Page 104 of Noah

“This is crazy. I mean the people here. How did you get so many people to come?” The Numbers were idols to some people, but not all.

He snorted and glanced at her with surprise when he realised, she was serious.

Noah held his hands up like scales. “Numbers open an art gallery with an unknown author connected to Moon versus another boring expensive dinner.”

“When you put it like that, anything sounds better than another boring expensive dinner,” Adrienne said with a smile.

Noah’s grin was quick to form, though his eyes still held a question.

“How much is the art gallery taking?” she asked.

“Usually much more. Tonight, however, with our presence I managed to get them to settle for twenty per cent.”

“Wow, that’s much lower than I was going to ask for.” Adrienne was planning to offer thirty-five and would be happy with anything under forty-five after negotiations.

“I was happy to do it. I wanted you to have this. You deserve this because you worked hard, and you need to see how good your work is.” He rubbed his head and his hair messed up a little, a pin falling free.

He cursed and bent down to pick it up. He grabbed the pin and just as he was coming up an obnoxious voice sneered, “Just where you belong isn’t it?”

The male who had approached them was short and sporting a pot belly. He held his hands importantly in front of him, making sure they could see all his gold adornments. Everything about him was dark. A dark beard and dark hair added width to his unattractive pudgy face that he didn’t need.

“Excuse me.” Adrienne was shocked and may have said it louder than she meant.

The male tittered like a little girl and waved his hand. “Apologies. Just a wee joke. You understand.” His voice was a little harsh at the end, urging them not to cause a scene. Adrienne couldn’t believe what she had heard. Noah scoffed and straightened, the pin in his hand digging into his palm.

“And you, my dear, look at you. They tell me the golden girl is the artist. I take it that clever term is referring to you, our golden girl.” He leaned close, too close; she could smell fish on his breath. “Are you gold all over?”

Adrienne gasped shocked and Noah growled.

“I beg your pardon!” Adrienne sounded like an old English matron, but she was so startled she honestly didn’t know how to respond.

She couldn’t slap him, so her mouth just fell open.

“Close your mouth, dear,” the male said gritting his teeth. “Unless you want to put it to use. There’s a back room. If you let me use your mouth, I’ll pay double whatever your most expensive painting is.”

Noah reacted before she could. Noah lifted the male, his feet dangling off the floor, and everyone stared at him. “Apologise to the lady,” he growled.

“Foul beast,” he shouted, and when he noticed he had everyone’s attention he started wriggling. “You saw that he assaulted me. He won’t let me down.”

“The joke this time is on you. When we leave Moon, we make it a habit to wear cameras on our bodies and recording devices. After a couple of nasty mishaps like this one we learned our lesson,” Noah snarled.

The male paled and everyone now realising the drama was over, turned away from him. The message couldn’t be clearer. He was on his own.

“Ah, Fitzwilliam,” Briar said, appearing at their side with Mhane in tow. “It’s good to see you.” His tight smile said otherwise.

“I caught his derogatory remarks.”

“Good.” Briar’s teeth flashed white. “Victor mentioned how you hassled him. He’ll be pleased.”

The male’s face fell before he lifted and straightened his suit over his bulging stomach. “You’re all animals anyway. What do I care? You should find yourself someone more suitable little lady,” he directed at her.

Noah was about to pin his hair back, but she stopped him. This was who he was. Not brushed to perfection, primped, and shiny. If her choices were between false perfection and rough idols, then she would choose the rough idol every time.

And hadn’t she?

She could have given up in the beginning, she could have let oblivion take her. Instead, she struggled to hold on because something told her it was worth holding on to. A promise in her mind that there was something good about to happen.

Adrienne turned to Noah and carefully pulled away the pins. “There! You look much more like my Noah.”

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