36. Victoria
Chapter 36
Victoria
M y hands shook as I made my way to the office of Huxley Construction. I was due to sign the contract today. I’d have to come up with a believable excuse for why I couldn’t. And I needed to get more information out of Denis.
But how?
I’d reviewed everything with Parker and given her copies of the presentation and contracts. She’d laughed out loud at his tables. According to her, this was the textbook definition of money laundering.
I guess he really thought I was that stupid.
“Or he’s the world’s biggest dumbass,” Parker had mused.
That was probably closer to the truth. Either way, she needed more time, and I couldn’t sign any documents or piss off Denis in the process.
I had no plan, no strategy. Only a growing hatred for this guy and everything he stood for. I wanted to protect Noah and Tess and the entire town. This wasn’t only about me anymore. It was about my home, my people, and doing the right thing.
So I showed up. Being in his presence made me sick, but I was in a unique position to help, so I’d fight to bring the guy down.
“Victoria.” Charles was coming out of the office as I approached the door. He was impeccably dressed, looking like he was headed for the country club. “I’m afraid I’m running out to a meeting. Denis mentioned you were signing your contract today.”
I smiled serenely. “So thrilled to work with you,” I said, not quite confirming or denying.
“That’s great. We’ll take good care of you.” With that, he strode away.
After I waited for several minutes, I was shuttled into Denis’s office. He sat at his desk, laptop open in front of him. The thumb drive had been inserted into the side. If only I could get it. The damn thing probably contained enough information to end all of this and put the Huxleys away for good. But I wasn’t a spy. I wasn’t even particularly stealthy.
But I was a woman on a mission. I had people to protect, so I’d figure it out.
“Ready to sign? I can call the notary over.”
“Not yet,” I hedged, putting my coffee cup on the edge of the desk. “I have a few more questions, and you know Aunt Lou. She wants to be here too, for the ‘historic moment.’” I used finger quotes and a little eye roll to make it appear as though I didn’t agree. In fact, Lou knew nothing about this. She’d beat me with her cane if she thought I was getting mixed up in anything illegal. She loathed Charles Huxley.
Denis’s face fell. “We really can’t afford more delays, Victoria.”
I swallowed, scrambling for an explanation that would placate him. “I know. But the food pantry means so much to her. I promise I’ll bring her over this week to get everything sorted.”
He looked at me with disdain. Shit.
My pulse quickened, and I broke into a sweat. But by some miracle, an idea struck.
“I actually have a question about this clause.” I spread the contract across the desk and leaned over it to point out the language.
As expected, the slimy fucker lowered his attention to my cleavage and held it there for a beat too long before he stood to look at what I was referring to.
Once he was angled close, I brought my arm up to point out a random line on the document. I swung wide, clipping the paper cup I’d set on the edge of the desk.
“That’s standard procedu—oh fuck.” He shouted as hot coffee sloshed across the desk, soaking the papers.
“Oh no. I’m so sorry.”
Panicking, he plucked his phone off the desk before it could get wet and lifted a fancy clock as well. Muttering about paper towels, he ran out of the room.
I took the opportunity to move things around, making it look like I was cleaning up. I stacked papers that hadn’t been damaged by the coffee and set them on top of his laptop. As I did, I discreetly slipped the thumb drive out. Then I stuck it in the side of my bra cup.
Denis plowed into the room with a stack of paper towels. “What are you doing?”
“Cleaning up.” With a chipper smile, I took them from him. “I made this mess; I’ll clean it.”
I wiped up the coffee, being sure to continue to move things around to create more chaos. With any luck, he wouldn’t notice the thumb drive was gone.
After thoroughly cleaning the surface of the desk—and moving his laptop around three times, eventually burying it under a newspaper and a folder full of receipts—I left, promising to return with Aunt Lou to sign the contracts.
By the time I made it to Noah’s, it was late.
“I was worried.” He pressed a kiss to my temple. “Hard day at work? Is Mrs. Dupont giving you trouble about the proposed traffic flow for the lumberjack competition?”
