Tame: Carter Kids #3 (22 page)

"Noah, one of JD's men has been spotted. I'm with Teagan. She's safe and oblivious as usual. I'll be removing her from the arena as soon as the fight is over. Good luck."

I had listened to Lewis' voicemail the moment I arrived at the arena and instantly, my good mood had evaporated.

Sitting on a three-legged stool, listening to the crowd screaming and roaring around me, I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that I was somehow playing straight into JD's hands.

Twisting sideways, I searched the crowd for Teagan's face.

When I found her in the fourth row, my heart jackknifed in my chest.

She looked fucking miserable.

Her face was pale and her hazel eyes were sunken in her face. Lewis was sitting beside her, though he could have been a million miles away she looked so lonely...

"Did you say something to her?" My words were strained because of the mouth guard I had on and my heavy breathing.

I'd just gone five rounds with Roy Wicks, who was currently curled up like a bitch in the other corner of the ring.

Tonight's fight was a basic ring match.

Apparently, Wicks thought our last fight had been an unfair one because of my 'specialty' in a cage and had demanded a rematch in a ring.

What fucking ever.

At thirty-eight, Roy Wicks was over the hill.

Yeah, he had a nasty right hook, but I had a feeling that after tonight, the guy was going to start seriously considering retirement.

Rinsing my mouth with water, I spat it into the bucket beside me and inhaled several deep breaths, forcing my heart to slow down to a normal rhythm, as I returned my attention to Tommy.

"Well?"

"Jesus," Tommy grumbled, as he wrapped a towel around my shoulders. "Are you for real?"

Running a hand through his hair, he narrowed his blue eyes at me.

"You're in the middle of a fight and you're thinking about her?" Shaking his head in disgust, he spat, "You need to get your head out of that woman and into the game, Noah."

Leaning backwards against the ropes, I studied my oldest friend. Tommy's brown hair was dusted with premature gray hairs.

His lips were narrowed and set in a straight line.

"What did you say to her?" I repeated slowly, ignoring everything else.

"Nothing," Tommy hissed. Dabbing my left eye with a towel, he wiped away the droplets of blood that were leaking from a reopened cut. "I said absolutely nothing to the girl."

"What you about you?" I turned to my right and glared at Quincy.

I was paying these guys to support me, but right now I felt fucking betrayed.

Something had gone down.

I knew it, and if Teagan wasn't going to tell me, then one of these fucker's sure as hell was.

"Now you listen hear, boy," Quincy snarled. Cupping the back of my neck with his beefy hand, he dragged my head down to his. "Get your head in the game and off your fucking flower woman or I will give you a fucking reason to piss and moan."

I pressed my forehead hard to his, accepting his challenge. "If I hear you did anything to upset my ‘flower woman’ I'll put you in a fucking body bag."

The bell rang loudly, signaling the start of the sixth round and I pushed off my coach.

Blind rage coursed through my veins as I moved into the middle of the ring, stalking my opponent.

This round was going to be a quick one.

The crowd went crazy when Noah defeated Roy Wicks in the seventh round of their fight.

Never in my twenty-five years had I experienced anything like the atmosphere in the arena when my husband's hand was raised in victory.

It was so electric – so…extraordinary.

Even now, almost an hour after the fight, Noah was still inside the arena surrounded by throngs of supporters and the media, all vying for his attention.

For my own safety, Lewis had chaperoned me outside to the waiting limousine and, to be honest, I was glad.

This world that I had been thrust into wasn’t one I thought I would ever get used to.

I knew what I looked like; dressed in a skin tight, full-length black dress with a plunging neckline and a huge slit right up to my thigh and draped in more diamonds than the local jewelry shop stocked back home.

A gold digger…

My cellphone rang out loudly, dragging me out of my thoughts, and I jumped.

"Shit."

Grabbing, my purse, I dug my hand inside and rummaged around for a few seconds before retrieving the cool metal device.

Swiping my finger across the screen, I didn't bother to check who it was, and said, "Hello?"

