Trust Me (Last Stand #1)(77)
Author: Brenda Novak

“I’m sure. Get your purse and go,” she said gruffly.

Relief and a little bit of hope surged through Jane. It was early enough that, with any luck, she’d be able to catch Noah at his office. He worked until six on Fridays, trying to wrap up the week.

Grabbing her purse and keys, she nearly ran out of the shop, then drove to his office.

When she arrived, she spotted the bumper of his truck from the side alley—it was in back, where he always parked it—and knew this was her chance. It’ll be okay. Don’t worry. Calm down.

Judging by the fact that his secretary’s car was gone, Jane assumed Noah was alone. This was a perfect opportunity to tell him about the degradation she’d suffered, the doubts that plagued her more than ever, the fear.

Except that the office was locked and she couldn’t get him to come to the door.

“Noah? Noah, it’s me!” She knocked. “Please answer.”

No response. It was only when she continued pounding, refusing to give up, that he finally appeared. Even then, he cracked the door barely a few inches and stood in the opening, as if to bar her entrance.

“I have to talk to you,” she said, breathless from the anxiety that had poured through her all day and the exertion of pounding.

Disapproval etched deep lines in his forehead. “I can’t let you in, Jane. I’ve promised Wendy I won’t be alone with you again, and I plan to keep that promise. If you need something, you’re going to have to go to your husband.”

“You told her,” she whispered.

“I had to,” he said. “It was the only way to put an end to this, to make sure I wouldn’t break down again.”

“What about me?” Jane wailed.

“It’s best for both of us. This way you’ll learn to depend on your husband instead of coming to me. I don’t want to stand between you. Who gains from that? No one. Both families lose.”

“But—but Oliver hurt me last night, Noah. He’s not the same. He’s…dangerous.” Jane knew she was talking too fast, that her agitated state was costing her credibility, but she was desperate for him to believe her.

Noah rolled his eyes. “Stop it. He’s having a hard time, like the rest of us. Worse than the rest of us. He has to start all over and he has no idea how he’s going to support his family.”

“But he did it, Noah. I think he killed those girls and he tried to rape Skye. I believe he’ll do it again, given the chance. It’s just a matter of time.”

He lifted a hand to silence her. “I don’t want to hear it. You’re acting crazy. He didn’t do it, okay? He didn’t do it!”

She glanced around the empty parking lot. What she had to tell him was too private to air out on the street, but Noah had left her no choice. She knew he wouldn’t break Wendy’s “no being alone together” rule. “Last night Oliver and I made love for the first time.”

Noah grimaced. “I don’t want to hear about that, either. Just…live your life and be happy, okay? Make my brother happy, too.” He started to go back in, but she clutched the edge of the door and held on.

“Noah, you have to listen to me. I don’t know who else to turn to. I don’t know if I’m going nuts or if he’s really dangerous, but it feels like he is. Last night, he insisted on tying me up. He wanted me to be facedown. I had to wear a blindfold. He didn’t care that I hated it. He—he liked that I was whimpering and begging. It excited him—”

“Did he hurt you?” he interrupted.

“Yes!”

“How?”

She tried to remember. The physical injuries weren’t so bad. It was more the way he’d behaved. His total disregard for her comfort. His self-absorption. “He—he squeezed my br**sts.”

“He squeezed your br**sts,” he repeated dismissively.

“Really hard,” she added.

He bent to look at her more closely. “That’s it? Most men like to squeeze a woman’s br**sts!”

“He bit me, too.” She pulled down the neck of her sweater to reveal the mark on her shoulder, but the impression hadn’t been deep enough to last.

When he saw nothing, Noah shook his head. “You need to see a counselor.”

“I swear he bit me. Just not hard enough to draw blood.”

“I’ve bitten you before, Jane. And you liked it.”

“This was different. This wasn’t playful or loving. Love had nothing to do with it. I felt hate. Extreme hate.”

“Give me a break. Oliver loves you. When we went out to lunch today, he told me you guys had the best sex of your lives last night, that you’re everything he’s ever wanted in a woman, a real tiger in bed.”

That comment left Jane speechless. Oliver knew she’d talked to Wendy last night. He was doing damage control, trying to undermine anything she might say so that Noah and Wendy, and maybe even his parents, would think they already knew what had occurred and decide it wasn’t that bad.

Oliver was so clever. He was smart and dangerous.

“If you won’t listen, I’ll have to go to your parents.” She wheeled around to do just that, but he caught her arm.

“Don’t you dare!” Real anger, the kind she’d never seen from Noah, flickered in his eyes as he spun her back to face him. “My parents have suffered enough, do you hear? Whatever you’re going through, you’d better tough it out without burdening them. They’ve mourned what happened to Oliver all these years. They’ve nearly bankrupted themselves trying to help you both. And now they’re getting old. Don’t you dump this in their laps.”

“But I have to tell them what I think. I need to protect Kate, protect myself.”

“From a husband who wants to get in your pants? You let me get in your pants as often as I wanted without any complaints.”

She winced at the disgust in his voice. “You wanted to be with me,” she challenged.

He threw up his hands. “I did. I admit it. But I don’t want it anymore, and you won’t let go. Don’t you get it? It’s over.”

She couldn’t stifle the sob that rose in her throat. What had she done to deserve this? The whole world had turned against her. “But he—he tied me up even though I begged him not to. He—he squeezed my br**sts and—and slapped my ass and bit my shoulder. It was horrible.”

At last, she saw a flash of the old Noah in his eyes, the one she’d thought loved her. “He used ropes?” he asked, concern in his voice.