I shook my head. “I had to see Parker.”
He stiffened, squeezing my arms and frowning. “You didn’t sign the contract, did you?”
“No. I managed to stall, but I got this.” I held up the thumb drive.
“Did you give it to Parker?”
My stomach twisted into a knot. “I tried. She wouldn’t take it. She said she’s close to being named interim police chief, so she can’t risk accepting illegally obtained evidence.”
With his lips pressed together, he nodded slowly. “Okay.”
“She asked me to hold on to it until she can look into a legal way to search it.”
Frowning, he scanned the room, his brain working. “Are you sure you’re not putting yourself in danger?”
It took effort not to laugh. “No way. This is Denis Huxley we’re talking about. Trust me when I say there is nothing remotely dangerous about this guy.” I draped my arms around his neck and popped up onto my toes to kiss him.
He kissed me back, his lips urgent, and I sank into his embrace. This was what I’d been craving all day. He grabbed my ass and dragged my body against him and—
“I like warm hugs.”
Startled, I jumped back and spun around.
Tess sat on the living room floor, clutching her Olaf and laughing hysterically.
“You rascal.” I picked her up and swung her around. After I’d kissed her cheek and blown a raspberry into her neck, eliciting more baby giggles, I turned to Noah and gave him a mock glare. “You put the batteries back in.”
Hands up, he took a step back. “I’m weak. She was so sad he didn’t talk anymore. You should have seen her face.”
I nuzzled Tess, and she leaned into me. “One year old and already manipulating your dad. I don’t know whether to fear you or worship you as my queen.”
Dinner was a simple affair. The three of us sat at the tiny table while Olaf remained in the living area, occasionally piping up, unprovoked. The thing was a demon, I was certain.
“I had a call today,” Noah said. “With that friend of Finn’s from Emergency Management.”
I perked up. “How did it go?”
He broke into a wide grin. “It was interesting. I think I’m going to apply.”
My heart surged. “That’s amazing.” I was tempted to get up and do a happy dance but reined in my excitement. I was known for going too far, but that was too much even for me.
“I think.” He lowered his head and cleared his throat. “I think we’re going to stay for a while.” With a long exhale, he studied me. “I want Tess to grow up here, running in the woods with her cousins. And knowing my brothers, there will probably be more cousins soon.”
“She’s got family and friends here. And she can go to Alice’s school.” It was getting harder not to jump out of my seat.
He smiled. “You okay with that?”
I stood, but instead of making a fool out of myself, I climbed into his lap and threaded my fingers through his hair. “My two favorite people staying in Lovewell? Yeah, I’m okay with that.”
Giddy, I kissed him.
“I want to be with you too,” he said against my lips. “I know we promised to go slow, and we will. But I want you in my life. I want you in Tess’s life.”
I squeezed him tight. “I want to be here too.”
Once Tess was down for the night, we curled up on the couch. Instead of watching Schitt’s Creek —we’d finally started Season three—we chatted.
I took my hair down and ran my fingers through it.
“Don’t do that.” He frowned. “Don’t put your hair down over your ears.”
My chest tightened as he studied me. “But…”
He tucked a strand behind my ear and cupped my cheek. “Do what makes you feel comfortable. Your ears are beautiful, just like the rest of you.”
Face heating, I put my hair back up. The whole time, I watched him, scrutinizing his expression and finding nothing but affection and honesty.
“It’s a habit,” I said. “I do it when I’m nervous.”
“I know, and I’m going to break you of that habit.” He angled in closer. “I’m so happy you asked me to be your fake boyfriend.”
The raspy quality of his tone made my heart stutter.
“I’m happy you accepted.”
“It’s wild to think this all started because I didn’t want you to go to your sister’s wedding alone. It seems so long ago.”
It did feel like ages ago, and I was so happy to have put that whole experience behind me. Cheeks warming, I hung my head. “I still can’t believe I had to bring a fake date to my sister’s wedding to my ex-husband. I should be on a Bravo show.”
