Page 112 of Treacherous

"I'll leave a note." I couldn’t think too much about Max and how what I was doing would make him feel – if I did it was possible the guilt would break me down.

Hope stared at me for a long moment before sighing and nodding her head. "I understand why you're doing this," she told me as she got to her feet and embraced me in a hug. "Just…just stay in touch, okay. Don’t forget me…"

"Never," I replied.

The sound of someone clearing their throat alerted me to the fact that Hope and I were no longer alone.

Noah stood in the doorway of my bedroom, with one lone duffel bag in his hand and that fire he lit inside of me the very first day I laid eyes on him roared to life. My body seemed to hum with electricity when he was near.

"Keep in touch," Hope choked out as she pressed a kiss to my cheek.

"I will," I told her.

"And you too," Hope added, stepping towards Noah. Wrapping her arms around him, Hope stretched up and whispered. "Don’t break her," before rushing from the room.

And then she was gone and I was left on my own with Noah.

"Have you got everything you need?" I asked him, my voice thick with emotion. It had been hard saying goodbye to Hope. I was really going to miss that girl…

"Come here," Noah murmured, taking a step towards me.

I didn’t need to be asked twice. I rushed over to him and allowed him to envelope me in a hug that touched parts of me only he could.

"Any regrets?" Noah asked me in a soft tone.

"Nope," I whispered. "Not one."

****

Noah

I needed to leave.

My fight was in less than an hour and if I didn’t get a move on soon I'd be late.

But Christ, I was fighting my hardest battle right now, trying to force my body out of her bed. Because my heart sure as hell didn’t want to leave her. Teagan looked so innocent and carefree when she was sleeping that I wished I could just melt into the duvet with her and disappear right now.

A million different thoughts and emotions were rushing through me, driving me close to insanity. But the worst thought was about Teagan… about what she would think when she woke up and realized I was gone. When she figured out I wasn’t going to Ireland with her. Would she forgive me?

I hoped like hell she could because I was going to win her back.

I wasn’t losing the fight tonight.

I couldn’t.

Not when I had a future with Teagan to look forward to.

I would find a way of getting my mother away from George and then I'd…and then I'd go get my girl.

"I love you," I whispered into her ear.

I pressed a kiss to her cheek before gently sliding off her bed and creeping out of her room.

****

I practically guessed George had a hidden agenda when he told me to bring Teagan to the fight. At the time I'd just assumed it was his sick attempt at kicking me when I was down, but the second I walked through the doorway of the Hub it became perfectly clear what my step-father's true ulterior motive was.

"Messina." George's raspy voice echoed through the bar and I had to steel myself before looking over. "Get over here now, kid."

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