Chapter 14 Noah
Chapter Fourteen
NOAH
As much as I hate to admit it, the restaurant smells good. This might be the next place I torch. Watching everything Jade has worked for go up in flames could be my next goal.
Summer would lose her mind if I ruined her twin's business. And then she might actually shoot me in the head this time.
It could be fun to fight with Summer after torching the place. She'd be outraged on Jade's behalf. She would probably try to kill me again. I might get more than the bullet hole I took this morning.
That's a problem for after I'm done here.
Jade walks through the doors, her sleeves rolled up. Whispers start as I lean back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. Walking into a Lynde establishment is as good as calling myself dead, but I need to know where Summer is hiding, and this is the most effective way to do it.
Without a word, she spins on her heel and storms back into the kitchen.
Good, that means Aiden is on the way.
I grab the menu off the table, flipping through it and looking at the different sections.
Nobody approaches the table, but everyone is watching. I can feel their eyes on me as I put the menu down.
Aiden strides into the restaurant and sits across from me.
His hand shifts under the table, and when I glance down, there's a gun pointed in my direction.
"I don't know what the fuck you think you're doing here, but you're going to give me Summer back, and then I'm going to give you five seconds to walk out of here alive. "
"Didn't like my present the other day?" I smirk, shrugging one shoulder. "Personally, Hector thought I should put bows on their heads, but I think the sliced necks got the message across well enough, don't you?"
He grinds his teeth, his eyes narrowing. "This isn't a fucking game. Give me back my sister."
Interesting. They don't have her. Where the fuck did she go?
Hector lost her around midnight last night. He's been hunting for her through the night, but I have no clue how she gave him the slip.
I'm not about to tell Aiden I don't have her, though. That would start a manhunt all over the city for her, and I'd be outnumbered. At this point, I'm going to have to leave here and start looking for her myself.
Which is going to pose another problem since I have a visit to make today.
Aiden jabs my knee with the gun. "Is this a fucking game to you?"
"Sure." I get more comfortable in the chair, shifting slightly so if he shoots me, he's only going to get the leg that already looks like Swiss cheese.
"What are you doing here?"
I'm not about to tell him that.
"Figured I'd come see how you liked your present, especially since we both know you're not about to destroy your sister's restaurant for my sake.
" I lean forward, lowering my voice. "Certainly not with all these witnesses around who are going to go running to the cops the moment you pull the trigger. "
His smile is cocky. "Benefits of having the city police in your pocket. You wouldn't know anything about that. Heard that sales aren't quite what they used to be."
Fucking bastard.
"Heard you're having the same problem." I get up and stretch. "Well, it's a shame to go before I try any of the food, but I don't trust any of you."
Aiden's jaw clenches, and he gets up, slipping the gun away before anyone has a chance to start screaming. "I want her back tonight. If she's not, you're going to regret it."
Chuckling, I tuck my hands in my pockets. "We'll see about that."
I turn on my heel and stalk out of the restaurant, off to hunt down Summer.
Now, if I were busy being a spoiled brat, where would I hide?
She didn't go home, but she does have a close friend in the city. I've seen them out together a couple of times when I was planning this. If her family still thinks she's with me—and I know she's not—then she's got to be there.
\\\*
I knock on the door, leaning against the frame, listening to the sound of hushed whispers inside. Summer's voice is louder than the other one.
"Don't open that," she snaps. "I have to go out the back."
"Don't bother. Hector's out there and waiting for you," I call through the door. "Your options are either come out and talk to me, or I'm going to kick down this door to come in and get you."
"Fuck you." She slams something against the door.
Sighing, I straighten up. The door isn't thick enough to keep me out, not if I want to get in. It'll be easier if she comes with me, though. Fewer people on the street will be calling the cops.
I knock on the door again. "Last chance, Summer. You get your ass out here or Hector's coming in, and he's going to kill anyone else he finds in that house."
There's silence for a moment before the door opens and Summer stands there, looking like she's ready to rip my head off.
She glares at me, her eyes rimmed red, her face a little puffy.
At least she's not in that damn dress anymore.
"What do you want with me?" she asks, exhaustion in her voice.
I'd almost expect fear or something similar, but not with her. No, she's just tired.
She's bored of the game we keep playing, and it's like she's losing her patience with me. As if she's the one who has a reason to lose her patience.
She's not the one hunting her ass down.
"Go get in the fucking car."
