SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series Book 4) (5 page)

She
stood and swayed. Her vision wove in and out, and she flattened her hand on the
table to steady herself. When she felt stable enough, she straightened and
glanced out the window.

A
middle-aged guy stood on the sidewalk, peering at a gadget in his hand. Her
vision wove out again. When it cleared, he was gone and only her reflection
stared back at her. Her eyes were huge, haunted pools that screamed her pain so
clearly, her stomach dropped. Quickly she looked away and glanced at Warren
when his phone started vibrating again.

“For
God’s sake, answer your phone, Warren. It could be important.” She grabbed her
tiny purse and tucked it under her arm, intent on escape. She’d taken a couple
of steps when she heard Warren’s answer.

“King,
how did you get my number?”

Leia turned around so fast
,
her head swam
.
Her purse dropped to the floor. She stumbled back to the table, her breath
locked in her lungs.

“No.
I will not.” Warren’s voice was icier than she’d ever heard it. He ended the
call and placed his phone back in his pocket.

“Warren?”

“Are
you ready to leave?” The modulated tone was firmly in place.

“I
know that was Noah. What did he want?” The tremble was back, and she didn’t
even have the strength to hate herself for it. All she wanted was to know why
Noah had called Warren.

“To
speak to you.”

“And
you decided to answer on my behalf?” Anger and the alcohol swirling in her
bloodstream made her voice emerge louder than she’d intended.

“Calm
down, my dear—”

“No,
I will not calm down. Tell me exactly what he said. Right now.”

Warren
stared down his nose at her, his silence meant to repudiate her for her
outburst. She opened her mouth to demand an answer and heard a discreet cough
behind her. Balling her fists to keep from letting loose another outburst, she
glanced over her shoulder.

Pietro
stood behind her, a phone clutched in his hand. “Miss
Michaels, a call has come through to you on the restaurant phone from a Mr.
King? Do you wish to take—?”

She
lunged up and grabbed the phone before he’d finished speaking. “Noah?” She
squeezed her eyes shut at the breathless desperation in her voice,
then
took a deep breath. “What do you want?”

“For
you to answer your phone when I call you.” His voice was a lethal blade,
slicing away any hope that he’d softened since his callous demand for her to
get out of his condo yesterday.

She
licked her lips and momentarily regretted her free hand with the wine. “I
haven’t seen my phone since I left your…since yesterday morning. Have…have you
seen it?”

“Have
I seen your phone?” he asked with a touch of incredulity that made her cringe.

“Yes…I
think I may have left it behind.”

Silence.

“Noah?”

“No,
I don’t have your goddamn phone. If I did, I wouldn’t be demanding you answer
your calls, would I?”

She
felt foolish. “Oh, umm, no.” Clearing her throat, she tried to focus. “You
haven’t said why you’re trying to reach me.”

“I
will. As soon as you come outside.”

Her
gasp drew Warren to his feet.
Pietro
, who’d been
retrieving her purse from the floor, straightened in concern.

“
Outside
?
You’re
here
?” She hurried to the window, her breath fogging the cool
glass as she searched for him.

Dressed
in black jeans and a black T-shirt, he leaned against his Maserati. Long legs
crossed, Noah stared straight at her. His eyes held none of the heated
possessiveness she’d come to crave.
Only a chilled glance
that was no less domineering.

He
held her gaze for a full minute,
then
he conducted a
slow appraisal of her body through the window. When his scrutiny reached her
legs, she imagined that his nostrils flared, but she could’ve been deluding
herself. His eyes gave nothing away when they reconnected with hers.

“Come
out, Leia. Now.”

Heart
hammering, she swallowed. “I…okay.”

“Oh,
and Leia?”

“Yes?”

“Leave
your lapdog behind. I didn’t come inside specifically because I don’t trust
myself to be within decking distance without flattening him. If you bring him
outside, all bets are off. Are we clear?” The question was soft but filled with
a menace that made her shiver.

“Yes,
Noah.”

FIVE

Noah
watched her walk out of the restaurant. The relief he’d felt when he heard her
voice after a day and a half of trying to reach her, drowned him all over
again. He barely controlled himself from grabbing her and demanding answers. He
kept his cool until she stopped several feet away from him.

“Hi,”
she said.

Hi.
Like they were casual
acquaintances. Like he hadn’t spent four solid days last week branding himself
on her. Like he hadn’t spent Friday night turning her ass red and her tight
little cunt sore enough to make him wonder if she’d ever walk straight again.

Yeah,
he’d done all of that. And she’d still walked away from him. To her, he may
well be the most casual of acquaintances. The rock-hard stone, which he hadn’t
managed to shift from his gut since Saturday morning, grew spikes and churned
harder into him as he stared at her.

A
part of his brain registered that this was the first time he was seeing her
without some form of leather on her body. But she didn’t look any less
incredible in the tight green dress that displayed her stunning legs.

