Deeper (The Deeper Chronicles #1) (31 page)

They moved in silence past the understated homes that lined the park.

“I bet these are pretty costly.”

“I don’t think so. A few millon’s nothin’,” he said with his hand resting in the middle of her back.

“
Nothing
he says. Nothing to you, maybe.”

He laughed at her rolling eyes. They continued walking until her head tilted up.

“First time seeing the Washington Square Arch?”

“Oh, wow!” Avi spun under the park’s famous entrance. “This is amazing.”

Noah’s face held a hint of a grimace. “Pretty on the outside, but some shitty things go down inside.”

Her smiling lips drooped into a frown as her gaze lowered onto the landscape beyond Noah’s back.

“Let’s go,” Noah said, taking her hand in his.

Noah led Avi past several occupied benches until he found an available one he preferred and sat them down. “Did Sofie tell you anything about me?”

Avi settled back. “She mentioned you were over in Afghanistan.”

“She never said anything else?”

“Is there more? And why would she? We don’t spend our time talking about you.”

Noah folded his hands. “I don’t know. You’re pretty close to her.”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean she told me anything.”

He chuckled. “Good. I figured since we’re going to be living together...” At her raised eyebrow, he stopped. “You know what I mean. Anyway, I thought it was time I told you a few things about myself and Harry.”

“I’m not—”

“All you have to do is listen.” He took a breath. “I came to New York City right after I turned seventeen.” It’d been years since he recounted his story, and it still left a sour taste in his mouth. “I hitchhiked all the way from Buffalo.”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Noah asked.

“Why did you leave Buffalo?”

“No one there cared what I did. I was a man, and I thought it’d be best if I left.”

“Man? You were still a kid.”

“Not up here.” He tapped his skull. “And not from what I’d already seen.”

She shifted, moving nearer to him. “Why New York City? Why not, I don’t know...” Her shoulders lifted then fell. “L.A. or Boston?”

“Because anywhere else would’ve been fucking boring.” He laughed mirthlessly. “I don’t know, Avi. As lame as it sounds, Manhattan called to me.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I came here with two hundred bucks I’d lifted—”

Avi backed away from him.

In the awakening lamplight, he could see Avi struggle with passing judgment on what he shared. Her nose crinkled and her lips pursed while he watched and waited for a response. If she was Harry’s kid, she’d have a strong opinion.

“Lifted?” Her tone expressed her displeasure.

“I borrowed it from this asshole I knew.” His tone said differently.

“You mean stole it?” Avi clarified.

“Tomato, tomahto. I learned real quick two hundred dollars wasn’t shit, especially here, in the City that Never Sleeps. But eventually, with New York City being the place it is, I made my own way. Did what I had to do to eat, to live...to survive.”

“Which was?” Avi prodded.

Noah’s laugh was covert. “A little of this and a little of that. Paying rent for the matchbox-sized place I laid my head was a bitch. Plus utilities and covering my basic needs. You get my drift.”

“I think so.”

“Do you?” He shook his head, dropping his attention to the pavement under his feet. “You’ll never know.” When his eyes rose to Avi’s face, they were hard. These never were happy memories. His swift street education was dispensed through threats of broken limbs and worse, should fronts not be repaid, and with interest. How many days had he starved so he could live? No. Avi didn’t understand. There was no way she could. She probably had a mother who cooked meals every day and helped with homework when she was in her teens. It was fucked up that Avi had grown up without her father, but from what Noah could tell, her life had been a thousand times better than his.

No. Avi didn’t understand shit, but she would. When she reached for him, he shifted from her touch. “You see that guy who walked by us?”

“Which guy?” She whipped her head around, but there were so many people of all shades, shapes, and ages entering and leaving the park she couldn’t find one person to focus on, yet Noah was aware of everything and everyone. He missed nothing.

“Nine o’clock.” Noah waited while Avi followed his directions. “What do you see?”

“A man in a business suit. Looks like he had a long day.”

“And beside him?”

“A young man, maybe a high schooler.” A backpack sat between the two. “Maybe he just left the library and came here to unwind before going home.” She had a contented smile on her face.

Noah regarded Avi through new eyes. “Have you been sniffing glue?

“What?”

“Or maybe you took a big whiff of some permanent markers during art class? That’s one fucking story.” He chuckled. “You almost had me believing it.”

She opened her lips, but he was quick to cut her off.

“That’s a drug buy,” Noah said low.

Avi gasped and sat taller.

“Yes, right here in this
wonderful
,
beautiful
,
historic
park.”

“I’m sure you’re wrong.” She squinted her eyes.

“That teen, who’s probably older than he looks, is probably getting his payment right now behind that bag. The book bag is filled with the man’s drug order and will leave with him.”

“Noah...” His predictions became a reality not much longer after he uttered them. Avi’s hand flew to cover her mouth. Both men disappeared from their view. “Wow. I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“I know.”

Avi raised an eyebrow.

“You’re an innocent.”

She mumbled, “So you think,” but Noah heard. Avi turned to face him, her tone almost too bright and curious. “How could you tell?”

“Takes one to know one, I guess.”

“What does that even mean?”

