SOAR (The Indigo Lounge Series Book 4) (3 page)

She’d
gone on the Indigo Lounge trip to wash away the memories of what her stepfather
had done to her, to regain some of the power he’d taken from her. Little did
she know she’d be walking away with so much
more.
An experience of a lifetime.
An experience
that had been destined to last less than a week.

With an unforgettable man.

Leia
trembled as she gathered her things. The top she’d worn all day yesterday was
creased and smelled bad. On a selfish whim, she decided to keep Noah’s Vassar
College T-shirt. Stuffing her top into her purse, she pushed her feet into her
heels, grabbed the rest of her belongings and rushed back downstairs.

Warren
waited by the front door. Unable to resist, she glanced out to the terrace.
Noah was pacing, his phone clamped to his ear.

He
started to turn toward her, froze with his glance downward and turned back to
the view.

Knowing
the move had been a deliberate effort on his part not to look into the living
room, clawed at her heart. She inhaled shakily.

What
the fuck was she doing? She’d chosen to walk away. Dithering like an idiot only
prolonged the pain.

Resolutely,
she strode to the front door, her hand clamped around her purse. When Warren
sent her one of his calm, barely there smiles, she ignored him. If that was his
version of pity, he could stuff it. She didn’t need anyone’s pity.

Who
the fuck’s business was it that her insides had turned into a barren wasteland?

THREE

“You
heard me correctly. Four, no make that five pregnancy testing kits. I want them
within the hour…” Noah gripped the phone through his PA’s confused stuttering.
“And Maddie? Thank you. I’ll make sure you’re paid an extra month’s salary for
doing this…no, it’s more than you should have to do for me, especially on a
Saturday.” He would’ve gotten the kits himself, except he had no intention of
leaving Ashley alone in his condo, and he liked the thought of going to the
drug store with her in tow even less.

He
hung up and turned toward the sliding doors. His breath punched through his
lungs. Realizing his whole body shook with the effort it took just to face the
doors, he cursed under his breath. He had to go in there. Had to face the fact
that Leia had walked away.

Had
to face the fact that if Ashley wasn’t totally delusional, he was about to
become a father.
Through no choice of his own.
Bewildering anger flashed through him. He battled through it to think
rationally.

He’d
think about Leia later.
Or maybe not.
Maybe he’d
pretend the whole goddamn thing had been a fucking dream. Yeah, right. A
dream
was the reason his insides were eviscerated and why his feet refused to move.

But
he had to move. His ex-fiancée was spinning dreams he had to nuke before they
got even crazier. He took a step and heard his front door slam. The finality of
it shook him to the core.

Leia
was gone.

God.

He
forced himself to walk back into the living room.

Ashley
rose with a fluid grace he’d once thought sexy as hell. Now he could see
clearly that it was all a studied performance with more polish than allure. For
a brief moment, Noah wondered whether it was that allure which had swayed
Snyder into staging this morning’s confrontation with Ashley. But no, Snyder
was just as fixated with Leia as Noah had allowed himself to be.

And
now she was gone…

“Noah,
darling, I really am sorry I had to break it to you this way,” Ashley said.

“No,
you’re not.” He threw his phone on the nearest sofa and circumvented her
approach by stalking to the kitchen. Seeing the remnants of the breakfast he’d
planned for Leia made his insides congeal. “You had an audience lapping up your
performance. An audience you engineered so I couldn’t throw you out on your
ass. That’s exactly how you wanted it. If you want me to entertain any hope of
hearing you out, let’s cut the bullshit and get to the heart of the matter.”

He
grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. Shame it was too early for
something stronger. He gulped the first mouthful, winced at the scalding heat,
and turned. Ashley lingered near the bar, her wary eyes on him.

“This
is your last chance, Ashley. My PA is on her way with a pregnancy kit, several
in fact.” He reached into the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. With a grim
smile, he slammed it on the counter. “Drink up. You’ll be doing a hell of a lot
of peeing in the next hour. Unless you’re going to come clean and tell me this
has been a huge misunderstanding?”