She
fidgeted under his stare. He hid a grim smile. Now that he knew she hadn’t been
avoiding his calls, that she was safe and not in the clutches of her psycho
stepfather, he could take his time to deliver the news he’d uncovered.

“Are
you going to say something, Noah, or is this going to be a staring contest?”

Ballsy.
Fuck, how he loved that about her.

He
started to answer and stopped, frowning when her slight slur registered.
Straightening, he stepped closer to her. The act of tilting her head to meet
his gaze made her sway.

“What
the fuck? Are you drunk?” he snapped.

She
jumped and nearly dropped the tiny purse she carried. She tried to shake her
head and swayed again. Anger roared through his veins. The thought of her in
this state, alone with Snyder, dug hot pokers into his gut.

He
yanked open his passenger door. “Get in.”

“Why?
Where are we going?”

“To
get some coffee inside you. I’m not having a conversation with you when you’re
clearly drunk.”

“We
can get coffee here. I’m…I’m sure
Pietro
wouldn’t
mind…”

Looking
over her head, he saw Snyder approaching the door, those lizard-cold eyes on them.
Noah’s palms tingled from the urge to cause harm. “No. We can’t. Get in the
car, Leia.”

Her
gaze lurched from him to the bucket seat, and a tiny part of him dared her to
refuse him. Right then, nothing would’ve pleased him more than to bend her to his
will, make her feel a fraction of the turmoil going on inside him. But she
moved, swayed to him and grabbed the door to steady herself.

He
cursed under his breath and slammed the door shut the moment she was seated.

Snyder
was approaching as Noah walked round to the driver’s seat. The other guy must
have sensed that he was on precarious ground. Whatever he’d been about to say
died on his lips, and he changed course to the town car parked on the curb.

Noah
got in. “Seatbelt,” he snapped.

Once
she obeyed, he gunned the engine and accelerated away from the restaurant. He
breathed in deep to calm his nerves. When her perfume filled every pore in his
body, he dragged a hand through his hair.

He
knew he was transmitting the vibes his ex-shrink had once jokingly referred to
as his Asshole-Alpha mode. And he wasn’t in the mood to turn it off. He sped
through a yellow light, ignoring the blaring horns of a slow moving car when he
overtook it with a few feet to spare.

“I’d
like to arrive at wherever it is you’re taking me intact. If you want to kill
yourself, please do it in your own time.”

He
didn’t ease off the gas until he was forced to at a red light. Gritting his
teeth, he glanced at her. She faced forward, her hand white around her purse.
He reached over, took the purse from her and threw it on the back seat. When
she glared at him, he raised an eyebrow. “What did you say to him?”

“To
who?”

“Snyder.
Before we left.”

She
sent him a sideways glance. “Does it matter?”

“Not
even a motherfucking little bit.” He revved the engine and savored the angry
roar of the powerful car beneath him. “I was just making conversation.”

“If
you want to make conversation, tell me where we’re going. And why you’ve been
calling me.”

“We’re
going to the best coffee place I know in West Palm Beach. To sober you up
before I attempt
rational
conversation.”

She
squinted at the dashboard, then blinked his way. “It’s nearly midnight, Noah.”

“What’s
your point exactly?” He eased away from the traffic light and turned left onto a
street that held a row of trendy bars and coffee shops.

“My
point is, I have to be up early to attend a board meeting, so I need to get a
good night’s sleep.”

“A
good night’s
sleep
, huh? Tell me, Leia, how did you
sleep last night?” he asked softly.

“What?
Why are you asking me that?”

He
swung the car onto a side street and parked in the employee area behind a
one-story building. Killing the engine, he turned to her, sliding a hand behind
her headrest.

“Tell
me you slept like a fucking baby last night after you walked away from me.” His
smile felt like it was carved from granite. Moving his hand, he caught a strand
of hair between his fingers and caressed its silkiness. “Tell me that so I can
congratulate you. Or call you a fucking liar.”

“Noah…”

“Or
tell me you stayed awake, your gut turning to stone every time you thought
you’d never see me again. Tell me
that
so I can accommodate the fact
that you’re a tiny little bit human.”

Her
eyes widened and her breath rushed out between shocked, parted lips. “What good
would that do either of us?” she whispered.

“It
would make me feel a
helluva
lot better knowing I
wasn’t crazy. That I didn’t spend last week losing my head over a heartless
bitch.”

A
deep tremble shook her body. She looked down and locked her fingers together.
Noah waited for her to speak, for her to tell him everything that had happened
in the last thirty-six hours had been a mistake.

He
stared at her exquisite profile, her perfect creamy skin, and smashed down the
need to grab her.

Finally,
she sniffed and raised her head. “Are we going to get this coffee? If not, I’d
like to go home, please.”

The
spikes in his gut grew longer, sharper, until his whole body flamed with
excruciating pain. He continued to stare at her for another full minute before
he yanked his door open and stepped out.

What
the hell was he doing trying to rationalize a woman’s behavior? He’d needed
therapy after being dragged through the fucking quagmire because of one woman.
And he was stupid enough to be asking for more pain?

