What I need... is Noia.
It’s only been twenty-four hours and I miss her. Only been a day, and I already miss her smile, her laugh, the way she curls against my body at night.
I grab my phone from the night stand, heart skipping when I see she called and left a message right after I left this morning.
“Hey, Rye. I just... I noticed all your things are gone, and I... Please call me back. Let me know you’re still…here.”
She sounds scared.
Guilt floods my veins. She probably thinks I’ve disappeared completely, maybe even thinks she deleted me from existence.
Fuck. I have to go see her.
Without overthinking it, I grab my keys and race back downstairs. Jax is at the front desk when I burst into the room.
“I’m taking the rest of the day off,” I announce. “Can you take me to your place to pick up my bike?”
Jax looks at Claire and she nods.
“Sure.”
Ten minutes later, I’m tearing down the road toward Noia’s cottage. The wind whips against my body as I lean into the curves, my heart pounding harder with each passing mile.
I should have called her back instead of just showing up out of the blue, but something in her voice made me panic. The fear, the uncertainty—it was all my fault.
When I pull into her driveway, I notice an unfamiliar black BMW parked next to her SUV. My stomach drops. Who the hell’s car is that?
I cut the engine and take off my helmet. Through the front window, I can see movement inside—two figures standing close together in the kitchen.
Too close.
My blood turns to ice when I realize one of them is a man in a suit, and he’s got his hands on Noia.
“What the fuck?” I snarl and climb off my bike, sprinting toward the house.
The front door is unlocked, so I don’t bother knocking, bursting through just as Noia drives her knee into the bastard’s balls.
FIFTY-FOUR
noia
I look upand my breath catches in my throat.
Ryder, eyes dark with fury, chest heaving, is standing in the doorway, hands clenched into white-knuckled fists at his sides.
“What the fuck is going on?”
Still wincing, Eric straightens slowly. “Who the hell are you?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Ryder growls, stalking into the room.
“I’m Noia’s fiancé.”
“Ex-fiancée,” I correct, moving away from him.
Ryder’s jaw ticks. “You’re Eric.”
“Yeah.” Eric looks Ryder up and down with obvious disdain. “Again, who the fuck are you?”