“That guy was smart.” He lowered his voice. “One time I stuck around, because I had another client.” Noah didn’t let Avi’s loud indrawn breath stop him. “That’s how Harry found me.”

He’d kept his head down, minded his business, and kept his record spotless for close to a year.

“You did? You were a—”

He nodded at the question she struggled to get past her lips.

“And Harry knew?”

He turned his body toward hers. “No. Not at the time. Later, I learned he was just cutting through the park on his way to work. It had to have been fate, because Harry told me he’d never come this way before, and he usually drove into the city. But that afternoon, he took the train over from Brooklyn.”

“So what happened?”

“You want me to be honest?”

Avi gave him an ‘are you serious’ look.

“Harry flashed his badge and asked me what was in my bag. I was so fucking scared. First time I ever got that close to getting pinched. I chose that time of day, because I knew the park would have its fair share of traffic.” At her blank look, he filled her in. “So I wouldn’t look out of place, Avi.”

Her warm hand curled over his. He was grateful for the support. Fucking thankful she didn’t thumb her nose at him and walk her sexy ass out of his life. Her feather-like touches over his scarred knuckles soothed him, but as always, feeling Avi’s hand on him just made Noah want another taste of her pussy. She was being kind, but the gesture had him hard and thinking about positions to try, instead of whatever he was just talking about. The woman held some sort of power over him.

It freaked him out.

“Noah. Are you okay?” She tugged on his hand, her eyes bright and wide with anticipation.

He shook his head and got back to his story, praying his cock would settle down. “I thought about running.” He’d figured he had a chance of escaping if he shoved Harry onto the pavement and jumped over the hedges. Between Harry’s trained gaze and his easy access to the gun he didn’t hide, Noah’s crazy ideas vanished. He blinked the memories away, saying, “What I was packing could have easily earned me ten years.”

“Ten years. Jesus. How old were you?”

“Four months away from turning eighteen.”

Avi was at the edge of her seat, riveted by Noah’s story. “Then what happened? What did Harry do?”

“The story of my fucked up life in Buffalo and how I ended up here left my mouth before I realized what I was saying. Then, Harry planted his ass beside me.” Noah glanced around. “I’m no saint and won’t lie and tell you I didn’t love it. I loved it all. The fast money. The easy women.”

Avi’s tried to tug her hand from his grip and her lips twisted, but Noah held onto her hand, not letting it from his grasp.

“The thrill of undermining authority. All of it. I love it all. But that day, face-to-face with a man like Harry, it was...”

“It was what? Stop keeping me in suspense.”

“He told me that wasn’t me and that he could tell I was different. Looking into his eyes, eyes that were so damn hopeful and confident in me...well, I wanted a chance at another kind of life. See if I could be this different kind of man Harry swore was inside of me.”

“What did he do?”

The atmosphere and the park’s occupants seemed to quiet down, as if waiting with bated breath, even though Noah’s words only reached Avi’s ears.

“He took me in. Gave me, a stranger, a key to his house. It took me a while to use it though. He made me get my GED and give up doing what I did. I joined the Army right after I turned eighteen.” Noah’s large hand curved over Avi’s, warming her all over.

“No arrest? Nothing?” Avi sputtered through her disbelief.

“Nothing. I told you so you could get a glimpse of Harry. I said it before, and I mean every word, Harry was a damn good man.” He paused. “You remind me a lot of him.”

His ready disclosure increased her trust in him. When he likened her to her father, the man she never knew, Noah endeared himself to her...even though a huge part of her knew she wasn’t like Harry. He forgave a stranger so easily.

I can’t even write to my mother.

Noah threaded his fingers through hers, bringing her back to the present. He helped her to stand. Their hands were a perfect fit. His touch, the warmth from his fingers, set the place between her thighs into a powerful throbbing rhythm.

“We should get going.” Noah said, lust dripping from his voice, making his voice husky.

Distracted by the swirling pattern he drew in the middle of her palm, Avi inhaled lungfuls of air. Her head was swimming from what she had seen—her first drug deal—to what she had heard—Harry saving a criminal’s life.

An unsettling feeling landed with a thud in the pit of her stomach.
My father saw beyond what was in front of him.
Unlike her, despite what Noah said. Harry saw the soul of the teen who society had already written off and cast aside.

They left behind the gritty park with men and women whose lives and decisions weren’t just black and white. She swallowed. An image of her mother popped in her head.

She tugged on Noah’s hand to stop him. “I’m glad you told me your story and about how you met Harry.” Avi reached up and brushed her lips over his cheek.

She thought she heard him moan. When she pulled away, his deepening dimples and the wolfish gleam in his eyes thrilled her to the core. He backed her against the brick wall. Its coolness curbed the heat Noah induced, but she almost exploded at her whispered name rolling off his wicked tongue.

“You shouldn’t have kissed me, Avi.” His hand trailed over her hips, coming to rest at her waist. “You’re so soft,” he said, peering down at her.

He leaned his muscular frame onto her welcoming body. Pressure of the sweetest kind built slowly, bubbling in her stomach and curving her lips into a lazy grin. The weight of him was welcome and tempting.

“I want you.”

The pads of his fingers trailed under her eyes and drifted along her jaw. He was so close that his breath became hers and hers became his.