Teagan
I was a pornstar – granted an unintentional one – but a pornstar never the less.
My head was screaming at me, pushing forward all the incriminating evidence against Noah to the fore point of my mind. Shame, mortification and more dominantly anger coursed through me.
He'd done this…it had to be Noah. He must have recorded us, or gotten access to the elevator footage…but why?
Oh god, I felt physically sick and gagged as realization dawned on me.
How had I been so deluded…so wrong about him?
For Christ's sakes, I was going to run away with him. I was prepared to do that for him…
I was here to help him…
"Thorn," I heard Noah say as I backed towards the door JD had dragged me through. His eyes were wild and frantic as he held his hands out, palms facing me. "I didn’t do this," he said quickly.
"Oh my god," I whispered when words found me again. I gasped for air but couldn't get enough into my lungs, I felt winded. I felt so exposed, so violated...
Swinging around on shaky legs I stumbled out of the warehouse and into parking lot, desperate to get away. I had no idea of where to go. Logan had taken the car to get help – he'd managed to fight off JD's men and break away, but for what?
"Teagan…Thorn, wait dammit, let me explain…"
The feeling of suffocation was urging me to move faster and further away from Noah and this fucked up arena. Yet there was another feeling festering inside of me that was even more unbearable. I felt like I was tearing my body in half, literally ripping myself apart by running from him.
"Wait," Noah husked, seconds before his arms enveloped me. "Reese stole the CCTV footage from the hotel," he said in a panicked voice as he turned me in his arms. "It wasn’t me. I fucking swear to you it wasn’t."
"Logan told me everything," I choked out, though it was little more than a breathy whisper. "About your mom and dad, the drugs…everything." My throat felt like it was closing up, severing my air pipes, suffocating me. "Did you fight him – Javi?"
"I…" he paused to brush a lock of hair from his eyes before whispering, "I did."
"Did you win?"
Noah's eyes met mine and I didn’t need to ask any more questions. Noticing the horrible markings on his face, I sucked in a sharp breath. The answers were written on his face, the truth was in his eyes – naked and ugly and cutting me deep.
"He's dead?"
Noah nodded his head slightly and a scream ripped from my throat.
"Oh my god, Noah." I stared into his brown eyes, not bothering to brush away the tears that were spilling down my cheeks. "You killed a man."
"He's a survivor," Ellie snarled as she stalked towards us. The look of detest in her eyes was obvious and directed at me. "So don’t you dare try to make him feel bad for wanting to live."
"Ellie, you better back the fuck away from my boyfriend right now," I snarled as I glowered at her touching Noah's shoulder. "I'm about three seconds past crazy and a hare's breath away from beating your ass."
"I had no choice," Noah choked out, brushing Ellie's arm off, as he reached over and grabbed my wrist, dragging me close to his chest. "I wasn’t ready to let go of my life – let go of you…" Tears pooled in his eyes. "I know I've screwed everything up," he said in a gruff tone.
"You could go to prison for this, Noah," I cried. I felt like my heart was shattering into a bazillion pieces. "This is murder. Logan's gone to get the cops. You know that means…"
"I know," he husked, backing away from me. "And I know what needs to happen next," he added, before pinching the bridge of his nose. "You need to get out of here, Thorn – away from me… I understand you won't be able to love me after this…after what I've done…"
"If I didn’t love you I wouldn’t be here," I screamed, kicking the dirt, dust and whatever the hell else that was on the ground by my feet. Stalking towards him I grabbed him by the back of the neck and dragged his face down to meet mine. "I'm in love with you." I pressed a kiss to his lips. It was rough, hard and everything I was feeling in that moment. He had blood on his hands… He was a killer. A killer. "Let's go," I heard myself saying.
"Go." Noah shook his head in confusion. "Teagan, I'm going…"
"With me," I snapped, grabbing his hand. "You're going with me."
"Teagan," he husked, clutching my face between his hands. "You can't get involved in this, baby. It's too big. You need to get out of here." Pressing a hard kiss to my lips, Noah broke free from my grasp and turned back towards the warehouse.
"Don’t do this, Noah." I begged him as I watched him walk towards George and the gang of men who had formed a crowd outside the warehouse – watching our spectacle no doubt.
"Get out of here, Teagan," Noah hissed as he continued to walk to them – to the dark side.
"No." Running after Noah, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards me. "Please, don’t do this." I hated begging, it wasn’t in my nature, but I'd beg on my knees if it meant I could save him. "If you love me, even a little bit, then leave with me now. Forget about this."
"Messina," George roared and I felt the muscles in Noah's arm bunch tight with tension. "Get your ass back here, boy, you're not done for the night."
"Let me save you," I rambled, holding onto his arm for dear life. "Turn away from them and come with me. Please, Noah. Please…"
Noah stood frozen for what felt like an age as he stared into the eyes of his step-father. "You can't still love me," he whispered. "Not after what I've done…"
"I can't not love you," I told him and it was the truth. I was quite possibly signing myself a first-class ticket to hell, but I didn’t care. I wanted him and I would do anything to keep him safe.
