Chapter 35 Noah
NOAH
Maya sat cross-legged on the rug, sorting through a pile of mismatched socks. Reko was right beside her, his tail sweeping the floor, his nose nudging a neon green sock every time she looked away. Each time she tried to set it aside, he’d shove it back into the pile.
“You’re not helping,” she told him.
He flopped onto his belly with a theatrical sigh, then nudged her elbow. The moment she gave in, he rolled onto his back, paws in the air, belly up and proud. A new trick from the once-feral wanderer. Maybe he’d been sneaking late-night reruns of The Dog Whisperer when no one was looking.
I leaned against the doorframe with my arms crossed, watching them fondly. This was exactly what I’d pictured for myself, domestic and settled. Stupidly beautiful.
Then Dom rang.
I stepped out to the porch to take it. “Talk to me.”
“Hey, I was just about to head back to LA,” he said, his tone clipped. “Look, that detective, he was back in town with an officer.”
Not good.
Dom continued, “I overheard them talking. They said they were ready to pounce—”
I hit the speaker button. “Maya’s here.”
“—that damn moose cunt.”
The words exploded through the speaker just as I pressed the button.
Beside me, Maya went still.
“What? You put me on speaker?” Dom cursed. “Ah, shit. Sorry if you heard that, Maya.”
She lifted a shoulder, casual as hell, but I caught her simmering fury.
“Don’t worry,” she said. “Pretty clear they weren’t talking about the animal migrating from Yellowstone to the Tetons. I’ve been called worse.”
Dom sighed. “Still disgusting. And I apologize. Once a slanted cop, you don’t go back to trusting them.”
I barely heard him. Rage burned, blistering through muscle and bone.
“Hate to say it, but they looked pretty damn relaxed,” Dom muttered. “When cops smile like that, it usually means they’ve got something.”
Maya bolted.
Straight into the bedroom.
“Maya!” I was already moving, striding after her. “Hey, I’ve gotta go,” I told Dom.
“I’m on my way,” he replied.
I found her in the bedroom, digging through her bag. When her fingers closed around the necklace, she pulled it free.
“I’m gonna come clean,” she said. “Dom’s right. Harlow has something. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be back.”
There’s that eerie, detached calm that didn’t belong here.
Like she hadn’t just been targeted by a dirty cop.
Like we weren’t standing on the edge of something that could take us all down.
I dragged a hand down my face, the weight of it all pressing deep into my bones. “No.”
She lifted a shoulder, indifferent. “They’re coming, Noah. And it’s not just me they’ll come for. It’s you. Elia. Claire.”
A curse burned through my teeth.
But deep down, I already knew. If they wanted Maya, they’d have to go through me first.
The distant whir of tires broke the stillness. I ran to the window. It was Dom. Pulling up fast and throwing me a hard wave.
I knew it.
I pivoted back, yanked Maya’s wrist—her grip still tight on the necklace—and kept pulling.
We headed toward The Lazy Moose stables, our pulse hammering in time with each step.
“We might have time to saddle up Wyatt. You ride with me, okay?”
Then came another car.
Shit.
No time.
I ripped the necklace from her grip, tucked it behind her bra cup, then hauled at a stack of hay bales, shifting them just enough to carve out a tight space.
From the direction of the house came muffled voices.
Dom was holding them off. Along with Reko, who, for once, barked.
Maya sucked in a breath, her face tight with panic. “Noah…”
“Come on.” I grabbed her wrist, yanking her into the hollowed-out space while pressing a finger to my lips to get her to stay quiet.
Her pulse hammered under my grip, her breathing shallow.
“They’re here for me,” she whispered. “Noah, let me go. If I turn myself in, you’re off the hook.”
I clenched my jaw. “Not a chance.”
“Noah—”
“You’re not turning yourself in.”
Her eyes flashed with frustration. “Then how do we get out of this?”
“We will.”
Gravel shifted outside.
“Maya Belrose? You here?”
It was Harlow.
I pulled her in tighter, pressing her deeper into the shadows.
