I don't know what to say as I sit down beside her, my lips pressing into a thin line.
She might be here to take me home. Noah might be finally willing to let me go. He might not need me for his plans anymore. I could get to pick my life up back where it left off, and then I won't have to worry about this ever again.
I could think about transferring to another school. Maybe on the other side of the country, just so I can get away from this shit.
But he's not going to let me go. I know enough about him to know that. I know that I'm going to be here until I die.
My pregnant sister-in-law, as badass as she is, isn't going to be the one to rescue me. She could, but she's caught in the middle of this fight. I can see it in her face every time Aiden has a family meeting, and he talks about what he's going to do with Noah when he gets his hands on him.
I grab the second spoon she slides across the counter, digging into the ice cream with her. "You shouldn't be here. It's not safe. I don't know what game he's playing right now, but I'm sure that it's only going to end in a bunch of hell."
Noah walks into the room and opens the fridge. "You don't have to worry about her."
"Why the fuck not?" I spring out of my chair and stalk over to him, slamming the fridge door shut. "What the fuck is going on here? Why is she here right now?"
He smirks and turns, his body too close to mine for comfort.
Heat flows between us.
I hate this. I hate the way his body can be close to mine, and every rational cell in my body flows straight to my pussy, begging for me to climb him like a tree.
It has to be the hormones. He has to be giving me some sort of hormone to keep me this horny whenever he's around.
Noah crosses his arms over his broad chest. "Consider it a present for your good behavior."
"A person isn't a gift!" I throw my hands up in the air, hating the way his upper lip twitches like he's trying to hold back a laugh. "You can just go and kidnap Zoe because you think I've been behaving. And as for the behaving, screw you!"
I flip him the double bird—immature, I know, but I really don't feel like getting my ass handed to me right now.
Instead, I stalk around the edge of the island again, dropping back into my seat beside Zoe. "Let her go. You're not going to keep her here."
"You're right." He turns and opens the fridge, coming back out with a Coke Zero. Out of all the things I'd think he would drink—the blood of innocents, mainly—I didn't think he was going to pull that out.
"If I'm right, what are you going to do with her?" I grab the second spoon and shove it into the ice cream, picking out a chunk of brownie batter.
"She's free to go when she wants." Noah cracks open the can, his gaze locked on mine even as he takes a sip.
My eyebrows pull together, and there's an uneasy feeling deep in my stomach.
I'd be an idiot to trust him, but he also hasn't been the monster I thought he was either.
Deeply unhinged and in need of significant amounts of therapy? Yes.
A murderer and career criminal? Absolutely.
But he's not what Aiden has painted him out to be my entire life, and the more time I spend around Noah, the more I wonder how wrong I might be about him.
"Look, I might be a lot of things, but I'm not going to hurt my niece or nephew." Noah heads to the doorway. "Enjoy your visit. You have an hour."
I wait until his footsteps fade before turning to Zoe. "I don't know why you agreed to come here, and Aiden is going to lose his mind when he finds out you came."
Zoe puts the ice cream container on the counter. "I know. And I wanted to see you and make sure for myself that you were okay. Especially after the others died before they had a chance to get you out."
"Can't imagine Aiden took that well."
"Of course, he didn't." She smiles and loops an arm around me, pulling me close. "I wish I could get you out of this, but if I try anything, he will keep me locked in some room until I give birth, and you know that'd make Aiden go nuclear."
"It would."
