Chapter 6
The moment Noah confirmed Ashley’s pregnancy, Leia’s heart had dropped to her stomach and stayed there, a heavy ball of steel that refused to beat properly. At the mention of her stepfather, her world greyed further.
Stephen Willoughby was the last person she wanted to talk about. Hell, talking was the last thing she wanted to do, period. Retreating into the numb cocoon she’d been in this afternoon was a much more attractive prospect.
“Leia!”
“Do we have to do this right now?”
“Yes. The quicker I have all the information I need, the better the PI will be able to work.”
Right, he expected her to conduct a rational conversation when she was mentally gutting herself for wishing his ex out of existence. “You’re forcing me down a road I really don’t want to go, Noah.”
His mouth curved in a parody of a smile. “It’s a good thing I know you’re made of much tougher stuff than a quick trip down memory lane. Just give me the bare facts, and you’ll be free to go.”
She cleared her throat and wished she hadn’t finished her coffee so quickly.
Her haze hadn’t cleared, but she was sobering up enough to feel the sharp knife of loss every time she looked at him.
To remember that the previous times she’d discussed her father’s death, her mother’s suicide…
her rape, he’d held her, comforted her. He’d made her feel like she wasn’t alone, that those strong arms and broad shoulders would be hers to lean on whenever the monsters threatened to suck her under.
Now, he wanted her to relive the tormenting memories while he stared coldly at her from across the table. Her heart wrenched and she shook her head. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“Leia.”
Trembling, she leaned forward, her every sense straining for the warmth she’d walked away from. The warmth she would give anything for now. “Please, Noah, the memories are too painful.”
The coldness dissipated, and the man she yearned for appeared. “He needs to be caught. You know that, don’t you?”
She nodded. “Yes, Noah.”
The two words made him freeze. Slowly, his face closed up again. “Then try.”
Anguish biting deep, she fell back into her chair.
With nothing else to focus on in the semi-darkness around them, Noah loomed large, his domineering presence demanding her attention so effortlessly that her gaze shifted back to him against her will.
Her insides twisted as she forced herself to remember.
“My mom kept horses when I was growing up. We had a ranch in Montana. We’d visit in summertime.
I liked riding, and my mom… she was different there.
Happy.” She curled her fi ngers around the empty coffee mug and sucked in a sustaining breath.
“After my dad died, she wanted to spend more time in Montana—I don’t think she could face staying in the same house after he was gone.
I was out there for a couple of weeks, but I had school. So I came back, and she stayed behind.”
Noah frowned. “She left you here to deal with your father’s death on your own?”
She shrugged. “I think Miami was too much for her, but I wanted to come back. I felt closer to my dad here. She understood that, just as I understood that she had to do things her own way. I’d like to say my mom was a strong woman, but she leaned on my dad even more than I did.
Anyway… she stayed in Montana for three months.
When she returned, she was married to Stephen. ”
He frowned. “So they knew each other for only a few months before she married him?”
With each second that passed, the memories sobered her up. The raw agony of knowing her mother had married a rapist made her fingers clench around the cup.
Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to reply.
“Yes. He bred horses too and owned the ranch next to ours. To be honest, I didn’t really care who he was.
At the time he seemed to make my mom happy.
When she was happy, she was less problematic, so I was relieved.
Selfish, I know. But that was the way it was.
Did I think he was a gold digger? It crossed my mind once or twice, when the tension between them started.
Some of their fights were about money. But until what happened…
happened—” She swallowed, unable to suppress a shiver.
“I thought he was more of a pervert than anything else.” A sick pervert who would later rip away her chance to have children… a chance to find happiness with Noah .
A rock lodged itself in her throat. She pushed the cup away and grabbed the water. “Are we done with the questions?”
“Almost. Did he ever talk about any family or business in Montana?” Noah’s voice was gruff, but the cold look in his eyes remained.
A headache began to pound beneath her skull as her mind and soul rebelled at being forced to relive her bleak past. “He had a distant cousin who showed up one Christmas, I think. Barry or Gary or something like that.”
Noah nodded. “Remember anything else?”
One hand rubbed at her temple. “No. Jesus, what the hell does it matter?”
