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Noah stands between me and my bag, folding his arms across his broad chest. I’m struck again by how much he’s bulked up. No wonder he’s hopeless at track – he’s got no hope propelling that sheer wall of muscle forward with any kind of speed. “This is important. We need to talk about Claudia.”
“Nope. This is bullshit.” I shove Noah in the chest. He staggers back a little but doesn’t relent. He’s a fucking tank.
How did I not notice this?
Right – school and prison and civil suits and figuring out how to get out of Emerald Beach. I’m a shitty friend. Something has been going on with Noah for a while, from before Claudia showed up. I’ve been too distracted to pay attention until now, and it’s too late – he’s here on her orders. He’s lost to me, an enemy of the real Mackenzie, who I swore to protect.
Noah folds his arms, and I know I’m not getting through that wall of muscle without breaking a tooth. “What’s bullshit is Nero Lucian at your house.”
“My mom’s new boyfriend. So?”
“Dude, don’t you know that guy’s the head of one of the crime families in the Triumvirate? He’s mortal enemies with the Augusts.”
I laugh. “This is ridiculous. She’s got you chasing after here like her little lapdog to tell me this bullshit story so I come crawling back to—”
“It’s not bullshit, Eli. Do you know what I’ve been doing since Claudia told me? I’ve been up for hours poring over the material submitted by my dad’s task force. Nero’s one of the men they’ve been following for some time. He runs all kinds of illegal gambling places, prostitution rings, fight clubs, and entertainment venues that serve as fronts for laundering money and stolen goods… anything you can imagine. And you’re eating peach cobbler with him.”
“This is insane.” I ignore Noah’s cobbler dig as I sink onto the grass, taking it all in. Nero is a crime lord? How is this my life now? All I ever wanted was a simple life where I help people. Back in Tennessee, Dad would let me help write the eulogies for his clients. That was the only nice thing about his business – I got to make the world a tiny bit better for my being in it. Now my dad’s in prison and the girl I love is a lying thief and a mob boss is going to be my stepfather, and that goodness I crave is impossible to reach.
“I know, dude. It’s fucked up. So you’ve spoken to him?”
I nod. “He came to dinner the other night – it was the only reason I came back from the ranch. Maria found me out there and she told me Mom wanted to see me. I thought she wanted to talk about Dad’s appeal. Silly me. She’s going to marry Nero. He’ll be my new stepfather.”
Noah lets out a string of curse words and kicks the bleachers so hard he splits the wood.
I drop my head into my hands. “He was creeping around the house this morning. He said all this weird shit about me being clever, and asked me to come and work for him. He said something about making sure I was in with the right people.”
Noah’s hand clamps on my shoulders. “Do you think he’s talking about Claudia? He could be trying to make sure you’re on his side instead of hers.”
“I’m not on her side.”
“You can’t be on his side,” Noah insists. “What about your dad—”
“I’m on the side of everyone getting the fuck out of my face with this so I can graduate high school and leave Emerald Beach behind forever,” I growl.
“I don’t think that’s an option anymore.” Noah’s fingers dig into my shoulder. His eyes burn into mine. “Claudia wants you to move back into Malloy Manor, immediately. Strength in numbers and all that.”
“I don’t care what she wants.”
“I know you’re pissed at her, but this is about your life. Nero being here can’t be a coincidence. He might be trying to spy on Claudia.”
“I’m not going back to the house she’s trying to steal from Mackenzie.”
Noah looked like he was going to slap me. “For fuck’s sake. That bitch has still got you brainwashed.”
“Claudia has not—”
“I’m talking about Mackenzie!” Noah yelled. “I never told you this because you’re my friend and you’ve spent your whole life worshipping her, but Mackenzie Malloy treated you like crap.”
“You’re only saying that because you want me to be okay with Claudia stealing her house, playing happy families like she gives a shit about us—”
“She does give a shit. She especially gives a shit about you even though you’re acting like a little bitch right now. No, Eli, I’m saying this because you’re mourning the loss of a girl who never existed. It’s like you get Mackenzie in your head and you can’t think straight. You don’t seem to remember her calling you horrible names and letting you take the fall for the pranks she pulled. She scared off every other kid who tried to be your friend because she didn’t want to share you. She made you crawl around after her like a lost puppy, and she’s not even here and you’re still doing it.”
“What about you?” My hands ball into fists. “You liked her, too. You were jealous of what I had with Mackenzie because you wanted to get into her pants. You couldn’t handle the fact that I had something you didn’t, and when she came to you about her father’s drug trials, you saw a way to finally have one over on me. You always have to be first, best, and brightest, and who cares who you have to step on to do it.”
Pain flickers in Noah’s dark eyes. I’ve never twisted a knife between his ribs like this before. The whole reason Noah hates his father is because Old-Man Marlowe forced him to compete with Felix and he could never measure up.
I’d just told him he’s his father’s son.