He
couldn’t stop his gaze from dropping to her stomach. The thought that his child
could be growing in there was too much to wrap his head around. Again that
earth-shaking bewilderment threatened to engulf him.

A
look of challenge in her eyes, she took the bottle. She wrenched the top open
but didn’t drink.

“I
know that’s what you want to hear, but I wouldn’t lie to you. Not about this.”

“So
we’re agreed that you do lie more than frequently?”

Her
mouth pursed in annoyance. “Our situation has forced you to dump your little
bit on the side so you’re feeling a little annoyed. But I am carrying your
child, Noah. Treat me with some respect.”
 

 
His fingers tightened around his coffee
cup. “
Our situation
? How much choice did you give me in this, Ashley?
Oh, and by the way don’t think I’m not calling my lawyers within the hour to
bring charges against you.”

A
small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “You’re not a monster, Noah. You
won’t send the mother of your child to jail, no matter what your lawyers
recommend.”

He
froze. “You really had this all planned out, didn’t you?” Noah was surprised at
how even his voice sounded considering he wanted to roar his anger to the
heavens. “The first and last time I mentioned children back when we were
together, you didn’t even want them.
So why this?
Why
now?”

“I
told you. I want you back. And I know you want children eventually.”

His
gaze strayed to the NYPD file opened on the table. “I haven’t changed, Ashley.
I’m still the guy who slapped your tits, tied your hands behind your back and
forced you on your knees so I could fuck your mouth for as long as I wanted.
I’m still the guy who made you pay for snapping his control by tying you to the
bed and making you come for eight hours straight. Have you forgotten how I
spanked your conniving little ass till you were black and blue? How I left bite
marks all over your body? You called the cops on me and had me arrested for
assault for that, remember? Remember how much you hated being bound, that you
couldn’t call the shots, that you couldn’t dictate when I could let my nasty
little traits come out and play? Is that the sort of father you want for your
child?”

She
paled a little,
then
shrugged. “So I thought there was
a time and place for…that sort of behavior. So what?”

“So
I can’t turn it on and off at will! It’s part of who I am. It’s woven into my
fucking DNA! How can you not see that?”

“Is
that what your little Leia likes?” Her voice came as close to a sneer as he’d
ever heard it.

“I’m
hanging on by a thread here, Ashley, so do yourself a favor and don’t speak her
name.” His warning was whisper soft.

She
flicked her hair, glanced off to the side then back at him. “Fine. You say you
haven’t changed. Well, I have. I can accommodate whatever proclivities you
insist on indulging in, once our baby is born, of course. After that, between
us I’m sure we can work something—”

He
slammed his coffee cup down so hard it split in two. “Jesus. There is no
fucking
us
or
we
! There will never be. Get that through your
thick skull right now, or so help me God…” He stopped and took a breath, his
fists clenching so hard his knuckles cracked. “And the only place you’ll be
after this child is born is in jail so think carefully how you want to spend
your last months as a free woman.”

Her
audacious laugh set his teeth on edge. “I won’t be going to jail. Trust me on
that.”

Her
tone reeked with too much confidence for him to put it down to bravado. His
eyes narrowed. Before he could ask the question burning on his tongue, his
buzzer beeped.

He
frowned. Maddie must have dropped everything to get the pregnancy kits.

Even
still, that was super quick.

His
stomach lurched at the thought of what could change his life in the next half
hour.

He
answered the concierge and listened with growing incredulity. “What the
fuck are
you talking about?
Hell no, do
not send them up. You can throw them out onto the streets for all I care.”
Replacing the handset, he turned, a stunned laugh escaping his throat. “You
really should’ve been born a man, Ashley. You certainly have the balls to carry
it off.”

While
he’d been speaking to the concierge, she’d fetched herself a glass and was now
sipping the water. “What are you talking about?”

“You
had your suitcases messengered over here?”

She
smiled. “Oh, that. Yes, I thought I could stay here while we sort things out
between us. You know how much I hate hotel rooms. The air conditioning messes
up my sinuses. And the morning sickness has been a killer. Besides, you have
more than enough room here.” She looked around, and he could almost see her
mentally redecorating.

