Noah checked his phone again. Still nothing from Alexis. With a frustrated shake of his head, he turned the phone facedown on the bar and tipped the bottle back.
“May I join you?”
Noah looked to his right, and a blood vessel burst in his brain. Elliott stood next to him, hands shoved in the pockets of a windbreaker.
Noah made a noise that was half snort, half Are you fucking kidding me? “Is that why Candi went to the hospital? To occupy Alexis so you could ambush me separately?”
Elliott blinked and started. “Candi’s at the hospital with Alexis?”
Either he was an incredible actor or he honestly didn’t know. Noah clenched his jaw. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought maybe we could talk.” Elliott extended his hand. “We didn’t meet properly the first time.”
Noah jutted his jaw sideways. After a moment, he accepted the handshake but immediately returned his attention to the TV. He didn’t want Elliott there, didn’t want to talk, and sure as shit wasn’t going to make this easy on him.
Elliott pulled out the stool next to Noah and sat down. The bartender scooted over and placed a napkin in front of him. “What can I get you?”
“Just ice water, please.” He swiveled to look at Noah. “Can I get you anything?”
“No.”
“I didn’t know Candi was going to visit Alexis tonight.”
“Well, she did.”
“I’m glad. This has been really difficult for Candi.”
Noah made an ugly noise and tipped his bottle back. “Forgive me if I find it hard to generate much sympathy for any member of your family.”
“I understand your anger, but Candi is innocent in all of this.”
“So is Alexis, yet it seems they’re the two people hurting most of all because of you.”
The bartender set a glass of water in front of Elliott, and he immediately downed a long drink. “I deserve that,” he said, turning the glass round and round on the bar.
“If you’re expecting me to argue that point, you’ll be waiting a long time.”
“That’s fair.”
Noah’s anger got the best of him. He whipped his gaze to Elliott’s. “Let’s make one thing absolutely clear. Alexis is only doing this because it would never occur to her to say no. Because that’s who she is. She takes care of people often to her own detriment, and it would haunt her the rest of her life if she didn’t do this for you. So you can play the contrite patriarch all you want, but I hope you spend every day knowing that you don’t deserve this gift she’s giving you.”
Noah stood, dug out his wallet, and dropped a twenty-dollar bill on the counter. Without so much as a glance at Elliott, he stormed off.
But Elliott’s voice quickly stopped him. “I looked into your father’s death.”
Noah froze. He barely remembered turning around much less walking back, but somehow he stood next to Elliott’s stool again. “What did you say?”
“You were right. His death was entirely preventable and should not have happened.”
Noah’s hands balled into fists. “How do you have access to information about my father’s death?”
Elliott smirked, but it was more sad than arrogant. “I have a pretty high security clearance.” He paused, and the sad smirk became remorseful chagrin. “Your father was sent to war with insufficient protection, and even though it wasn’t my company, it was a company like mine that failed. And it failed for the exact same reasons that my company was under federal investigation. Greed. Pure and simple.”
“That would make an excellent opening statement to Congress, but I don’t buy a word of it.”
“I just want you to know that I understand why you would question my motives.”
Noah braced a hand on the bar and leaned down, seething and shaking. “What do you want? A gold star for stating the obvious?”
Elliott stood. Slowly. Bracing a hand on the edge of the bar to steady himself. “Mortality has a way of bringing things into focus. It makes you realize what really matters and what doesn’t. I just want you to know how sorry I am for your loss.”
For the first time, Noah saw him as he was—a man staring death in the face and desperately wanting to make up for his mistakes. The flare of empathy that would have softened Alexis simply hardened Noah’s anger. “And you think sorry is enough? It’s not. Where was this remorse when your company was under investigation? If you want redemption, don’t just apologize. Do something.”
Elliott’s smile was sad as he stepped away from the stool. He lightly patted Noah’s arm. “I’m trying.” He paused as if wanting to say more, but then shook his head as if deciding against it. Instead, he squeezed Noah’s arm. “You’re braver than I could ever dream of being. Your father would be proud.”
He shuffled away, leaving Noah standing with his mouth agape and a single question racing through his brain. What the fuck was that all about?
CHAPTER TWENY-FIVE
Alexis was done with all her tests by noon. Noah spent most of that time pacing in the hallway and trying to figure out how to tell her about his bizarre run-in with Elliott. Now he waited outside Jasmine’s office, where she and Alexis had disappeared more than fifteen minutes ago. He’d killed a few minutes by running her overnight bag out to the car, but now he was back to pacing.
He finally gave up and leaned against the wall opposite Jasmine’s office door so he could will it to open. A few minutes later, Alexis walked out, smiling, laughing, and clutching a black binder to her chest. Jasmine followed.
“We’re all set,” Jasmine said. Her eyes locked with Noah’s. “Thank you for supporting her through this. This can be
