Noah

“YOU’RE FUCKING HER!” Maurice yells the minute I close the door. I walk past him and back into the kitchen to sign the contracts that should have been mailed and not hand delivered.

“We are not talking about her,” I reply as Maurice starts to pace the kitchen.

“You were supposed to be looking for Nick, not fucking his mistress,” Maurice spits out and I see red when he calls her Nick’s mistress.

“Will you fuck off? I didn’t know who she was until you showed me those damn pictures AFTER I got back home,” I remind him, and he starts to chuckle.

I clenched my mouth tighter as I turned away from Maurice. When I went back to Boston Maurice gave me information that I wish I never had received. He handed me a folder that had photos of Nick and Alexis…together.

All this time I was looking for clues about Nick’s disappearance and I was sleeping with the person who had them.

“You know who she is now and still you didn’t put your dick away, did you? His voice was heavy with sarcasm

“Who the fuck are you talking to, Maurice?” I ask, and he shakes his head and walks out of the room. I grab the signed paperwork and follow him. Maurice heads straight for the front window and glances out for a few /minutes before turning to look at me.

“There is shit you don’t know, Noah. I didn’t want to tell you this, but I think Nick was connected,” Maurice whispers and I tilt my head.

“What do you mean connected? Connected to what?”

“I think Nick was connected to the mob,” Maurice says, and I immediately shake the thought off. There is no way in hell Nick was connected to the damn mob. Nick was so clean he practically squeaked when he walked. I let out a small growl as Maurice turns to face me.

“I can promise that you're wrong. Hell, I would believe it more if you said I was connected. Nick would never get involved in that shit,” I said matter-of-factly.

“Noah… the PI that was watching him, told me that he saw Nick with known mobsters. I would have gotten more information if he didn’t deliver me the photos and basically disappeared on me.” Maurice replies, and he now has my full attention

“What do you mean he disappeared?

“I mean that the last time I saw him he was so fucking scared I thought he would piss his pants talking to me. He told me that he would contact me in a few days and I haven’t heard from him. I tried calling him and his voicemail box is full. He has dropped off the grid.” Maurice advises.

“Maybe he just got sick of dealing with you,” I tell him in a grudging voice.

“No. He was scared, Noah. I hate to bring this up, but if Nick was involved in the Mob, your little girlfriend knows about it. Did you even tell her that you’re Nick’s brother?” he asks, and I shake my head

“No. I want her to open up to me when she is ready.”

“Do I need to remind you that your parents and Sam are in Boston thinking you’re here looking for him?” Maurice says to me as if I need the reminder.

“Let’s say your PI is right and Nick did get tied into this mob shit. Maybe that’s why he walked away from us. He would never want to bring that shit near our parents or Sam,” I tell him, and he closes his eyes and reopens them, looking at me.

“Or maybe he can’t figure out how to get out,” he says.

After Maurice has completely fucked up my mind, he catches a flight back to Boston. I have never felt more relieved to see anyone leave. He’s been full of bad news lately. First, he shows me those damn pictures of Alexis with Nick and now he’s trying to convince me that Nick was in the mob?

I don’t care what any PI says, if he can’t provide the evidence to back up the claim. Nick was never and could never be involved with the mob. Maurice is only providing circumstantial evidence and unless Nick tells me personally, I won’t believe any of it. Nothing is worse than believing things about people when it comes from an unreliable source. If you want the facts about a person, you should ask that person.

A few hours later, I am standing in Alexis’ busy store.

The girl that was here the last time, finishes with her customer and smiles as she walks over toward me.

“Hi. I take it you're waiting for Alexis? She asks and there is a gentle softness in her voice.

“I am.” My tone was apologetic. I know Alexis hates me coming here and the girl sticks out her hand to me and my eyebrows lift.

“I’m Adele, her sister-in-law,” she said firmly. I nod my head and place my hand in hers.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Noah.”

Adele softly nods her head and opens her mouth to say something, but before anything comes out, Alexis interrupts us, grabbing me by the arm. As she is pulling me out the store, she tells Adele that she will be back in ten minutes. Adele nods and waves at me and I lift my hand to wave back, but I bump into someone. Alexis gasps and I turn to meet the angry dark eyes of her brother, who I recall seeing at Deluca’s. He takes a deep breath and looks between Alexis and me and I wonder why the hell is this guy so pissed off. You would think that he just caught me leaving with his wife and not his sister?

“Alexis…what the fuck is going on?” his contemptuous tone was starting to spark my anger. I shake Alexis’ arm off and I start to inch closer to him and Alexis moves to stand in front of me.

“Alex… don’t!” her tone had become chilly and again I wonder what the hell is going on between these two.

“I thought we already discussed him,” he said in a harsh, raw voice.

“Alex!” Adele shouts and he, Alexis, and I all turn to see that Adele is now standing in the doorway with us. “Alex… can I talk to you NOW?” Adele asks, and Alex lets out a long, audible breath. He narrows his eyes at me and heads into the store following Adele.

Alexis and I watch as he walks away, and I turn my attention back to her. She looks back at me with tears in her eyes and shakes her head. I step closer to her and she backs away from me.

“You don’t know what you just did by showing up here.” Alexis shook her head in dismay and for the first time I take a deep breath and I walk away from her.