He brought a finger to the underside of my chin and forced me to look at him. “There is nothing I won’t do for you. If you need me to fake being your boyfriend, your husband, anything, I’ll do it without hesitation. Hell, I’ll fake being an astronaut for you.”
“Aw.” I tilted close and brought my lips to his.
With a groan, he pulled me into his lap, situating me so I could feel every inch of him.
Tongues tangling, we relished one another. I soaked in his warmth and his scent, dragging my nails up his back, loving the feel of his muscles beneath my fingers.
His touch was intoxicating. For so long, I’d lived without physical intimacy. With him, I was constantly aching for more.
He pulled back. “Did you hear that?”
I held my breath and listened. After a beat, I heard it. It sounded like a chair scuffing against the floor.
Unease threaded through me. “Dylan is away for the summer.”
The third tenant in our building, the one who lived on the third floor, taught science at the middle school and was teaching at a summer program in Vermont. He’d been gone a few weeks and wouldn’t return for at least a couple more.
Noah tilted his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe he’s home early?”
I stood from the couch and held still, waiting. It wasn’t long before I heard it again.
“It’s coming from downstairs.”
My stomach sank. My friends didn’t have keys to my place, and I wasn’t close with my family like that. The only person who would let themselves into my apartment was Noah.
I tiptoed over to the door, straining to hear what was going on beneath us. This building had little insulation, hence the reason Tess and Noah used to keep me up at night.
There was a scraping sound, like a drawer being pulled open. A moment later, it happened again.
Someone was downstairs, in my apartment.
My body seized up and fear trickled into my veins. Noah moved across the room without a sound and dead-bolted the door. He spun around and held his phone out.
“Go into Tess’s room and call the police,” he whispered. “I’ll walk around and make noise so whoever is downstairs doesn’t hear you calling.”
Nodding, I headed to Tess’s room, where the whir of the AC unit would hopefully drown out my voice. Once I finished giving my information to the dispatcher, Noah appeared.
“Stay here,” he instructed. “With Tess.”
My heart thudded with dread. “Don’t go downstairs,” I begged. “The police will be here in a few minutes. Please stay here.”
His face was a mask of panic as he pulled me into his arms. “Okay.” He kissed the top of my head. “We can wait.”
The police arrived in a matter of minutes. This was a small town, after all. But they found no evidence of a break in.
Officer Fielder accompanied me as I walked through my apartment, looking for items that had been disturbed, but everything looked the way it should. The door had been unlocked, but there was a good chance I’d left it that way when I went upstairs, in a rush to see Noah and Tess.
After Officer Fielder instructed me to lock my doors and call if I discovered anything was amiss, the police left.
And I felt like an idiot.
“I heard it,” I insisted. To myself and to Noah.
“I heard it too.” He held me tight. “Someone was in your apartment. The good news is they didn’t take anything or do any damage. You’ll sleep up here tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll get new locks, okay?”
We stood like that, locked in one another’s embrace, for a moment. This entire day had been unsettling.
As we lay in bed, his body wrapped around mine, I whispered, “Do you think it was Denis? Do you think he came back for his thumb drive?”
Noah didn’t respond at first, his breathing remaining steady. “I don’t know,” he admitted eventually. “And I hate to think something like this happened because of my family.”
“No one made me take it.”
He hugged me closer. “I know, but it all leads back to my father. I worry we’ll be haunted by what he did forever.”
I rolled so I was facing him, squished between his thick chest and the wall, and cupped his face. “You are not your father. You are your own man. A wonderful man. And more importantly.” I pecked his lips. “You’re my man.”
Brows arched, he smirked. “You’re claiming me?” As he asked, he ground his hips against mine.
With his hard cock pressing insistently against my stomach, I suddenly wasn’t tired anymore. Words weren’t enough to express how much he meant to me. I’d have to show him. And I needed to feel him inside me.
I kissed him gently on the lips, relishing his scent and his heat and his hands on my body. “Yes. Noah. You’re mine.”