Page 51 of Saving Noah

Chapter 13

Zach said a curse word with every passing second as he waited for the elevator to reach his and Noah’s floor. He’d received a call from Cameron about twenty minutes ago, telling him Noah needed him to come home. He didn’t know what the fuck was going on, but it was bad if Cameron was involved.

This washisfault. Whatever had happened was his fault because he hadn’t had the balls to tell Noah how he really felt about him. The look in Noah’s eyes that morning when he’d left him had damned near destroyed him. Why was he so fucked up? Why did he allow his father to still control his life? Other than Connor and Denala, Noah was the only good thing in his life…the onlyrealthing.

He never should have left him when it had been so plain to see how badly he was hurting. The doors slid open, and he let himself into Noah’s apartment as quickly as the locking mechanisms would allow. Once inside, he heard voices yelling down the hall—angry voices. Frowning, he made his way to Noah’s bedroom. When he got there, he stood frozen in the doorway and watched as two EMTs tried to calm Noah down as they worked on a fresh wound on his forehead.

What the fuck? How had he gotten hurt?

On top of that, Noah was screaming at Cameron. Zach might not be a fan of Noah’s FBI guardian, but he almost felt sorry for him at the moment. The man looked confused…and almost frightened. Apparently, he wasn’t accustomed to Noah voicing his opinion.

“What happened, Noah?” Zach asked as he walked into the room. With an authority he didn’t really possess, he told the EMTs to step aside, and he immediately started applying pressure to the head wound. “Are you okay, babe?”

“Does he sound fucking okay?” Cameron screeched, finding his tongue and balls as soon as he noticed Zach had arrived. “He’s losing his fucking mind and won’t listen to reason. You need to calm him down before I have him committed somewhere.”

Zach heard himself growl, and the look he sent Cameron’s direction must have successfully told the other man exactly what he thought about his comment. He opened his mouth to demand Cameron get the fuck out of Noah’s apartment, but Noah interrupted him.

“Don’t let him call them, Zach. Please don’t let him call. If he calls them, I’ll disappear. I won’t ever see you again. Please don’t let him. You’ve got to stop him. I’ve tried, but he won’t listen to a damned thing I say. You’ve got to reason with him,” he pleaded.

Noah’s words weren’t making a hell of a lot of sense. Zach decided his time would be better spent focusing on what Noah had to say, to find out what had happened while he’d been at work. “What happened, Noah? What upset you? Was it because of…me…and this morning?” He didn’t know how else to say it, especially with a room full of people he either didn’t know or didn’t like. The EMTs looked nervous as hell. Cameron looked rattled to his core.

“No, we’re good,” Noah answered quickly. “Cameron’s going to call the FBI and tell them what happened, though. That’s bad. You can’t let him do it. You can’t, Zach. You know what will happen to me.”

Noah’s blue eyes pleaded with him to do…something.

Cameron must have finally realized the danger of what Noah revealed because he quickly ushered the EMTs out of the bedroom, closing the door firmly in their faces after telling them to wait in the living room. The three of them listened as the EMTs’ footsteps faded as they walked down the hall. When they could no longer be heard, Cameron said, “Since it appearsNoahhas broken every rule regarding his safety, I guess you know about his past. No one is supposed to know who he is, but you do. Since you already know the ugly past he’s hiding from, you might as well know Moretti made contact with Noah this morning, left him some threatening notes. One in his gym locker and one on his refrigerator, which means Moretti has complete access to Noah. When he found the note in his apartment, it triggered a panic attack and he hit the alert button on his bracelet. They called me.”

Cameron sent an ugly frown in Noah’s direction. Noah flipped him off in response. Zach would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so dire.

“Oh, yeah, Noah,” Cameron snarled. “That’s real cute, asshole. Flip me off. I don’t care. I have a job to do, and I plan on doing it. You can pout all you want. Your life is in danger. Moretti knows where you are! Hell, both our lives are probably in danger because of you and your inability to keep your mouth shut.”

Zach gave Noah’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze and said, “Tell me everything, Cameron. We both want to keep Noah safe, so let’s try to work together.”

“All you need to know is he’s threatening to call the FBI. He can’t do that, Zach. You can’t let him,” Noah pleaded.

Zach pulled out his phone and texted Connor, telling him he needed him—Moretti had found Noah. After sending the message, he checked beneath the gauze he had pressed to Noah’s head. The bleeding had stopped. The gash didn’t look bad enough to need stitches, but it was, unfortunately, in the exact place as his last head wound.

“Listen, babe,” he coaxed quietly. “Cameron’s job is to keep you safe and that involves informing the FBI Moretti has found you. He’s only trying to do what’s right.”

The look of fury and betrayal in Noah’s eyes took Zach’s breath away.

“You want them to take me away? To make me disappear? I know you don’t love me the way I love you, Zach, but I thought you cared for me. You’re okay with never seeing me again? Okay with not knowing where I am or if I’m safe?”

Of course, he wasn’t okay with any of that. He started to respond but then stopped as the truth hit him. The FBI would simply come in and force Noah to disappear again. He would never see him again; never know he was safe and not suffering with his mental health issues. He would never touch him again…never hear him say “I’m falling in love with you” again.

Forcing Noah to leave his safety zone was not only dangerous but it would cause a certain amount of mental anguish. Noah was right, the FBI couldn’t get involved, but convincing Cameron to not tell them was out of the question, too. Cameron hadn’t been a good caregiver, but Zach doubted he would do anything that would put his own safety in jeopardy. From what Connor had told him about Moretti, everyone within a ten mile radius of Noah would be in danger.

Moretti could bring it on as far as Zach was concerned. He’d gladly defend Noah with his life.

He turned to Cameron and asked, “Have you contacted them yet, Cameron?”

Cameron rolled his eyes in disgust and answered, “How could I? I’ve had crazy man screaming at me nonstop since he regained consciousness. Fuck, Doc. What have you turned him in to? I’m already at the point where I miss little Mr. Scaredy-Cat and the fuck knows I never thought I would make that statement.”

Zach noticed how Noah’s entire body grew taut from Cameron’s thoughtless words. He’d forgotten just how obnoxious the bastard behaved when it came to dealing with Noah’s phobias. “You aren’t crazy, Noah. Don’t listen to him,” he said. To Cameron, he ordered, “Shut the fuck up with that kind of talk. If you can’t say something to help the situation, then keep your goddamn mouth shut.” He was way past the point of worrying about what type of influence or power Cameron had over Noah.

“It isn’t that,” Noah answered in a voice quivering with fury. “I’m used to him telling me I’m crazy. I learned to ignore that shit for what it was. No, I’m talking about what he just called me. Scaredy-Cat.” His eyes narrowed as he glared at Cameron. “You’ve called me that hundreds of times, Cameron.”

“So? If the shoe fits…”

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