She may not have uttered the words, but in her eyes, I saw her love for me. I saw the old Noe. The one who’d always had my back when I felt like the world was against me. The one who’d loved me so fiercely, so passionately, so wholeheartedly, that I’d been willing to turn my back on my entire family for her.
The Noe who’d been my friend and my lover. The only woman I’d ever loved. When she’d stared at me just now, I saw her, that Noe. And I knew in that instant that her memories of me may be gone, but her love for me had never left.
It had just been on pause for a while due to the fucked up shit that happened in our past. When she cupped my face as I lay between her legs, it reminded me of the old days. It made me feelas if we’d been transported back in time, back to a happier place for both of us.
I’d given her a chance to back out. Told her if we moved forward, there would be no turning back. No regrets. Her response was a promise not to leave me. Therefore, there would be no leaving. Ever. Not for either of us.
The office phone was still ringing when I entered the room. I snatched the phone up, already knowing who it was from the ringtone that had called my cell.
“What the fuck do you want, Tristan?”
“Good morning to you, too, brother,” Tristan’s deep voice came across the line.
“You have three seconds to say something that keeps me from hanging up.”
“Grandfather is growing suspicious.”
Shit!Swiping my hand over my face, I swiveled my office chair around and plopped down in my seat.
“What happened?” I asked.
“Youhappened,” Tristan replied.
“What happened to make you think the Old Man is suspicious?” I growled, not in the mood for this back and forth with my older brother.
“He’s hired investigators to look into...”
“Fuck!” I yelled, drowning out the rest of my brother’s sentence.
“This shouldn’t come as a shock to you. You had to know he would investigate things,” Tristan drawled.
Yeah, I knew he would. He wouldn’t be my grandfather if he didn’t. I guess I thought I’d have more time.Damn it.
“I thought I covered my tracks well enough,” I mumbled, running my hand through my hair.
“You did,” Tristan assured me. “But the Old Man is thorough. And relentless. Plus, Noe is like family to him. Hell, he treats her better than he treats us.”
“Does he?” I asked, letting sarcasm seep into those two words.
“You know he does. You may not agree with his decisions, but you knew how this would affect him. He was in the hospital for a week after he heard about the accident. He still hasn’t fully recovered. I was with him yesterday. He’s not doing well.”
Damn.Hurting my grandfather was never the plan. But I was done sacrificing my happiness for him. He hadn’t thought twice about how he was destroying me when he forced me to walk away from her.
He hadn’t flinched when he crushed her heart in the process, forbidding her from being with me. Now I was supposed to give a damn abouthisfeelings? No. Not this time. I was done playing by his rules.
I loved my grandfather. He’d sacrificed a lot for our family. He’d fought hard to make our businesses prosper over the years. He was the backbone of the Park family. And I know living in the States, learning to navigate life here while facing oppression had been hard on him and his parents.
However, that didn’t mean he could control my life. That didn’t mean I had to walk the same path he had. He’d lived his life. It was time for me to live mine. I was done following his orders. And I refused to live without Noe. That was not an option.
“Did you hear what I just said, Aiden?”
“Yeah, grandfather’s not doing well. I got it. He’s a tough old man. He’ll be okay.”
“Aiden!”
“Isn’t he the one who always says love is a weakness?” I asked. “He shouldn’t have let Noe become his weakness.”
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
