Hush - Fighting Fate #2 (32 page)

A low growl escaped his throat. “Hell no. Maybe there
’re a few other sounds I might like to hear coming from you just yet,” he said, pulling me in for another kiss.

A loud clearing of a throat had us pulling apart
too soon, and I looked up to see Aiden watching me beside a very amused Mia and Jace.

“Uh…Noah, these are my friends, Mia and Jace, and Aiden. Guys, this is Noah.”

Noah pulled away from me a little, but made sure to keep one arm tightly around my waist. “Ah, yes. The best friend, the lead guitarist and the bass player, right?”

Jace raised his eyebrow with surprise before stretching his hand out for Noah to shake. “That’s right. It’s good to meet you.”

Mia put her hand out as well, her eyes shining with excitement. “Nice to finally meet you, Noah.”

I watched Aiden carefully. If anyone was going to give Noah a hard time, it was him. He offered his hand, but his eyes were narrowed. “So, how do you and Kaeli know each other, Noah?”

Noah glanced at me, his gaze hesitant.

“They know almost everything,” I said quietly.

Aiden raised his eyebrows at that. I guessed he didn’t like hearing there were things he still didn’t know.

Nodding, he met Aiden’s piercing look. “I was working undercover in TJ’s gang. I met Kaeli when she came to the Den.”

I watched Aiden put all the pieces of the puzzle together inside his head. When it all clicked, he sighed. “You were the one looking out for her.”

It wasn’t a question. He just knew.

Noah nodded, a sad kind of look coming over his face. “Yeah.”

“Well, thanks, man. It still pisses me off that she didn’t tell anyone, but I can understand why she didn’t. I’m glad you were there for her.”

Noah took the compliment like a man. Awkwardly. “Yeah. I was worried about her. It helped knowing she had all of you to look out for her when I couldn’t.” He paused, something dark flashing in his eyes. “Actually, I guess now’s a good time to bring up Aaron.”

Jace’s lip curled up into a snarl. “That little fucker.”

“Exactly,” Noah said. “I don’t know how, because he’s as stupid as fuck, but he’s still out there. Although I plan to be around a lot from now on, until he’s caught I want to know she’s safe when I’m not.”

I sighed. “I’ll be fine. You all need to stop worrying.”

Aiden rolled his eyes, but concern still etched his face. “Think you can catch him in two weeks? The band’s scheduled to go on tour on the eighteenth.”

Noah scowled. “I damn well plan on it.”

Chapter 56

Noah

After Kaeli’s friends all left to go home, I decided it was time to make my move. Pulling her into my arms, I gazed down into her beautiful, green eyes.

“What are you doing now?” I asked.

She shrugged, a hopeful glint creeping into her eyes. “I was just going home.”

“Would you be interested in coming to a ‘Welcome Home Noah’ celebration?”

Surprise flittered across her face and she bit her lip. “Who’s going to be there?”

I shrugged. “Just Mom and Dad and my brothers.”

She pulled back, making me frown. I didn’t want to let her go. “Noah, I can’t go to your family celebration.”

“Why not?”

“Well…it’s…it’s your family. I’m sure they just want to spend the time with you. Alone…”

I shrugged again. “It’s not like I haven’t seen them already. They came and hung out with me plenty of times while I was in rehab. And I’m pretty sure they’re expecting you. I’ve kind of been talking about you a bit over the last month.”

She still looked freaked. “But it’s your family…”

“And?”

“What if they don’t like me? What if they hate me because they’ve only just got you back and they think I’m going to take up all your time?”

“Are you?”

She blushed and bit her lip. It was so adorable.

“Because I wouldn’t mind that at all,” I said, pulling her back into me.

She melted against me almost immediately, sending a thrill of victory through my veins.

“So, you’ll come?” I asked again, sounding more confident than I actually was.

“Do you really want me to?” she murmured.

She really had no idea at all, did she?
“Let me put it this way. If you decided not to come, I’m seriously considering ditching them to stay with you.”

“Noah!” she said, pulling back so fast I didn’t have time to stop her. “You can’t do that.”

I smirked. “Then come with me.”

The worry instantly returned. “Only if you think they’ll be okay with it.”

“They’ll be fine. They’re going to love you. Your car here?” I asked, striking while the iron was hot.

She nodded and pointed to the other side of the lot where I could just see it hidden behind a tree.

Taking her hand, I started walking her towards it. “Alright, I’ll follow you home and then we can ride together.”

“Okay, but you’ll have to meet my mom,” she said, a tiny smirk touching her lips.

Shit. I hadn’t thought about that.

Kaeli giggled beside me. “Not so fun when it’s you, is it?”

I guessed she was right. Giving her a confident smile, I pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Piece of cake.”

She just laughed. Little witch.

When she was safely in her car with the doors locked and the engine running, I made my way back to my Chev and drove to her place.

I was as nervous a hell about meeting her mom. As much as I loved my tatts, I didn’t think they were going to win me any points in the parent department. The only thing I had going for me was the fact that I was a cop. I hoped it was enough.

With ridiculously sweaty palms, I walked up to the door and knocked. I couldn’t help thinking about the last couple of times I’d been here. None of them had been under particularly good circumstances. I actually hated that Kaeli still lived here.

The door opened and there she stood, all smiles and shining eyes.
I would never get tired of looking at her.

“Hi,” she said, trying to press her lips together
to cover up her happiness. I wished she wouldn’t. “Come in.”

I wanted to ask her what she was up to, but she looked to be having too much fun. I liked seeing her like that.

