Page 16 of Forever Relentless

Noah Matthews was not who I wanted to see at all.

“Wh-what? How?”

He was leaning against my doorframe with the casual ease of someone who had positioned himself exactly where he wanted to be and knew it. “The building next to Hadley? She’ll be fucking furious she missed this.”

I knew she lived here and had seen her too many times to make me very, very cautious about my comings and goings, especially after it was clear she was with Dustin.

I could either run from it or own it. I went with the latter. This guy didn’t need to see meek and mild Briar. She wasn’t who I was.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“I have questions,” he said easily. “You have the answers.” He stayed still as he watched me. “I think we have plenty to say to each other.”

He didn’t move away so I could unlock the door. I waited.

“Oh, and Dust and Hadley are heading back to her apartment,” he added as an afterthought. “Should I text them and tell them to come in?”

“You’re an asshole.” I shoved him aside and unlocked my door. He followed me in, closing the door quietly behind him.

He stayed near the door. He was big, but he was doing his best not to remind me of it by taking up too much space.

I dumped my stuff beside my couch. “So . . . how did you find me?”

“Got a very bright brother who likes puzzles.”

I nodded. “So you’re not bright?”

He shrugged. “More brawn than brains.”

I cast a look over him. “I don’t doubt it.”

I opened my window and leaned against the windowsill. “What do you want?”

“We want to know what happened to Mason. To Tiffany. We want to know what this place covered up, who did it, and how we can stop it from happening to us, because it will happen again. We worked too hard to get here and lose it over some scumbag.”

“So, it’s all about you?”

“I’m the only one who cares about my career as much as I do.”

I hesitated. It sounded very narcissistic on the surface, but when you thought about it, yeah, I could see his point. I’d expected the standard denial. I hadn’t expected that.

“It’s a weird way of saying that,” I grumbled.

“Then I’m weird.”

I glanced at him, and he shrugged.

“Is your brother older or younger?” Noah asked.

That wasn’t where I thought he’d start, either. This guy kept surprising me. I didn’t like it.

“Younger. A year younger.”

He looked pleased, and I wondered who had argued I was the younger sibling.

“Are you married?”

My eyes popped. “What? No.”