"Noah?" the girl’s surprise was clear.
Of all people, she’d thought there was no chance in hell she would see him again. Ever. It had been way too long. She’d heard about the man he’d become from all the magazines and websites, but not once had her imagination ventured to the day that very same person would be standing so close to her after four years.
"Not someone you expected, I believe." His voice seemed more mature, deeper and raspier than she remembered. "It’s a pleasure to see you again, Inéz. Mind if I come in?"
Still kind of paralyzed, the brunette opened the door wider, not even thinking about what she was doing. It wasn’t like they had ever been friends and she definitely shouldn’t be letting him in.
He was still a mafia boss for goddess’ sake.
If that didn’t scream trouble, Inéz wasn’t sure what did.
Noah stepped into the apartment. It was spacious and luminous due to the floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a spectacular view of Seattle. It reminded him of his own in the city, but clearly a smaller and much cheaper version.
"Who was it?"
Footsteps echoed through the room and no one else but Isaac Henderson appeared, followed closely by Drew Ryder. All three of them had been living together since graduation.
"What are you doing here? Are you lost or something?" asked Drew, anger clear in his voice.
Even though Noah had tried to help Lynette Selvaggio every step of the way, the younger man still didn’t like him. Especially when there had been no sight of him at the funeral of the girl who had, at one point, been supposed to become his wife. It was like at the aircraft hangar he had tried to save her life, but after she’d died, Noah had found no use in pretending to care anymore. As if it had all been a big, fat joke for him. A game.
For Drew that definitely wasn’t the case. Since Lynette’s death, everything had changed in him. He was no longer a laid-back, caring and full of hope boy. For a while, he hadn’t even been able to bring himself to visit her grave, but once he had, the cemetery turned into the first place someone could find him in. Sitting and talking to no one in particular. Drew missed her so much it still kept him from letting any other girl in. No one could ever measure up to Lynette. That was why the only friends he had left were Inéz, Isaac and occasionally Francisco, who’d left for Spain as soon as he’d graduated.
"Nice to see you too, Ryder."
Noah wasn’t even slightly offended by Drew’s tone. Which could come as a surprise to his soldiers because there wasn’t ever a time when he allowed someone to disrespect him. If it had been someone else, they would be on the floor, knife deep in their throat, bleeding out. That much was sure. He couldn’t count the times he’d almost killed the man a few years ago.
"How long have you been in Seattle?" Inéz tried to defuse the situation, giving her best friend some time to cool down.
It might have been four years, but Noah gladly admitted that even though the girl was still obviously scared of him, maybe more so than before, she was always there for her friends.
Some things never change.
And this was what Falcone appreciated in her. Fear didn’t rule her world, courage did. An admirable trait most people lacked.
"Two days," he answered, sending a small smile towards the brunette.
"Have you been to…" she stopped herself from finishing the sentence, realizing that Drew still didn’t like when someone said her name aloud. It caused all the bad memories to come flooding back.
"To Lynette’s grave?" Noah wasn’t afraid to say it. Not even a little bit. He shook his head. "I haven’t and I will never go there."
His answer was simple but made Drew even angrier. It was as if Falcone didn’t have any respect for the dead. And he actually didn’t. But that shouldn’t come as a surprise since he was a fucking mafia boss. Yet, Drew was on the verge of punching him for it.
"Nevertheless, she is the reason I am here. I need your help."
A short insult escaped Drew’s mouth. "There is nothing you could say that would make us help you with anything. Even if it has something to do with Lyn. You didn’t care for her. Or maybe you did as long as it was convenient for you. Once she died, you didn’t even bother to come to her funeral to say goodbye. So you can go now."
Drew was nowhere near willing to listen to Noah. He turned around to leave the room when the words he dreamt of hearing every single night finally left someone’s mouth.
"Lynette is alive."
CHAPTER 2
To say that this information shocked all three would be an understatement. They were practically on the verge of a freak-out. And a huge one at that. Isaac was watching Noah as if he was waiting for him to take those words back. Wondering whether he was joking to get their full attention. Inéz battled between being happy and thinking that it was a dream she was going to wake up from. When it came to Drew, he didn’t believe a word coming out of the man’s mouth. Unlike his friends, he had been there with Lynette till the end. He’d watched her say goodbye to him, her