"Teegs, it's me." My blood ran cold the moment Liam's voice filled my ears, followed quickly by, "Please don’t hang up."

"Give me one good reason not to," I shot back, furious. Anger swirled inside of me at the sound of his voice. The last time Liam and I had spoken, he'd try to destroy my marriage. I hadn't seen or heard from him since Lewis carted him out of our hotel room that fateful night.

"Because I'm sorry," he offered. "Because I know I fucked up."

"You're a dick," I hissed, unable to contain my emotions. "You're not the guy I grew up with." That was true. "The Liam I knew would have never tried to hurt me the way you did." My voice was rising. My hands were shaking.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Liam groveled. "I handled everything horribly." There was a pause and then I heard him sigh heavily. "I'm miserable without you, Teegs."

"Good," I hissed, refusing to allow my heart to simmer up any amount of sympathy for the conniving bastard. "You know there was a time when I actually loved you," I spat, clenching my eyes shut. "You were my best friend for half of my life and I would have done anything for you – ahhhhh…"

The sound of a car door slamming startled me.

Screaming, I all but jumped out of my own skin, dropping my phone in the process.

The moment my eyes landed on Noah's face, the air expelled from my lungs in a heady gasp. 

He looked like a god, dressed in worn light blue denim jeans and plain red t-shirt. He smelled like soap and man. His hair was wet and falling forward, brushing his brow. He was bruising – badly. The entire left side of his face was colored purple.

"Sorry for interrupting," Noah said coolly as he settled down on the seat opposite me. "Please," he added sarcastically, holding a cloth covered icepack to his jaw. "Continue telling some other guy how much you love him." Sitting back with his legs spread open, he never took his eyes off my face, as he tended to his wounds. "I'm fascinated."

My heart plummeted in my chest.

With my back pressed to leather of the seat, I forced myself to breathe, all while my heart thundered in my chest as I watched him watch me.

Our relationship was tempestuous enough without adding more drama to our fucked up equation.

"It's not what you think," I finally acknowledged in a quiet tone, not knowing what else to say, but knowing that I had to say something. I could have smacked myself for saying something so cliché.

Tossing my hair over my shoulder, a knee-jerk reaction to intimidating situations, I reached down and grabbed my phone off the floor.

"Not what I think," Noah spat, tossing the ice pack down on the seat.

"Obviously," I snapped, red-faced, as I slipped my phone back into my purse.

Noah's eyes darkened.

The vein in his neck ticked as his eyes roamed over my body.

"What fucking ever," he muttered under his breath. 

He sat rigidly on the opposite side of the limousine, with one arm flung casually over the back of the seat.

His black hair was all mussed up and sexy and his dark eyes were intense, heated, and unwaveringly focused on me.

The only thing that gave me comfort in this moment was the black circled tattoo on his left hand.

"You fought well," I told him, feeling the burning in my cheeks all the way down to my toes as I tried to clear the air with a compliment.

"I know," Noah replied in a low, gruff tone, his angry eyes locked on mine, hard and unforgiving.

A shiver of fear rolled down my spine mixing with the pent-up lust inside of my body at the sight of the man before me.

Not sure what to do, I decided rummaging in my purse was a good place to start, and while I was at it, I decided to pray for the ground to open beneath me.

Hell had to be a better option than being the sole recipient of Noah Messina's bad mood.

Ducking my face, I unzipped the bag and pulled out a tube of lipstick.

I felt Noah's heated gaze on me as I smeared my lips with the tube.

Suppressing the urge to close my eyes and shiver at the feel of having his eyes on me, I quickly snapped the lid back on the tube of gloss and tucked it back into my purse.

"You miss him," Noah accused.

This time I did shiver.

It was an unstoppable reaction.

"No."

Noah studied me with cool, perceptive eyes. "You love him."

Again, it wasn’t a question – just a barefaced statement.

"No." Shaking my head, I sagged back in my seat, finding comfort in the feel of the cold leather against my skin. "I don't." Snapping the clasp of my purse shut, I stared back at him. "
He
called
me
."

Noah laughed harshly. "And you
answered
."

