What He Reveals(7)

“He’s… wait, what?”

“He’s my brother.” Noah turned away from me then, breaking the spell, and began gathering up the empty gauze packets and other trash that was littering the counter.

“He’s… the brother you talked about at the restaurant?” The brother who had turned on Noah, who’d said Noah had attacked his stepfather unprovoked, the reason Noah had a juvenile record.

“Yes.” He finished cleaning up and threw the trash into the stainless steel garbage can. Then he turned and walked out of the bathroom and into the suite, sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands.

“Audi James in my brother. He killed that woman. I’m sure of it. And I got him off. I helped him when he was in trouble, because he’s my brother and because I’m fucking idiot.”

I swallowed hard and wrapped my arms around myself, letting his words settle over me. Noah had known Audi was guilty, and he’d defended him even after what Audi had done to him, because Noah had wanted that connection. That family connection. And he’d gotten Audi off. And now he felt guilty about it.

“And now Audi has groupies,” I said.

“Yes. He has groupies who pay to see him at Force, who get off on a murder fantasy.”

“But he doesn’t actually kill any of them.”

“Not yet.” There was a moment of silence, and then he looked up at me. “Who told you to go to that room, Charlotte?”

I took a deep breath. “I got an anonymous call.”

“You what?”

“In your office earlier. When I went to the bathroom, I got an anonymous call. They told me to go to Force and find Audi James.”

“What the fuck, Charlotte?” Noah got up and began pacing the room, running his hand through his hair, his body a coil of energy, ready to explode. “You got an anonymous call telling you to go to Force and you didn’t think it might have been a good idea to mention that to me?”

“Mention it to you? For what? I mean, you knew anyway, right?” I countered. “Isn’t that why you ripped up the contract?”

“Who was it?” he demanded. “Who called you?”

“I told you, I don’t know. All he said was that he was a friend. He called me again in the club and told me to ask for The Dark Room. So I did.”

He stared at me incredulously. “That was incredibly, incredibly stupid of you, Charlotte.” He began to cross the room toward the door, like maybe he was going to leave.

“Where are you going?” I demanded. Fear flooded through my body. I was afraid that if he left, he wasn’t going to come back. Ever. And the thought of not seeing him again was unbearable.

“Back to Force,” he said. “To find out who called you and kill them.”

“Noah!” I said, stepping in front of him. “Stop! You’re acting crazy.”

“Am I?” he demanded. “Am I really? That motherfucker had you in a room with a knife up to your body, Charlotte. He’s a murderer. He killed that woman. Do you understand that?”

I nodded. “I didn’t know…”

“No, you didn’t. But you would have if you’d just told me, if you’d just used that extremely intelligent brain of yours to really think instead of just doing whatever the hell you wanted!”

I was still in front of the door, blocking his way, and I crossed my arms over my chest. “Oh, right,” I said. “I shouldn’t have kept any information to myself. I should have shared it, just like you do, right, Noah?”

“What I do is my business, Charlotte.”

“Really?” I threw my hands up in the air. “Really? Is that really what you think? That everything that happens to you has to be kept to yourself? You’ve been arrested for murder, Noah. Murder. You could end up in jail for the rest of your life. Life. In. Prison. Try to keep your privacy in prison, Noah. See how well that works out for you.”

“I haven’t been convicted yet, have I?”

“No, you haven’t. But you will be if you keep sabotaging your own case. Didn’t you think it was important to tell your lawyer that you have a brother who’s a murderer, who also hung out at Force? A brother you have a complicated history with, who might have a reason to hurt people close to you? Didn’t you think it might be a good idea for the police to look into where Audi was when Katie died?”

“I did.”

“What?” I shook my head, confused. “You never mentioned anything to me about Audi James, Noah.”

“You’re not my lawyer, Charlotte,” he said. “Colin Worthington knows about Audi, and it’s been looked into. Audi has an alibi.”