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Rory’s just standing by the car in a daze, staring everywhere, but nowhere in particular, and gripping her car key so tight in her hand that her fingers are turning white.
“You keep that up and you’re going to break the thing, Gorgeous,” I tell her, slowly extricating it from her hand.
She jerks in surprise, but does let go of the key almost instantly. I take it and then open the passenger door. With my hand to her back, I slowly herd her towards the car. She holds onto the door and looks at me.
“It’s my car,” she says, looking at me confused.
“I know that, Rory.”
“I usually drive my own car, Noah.”
“You’re in shock, sweetheart. As much as I appreciate the fact that you took care of my boy, I’d rather drive until you’re calmer,” I explain and her eyes seem to lock onto mine and that’s when I see the fear that is deep in her eyes and now plainly written all over her face.
“He found me, Noah. I thought he would have given up by now. Now I think…”
“Get in the car, Gorgeous,” I tell her, knowing she’s headed for a breakdown and needing to get her home before it hits.
“Now I think, he’ll never give up,” she whispers to me, sounding hopeless.
“Let’s get in the car,” I tell her and she nods, but she doesn’t move. “Rory, baby—”
“Okay,” she says, but still doesn’t move.
“Sweetheart, get in the car and we’ll go home. It’s going to be fine. The way I laid the bastard out he won’t be able to bother you—at least not for a while. Now get in the car, yeah?”
She closes her eyes briefly and when she opens them back up, I can still see the fear, but it’s more hidden now. It only lurks in those beautiful green depths now.
“I’ll get in the car,” she says, and she does it—with my guidance.
Rory’s always been so strong and never hesitated to give me shit—it’s one of the things that has attracted me to her, even if I did try to fight it. Seeing her like this is something I don’t like and not because she’s getting on my nerves. It’s because I hate seeing fear in her. Once she’s in the seat, I lean down and cup the side of her face, pulling her gaze up to mine.
“It’s going to be okay, Rory.”
“It will,” she says with a sigh, but I don’t think she’s agreeing because of me. I see her face close down. She has the same look I had on me when I left the club—the look of resignation.
Rory is going to leave.
I should let her, but I know I’m not going to. I’m going to fight to make her stay.
Stay close to me…
Fuck.22RoryNoah’s being nice to me. It’s something I’d enjoy if I didn’t feel so tired. He drove us back home and refused to let me go to my house. Instead, he ushered me into his home, locked the doors and demanded I nap while he and Ryan made supper. I tried to argue, but it didn’t help and he did point out that I was safer with him and Ryan than I would be on my own.
That makes sense to me, and it’s been so long now that I fully expect that Tony has called my brother, which means he will send reinforcements. All of that means that I need to leave soon, but it’d be smarter to leave tonight, under the cover of darkness. With that in mind, I let myself fall off to sleep.
I don’t know how long it has been, but I know I come awake with Noah, brushing my hair out of my face. I try to focus on him, for a minute confused as to where I am. Then my body goes solid and I jerk up, looking around the room. It’s just Noah here, there’s no sign of Ryan.
“Where’s Ryan?” I ask, my voice sounding a little hoarse, sleep still thick in it.
“He’s in bed, Gorgeous.”
“What? Is he sick?” I ask sitting up.
Noah scoots back as I swing my legs around. He’s squatted down on his knees, so his face is just a little down from mine and his hands are braced on each side of my hips.
“It’s his bedtime, Rory. It’s eight thirty at night,” he says gently and shock moves through me. I’ve been asleep for over four hours.
How did that happen?
“I… I need to get moving,” I tell him, frantically. I’m losing time. My brother will have henchmen half way here already and he would have made sure that Tony has made bail. I’ll have to race to get out of town…
“No, Rory. You don’t need to leave this house.”
“Noah, I have things I need to do and I’m sure you’re tired. I’ve caused you enough problems—”