“Because you’re most likely not the first person he’s assaulted.”
Her stomach turned to stone. “What?”
“The PI is chasing down a few allegations, but he’s been stonewalled a couple of times.”
“Which means what, exactly?”
He shrugged. “It could be nothing, probably a pencil pusher flexing a little muscle, but my guy thinks someone is being paid to keep certain files from being opened.”
The room spun as she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Stephen has already been in jail for… attacking me. He has no reputation to protect. Why would he pay money he probably doesn’t have to keep his sordid past from coming out?”
“I didn’t say it was Stephen behind this.”
“You’re saying someone else is trying to cover this up? Who and why?”
“Someone who has a lot to lose, I suspect.”
She clutched the edge of the table. “You’re scaring me. This doesn’t make any sense.”
His raw, incisive gaze slid over her face, making her feel every single heartbeat. He was reading her, gauging her reaction. Latent heat flickered in his eyes, overlaid with a seriousness that made her nape tingle.
“Your company’s about to float shares on the stock market in a matter of weeks.”
She gasped. “You know this how?”
He shrugged but the underlying watchfulness didn’t abate. “From experience, I know how those with huge financial stakes get jittery before a big deal goes live. Your company is a huge deal. A lot of people will be jittery right about now.”
Her heart slammed into her ribs. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying in a little over a month’s time, your company’s going to be worth a quarter of a billion dollars. I suspect every single member of your board is living on tenterhooks right about now. Some more than others.”
She gasped as the penny dropped. “Warren. You mean Warren.”
He nodded. “Besides you, he has the most to lose if anything goes pear-shaped.”
“And why would things go pear-shaped? Everything is on track. Once due diligence is completed next week, the SEC will sign off on the paperwork. And what the hell does this have to do with my stepfather?” She shook her head.
“I know you don’t like Warren”—she sucked in a deep breath at his raw snarl—“but you don’t know him, not like I do. ”
“Obviously.”
“Noah, don’t do this. It’s beneath you.”
His eyes narrowed into cold ice chips. “What the hell do you see in that guy? How can you not see what I see when he’s around you?”
“Please… ”
“Fuck, Leia. The guy’s a prick with a hard-on pointed at you and your money.”
“Even if that were true, does that automatically make him a suspect for fraud? Or accessory to statutory rape? I’ve known him since I was a child. He’s never done anything to hurt me.”
His fist bunched. “Not yet.”
She lurched to her feet. The sound of the chair scraping the floor filled the silent restaurant.
“What you’re implying is sick, Noah. You have to know that I won’t accept it without any hard evidence.
I just can’t. I’m sorry.” She brushed away tears she hadn’t known were forming until they dripped down her cheek.
Noah stood and leaned over the table toward her. “Tell me you’re not fucking crying over that asshole?” he snarled.
“Why does this mean so much to you? We broke up. Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your relationship with Ashley and your baby?” she snapped, her insides twisting all over again at the reminder.
He straightened, his nostrils flaring as he glared down at her.
“I thought you’d want to know, seeing as that bastard is still out there with you in his crosshairs.
But all you want to do is keep burying your head in the sand, isn’t that right?
What? You think ignoring the issue is going to make it disappear? ”
She brushed at her wet eyes and glared right back. “Believe it or not, I’ve been thinking about the situation with my stepfather.” Besides losing Noah, her stepfather’s threat was her greatest nightmare. “The board thinks the best option is to pay him off.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” he growled.
She raised her chin at his derisive tone. “They think it’s the quickest way to get rid of him. Information has a way of coming out, as you’ve just proved. If you know my company is set to float its shares, then most likely so does he. ”
“I seriously doubt that he and I move in the same circles.”
“I didn’t mean it like that. But assuming he’s found out about the shares, I need to take action now.”
“So you’re going to reward a rapist and extortionist with fifty million dollars? Are you out of your fucking mind?”
“The alternative is to leave him to flood the internet with humiliating pictures of me, ruining my company’s stock market announcement.” She trembled at the thought.
“No fucking way am I going to let that happen.”
The brevity in his voice slammed into her. She closed her eyes and basked in that protective heat for a second before she dragged herself out of it. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.