And that helped her not one bit. She had her own monsters. She had no compassion to spare for anyone else. Maybe if he had not sucked her in so completely, she might have been more open-minded, but as it was, no.
“Guess what, Noah?” she said. “That is not my problem. You are my problem. You stalked me, seduced me, lied to me and fucked me left, right and sideways. I will not smile and make nice. Give me that flash drive, you son of a bitch.” She dove for his hand.
“Flush this.” Noah tossed it into the air toward Zade, who caught it one handed. Then Noah seized her in his arms.
Panic exploded in her chest. “No!” She fought like a wildcat to free herself. Nothing doing. He was insanely strong.
“You sure about this?” Zade said to Noah.
“Get it over with.” Noah’s voice was implacable.
“Don’t!” Caro yelled. “Don’t do it! Please!”
Zade flashed Caro a pained look, and did as Noah commanded. They saw the bathroom light switch on. Heard the swoosh and gurgle as the flash drive was swept out of reach.
Zade came back, avoiding Caro’s eyes. “Done.” His voice was subdued.
The strength that outrage had given her drained away. If not for Noah’s hold on her, she would have crumpled. All that effort. Months of plotting, searching.
“I’ll fix this for you,” Noah said forcefully. “I’ll find another solution. I’ll protect you from Mark for as long as you need protection. I promise, Caro. Just please, be patient.”
She started to laugh, but it degenerated into tears. She choked them back.
Noah deposited her in a big easy chair and stood looming over her as if afraid to turn his back on her. “Relax,” he said.
“How?” she asked, with a bitter laugh. “Maybe you should just fuck my brains out. It worked so well for you the last time. Too bad it’s just a temporary solution.”
Zade and Sisko edged warily toward the door. “Hannah,” Zade said in a warning tone. “Let’s get the hell out of here. These two have things to discuss.”
“No. We don’t.” Caro’s voice rang like out a bell. “I’m not likely to live long enough to be a problem for Noah.”
“Caro, shut up and listen to me!” Noah’s voice was harsh with frustration.
Sisko snagged a big black wool overcoat from the closet near the door. “You won’t go all AVP apeshit on her, are you?” he asked.
“Get lost,” Noah said curtly. “All of you. Fast.”
They filed out fast, eager to be gone, but Hannah stopped at the door and turned to look at Caro.
“I am so sorry,” she said. “I never wanted to hurt you. It’s not who we are.”
“Really,” Caro said icily. “I’m touched.”
“Don’t hate us,” Hannah persisted. “Please.”
“I don’t hate you,” Caro said. “Good enough? Now get out of here, unless you want to watch me rip off your brother’s arms.”
Hannah’s eyebrows shot up. “Good luck with that,” she murmured.
She scurried out. The door slammed. The two of them looked at each other.
“Caro,” he said. “I swear I won’t let anyone hurt you. Is that understood?”
Caro crossed her arms over her chest. Her neck felt sore, looking up at him. “You mean, except for yourself?”
“I couldn’t tell you secrets that weren’t my own to share,” Noah said.
“You lied through your teeth to me!”
He waited for a moment. “Last night you asked me what happened to us after my mother disappeared,” he said finally. “Do you still want to hear that story?”
“Sure. Why not. Like I have a choice.”
Noah made a frustrated sound. “Are you going to bust my balls indefinitely?”
“That is the least of what I am going to do to you, Noah Gallagher.”
He shook his head wearily. “OK, here it is,” he began. “For what it’s worth. I told you about our mother disappearing. After that, Child Protective Services sent us to foster homes. Asa and Hannah and I ran away. We shoplifted to get by, when we weren’t eating out of supermarket dumpsters. Hung out on the streets when we weren’t stealing. Slept wherever we could. Then one day, I get approached by this guy, out of nowhere. He told me about this amazing experimental program for young people. An awesome opportunity for us all.”
Oh, shit. Dread tightened her belly, but she kept her face sternly blank, and nodded for him to continue.
“He didn’t talk like a pimp, for what it was worth,” Noah said. “And we prided ourselves on knowing how to dodge them and the chickenhawks looking for underage kids. There was something different about him. Even so I figured there had to be a catch. But Hannah was sick. I needed medicine for her. If we’d gone to a clinic, we would’ve ended up in juvenile detention. I couldn’t risk that.”
“Got it,” she said. “And?”
“I figured, I’d go along, check it out. Walk out whenever I wanted to. Lying and cheating and stealing, picking locks, deactivating alarms—I was an ace at all that.”