Now.
I blink a couple of times, making sure Ace is with me. When his expression sharpens, his eyes hyper-focused on mine, I slowly begin to turn in Noah’s arms.
“Ny.” There’s a warning in Noah’s tone.
The sharp, silver knife drags against my skin with the lightest pressure. I feel the slice, but Noah pulls it away from my skin too quick for me to become mortally wounded. His arms encircling me loosen their grip, giving me leeway to turn to face him completely.
I place my hands on either side of his face, forcing his attention to my eyes.
“Noah.” Keeping my voice soft and sweet, I give him a sad smile. “I hate how this has gone down. It’s just me and you here, okay? Forget about Ace.”
“He’s not important.” Noah insists.
Nodding my head, I go right along with him. “You’re right, he’s not. But if you and I are going to have a chance after this is all over, you have to walk out that door with me. I’ll hold your hand, okay? You didn’t hurt me. I know you wouldn’t. I’ll tell them that.”
His expression is fierce and focused on me. It’s like he’s forgotten Ace is even in the room, just like I asked him to.
“I’m in so much trouble, Ny.” He says softly, and my heart rips.
But then I remember all the manipulative things he did. Scaring me in Bryn’s backyard, planting the body in The Corner…all of that was done with methodic calculation. He might be scared now, but then? Then he was in control.
At least he thought he was.
My resolve sharpens. “Yeah, Noah. But it’s nothing you can’t come back from. I’m with you.”
“You’re…with me?” Cocking his head to the side, he studies my face, searching for any sign that I’m giving him a line.
Still holding his face in my hands, I nod. “I’m with—”
There’s an earsplitting crash as the hotel room door splits open. Something rolls inside, and it’s all happening so fast I can’t think. Ace yells at me to get down, I think, but my eyes are on the little canister as it rolls to a stop near Noah and me.
Then the canister explodes with a blinding flash of light, and I’m being shoved to the ground with Ac’s hard body cradling me against the fall.
Feet pound into the room, a voice telling us all to get down on the ground, but it’s pointless because we already are. Ace’s hands cradle my face as he asks me repeatedly if I’m okay.
Every muscle I have sags, relaxes, as the tension siphons from my body.
It’s over.
Thirty-One
ACE
I thought that as soon as I had the chance to get my hands on Noah, as soon as I had the opportunity to wrap them around his throat and squeeze the life right out of him, that I’d never be able to stop. That’s how bad I wanted to hurt him.
To more than hurt him.
A few months ago? Hell, maybe even a few weeks ago, I would have. It’s a testament to how much I’ve changed, transformed, evolved just because Naima stepped into my life.
I did a lot of hard work in counseling after I graduated from high school, but having her by my side gives me another reason to control my temper.
As the cops stormed in, and I had him down on the ground beside me, all I could think about was Naima. I just needed to get to her.
I needed to feel her in my arms.
During that whole ordeal, I never once thought about my safety. I just wanted to make sure she made it out of that hotel room in one piece. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn’t exactly afraid of Noah, more of the situation itself.
But I was fucking terrified.
When I finally break through the commotion swimming around the hotel room, I search her out. I’m like a bloodhound sniffing for something lost, and Naima’s my end game.
I find her sitting in the back of an ambulance, being tended to by a paramedic outside, just off of the main hotel entrance. All my breath escapes at once, and the second I see her our eyes lock.
Crossing to her, I take her face in my hands, inspecting her while I stare into her eyes. “You okay?”
She nods, and then immediately winces. I glance down, seeing the large butterfly bandage on the side of her throat.
“He cut you!” I’m outraged, pissed beyond belief. “I’ll kill him, I swear to God.”
Her small hands cover my wrists and she leans her forehead against mine. “No. You’ll stay right here with me. I don’t want to take my eyes off you.”
Pulling back, I shake my head. “Not gonna happen. Now that I have you, I’m not letting anybody keep us apart.”
Her expression turns wistful. “Promise?”
“Mr. Wells.”
The voice comes from behind me, and I turn back toward the hotel to face Detective Monahan. He runs a hand through his thick hair, and even though he looks tired the expression on his face is satisfied. “You managed to fulfill your end of our deal, even if it didn’t happen the way we expected.”
I’m momentarily distracted when a sight behind him catches my eye. Noah, being led from the hotel in handcuffs. He’s placed into the backseat of a police cruiser, and our eyes meet the second before the door is closed. His expression is full of resignation and resentment.
But now I’m the one who’s satisfied.
I tilt my chin in the direction of the cruiser. “So you’ve got everything you need?”
His lips thin in what I guess is the closest thing he has to a smile. “You were very helpful, Mr. Wells. Our deal stands. Immunity. But…” He dips his head, meeting my gaze full-on. “You and I are going to stay in touch. I want to know how your life is going. I don’t want to see