Summer scoffs. "I'm not going to do that just because you tell me to, and there's nothing you can do about it either. You even think about putting a hand on me, and I'm going to start screaming bloody murder."
I don't know why I thought—a very tiny thought in the deepest corners of my mind—that she might make this easy.
A woman appears behind her, gun in hand. "You're going to want to—"
Hector grabs the woman, wrenching the gun away from her and putting it out of her reach. "Boss."
I nod to him before looking back at Summer. "You want to reconsider your position now?"
She pales and glares up at me. "You're going to want to let her go right now."
If looks could kill, I'd be six feet under right now.
"Or what?" I lean closer to her, watching the way her gaze drops to my lips before meeting my eyes again. Her nipples pebble against the thin material of her shirt.
So, she likes this little game we're playing. She's turned on by this.
I wonder if she'd be just as turned on if I tossed her over my shoulder and hauled her out to the car.
The neighbors would call the cops, and the pigs are in the Lyndes' pockets, but I bet I could get out of here with her before they arrived.
I run my fingers down the side of her cheek, taking her chin in my hand and forcing her to keep her head in place. "If you don't get your fucking ass in the car right now, Hector is going to kill your friend."
Summer's nostrils flare, and her eyes widen, but there's no way for her to get out of this, and we both know it.
The second I let go of her, she brushes by me, slamming her shoulder into mine. She storms to the car and wrenches open the door, getting in the back.
Summer leaves the door open, staring at me and arching an eyebrow.
I turn to Hector. "Let the nice woman go, and let's get out of here. I have other things to do with my day."
"What do you want me to do?" He shoves her friend into the other room before hurrying out the door with me.
The crazy bitch inside is likely going to grab a gun and shoot us. I don't waste any time putting distance between me and the house.
"Take Summer back to the house and lock her in my room again."
"I'm right here. And I'm not going anywhere with you," she snaps, already half out of the car.
I kick out the back of her knees, smirking when her head hits the side of the car before she tumbles down, barely catching herself on the seat.
She groans, one hand on her head as she raises her leg to kick me.
I catch her leg and shove her back in the car, slamming the door shut. I lean against the door, turning to Hector, keeping an eye on the house behind him.
"Like I said, take her home, and if you have to sedate her to get her in the house, get it done." I hold out my keys.
Hector smirks and swaps my keys for his. "You know, she might like you better if you didn't sedate her so much."
"Too bad. I like her when she's sedated. Much easier to handle."
With a laugh, Hector rounds the front of the car and gets in, all while Summer is shouting every variation of "fuck" she can imagine. Not that it's going to help her situation any.
Sighing, I head down the block to his car.
The Lyndes are going to swarm the street once they get the call that Summer was here and now she's gone again.
There's going to be prepping that needs to be done once Aiden finds out I haven't had her this entire time.
He's going to go ballistic, and my business ventures are going to pay the price for his inadequacies.
Whoever was supposed to be watching me is probably going to pay too.
\\\*
You'd think for a man running an illegal operation, Aiden would have better security on his vacation home. The drive to the Hamptons wasn't one I wanted to do, but he's known for sneaking up here on the weekends and tending to business.
And since it's the middle of the week, I should have the place to myself to go snooping.
I key in Zoe's birthday to the doorknob, the latch opening without any resistance.
Fucking idiot.
Who uses their partner's birthday for their lock code?
However, while an alarm should be going off right now, it isn't.
And that's the worrying part.
I ease the door shut behind me, pulling out my gun. As I creep through the front hall, I check the other rooms, making sure they're clear. At the end of the hall is the kitchen. It overlooks the beach.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen with her back to me is Zoe.
I lower the gun, even though it might be a bad idea. She could turn around with a gun in her hand and have it pointed at me. This could all be a setup. They could know that I'm in the house.
I let out a slow breath, and Zoe turns, her spoon stuck deep into a container of ice cream, her stomach rounded like she stuffed a basketball beneath her shirt.
Her eyes grow to the size of saucers as she takes me in, but it's quickly clouded by anger.
I should shoot her now. Get revenge for her turning against me.
But she's carrying my little niece or nephew.
Not to mention there's something about finally seeing my little sister again that has every reasonable thought in my head coming to a screeching halt.
Neither of us says anything to each other, both just staring.
Fuck.
This isn't what I came here for. This isn't what I thought was going to happen, but it seems like all my plans are going to shit recently, so I should've expected this.
Zoe moves first, putting the ice cream down and reaching for the knife block.