"I'm your thorn," I added with a sob.
"I'm out," Noah called out as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders and walked me towards his car and the weight of his hand in mine felt like the hugest gust of air filling my lungs.
"Thank you," I whispered in relief.
"I'll make this right," he told me softly before tucking me into his side, protecting me. "I'll fix this."
"You're out?" George roared as he stalked towards us. "I don’t think you understand the way this works, Messina. There's no way out. We had an agreement – what about your mother?"
"Watch my back as I walk away from you, George – from all of you," Noah spat as he opened the passenger door and helped me in before rounding the car and climbing in alongside me. "Hold on tight," Noah instructed me as he cranked the engine and tore off.
****
"Do you have the tickets?" Noah asked as he shifted into fourth gear to take a sharp corner.
I nodded. "And our passports," I added as I watched out the back window. "They're in my boots."
The lone headlamp on what I presumed was a car behind us was blinding and catching up quickly. "Do you think that's them?" I asked nervously. "Do you think they'll follow us?"
"I wouldn’t put anything past George," Noah growled as he took a glance in the rearview mirror and cursed loudly. "Shit…it's JD," Noah told me. "He's on his bike."
"Is that bad?" I demanded in a high pitched tone.
"Well, it's not good, baby," Noah growled, speeding up quickly. "Shit, he's gaining on us."
"Go faster," I hissed, watching in horror as JD tailed us. "Hurry up, Noah," I screamed. "Fucking floor it."
"I am, Teagan, I am," Noah roared. "Fuck, you're a pain in my ass, woman."
"Well take an aspirin," I shot back, paling when JD's bike swerved right and out of sight of the back window.
"Oh god, Noah," I screamed as JD suddenly came into sight in my car door window. The black gun he was pointing against my window caused me to temporarily lose my mind. "Get down!"
Without thinking I grabbed Noah's shoulders and forced his head down, causing him to lose control of the car just as the deafening sound of a gun shooting off floated over our heads.
There was no sign of JD or his bike…all I could see was the rocky mountain wall we were heading straight for.
"Jesus Christ," I heard Noah hiss as he made a frantic grab for the wheel, but we were swerving out of control. "Teagan, I can't….hold on, baby." Noah's upper body was suddenly covering my face and I clenched my eyes shut, bracing myself for the impact we were sure to feel.
When it came the pain that ricocheted through my body was like nothing I'd ever felt before and then there was darkness. Darkness and the overwhelming smell of gasoline.
"Noah, are you okay?" My head was thumping so hard it felt like a stampede of elephants had participated in a game of chicken limbo on my skull and the fat one lost…"Noah?" I croaked out as I twisted my body around to face him.
A rush of raw unadulterated fear shot through me when I saw him. His face was covered in blood, he was twisted at an obscure angle and his eyes were closed, but…his chest was moving. Oh thank god…
I tried to unfasten my seatbelt and get to Noah but like some twisted case of Déjà vu the belt wouldn’t budge.
And that's when the panic truly set in.
"No," I cried as I pulled at the clasp. "Dammit, no."
The darkness…
The smell of the fumes…
The fire blinding me...wait, what?
"Noah," I screamed when the first pillow of smoke and flames erupted in front of my eyes. "Wake up." I frantically tried to free myself and then Noah but the stupid belts were jammed. "Noah, I love you," I sobbed in case I didn’t get another chance.
"Don’t panic, Thorn," I heard Noah say. His tone was commanding and in that moment I couldn’t have been more relived. Opening his eyes slowly, he turned his face to look at me. "I fucked my car, baby."
"We're stuck inside a car that's on fire and you're worried about your car?" A wave of hysteria flooded through me and I found myself laughing and crying at the same time. "You're unbelievable."
"You really wanna pick a fight?" Noah husked as he leaned forward and grabbed a pocketknife out of his glove compartment. "Really, Thorn?"
"Okay, good point." I closed my eyes and tried to stay calm. I could feel Noah pulling at my seat-belt, sawing through the straps, trying to free me from the carnage.
Tears slipped from my eyes, trailing down my cheeks, mixing with smoke and dried blood. "I don’t blame you," I added quietly. Noah's hand stilled briefly before starting up again. "For winning the fight," I explained. "I…I'm glad."
"I don’t want to think about the fight, Teagan," Noah said quietly. "I need to focus on getting you out of here."
"I'm sorry," I whispered. It needed to be said. "This is my fault."
"No," he shook his head. His fingers worked frantically as he cut through the harness. "This is all on me, baby."
"I shouldn’t have come here… I forced you into leaving with me…"
"Teagan, look at me. Look at me." Noah's eyes were red and pained. "This is not your fault. Do you understand me? This is my fault, baby, and you're not going down for it."
The sound of sirens blasted through my ears and panic tore through me. Noah hissed out a sharp breath. "The second this belt cracks, I want you to get out of this car and run." He caught my chin between his fingers. "Do not stop running. Do not wait for me."
He kissed me hard and I felt the belt give way.
"Do it," he hissed. "Run."
****