Several more bodies piled into the back of the limo then, breaking the unnerving tension. One of those bodies belonged to Lewis and I sagged in relief when he sat down beside me. Don’t get me wrong, I was burning mad with him, but in a car full of men who despised me, Lewis was the safest bet.

Another one of the bodies belonged to Tommy – who claimed the seat to Noah's right.

Quincy and Beau also joined us, choosing to sit on Noah's side of the Limo.

Like I cared…

It wasn’t easy to act aloof when everyone hated you.

In fact, sitting in this limo was like being back in a high school classroom.

For years I'd struggled to fit in until the day I decided to stop trying.

But just because I didn’t try didn’t mean it didn’t hurt…

It was safe to say that with the exception of Noah, I hated every single person in this limousine.

Actually, hate was too kind a word for the bastards I was surrounded by.

I
loathed
them.

Yes, loathed.

I was losing myself in this world and I fucking hated it. After all I'd sacrificed, I was still being tested – punished.

"Screw this," I growled, finally cracking under the tension.

Reaching forward, I grabbed a very expensive bottle of Don Perignon from the nearby ice bucket and popped the cork.

"What?" I said daringly, eyes locked on Tommy as he frowned at me. "It's not like he can't afford it."

With that, I pressed the bottle to my lips, not removing it until I had the majority of it consumed.

Climbing out of the limousine first, Noah turned around and reached out his hand to me.

"Think you can love me more for tonight?" he growled, helping me out of the car. "Or is that impossible for you,
wife
?"

"Don't be a dick," I hissed, taking his outstretched hand. "You know how I feel about you,
husband
."

He cocked a brow and smirked cruelly. "Do I?"

I didn't have a chance to respond before Noah was swamped and pulled away by a mirage of people, some were clearly reporters, others undeniably fans.

"Noah, we love you!"
His fans were screaming.
"Look at him! He's enormous
."

"Noah…Oh my god, he smiled at me!"
a particularly zealous blonde squealed in delight.
"He smiled at me – Noah, please. Fuck my brains out!"

Startled and, quite frankly, overwhelmed by the media, I stepped away from the madness happening around me, hugging myself in dismay as I studied the hordes of fans blocking the sidewalk to the club entrance.

People jumped in front of me, shoving me out of the way, desperate to get closer to Noah.

Cameras and microphones were thrust into his face and I lagged behind, backing away from the circus show, feeling completely out of my comfort zone, not to mention wounded from his words.

Watching numerous women touch and grab at my husband wasn't helping with my jealous tendencies either.

I felt inferior.

I didn't look like any of these women.

I wasn't tall or curved or big breasted; I was short, skinny, and flat chested and apparently, I wasn't the only person to recognize my shortcomings.

Somebody knocked against me then, throwing me off balance and knocking me off my feet.

Stumbling backwards, I flailed my arms out helplessly, braced for an impact I was sure would sting like a bitch.

It never came.

My body was all but parallel with the sidewalk when a tanned hand came through the crowd and caught onto my arm.

Slinging me up from the pavement like a slinky toy, Noah yanked me roughly towards him.

One huge, muscular arm came around my waist, pinning me to his side.

Another hand splayed across my stomach protectively.

Eyes dark as coal stared down at me causing my heart to flutter and my breath to seize in my throat.

Flustered, I said the first thing that came to mind. "I think a little pee came out." In all honesty, I had come very close to peeing my pants, and his angry eyes freckled with those nasty bruises was doing nothing to ease my frazzled nerves.

Noah stared at me for a long moment, unblinking, his gaze intense as if he was trying to solve a puzzle.

"Get out of the way," he growled after an age. Turning his attention to the crowd around us, he roared, "I said move!"

And just like that, the crowd backed off, clearing a path for us.

Their loud screams and cries turned to hushed whispers as Noah took me by the hand and led me into the club.

"Mr. Messina," a tall, silver-haired man acknowledged when we stepped inside. "Rick D'Angelo. Congratulations on your win tonight. Welcome to The Jungle." He turned his attention to me and nodded curtly. "Mrs. Messina."