His footsteps pounded against the dirt, each one louder than the last. Louder than my own heartbeat.
“You think you can hide?” the detective said. “You think you’re clever? Well, maybe you were. Tricking us with that bogus date.”
Maya went rigid in my arms, her fingers fisting my shirt.
I covered her hand with mine and squeezed once.
He stepped closer. “There was no September thirtieth, was there? You sent us on a wild goose chase for evidence. But we got it. We got it, Miss Belrose. Because we got the date right this time. July the tenth.”
And closer.
I pulled her flush against me, pressing us deeper into the bales. My chest rattled with the force of my own heartbeat.
Harlow stopped right in front of us.
I fought to keep still. Fought to keep breathing.
Then came a voice.
“Careful where you wander, sir. We don’t take kindly to suits poking around where they’re not wanted.”
That was Hank’s voice.
Harlow didn’t move. His gaze stayed locked on the haybales. “Standard perimeter sweep.”
“That won’t be happening.” This time, it was Elia.
“It’s all part of the same property,” Harlow argued. “We’re just being thorough.”
“No, you’re overstepping,” Elia said. “And unless you’ve got something signed and sealed that says you can walk that way”—he nodded toward the pasture—“you’re not crossing a damn inch.”
“As far as the warrant’s concerned, I don’t need supervision to conduct this search.”
Another person joined in. “The problem is, detective, you don’t have authorization at all.
” It was Dom. He walked closer to Harlow and held up a folded paper.
“I’m a fast reader. That warrant? It listed The Sundown.
Specifically, the house. Not The Lazy Moose.
Not the stables. Not the pasture. Not even the fucking mailbox on the county line. ”
A long beat passed.
For once, Harlow had nothing to say.
Then, Dom kept going, “So, unless you want your entire case tossed for unlawful search and seizure, I suggest you finish your little tour where it legally ends.”
Silence ensued.
Finally, Harlow said, “Fine. The house.”
Hank muttered, “Detective got his badge bent.”
Harlow stepped back, his eyes on Dom. “You’re lucky this time, Mr. Powell. But luck doesn’t happen twice.”
“Lucky for me, it isn’t luck. I just do my job right.”
The stable door slammed shut.
We didn’t move.
Didn’t breathe.
Not until we heard car doors slam, engines roar to life, and the sound of them leaving.
I let out the breath I’d been holding, my chest burning.
Maya sagged against me, her forehead pressing into my chest. Her whole body shook.
“That was too close,” she quavered.
I crushed her against me, my arms locking around her as if I could hold her inside my ribs, inside my skin.
Never let go.
I pressed my lips against her hair and the crown of her head, breathing her in.
She was fierce. But right now, she was holding on. To me. Her fists clung to my shirt, her breath ragged.
I cupped her face, my fingers threading into her espresso hair and tilting her head up. Her pulse thundered beneath my touch, matching mine, wild and unchecked.
Her eyes went dark, furious that she’d needed me, furious that I’d come for her anyway. Relief warred with pride, defiance with desperation.
And under it all, she was trembling.
She didn’t want me to see it. Didn’t want to break.
But I saw her anyway. I always did.
Her lip quivered for half a second before she caught it with her teeth. Her breath hitched.
“Blue,” I whispered, my forehead leaning against hers. “You don’t have to hold it together for me.”
She tried to turn her face, to bury it in my chest like maybe the silence would swallow the sound. But I wouldn’t let her hide. I didn’t want her to be alone in that kind of fear.
So I held her.
I let her cry.
And when her tears finally slowed, I brushed them from her cheeks with my thumbs.
Then, I kissed her, willing it to shield her, to make her untouchable even to fate.
She kissed me back, all desperation and disbelief, as if second chances were a myth she didn’t dare trust.
I eased her down onto the hay with my arms braced around her, caging her in. Not to trap, but to protect. I needed her close. Needed her safe.
Her fingers twisted in my hair, pulling me tighter.
The world could be burning outside that barn. Let it.
Right now, I wasn’t letting her go.
Every ounce of love. Every promise. Every damn thing I had left in me, I gave them all to her.