Page 2 of Million Dollar High

“Don’t you dare leave me here in the fucking Twilight Zone all by myself.” It was a fucked-up time to be making jokes. But the very blatant reality that she was pulling away from him threatened to send him down a tunnel he didn’t want to contemplate.

“Leia—”

Noah twisted round, unable to stop the snarl surging from his throat. “Do not say her name. You have two options, Snyder: you either sit down and shut the fuck up or you leave right now. You know where the hell the door is. You don’t control her anymore. Got that?”

Warren Snyder’s demeanor remained the same. Cold, non-reactive dead eyes, which sent an uneasy sensation down Noah’s spine. But to his credit, Snyder sat back down, crossed his legs and steepled his fingers together.

Noah turned back to Leia. Her eyes met his. He breathed a sigh of relief to see that the haunted look had dissipated somewhat.

“I need to go,” she said.

Anxiety rose to mingle with the shitload of emotions coursing through him. She was reeling, he got that. But the irrational part of him, which suggested she was giving in to what Snyder wanted, rose and slapped him in the face. “No, you don’t.” His response was rough with anger. “We had plans.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?”

His grip tightened on her arm in acknowledgement of herdisbelief. “Jesus, I don’t know what the hell I am, but I know I don’t want you to leave. Not now.”Not ever.

She shook her head and closed her eyes. The look that washed over her face cut right through him. “Noah, I can’t stay. You know that, right?”

“Says who?”

“She’s right, Noah. What we need to discuss is just between you and?—”

“Shut the hell up, Ashley.”

Unable to stand the look on Leia’s face, he slid his hand down her arm and dragged her to the sliding doors. Stabbing the button that parted them, he led her to the terrace. The crisp and fresh breeze from the ocean promised a bright new day.

After the night he’d spent with Leia, their fiery row and their even more tempestuous making up, it was a day that should’ve harkened a new and glorious beginning. It had, all right. Except he’d never have foreseen this version of it in his wildest dreams.

He stopped beside the gleaming pool and looked down at her. She’d grown paler, and her lips trembled before she pursed them.

“Leia, I know this was a curveball neither of us expected. Hell, I can’t even begin to think straight about any of this, but leaving isn’t going to solve anything. It’s selfish, I know, but I’m asking you to stay.”

“Why? What good could I possibly offer here? Warren is right?—”

“You fucking agree with anything Snyder has to say about us and I won’t be responsible for what happens next,” he said through jaws clenched so tight he expected them to snap in half.

“I’m sorry, I know you don’t like him?—”

He snorted, cutting her off.

“And I know I’ve been blind to certain indicators,” she continued with a small frown. “But he’s right.”

His vision threatened to cloud again. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sucked in breath. “No, he’s not. He’s a goddamn?—”

“Noah, you’re going to be a father.” The words were hushed, dropped into the middle of his rage with soft, agonized whispers.

He froze, unable to look away from the anguish in her eyes.

Reality rose in twenty-foot waves. Regardless of how he felt about Ashley, she was most likely carrying his child. She wouldn’t be so bold, so smug, if there wasn’t some truth to her assertion.

“Do you even know how you feel about that?” Leia shook her head. “You don’t need me around. I’d only confuse issues.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? I want you here. You belong with me.”

“I can’t be here, Noah. I can’t be the support you need.” Her voice broke. She tried to move away again.

He caught her to him, selfishly drawing on her warmth, on the memory of last night and what he’d felt in her arms. She’d tried to leave then, too, thinking she wouldn’t be enough for him.

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