“Was it him?” She knew the answer, but she felt compelled to ask.
He nodded. He looked angry and upset. She wondered if he had had a bad day.
“Greg and Sam are outside securing the area. I wanted to make sure you were okay. You did good locking the door.”
“I was terrified, Noah,” she admitted.
Liam came in with the boxes of pizza. “Adam and the guys are outside. They don’t need me out there.”
He placed the boxes of pizza on the kitchen counter. Liam looked at Alana, who had followed him into the kitchen.
“He is long gone, Alana,” Liam assured her. He looked upset, but Alana could see he was trying to hide it. “It’s a scare tactic, but we’re too tough to cave, right?”
She tried to nod confidently, and he patted her on the back.
Alana felt cold inside. Noah went outside to see what was going on. She just wanted this to be over. What had she done to make someone want to hurt her?
Liam took out some plates and sodas. Alana turned the coffeepot on. She had to keep busy.
Noah came back in saying everything was fine. The fire was out, and everyone had gone.
They all sat down to eat. She didn’t want to, but she ate one slice to make Noah happy. Now that the adrenaline was gone, she felt worn-out and tired.
The men ate and talked about the fire. Alana didn’t pay close attention to what they were saying. She didn’t want to think of the stranger that had stabbed her and was now stalking her. The only thought running in her head was, why? Why her? He wasn’t getting any more money, so why come after her and risk getting caught? It made no sense.
“I’m going to take a shower and go to bed,” she told Noah, trying to smile. She really didn’t need to hear all the details over and over. “I’m just so tired.”
“I’ll be there in a minute, baby.” He kissed her cheek.
She hugged him. “Take your time and talk shop.”
She headed to Noah’s bedroom just wanting this day to be over. She wanted life to get back to normal. That seemed like the hardest goal to accomplish.
Chapter 18
Liam looked concerned. “Is she going to be okay? She is so quiet and pale all over again. Just when she was laughing and smiling again. It pisses me off.”
Noah grabbed another slice of pizza. His body was tense, but he needed a few minutes to gather the courage to tell her what he had found out today. She looked so frazzled but was trying to be brave and strong.
“She doesn’t sleep well. When I tell her what I found out today, I am afraid it is going to cause a relapse.”
“What did you find out?” Adam asked, biting into his pizza.
Noah hated to have to tell his brothers, but he needed the practice. Soon he was going to have to tell Alana and find out if she was going to hate him or not. His stomach was tied in knots, and he felt like a weight sat on his chest.
“I found out Slate was in a rehab center in Morehead. When he checked out, he was clean. That was four months ago.” Noah stopped and took a drink of soda. “You will never guess who checked him out of there and supposedly took him home.”
“Who?” Adam looked interested. His eyebrow arched up. “Someone we know?”
Noah sighed. “Cora Stanton is his cousin.”
“What the hell?” Liam yelled out loud, dropping the pizza on his plate.
Noah had already had his own temper tantrum in his office earlier. He threw a couple of plants that sat on the windowsill. Helen had come running in with her flyswatter, and Noah had to explain why he had broken a perfectly good flowerpot. She had offered to go after Cora and tear her hair out for being related to Slate and not telling anyone right away.
They looked at each other with shock.
Noah put his soda down. “Drake and I went to see her. I didn’t trust myself not to lose my temper with her. She acted nervous from the first second she let us into her apartment. She claims she hasn’t seen Jeremy since she checked him out. Supposedly her father got him a job in Morehead, and she knew nothing else. She tried to act surprised when we told her we found proof he was behind Alana’s attack. I saw the nervousness in her eyes right away. She got defensive and told us to leave and contact her lawyer if we had any more questions.”