Audi took a few steps backward, reeling from Noah’s punch.
“Well, well, well,” Audi said, his tongue snaking out and licking his upper lip, which was already beginning to swell. “The prodigal son returns.”
“Fuck you,” Noah said. He rushed over to me and undid my shackles. “Shit,” he breathed when he saw the cut on my side. He ran his finger over it, the blood staining his skin as it smeared across my flesh. “It’s okay,” he said. “It’s not deep.” He reached up and pushed my hair off my face, looking me over. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“I’m okay,” I said, rubbing my sore wrists. My arms felt like I’d been lifting weights for hours, and my whole body was shaking.
Noah looked me over again, then turned back to Audi.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, you sadistic son of a bitch?”
Audi licked his lips again. “Playing.”
“How’d you find her?”
He grinned. “She was sent to me.”
“By who?”
Audi shrugged. “I dunno.”
Noah pulled back and punched him again, this time sending a sickening blow to Audi’s nose. There was the sound of bones crushing and blood rushed down Audi’s face in a river.
“Noah!” I screamed and grabbed at his arm. He tried to push me off of him and go after Audi again, but before he could, Audi ran out the door, disappearing down the hall.
Noah’s chest heaved, his breath coming in rapid gasps. I kept my hand on his arm, just in case he had any ideas about going after Audi.
He turned to me. “You shouldn’t have run away from me like that,” he said. “What the hell were you thinking, Charlotte?”
I shook my head. “No way, “ I said. “Don’t even try to put this on me.” I reached down and grabbed at my ruined dressed, trying to cover myself as best I could. “Are you going to tell me what the fuck is going on?”
He shook his head. “I need to get you out of here. The car is waiting out front.”
“No.” Adrenaline was coursing through my body, and I was scared to death. If Noah hadn’t come to look for me, if I’d been left alone with Audi James…I shivered, thinking about what might have happened. Would he have killed me? Would I have been raped or cut up or hurt? The possibilities were horrific and unimaginable.
I didn’t want to spend one more second in Force. But for the first time in my whole relationship with Noah, I had power. He wanted me to leave the club – but I wasn’t going to do that until he provided me with at least a little information.
“Charlotte,” Noah said. “I don’t have the patience for this. You’re going to come with me. You’re going to get in the car. And we’re going to get out of here.”
“No.” I stuck my chin in the air. “You stopped having the right to tell me what to do when you ripped up our contract.”
I saw the pain flash in his eyes, saw the regret written on his face. It was one of the first times I’d seen any real emotion from him – usually he was as hard and as impenetrable as stone. But I didn’t care. I didn’t care if he was upset. I was upset, too. This whole thing with him had been confusing and heartbreaking and confusing. I didn’t know how I could feel so close to someone and yet so far from them at the same time. And when he ripped up that contract, it felt like he was ripping my heart in two.
“Charlotte,” Noah said again.
“No.” My voice cracked, but I kept my gaze locked on his, daring him to contradict me. “I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what the fuck is going on.”
He took in a deep breath, the pain in his eyes morphing into anger. “Charlotte,” he said, his voice raising. “Do. Not. Push. Me.”
But I was done listening to him, done letting him have all the control. “No I’m not going anywhere with you, Noah. Not until you tell me what happened here tonight.”
“Charlotte –”
“Stop saying my name!” I raged, my hands balling into fists at my side. I took a deep breath. “You know what? Forget it. I’m leaving.”
I went to push by him, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back toward him. His chest pressed against mine, so tight that I could feel his heart beating. He tilted my chin up until my eyes met his.
“Charlotte,” he whispered. “Please, I don’t…” He trailed off, seemingly at a loss for words for the first time since I’d met him. He pushed a stray hair off my forehead and for one blissful moment, I thought he was going to kiss me.
Kiss me, I thought. Kiss me and tell me you’re sorry. Tell me you just got scared, tell me you take it all back, tell me you have some explanation for all the crazy things that have been happening. I’ll believe you, even if none of it makes sense.