Page 106 of Treacherous

"We've been boyfriend and girlfriend for less than a month," I managed to choke out, my voice thick with emotion. "Don’t you think you're being a little full on?"

"We've been a lot more than this for a lot longer than that, Thorn," he husked, pressing a kiss to my lips. "You know it as well as I do."

I nodded and wrapped my arms around his neck

Noah was right. I knew it too, and that knowledge scared me to death.

****

Max's face, when I climbed out of Noah's car after school, was one of pure unadulterated rage. He stood on our porch glaring down at us as Noah rounded the car and pulled me into his arms.

"Your uncle sure looks chipper this evening," he chuckled before pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"Yep," I replied with a sigh as I wrapped my arms around Noah's waist and hugged him tightly. I knew I was going to hear about this from Max but to be honest I really didn’t give a damn of what he thought anymore. I was quickly discovering the only thing I truly cared about was the boy whose arms were wrapped around me.

"I'll see you tonight, okay," Noah whispered, stroking my cheek with his thumb. "After he falls asleep…"

"I'll leave a key under the mat," I told him before reaching up and covering his mouth with mine.

When Noah eventually stopped kissing me and went inside his house, I remained standing in my driveway, staring at the front of his house.

I needed to help him.

I couldn’t sit back and wait for George to return and ruin his life all over again.

I needed to fight for Noah Messina just as viciously as he fought for his mom.

****

Chapter 22

Noah

"We need to talk about where your loyalties rest, kid," was the first thing I heard when I opened my front door Tuesday morning and my heart sank.

He was home.

Back to reality…

"I'm late for school, George," I replied stiffly as I closed the front door and made for the stairs. Ellie had returned from their trip two weeks ago and when George hadn’t returned with her a tiny part of me had hoped – fucking prayed – he never would… "We can talk about myloyaltieslater."

I'd spent most of the night fooling around with Teagan, but I'd slipped out of her room at the crack of dawn before her uncle came home. Besides I needed to go home and grab a shower before school.

Now I was wishing I had just gone stinking and bookless. It would have been a hell of a lot easier than having a confrontation with mystepfather.

The sound of the staircase creaking behind me confirmed George wasn’t in the mood to wait.

"You don’t make the rules around here, Messina," George rasped as he hurried after me, also confirming to me that I had a fifty percent change of making it out of here unscathed. "JD seems to be under the impression you're seeing that little bitch next-door," he snarled. "He reckons she's been spotted at the quarry twice – and was with you at the hotel."

"Yep," I muttered through clenched, pushing my bedroom door open. "She was." There was no point in lying. He would find out either way.

"What's going on with her, Noah?" he wheezed, standing in my doorway. "You know better than to stick your fingers in the goddamn cookie jar. Her uncle's a doctor for Christ's sakes – that’s almost as bad as a cop."

"Sheis none of your business," I warned him, reeling from the emotions that were seeping into my body. "I fight for you – that's the agreement – and I do it when I'm told, no questions asked. But you sure as hell don’t get to tell me who I can spend my time with," I added as I rummaged in one of my dresser drawers for a clean pair of socks and boxers.

"Spending time with her?" George sneered as he took a step into my room. "So that's what Ellie saw you doing – spending time with her – when you were screwing her in my goddamn kitchen?"

"Be very careful, G," I seethed. Walking over to my closet, I grabbed a clean pair of jeans, t-shirt and hoodie. "I'm feeling really fucking reckless right now. One more word against her and I'm gonna lost my shit."

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