“Clayton Matthews,” he said sternly, making sure he emphasized the bastard’s name, “and his organization were responsible for at least a hundred deaths or missing persons.”
“A hun-hundred?” Tears began to fall faster, and her eyes widened with shock and disbelief. “A hundred people lost their lives because of the man I was going to marry?” She felt her stomach lurch, and, afraid she was going to be sick, stood and ran for the bathroom.
The contents of her stomach emptied, and she cursed at herself for not seeing Clayton for who he was. Any guilt she had been feeling at not being more upset over his death was now gone. The only thing she wished was that she could go back and push him towards the bullets rather than him push her.
“Norah.” She heard Harley through the door and was grateful she had locked it.
“Go away, Harley, I’ll be out in a minute.”
“You have to know that it’s not your fault. None of this is your fault. He was the one who ran everything; you were a pawn in his game, that’s all.” He could have slapped himself the second he said it. “You know what I mean.”
Norah brushed her teeth and opened the door to see Harley standing on the other side.
“No, you’re right. I was a pawn. An easily manipulated little pawn, and I was used day in and day out for over two years. Makes you wonder the type of person I am, doesn’t it?”
Harley crossed his arms. “No, it doesn’t. I know what type of person you are Norah, and don’t think for one second I lump you in the same category as Matthews. You were tricked; he had probably targeted you from the very beginning because of your ties to the charities.” The second it came out of his mouth, he knew it was a mistake.
The pain was written all over her face as the realization that Matthews had probably never cared for her set in.
“Norah, I—”
She put her hand up and shook her head. “I get it, Harley. It was obvious to me that he didn’t give a shit when he tried to push me in front of those bullets. I don’t need your pity, and I certainly don’t want you to view me as a victim anymore. I stayed with him—even after everything he put me through, I stayed. It’s as much my fault he treated me that way as it was his.”
“That’s bullshit.” He ground his teeth together. “You deserved more, wanted more, and the only reason you stayed was because you didn’t want to risk him hurting others.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters to me. You matter.”
“I can’t do this right now, Harley.” Her eyes filled with tears. “I need time to process everything, please.”
* * *
He knew better than to go after her. She wanted space, and that was fine; he could give her space. But not for long. He refused to let her blame herself for the actions of Clayton Matthews. His hands tightened into fists at his sides. He wanted to do something. Anything that would make him feel as if he were getting closer to catching the assholes who had turned their lives inside out.
Needing the distraction, Harley went about cleaning up so that if they needed to hide then it looked as if the cabin was unoccupied. He could do nothing about the perishables in the fridge, but he figured those could easily be explained by an owner wanting to come out to stay for a weekend.
After he was satisfied with the way everything looked, he made himself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table to go over his notes again and add to them if necessary. He needed to start working on a plan, and quickly. The sooner they ended this, the better.
Harley worked for an hour before his mind started drifting. He thought about his mom in Texas. Maybe once all of this was over he could fly out to see her. Perhaps he would take Norah with him. He looked to the closed bedroom door and wondered what she would think about going to meet the woman who had raised him.
Shit, if they made it out of this alive, he would take the money he had saved and fly them all to a beach somewhere for a long vacation. But then his thoughts drifted to Norah in a two-piece, and he swallowed hard. Maybe just he and Norah could go somewhere together, then fly over and visit his mom afterwards.
Thinking of Norah had him standing and walking to the bedroom door. He knocked, and when no one answered, he pushed it open gently. She was curled up on the bed, her eyes closed, but she didn’t appear to be sleeping peacefully. He walked towards her and looked down at her face.
It was taut, as if she were having a nightmare. Her eyebrows were drawn together, and he watched as a single tear slipped down her soft cheek. It damn near broke his heart to see her that way.
Harley knelt beside the bed and brushed a strand of hair from her face. “Norah,” he whispered.
Those beautiful chocolate eyes opened. They were swollen from crying, and when they met his there was something in them he hadn’t seen before, but he couldn’t decide just what it was.
“Is everything okay?”
She sat up and rubbed her hands over her face. “Yeah. I’m sorry I reacted that way, Harley.”
“You don’t need to apologize.” He cupped her face and gently pressed his lips to hers in a light kiss. “I just wanted to check on you. You looked like you weren’t sleeping very well.”
She stared at him. Her heart fluttered at the kind gesture. “Thanks.” She smiled. “So what are we going to do?”
“About what?”
“About our current predicament.”
“We are going to come up with a plan to bring them down.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“I know.” He met her eyes. “Look, Norah, you just found out something terrible, and I imagine you’re probably feeling vulnerable and confused after everything.”
“I am an adult, aren’t I?”
“Yes, but—”
“Clayton was an asshole. I had known that since six months into our relationship.
Granted, I didn’t learn he was a murdering asshole until recently, but I’ve come to decide that it’s not my fault what he did. While I will carry some of the guilt, knowingly or not, I am going to do everything in my power to bring that bastard’s organization down and bury it six feet under, right along with his murdering ass. Sound good?”
Harley nodded slowly. Damn, she did something to him.
“Look, I get it, okay? Things are complicated for both of us. We don’t even know how long it’ll be before they find us. All I’m asking is that you think about it and figure out what you want. I will be doing the same.” She stood and left the room, leaving Harley feeling as if he had just been grounded.
* * *
TWO HOURS LATER Norah found herself pulling on a pair of yoga pants, a T-shirt and some tennis shoes. She had always loved to run, and hoped the gym Gerry had put together was equipped with a treadmill. She could use the exercise and the distraction.
She couldn’t stop thinking about Harley and his damn perfect mouth. That light kiss he had given her had done just about as much to stir up her heart as his passionate one had done for her body.