“It’s nothing, I promise.”
She jerks back, holding my arms as she meets my eyes. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’ve never seen you like this so it’s definitely not nothing.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it here,” I tell her, glancing around to make sure none of the other girls are around us. She glances over her shoulder before turning back to me and nodding.
“Okay, I’m going to go tell Dr. Hebert that you don’t feel good and then I’ll drive you home, okay?”
I bite my lip and nod as I wipe a tear from my face. As she turns to go talk to Dr. Hebert, I put away the clipboard and gather up my things before slipping out the back of the building. A few minutes later, she joins me.
“Come on, you.” She links her arm through mine and guides me to her car, which is good since Noah insisted on dropping me off this morning. I climb in the car and release a breath, feeling more relaxed than I have in days but the thought of going back to the cabin erases that in an instant.
“Can you take me to your house?” I ask as soon as Hannah slips behind the wheel and she turns to me with wide eyes.
“Spill, now,” she orders as she closes her door. I sigh as she starts up the car and when she turns to me again, her expression is unyielding. “Any day now, Kady.”
I sigh again. “It’s just… things between Noah and I have been… tense.”
“Why?”
“I told him everything.”
She deflates as a look of sympathy flashes across her face. “Everything, everything? Even Thomas?”
I nod.
“And how is Noah taking it?”
“Not well,” I admit, my voice cracking as tears fill my eyes again. “He’s still there with me twenty-four seven, but we’ve barely spoken in three days. I think he blames himself but I can’t be sure because he won’t open up to me.”
“Oh, honey,” she whispers, trying to hug me with the center console between us before giving up with a sigh. “What are you going to do?”
I shake my head as the tears begin to fall again and pain splinters my chest.. “I have no clue but it feels like I’m losing him, Han.”
“No. That’s not possible.”
“You haven’t seen him.” I look up at her. “He’s like a different person.”
She grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. “You just have to have faith and if he thinks he can walk away from you, I’ll straighten him out.”
“You look a little scary right now,” I tell her, laughing through my tears. God, I haven’t cried this much since I escaped the apartment and it has me feeling all kinds of weak. Hannah grins and cracks her knuckles in an attempt to cheer me up and it works - if only momentarily.
“All right, I’ll call Dr. Hebert from my house and tell him I’m taking care of you then we can order pizza and watch movies all night.”
I nod. “That sounds amazing.”
With a smile, she nods and pulls the car out of the parking lot. We don’t even make it to the end of the road when she glances in the rearview mirror and sucks in a breath.
“I think we have a tail.”
I arch a brow as I glance over my shoulder. “A tail? What are you, a cop all of the sudden?”
There’s a dark SUV right on our bumper and my stomach rolls. It looks just like the one Oliver’s goon was driving when he cornered me outside work.
“Speed up and make a few turns but don’t use the blinker. Let’s see if he’s really following us.”
The car speeds up and she makes a last minute turn without the blinker as I grab the handle above my head and stare out the back window. The SUV makes the same turn, his tires screeching and I whisper a curse.
“Again.”
We go through the same maneuver a few times before I plop back down in my seat and pull my phone out of my bag.
“What do I do, Kady?”
I glance over my shoulder again as I dial Blaze’s number. “Just keep driving.”
“Hello?” he answers on the third ring and I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Hi, Blaze. This is Kady. I’m with my friend, Hannah, and we’re being followed by a big, black SUV. I need your help.”
The background noise on his end gets louder and he lets out a whistle that pierces my ear. I jerk the phone away before tentatively putting it back to my ear. “Where are you at?”
I glance around for a street name before relaying it to him. “We’re not far from the animal clinic. Should we just go back there?”
“Absolutely not. Under no circumstances should you stop, you understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Have your friend drive you to the cabin and we’ll be waiting there for you, okay?”
“Kady!” I hear Noah yell in the background and I close my eyes as I suck in a breath. I can’t deal with him, or us, right now.
“Okay, thank you, Blaze,” I say before hanging up the phone and relaying the instructions to Hannah. Her grip on the steering wheel tightens as she presses down on the gas and heads toward the interstate. My stomach turns as I glance behind us again. The SUV is still right on our tail and I just hope the club makes it to the cabin before we do.
Chapter Sixteen
Noah
Music pumps through the clubhouse as Chance, Smith, and a few of the other guys play pool in the corner, laughing loudly. I lift the beer bottle to my lips and take a sip, wincing as it burns down my throat. Not that there’s anything wrong with the beer. It’s just me and this fucked up situation I’ve found myself in that is putting this awful taste in my mouth.
Blaze charges out of his office, his phone pressed to his ear, and we all turn in his direction as he lets out a piercing whistle. Chance turns the music down and we all look at each other, searching for answers. Blaze snaps his fingers in my direction. I set my beer down and stand up with a scowl as my heart jumps into my throat. What the hell is going on right now?
“Where are you at?”
Silence descends over the entire clubhouse as we all wait for information. My mind immediately goes to Kady before I shake it off. Kady is safe and sound at work which is why I came to the clubhouse to blow off a little steam. Things between us have not been good for the last couple days and I need time to think.
Blaze shakes his head. “Absolutely not. Under no circumstances should you stop, you understand me?”
I glance over at Smith and Chance, who look just as fucking jumpy and confused as I feel. Every man in the room is ready to leap into action as soon as Blaze gives the word but for now, we’re just stuck in this suspended state.
“Have your friend drive you to the cabin and we’ll be waiting there for you, okay?”
Wait…cabin?
As in…
Fuck.
“Kady!” I yell, charging across the room but she hangs up before I can get to Blaze. He offers me a brief sympathetic look before he turns to everyone else.
“Kady and her friend are being followed by a black SUV so let’s go now. We have to get to the cabin before they do.”
What the fuck?
My first thought is why didn’t she call me when she was in trouble? I mean, I know things haven’t been good between us these past few days but I’m still here for her, here to protect her.