Page 39 of Freed By Fire
“I can see that you’re thinking about an alliance. I’m sure Noah told you that I’ve got some pull in the city. Having me in your corner would help.”
Ice settles in my veins. “What makes you think I want your kind of help?”
Noah’s father gives me a chilling smile. “My dear, everyone thinks they’re above the kind of help I offer. But sooner or later,things get hard, and people have to make the hard choices. Just like your father did. Noah told me all about his… predicament.”
“I don’t know what Noah told you, but I’ve taken care of it,” I say.
Noah Sr. chuckles, and the sound makes me even more uneasy. “So I’ve been told. I don’t know how you attracted the attention of a man like Mason Payne, but I have to congratulate you.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Or what a man with his power could want with Mason.
A man of Noah Sr.’s influence could get a meeting with one of the most powerful mobsters in the city if he wanted.
Why is he coming to me?
Because you have Mason’s ear, and with that comes certain… expectations. Noah Sr. wants a foot in the door, and for some reason, he can’t get it on his own.
Noah sips his drink quietly, his eyes not leaving my face. “You should learn to lie better if you’re going to survive in this world.”
I hold his gaze. “Like I said, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Noah Sr. reaches for a napkin and pats his mouth. Then, one hand moves into his jacket pocket, and I go still.
Every muscle in me is screaming to run, but I know it will only paint a bigger target on my back.
We have enough enemies as it is, and I don’t want to add Noah Sr. to the mix.
Whatever he believes, he needs to think Mason is privy to my every move and thought.
Noah pulls out a card and leaves it on the table. “That’s my personal cell. When you decide you’re ready to play with the big dogs, you give me a call.”
I look away from him and say nothing.
“I can make people disappear, London,” Noah Sr. says, his mouth next to my ear. “I can give them new lives. Anything you can think of, I can make happen. All I need is an audience with Mason, and I’ll get you anything you want.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“Anyone with two eyes can tell that you’re in way over your head, and the day will come when your parents might need my help. Think about what I said. Enjoy your…drink.”
He turns to leave, stops, and frowns. “Oh, and if you hear from my son, tell him to call me.”
Once he’s swallowed whole by the crowd, I scramble from the booth and make a beeline for the bathroom. Underneath the fluorescent lights, I empty the contents of my stomach and turn Noah Sr.’s words over in my head. My ears are still ringing, and my palms are sweaty when I exit the back door and find Carlisle waiting for me by the car.
“Do we have a problem?”
“I honestly have no idea, but he’s always given me the creeps. Can you keep an eye on him and warn me if he comes back?”
I can’t have Noah’s father seeing me meet with my contact.
Not unless I want things to spiral further out of control.
I spend the rest of the time at the club sequestered in a booth in the back, unable to ignore the bile in my throat or the pounding in my head.
Noah Sr. is a lot of things, but he’s not wrong about being out of my depth.
I’d rather take my chances with Olivia’s crazy scheme than go to him for help.