"Hey, Noah, I bet they've got fun and games," I tossed out, trying to lighten the mood between us. "It was a Guns N Roses reference," I explained when Rick D'Angelo looked down at me with an unimpressed expression. "Ugh…Never mind."

D'Angelo cleared his throat and said, "Let me show you to your booth," before gesturing us towards the door at the far end of the corridor with a sign stating
VIP ACCESS ONLY
.

"Next time, make damn sure you have more security out there," Noah snarled, striding off towards the VIP access area. "My wife could've been trampled."

"Duly noted," Rick replied, cheeks staining red as he fell into step alongside Noah.

Meanwhile, I was being dragged along like a rag doll towards our booth.

"Can you slow down?" I asked, a little breathless. Noah was walking so fast I was struggling to keep up with him. "Noah, I can't walk that fast."

Noah didn’t slow down.

When I tried to pull my hand out of his, he squeezed it tighter.

In fact, I was pretty damn sure he upped his pace on purpose, not stopping until we were standing in front of a large tabled booth with a fancy looking black and neon pink tablecloth on top.

Noah ushered me into the booth before taking a seat beside me, and within seconds, two waitresses were at our side placing bottles of champagne and jugs of what looked like sex on the beach on the table.

Lewis hovered nearby, silent as usual, as a third waitress arrived with a fancy plate of nibbles in each hand.

Shoving away from Noah, I sat on the very edge and as far away from him as I could.

Folding my arms across my chest, I glared at his battered and bruised face.

"You almost pulled my arm out of its socket."

His face softened slightly for a brief moment before he remembered he was mad at me – for what, I had no idea – before quickly morphing back into anger.

Big surprise there...

Quincy, Beau and Tommy arrived at our table then, bringing with them a few stragglers – five females and two males.

They all sidled into the booth alongside us, leaving me on the edge of the side with Beau to my right.

I groaned internally.

I could see where this night was going and it was straight to hell.

"Can we get you anything else, Mr. Messina?" one of the waitresses purred – the blonde one with the huge rack.

Stroking Noah's arm, Big Tits proceeded to uncap one of the champagne bottles with relish before filling the glass in front of Noah.

To give him credit, Noah didn't even look in her direction.

His focus was entirely on me and that made me feel a little less stabby.

"We're good," he told the waitress as he shoved the glass towards me. "You want something else?"

Never one to refuse a drink, I grabbed the glass and tossed it back, draining it dry within seconds. "Yeah." Wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I pushed my glass towards him. "A refill."

Noah cocked a brow, but didn't reply and I felt the last piece of my self-restraint slip away.

"I'm his wife, not his ward. I don't need his permission, you know," I snapped, glaring up at the waitress who seemed to be in a semi-comatose trance as she held the champagne bottle in her hand and looked down at my husband with her big doe eyes, waiting for him to give her the go-ahead.

"Ugh." Rolling my eyes, I reached forward and swiped one of the other bottles of champagne on the table.

A hand snaked out and grabbed the rim of the bottle just as I went to lift it.

"You're embarrassing him –
again
," Beau hissed under his breath. "Can't you just behave yourself for one night?"

"And you are pissing me off –
again -
so if you value your left ball sac then I suggest you let go," I snarled through clenched teeth, daring Beau to push me. "
Now
."

The loud chattering that had been going on around me quickly depleted as all eyes landed on me and Beau. Thankfully, Beau, or Dick Three as I liked to call him – Dick One and Two were reserved for Quincy and Tommy – valued his testicle and released the bottle to my trusted care.

It was a small victory, but one I would cherish.

Noah continued to glare silently across the table at me, and the more alcohol I consumed, the more I met his glare with one of my own.

"Why are you doing this?" I finally demanded, losing all tact and patience.

My body was swaying without my permission and tiny little stars were dancing around in front of my eyes.

I was drunk, I realized, but drunk or not, I was having this out with Noah.

"Doing what?"

"Being a bastard to me," I yelled in frustration, not bothering to lower my voice when silence fell around us.