Taking my hand, she led me through the house and into the kitchen. Her mom was at the sink, washing her hands.

“Mom. This is Noah,” Kaeli announced, grinning mischievously.

Her mom turned and smiled, picking up a hand towel as she went.

“Hi,” I said, holding my hand out for her to take.

She dried her hands as she came towards me, throwing the cloth on the bench before she ignored my hand and pulled me into a hug instead.

What the…? Stunned, I hugged her back. Kaeli gaped at me from over her mother’s shoulder.

“Thank you so much for looking after my baby for me. You’ll never know how grateful I am,” she said tearfully.

“Uh…you’re welcome…?”

Kaeli giggled and her mom finally released me.

“I’m sorry if that was too much, but I just needed you to know how thankful I am.”

I cleared my throat. “That’s fine, Mrs. Lehmann. I couldn’t let anything happen to her.”

She frowned at me. “I’m not using that man’s name anymore. Please call me Mel, or at least, Mrs. Williams.”

I smiled. I was more than okay with that. “Okay then.”

“So, Kaeli tells me you’re taking her to meet your family?”

I grinned. “Yes, I am. It might be a late one though. Is that okay with you?”

She waved me off. “Yes, yes. Of course. I know she’s safe with you.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that,” I said, honestly grateful for her trust in me.

“Awesome,” Kaeli said, bouncing up and down on her feet. “I’m just going to grab a couple of things, then we can go.”

I watched her dart off with amusement. I didn’t know what it was with that girl, but she tugged on something inside me. Hard.

“Have you heard anything about Aaron yet?”

My attention snapped back to Kaeli’s mom. I frowned and shook my head. “No, not yet. I’m not happy he managed to get away that night. I don’t know how. The only thing I can think of is if he hid in one of the storage units.”

She nodded. “Yeah, he’s not that bright. I don’t think it’
ll be long before he tries something stupid.”

“That’s what I’m worried about,” I said quietly.

Kaeli came skipping back into the kitchen with a small bag in her hand. “Ready?” she said, that gorgeous grin still spread across her lips.

“Yep. It was nice to meet you, Mel,” I said, giving Kaeli’s mom a polite smile. “I’m sure I’ll see you soon.”

She laughed lightly. “Of course you will.”

Opening the passenger door for Kaeli, I waited for her to get in before closing it behind her and rushing for the driver’s side. After a quick check of my
cell, and noting five missed calls from Mom and numerous text messages from various members of my family, I pulled out onto the street.

“So, uh…how old are you anyway?” she asked carefully. “I kind of feel silly going to meet your family when I know so little about you.”

I blinked. I forgot there was still so much she didn’t know about me. “Well, ask me anything you want. I’m twenty by the way. I had my birthday while I was in rehab.”

Her eyes went wide.

“Yeah, sucked too.”

She sighed. A heartbreaking sound of discontent. “How long were you undercover for? You said you hadn’t seen your family for a year and a half.
Is that true?”

I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. I shouldn’t have told you that, but I just couldn’t bring myself to lie to you. Tell me
though, did you actually know I was a cop?”

She p
ressed her lips together thoughtfully. “I suspected. It wasn’t anything you said or did in particular. You were just always so protective of me and it was confusing. It wasn’t until we were at the hospital that I figured it out. Do you remember when you went out to get your jacket for me and you passed that other police officer? It was his expression that gave it away.”

I laughed. Fully laughed. I couldn’t wait to tell Dad it was his fault.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“That was my dad.”

Her eyes bugged. “The other officer?”

“Yep. That was the first time we’d seen each other in over eighteen months. I think we were both a little shocked.”

“Oh my god! Are you serious?”

I looked over to see her mouth gaping open in horror. “Yep.”

“Oh, your poor dad!”

“Just wait until I tell him it was him who compromised my cover.”

She grabbed hold of my arm. “No! You can’t.”

“You bet I can. You don’t know my family. They’re going to eat that up.”

“Your dad’s going to hate me!”

That just made me laugh harder. Everyone was going to love her. “We’re nearly there by the way, so if you have any other questions you’d like to ask me, now is the time.”

She looked out the window, panic flashing across her pretty face. “Uh…how did you come to be undercover so young?”

“I was just out of the academy, graduated first in my class with the highest score for weapons accuracy in the history of our state, and they were looking for someone young. TJ only brought in young bloods, so I was asked, and I accepted.”

She gave me a deadpan look. “So, that was why you were boasting about being the best there is when you shot that guy.”

I gave her a surprised look. “I’m actually surprised you remember that. You were kind of a little comatose there for a while. I was worried about you.”

She stared at me for a long time. The little glimpses I caught between watching the road was intense. “You risked so much to save me. Not just that time. Every time I was there. I shudder to think what would’ve happened to me if you weren’t there that first day I came.”

I couldn’t help it. My hands tightened on the steering wheel so much I thought I was going to rip the fucker off. “Don’t-” I said tightly. “Just…you can’t go there. I can’t think about that. I still have the memory of that fucker pinning you to the bed in my head. If he wasn’t already dead, I’d go and kill him right now.”

I heard her whisper something. It was a bit too soft for me to hear clearly, but I thought it sounded like, ‘good’.

Chapter 57

Kaeli

I was fine until Noah said we were nearly there.

I didn’t realize how nerve wracking it would be to meet someone’s parents. Especially someone like Noah. Especially under those circumstances.

They’d gone without him for almost two years and here I was, crashing their welcome home party. I felt awful.