He
slammed his door and stalked to the back entrance that led inside
Red’s
.
Inputting the code, he entered. He heard Leia’s heels clicking on the asphalt
as she followed him.

Passing
two storage rooms and the kitchen area, he walked into the large bistro, which
during the day and evening teemed with customers looking for the best lobster
bisque and crab club sandwich in Miami.

“I
thought that was you.”

He
turned toward the voice and saw Rita Mancini, or
Red,
as her customers
called her because of the short, spiky mane she sported. She nodded at the
security camera above the bar that showed the parking lot and other parts of
the bistro.

“Hey,
Red. You’re closing?” he asked when he saw the stacked chairs on top of tables.

She
raised an eyebrow. “It’s nearly midnight, buddy, I’ve been shut for over an
hour, and I have to be up in four hours to open up again.”

Leia
entered, and he heard her footsteps slow. Red looked from her to him, a
question on her face.

“Can
I trouble you for two of your best coffees? If you need to go, I’ll make sure
the place is locked up tight before we leave.”

“Firstly,
all of my coffees are my best. And secondly, you own a huge chunk of this place,
so you don’t have to reassure me that you’ll secure it.” Again, her shrewd eyes
darted to Leia and back to him. “Two coffees, extra-large, coming right up.”

“Can
you throw in a bottle of water, too? Thanks.”

He
knew his smile missed its target by a mile. Red nodded anyway and set up a
table by the middle set of French doors that led to a wooden deck, which served
as an extra seating space during opening hours. Beyond the doors, the waters of
the marina glinted under the lights strung up along the walkway.

When
Red walked away to get their coffees, he pulled out the nearest chair for Leia
and took the seat opposite. “Sit.”

She
sat, her arms resting on the table between them. Tense silence stretched,
broken by the hissing of the industrial-sized coffee machine Red had switched
on.

Eventually,
Leia cleared her throat. “So, you part own this place?”

Noah
nodded.

“I
thought your investments were much larger and riskier than a bistro?”

“Red
and I…we have a little history,” he replied, and shrugged. “But sentiment
aside, this is still a good business that earns a healthy profit.”

Red
had left her birthplace of New York under a cloud, just like him. An
ex-attorney with a client base that included senators, media moguls and rock
stars, she’d wielded more power than some people deemed wise. A couple of
people had done something about it. He wasn’t ashamed to admit that his kinship
with her past had been the drawing power for him choosing to invest in her
business.

“How
far back do you two go?” Leia asked.

He
watched her fingers playing over the hair above her ear. He gritted his teeth.
“You want to make small talk, here’s a question for you. I seem to be missing a
T-shirt. You know anything about that?”

A
guilty blush crept over her face and leaked down her neck. “I…I didn’t think
you would miss it.”

“You
thought wrong. I’m aware that we weren’t together long enough for you to know
that it’s more than just a T-shirt to me. Maybe if you’d stuck around, you
would’ve found out. Or maybe I should be counting my lucky stars that I got a
clean escape.”

Her
flinch made his jaw clench harder. “A clean escape?”

“You’ve
proved so far that not only are you a faithless liar, you’re also a nifty
little thief.”

She
glared at him. “I’m neither of those things! I realize you’re upset—”

He
laughed.

She
glared harder and raised her chin in cute defiance.

Noah
shook his head. “You realize I’m
upset
? Why would I be upset? You had a
chance to be mine. You
promised
me you were mine, but you walked away
the moment things got a little sticky. Well, now I’m free to fuck any woman I
choose. Hu-the-fucking-ray to me.” He looked at his watch. “In fact, there’s a
little club I know not far from here. Once we’re done with our little chat, I
might swing by, find a willing,
baggage-free,
piece of ass for the
night. While you’re lying in your cold, faithless bed, you can think about me,
pounding my cock into another woman’s pussy, making her scream as loud as you
did—”

“Stop!”

“Is
that too much for you, baby?” he asked softly.

“You
don’t need to be an asshole, Noah.” The plea was laced with anger. Looking
down, he saw her nails digging into her palm.

Good.

He
smiled. “This was never going to be pretty, baby. I don’t play fair and I can’t
promise that I won’t tear chunks out of you every time I see you.”

“You
can actively choose not to.”

“Really?
Where’s the fun in that? I’ve never aspired to be the strong, silent type.
Pissed and very vocal is more my speed. Now, about my T-shirt.”

“Is
it worth me saying that I never intended to hurt you?”

“Fuck,
no. Intention or not, harm was done. And I’m fucking, hugely pissed.
My
T-shirt
?”

“I…I’ll
have it couriered to your condo tomorrow.”

“You
could do that, but I don’t live there anymore.”

“What?”

“You’re
not deaf, Leia.”

Questions
flitted over her expressive face as she stared wide-eyed at him. A couple of
times she opened her mouth to ask them but then shook her head. Noah knew his
caustic behavior had made her wary but perversely, he wanted her to ask.
Because asking meant she was still interested in his life.
In
him.