Page 154 of Chasing Infinity

“And to lose your job on top of everything,” the voice tuts. “What a shame. You must really feel like a winner right now.”

“Yes, Father. I can really see your sympathy is really shining through,” a voice I recognize as Noah responds stiffly. I wonder how Declan found that out when Noah hasn’t even toldmehe lost his job.

“Well, sometimes things work out better than you imagined. Trust me, it wasn’t my intention, but I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” With this last sentence, it all seems to click into place now. Declan McCoy is inside my apartment. A shiver runs through my whole body, and I clench my teeth. Everything Noah told me about his father earlier is now coming to light. I’ve always known something was off about the mayor, but now that I’m experiencing this side of him in person, there is no going back.

“I’m sure you won’t,” Noah’s voice still sounds tired, and I wonder if he even got the chance to rest before his father came and accosted him.

“Maybe this is the best solution,” Declan starts, sounding bored. In my mind’s eye, I can almost picture him examining his cuticles as he says this. “Now that you’reofficiallyoff the case, you have nothing left keeping you here.”

“Is that so?”

“I would imagine. Perhaps we can revisit our previous arrangement. I really would hate for you to suffer more than you already have, but I’ll admit, you’re a loose cannon. I can’t have you wandering around my town threatening to go off any minute. I’ll give you til the end of the week to leave my town. Now that your mother is gone, I trust this time will be permanent. The original ultimatum still stands. It’s time to move past your ridiculous notion and get on with our lives.”

I decide I’ve heard enough, and I push through the door. Both men turn to face me. My eyes instantly find Noah, and his shoulders stiffen as soon as he sees me enter the room. He takes a step towards me but doesn’t come any closer.

My eyes travel over to Declan, and I scowl at him. His lips pull up into a sardonic smile at the sight of me. “Ah, Ms. Parks. Wonderful for you to join us.”

“What are you doing here?” I ask him, my voice tight.

Declan spares a glance at Noah before turning back to me. “I was just checking up on my son. I was concerned after I heard about the accident.”

Based on what I just heard, Declan was doing everythingbutchecking up on his son’s wellbeing.

“I think you should leave,” I say to Noah’s father, standing tall. I tilt my chip up at him, though I’m a good foot shorter than him at best.

Noah’s father stares down his nose at me and gives me an amused glare as if I’m a little bug on his windshield. “As you wish, Ms. Parks.”

I glance at Noah and see him practically vibrating with anger. His good hand is gripped into a tight fist at his side. Declan turns to give him one last withering look before he opens the front door and steps outside.

As he steps outside, a heavy silence falls over the apartment. Noah is seething next to me, and I’m hesitant to say anything.

Then as if the timer has finally ticked all the way down, Noah explodes. In one swift movement, he reaches for the water glass on the table next to him and picks it up before chucking it at the wall opposite where we’re standing.

The glass shatters into a thousand pieces, falling to the floor. I wince from the impact and look to Noah in concern. His shoulders rise and fall rapidly with his increased breaths, and then he slumps down onto the closest chair to him, burying his face in his left hand.

Noah has taken a lot of blows in the last few days, and it seems this one was the last straw. I don’t know what Declan said to him, but whatever it was, it really hurt Noah.

The man I love so desperately breaks right in front of me, and there is nothing I can do.

I stand there in the aftermath for a second too long before I kick into gear. I take two quick strides over to him and take a seat. Noah’s uninjured fist moves into his hair and clenches at the strands. His eyes are screwed shut as he attempts to get control of his breathing. His other hand rests against his knees.

My hand gently rests on his shoulders, his tight muscles bunching together underneath my touch. He’s so warm as if his fight-or-flight mechanism is running off the charts. Sweat seeps through the thin cotton of his shirt.

I won’t lie and say that seeing Declan McCoy in my home wasn’t alarming—especially knowing what I know now. I can’t imagine what it felt like for Noah. All of his life, he’s struggled with his father seeming to be the villain of his story, and he can’t ever seem to catch a break. Declan McCoy has an incredible knack for knowing when Noah is the weakest and taking that opportunity to strike.

“Noah?” I ask softly, carefully. “Do you want to talk about it?”

It takes a moment, but then the floodgates open.

“What is there to talk about, Parks? It won’t change anything. Nothing I do matters! I can run away, and toss everything I care about to the side, so he doesn’t try to destroy them. I can change my name, but it doesn’t matter. He’ll always be a part of me and in my life in one way or another, and it infuriates me!” Noah says softly at first and then raises his voice as he finishes, “I just want to be free!”

I stay right by his side and weather the storm. Noah’s anger doesn’t frighten me. I know that nothing in this world could push him to the point of hurting me.

But right now, he’s the one hurting. Noah has shattered into a million pieces, just like the glass he threw at the wall.

Chapter 39

Noah

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