I didn’t care that everybody was listening.

Fucking let them.

Any one of these people could look at my vagina if they clicked on the right website.

I had nothing left to hide.

"I should leave you high and dry," I added, hurt.

"If I'm keeping you from where you really want to be, then by all means, go, Teagan," Noah shot back, furious. "But don’t expect me to come after you again, because I won't."

"I am not taking this shit from you," I warned him. "I mean it."

"So what, you're just going to run again?" He ran a hand through his freshly washed hair. "Then do it, Thorn, fucking leave me hanging again. It wouldn't be the first time."

"I'm done apologizing for the past, Noah!" I screamed heatedly.

"You said
love
him, Teagan!" Noah roared, losing his cool. His chest was heaving. A vein in his temple bulged. "Which is something I find really fucking hypocritical considering you were screaming that exact sentiment to me the other night when I was eating your pussy."

"Jesus Christ," I hissed, mortified. "I said
loved
– as in past fucking tense."

"It's all the same to me," Noah shot back, fuming.

Looking around at the several red-faced people sitting around us, I climbed unsteadily to my feet.

"You know what?" Wobbling over to Noah's side of the table, I grabbed the cocktail pitcher. "Cool the hell down, Noah." With that, I tossed the contents over his head before turning to Lewis. "Take me back to the hotel."

I was mad, not crazy.

I knew well enough not to go anywhere without my big, bald traitor.

"Don't you dare, Lewis," Noah barked before turning his attention back to me. Jerking out of his seat, Noah wiped the front of his soaked shirt. "Now I get that you're a raging bitch," he growled, turning his attention to me. "But if you could rein in the violent outbursts for one fucking second, or at least while we're in public..."

"Oh, I'm a raging bitch now, am I?" Swinging around, I stalked towards him. "Well, how's this for a violent outburst, you big bastard."

Reaching my hand back, I smacked Noah across the cheek as hard as I possible could.

He didn’t even flinch so I smacked him again.

Harder.

"Fuck you," I added before turning on my heel and staggering away from him.

Screw Noah Messina.

It would be a cold day in hell before I allowed myself to be treated like a piece of shit on his shoe.

Shoving my way through the crowd, I made a beeline for the bar, mentally patting myself on the back for tucking that twenty into my cleavage before leaving the hotel tonight.

Jostling against several other patrons at the bar, I stood up on my tiptoes and waved my hand in the air, trying to catch the barman's attention; not an easy feat considering I was the shortest person at the bar. 

Finally, I caught barman's eye and he came over to where I was standing.

"What can I get you, sir?"

"
Sir
?" I snapped, furious when I realized he was talking to someone behind me. "I was here first."

"Don't serve her," an achingly familiar voice said from behind me and I groaned. A strong arm came around my waist, pulling me backwards into a familiar chest of muscle. "She's been cut off."

"No problem, Mr. Messina," the barman said. His eyes flickered to mine and he gave me a look that said 'Oh well,' before wandering off to serve someone else.

Swinging around, I glowered up at Noah. "You are, by far, the biggest son of a b–"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm scum of the earth," Noah interrupted, unaffected. Taking me by the waist, he walked me towards the dance floor. "Shut your mouth, Thorn, and dance with me."

"Over my dead body," I hissed, trying to scramble out of his embrace.

It was no use.

Noah had a death grip on me; his arms were like tree trunks wrapped around me, and short of a bomb going off, I knew I wasn't getting away from him.

Admitting defeat, I stopped fighting him and let my body sag against his. Leaning backwards, I rested my head against his hard chest. "I thought you said you weren't going to chase me again."

Ducking his head, he buried his face in my neck and sighed. "I thought you said you weren't going to run again."

"I lied," I begrudgingly admitted.

"Me too."

The heat of his breath on my bare skin caused me to shudder violently in his arms.

"I'm so angry with you, Noah."

"The feeling's mutual, Thorn." He pressed a kiss to the skin covering my racing pulse. "Save your anger for the bedroom. I know I am."