“Sorry,
sweetheart
, you won’t be staying here. If you want to rescue your stuff,
you need to hustle yourself downstairs because they’re about to be thrown out
onto the street. And don’t bother trying to talk Miguel into letting you bring
them up. He has instructions not to allow the cases anywhere in this building.”

Her
hand fluttered up to her throat. “I have nowhere to go, Noah.”

His
jaw clenched. “You should’ve thought of that before trying to manipulate your
way back into my life. And what do you mean you have nowhere to go? If I
remember correctly, the lease on the New York apartment isn’t up for another
three years.”

“I’ve
given up my apartment in New York and my job at the art gallery. I gave up
everything to be with you. Are you really going to toss me out onto the
street?” She pouted.

“You’re
hardly destitute. My lighter bank account after your damages claim two years
ago, bears witness to that fact.”

“The
money’s all gone. Implanting the embryos took a few tries.” She gave a little
laugh. “I made myself broke trying to have your baby. The least you can do is
help me keep a roof over my head.”

 
Noah whirled away and stalked to the
French windows. He closed his eyes. He couldn’t stand to look at her for
another second. Had he really thought he loved this woman once upon a time? Had
he asked her to marry him, contemplated spending the rest of his life with her?
God, how fucking desperate had he been to have fallen into her poisonous web?

He’d
been thinking with his dick and not his head. Fresh out of a series of
relationships that had started out great, but had tailed off into vanilla
dullness because inevitably each of the women had tried to change him, he’d
been right for the plucking.

He’d
resigned himself to his
Catch, Fuck, Release
program by the time he’d
met Ashley. When she hadn’t flinched from his attempts to drive her away by
testing her boundaries, he’d thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

Noah
shook his head. He’d long accepted how well Ashley had played him during their
relationship. She’d nearly cost him everything two years ago. Was costing him
everything now…

His
gaze drifted to the corner of the pool where he’d dragged Leia less than half
an hour ago. Yeah, his ex-fiancée continued to cost him dearly, but trying to
blame Ashley for Leia walking away was a little too convenient. The truth was
Leia wouldn’t have walked if they’d been solid enough.
If
she’d trusted him enough to give him a chance.
He turned away from the
view outside and faced the woman who made the view inside even less palatable.

Suddenly,
he couldn’t stand to be in his condo.

The
Spartan look of the whole place filled his vision. Was it only a couple of
weeks ago that his friends had accused him of using this place just to sleep?
The truth of it hit him between the eyes.

Besides
his clothes and the work stuff in his home office, there wasn’t much here. When
he’d left New York, he’d packed everything of emotional value and shipped it to
his brother in Chicago. Much of his childhood was locked away in crates in his
brother’s garage. He’d never made an effort to turn this place into a home. The
view he used to love was now soured by memories of standing outside, listening
to Leia walk away.

He
was an asshole in many ways, but he’d learned, at great expense, that he had to
draw a rigid line where Ashley was concerned. She pushed too many buttons for
him to risk staying around her for too long. He’d thought himself free of her,
but the fury eating away beneath his skin told him otherwise.

Returning
to the intercom, he picked up the handset. “Miguel, have Miss Maitland’s cases
brought up.” He hung up and saw her pleased smile.

“I
can stay here?”

He
retrieved his phone and scrolled through the numbers till he found the one he
was looking for. “Until we sort things out, you can stay here, sure. Like you
said, if you’re carrying my child, I can’t turf you out into the street.”

“Great,
I knew you would see sense and give us a
ch
—”

“This
is Noah King. Put me through to Rex Hartford, please.” Noah had the
satisfaction of seeing Ashley’s face drop when she realized he didn’t intend to
engage her in conversation. “Hartford…no I’m not calling to check up on you. I
wouldn’t have invested in your company if I didn’t think it was sound. But I do
need a favor. Can you send me a list of available properties? Yeah, email is
fine. ASAP please. Thanks.” He heard Ashley’s affronted gasp. When he turned
around, she was glaring at him.

“You’re
leaving me here on my own?” she asked.

“I
don’t know how else to say this to you so you’ll understand. I really,
really
don’t want to be with you, Ashley. Ever.”