Page 176 of Under the Lies

Harlow looks away from glaring at me to stare at the ledger, seeing that her bargaining chip is no more.

She’s lost.

“What’re you going to do to me, Noah?” But that doesn’t stop her from using a flirtatious tone with Noah right in front of me.

My fists clench at my sides.

“Nothing.”

Excuse me?

Everyone looks to him in shock.

He’s not going to do anything? After all this time, seriously?

Before I can slap him upside the head, he adds, “I’m not physically going to harm a single dark hair on your head, Harlow. Not when I’m banishing you out of the city. No longer are you allowed to step foot in Haven Harbor.”

Harlow might not be an idiot, but she also doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. “That’s…so unlike you.”

She stares at Noah like he’s a stranger. So are his friends.

Me? I can’t form any thoughts, not when he turns his attention toward me. “Yeah well, I made a promise to someone that I intend to keep.”

Gorgeous and fierce, his gaze burns into my skin as his words wash over me. Bathing me in these warm fuzzy feelings that twist me from the inside out.

He remembered.

“But you have a lot of enemies, Harlow.” Noah looks back at her, watching the color slowly leave her face. “A lot of people who want to get their hands on you from all the shit you’ve done and I was just at the top of the list. So you better run and you better hide, you don’t have The Underground’s protection anymore.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen my sister so pale by the time Noah’s done talking. Gone is the anger in her face, replaced by a sense of fear that touches even me. She’s being kicked out of the only place she’s ever called home and that’s worse than any kind of physical punishment.

Which is why Noah did it.

By keeping the promise he made to me many weeks ago, he gets to hit Harlow right where it hurts.

Her hubris.

He’s taking away the one thing she can’t get back.

Her freedom.

Her home.

And I wish I could make myself feel bad, but for the first time in my twenty-five years, my warm and compassionate heart has turned cold.

“You can’t be serious,” she finally says, but it’s weak. Slight panic hangs onto the edges. Harlow looks scared.

And Noah feeds off it.

He gives her a predator’s smile. “A hundred percent.” He steps close to where she’s still locked in Gabe’s arms, pinching her chin between two of his fingers.

Noah brings their faces together. His voice is chilling enough to bring goose bumps to my skin. “If I ever see you or get even the tiniest whiff that you’re back, I will find you. And I will end you. I won’t give a shit at whom you’re related to. Understood?”

My sister doesn’t nod. She can’t. He has her trapped between his two fingers.

She stares at him, instead. And for several beats, they stay locked in that position until finally Noah lets her go and steps to the side. He gestures toward the door. “Get her out of here.”

Gabe and Reeve flank either side of my sister but they take several steps before Noah’s voice stops them. “Oh, and Harlow? You have five minutes to get out of this city once you leave this building.”

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