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“Get yourself a drink or whatever you want. I’ll be back,” he says and heads down the corridor.
Just as I’m about to sit down on the comfortable L-shaped couch, there is a knock at the door.
Don’t ask me why I answer it. This isn’t my home, but I get up to answer it anyway.
I open the door to a large man in a suit. His face is a lethal combination of handsome and “wants to rip someone’s face off”. He’s dressed in a full dark navy suit with a long woolen coat. His dark hair has flecks of gray and his face is clean shaven, highlighting the strong square jaw. Then I see behind him another large man in a lighter blue suit with close cut brown hair and mean-looking brown eyes. They both have harsh lines around their eyes either from age or just constantly looking pissed off. Their imposing presence makes me realize I shouldn’t have answered the door.
The man in the dark navy suit looks at me, his eyes shrewd and calculating. Everything about him feels off, and cold.
“Who the fuck are you, and where’s my son?” he says, pushing me to the side as they both storm through the door. So this is Noah’s dad, Mitchell Bryson. Gotta say he’s a class-A dick.
“I asked you a question.” He turns on me.
“Not that it's any of your business, but I’m Chase. Noah will be back in a second,” I say, trying to act cooler than I feel. Thisguy is intimidating, his whole being has swallowed up the room, making me want to flee.
He barks a gruff laugh. The guy beside him looks tired and annoyed, glaring at me like it's my fault when I’ve never met or seen these guys before.
“So, you're that son of a bitch Wade’s little ex.” It's a statement, not a question, so I keep my mouth shut.
He grabs the collar of my shirt and shocks the shit out of me when he slams me into the wall. The wind knocked out of my chest makes me wheeze as I try to force air into my lungs.
“Get your fucking hands off him, old man,” Noah roars. A slimy smile crosses his dad’s face when he lets me go and faces his son. I’m not sure what to do with myself, but I go to move over to Noah, only to have my shoulders gripped by the guy who came with the dad.
“Let him go, Linc. Otherwise, that knife wound will feel like a tickle after I’m done with you,” Noah says, walking towards us. His dad watches the interaction like he isn’t part of it.
“Nah, I don't think I will,” this guy, Linc, says as he spins me around and punches me in the stomach.
I collapse onto the floor like a bag of sand. It is hard to take a breath to relieve the winded feeling in my stomach. Gasping and croaking, I try to move off the floor.
As Noah goes to lurch toward Linc. His dad pulls out a gun and aims it at my head. What the fuck have I gotten myself involved in?
“The time for talking and deals is done, Noah. You had your chance to sort out the Wade problem, to be back in the family, and do as you’re told. I warned you I’d come for you. Now that your mother has gone, you will make up for the shit I’ve been left with. Chase will file your therapy report to conclude you’re unstable and need medical help, and I’ll get that money. If not,this fucker will get a bullet in his brain. I plan to make you watch, too.” He laughs.
“You dumb old fuck. You were too pussy to do anything to Wade, you’ll be too pussy to hurt Chase.”
“I will do this because it will hurt you. I hate you as much as you hate me,son.”
I peer up at Noah, whose focus is one hundred percent on his father. I see the moment when something clicks in his head like he has solved a puzzle. The muzzle of the gun rests against my temple. My stomach aches, but I'm too terrified to move.
“Oh my god! This is entertaining as shit. Now, it makes sense. You never wanted me to really hurt Wade for that contract. You wanted me to hurt him so you could use it against me with Chase, so he’d refer to me as a psychotic case and hate me. Then you’d get all my money. How did that work out for you?”
If his dad is surprised by Noah's assessment, he doesn’t show it.
“I will get that money, one way or another. It should’ve always been mine,” Mitchell says. The corded veins on his neck look like they’re about to rupture.
“You getting scared, old man? It's quite an impressive list of debtors you have.”
That shuts him up fast, and he’s unable to hide his shock at Noah’s revelation.
“What? Nothing to say, father dearest?”
“You know?” he asks, completely blindsided.
“Of course, I fucking know. I broke into your office and found the legal papers. That's a lot of media attention with all those court filings against you. I knew right then that the contract issue with Wade you were so desperate for me to help with was never going to be enough money.”
“You think you’re so fucking smart!” he snarls at Noah, and the gun barrel pushes into my head.
“No, I just know you better than you think,” Noah says.
