The Bachelor's Promise (Bachelor Auction) (3 page)

Chapter Three

Don’t faint. Don’t show signs of weakness. You’ve come this far
.

Noelle repeated the mantra to herself as Lucas Oliver’s wife led her from the ballroom and into the gleaming, cavernous foyer.

Lucas Oliver. God. She should’ve counted on seeing him tonight. Since she’d met Aiden all those years ago, the brooding, dark-haired, scarred youth with the beautiful turquoise eyes had been by his side. Back then, Aiden had treated her with an aloof disdain, and Lucas had been polite, if distant. And damn intimidating. It hadn’t surprised her when he and Aiden had founded their own company, Bay Bridge Industries, and had grown it into a national conglomerate. Neither did it shock her when they had become millionaires, real rags-to-riches success stories.

It
did
surprise her that the lovely, glowing, happy woman complimenting Noelle on her boots was married to the infamous Beast of Bay Bridge. Aiden’s mother had loved reading about her son and his best friend in the business section of the
Chicago Tribune
before the pair had relocated to Boston. She’d tsked at the moniker they’d crowned Lucas with…and chuckled at the one they’d bestowed upon Aiden—The Prince. If the press had demonized Lucas, they’d adored Aiden, as his many appearances in both the financial
and
social sections revealed.

Yet it’d never been Lucas who had caused shivers to dance over her skin in a tango of nerves, fear, and, God help her, infatuation. Though Aiden had first viewed her as a nuisance, then a burden, there’d been a time when he’d been her protector, her friend, the man she’d secretly—and then not so secretly—adored.

Even after he’d cut ties with her after his mother, Caroline’s, death.

Even after he’d broken her heart with his cold, horrible accusations.

Aiden believed Noelle had provided her father with the means to rob his mother’s house after she’d passed, taking from her one last time. He’d never forgiven Noelle. And, truthfully, she’d never forgiven herself. Common sense argued that she wasn’t responsible for her family’s actions. No, she hadn’t given her father her key to the house, and no, she’d had no idea Frank Rana had planned on going to Caroline’s house after Aiden had kicked him out and confiscated his key. But after Frank’s ranting about “getting what was owed him,” she should’ve guessed. Frank Rana hadn’t only been a drunk, but he could be spiteful and vindictive when drunk
and
crossed.

Back then, she hadn’t spoken a word in defense of herself or her family. Not to protest and say she’d loved Caroline like a mother—probably more so since she’d never known the woman who had birthed then abandoned her. And not to apologize for her father’s selfishness and criminal behavior. Her father had been guilty of every charge lodged against him. But she hadn’t. And after the time they’d spent together, Aiden should’ve known better.

But that’d been six years ago. Now, hovering on the cusp of a future and life she’d been afraid to hope for, to dream of, she needed Aiden.

Needed him to keep his promise. Or, rather, the promise his mother had entrusted to him.

“Instead of a restaurant, we decided to return to our house,” Sydney said. “Lucas has arranged for a light dinner to be waiting for us. I still hope you’ll join us.” She tilted her head back and smiled at Lucas as he held up the coat he’d retrieved for her.

The love and heated intimacy they shared in one look had Noelle glancing away, as if she intruded on a private moment. Still, she couldn’t resist that part of her that wanted to stare, to analyze them like a jeweler with a loupe to determine if the affection was authentic. Because from her experience, that kind of connection was as rare as a woolly mammoth. Too many times she’d witnessed women—including Aiden’s mother—letting themselves become trapped by so-called love and losing their independence and sense of self. Giving their bodies and futures to men who wouldn’t recognize commitment if it pissed on their legs.

Yet that knowledge didn’t prevent a shaft of jealousy from piercing her chest. Not for the love she didn’t believe in, but for the joy and peace that suffused Sydney’s features. For the contentment that softened the stern lines of Lucas’s face as he curved a palm over his wife’s extended belly…

Tearing her gaze away from them once more, she swallowed and shook her head. “I—”

“Sorry, Sydney.” Aiden appeared at Noelle’s elbow, gripping her upper arm in a firm grip. Her heart thumped against her rib cage, her breath catching in her throat. For the first time in six years, he was touching her. Even though her jacket prevented skin-on-skin contact, she swore his heat seeped past the leather, branding her. Instinctively, she tried to step back, place distance between them. But his hold tightened, belying the calm, smooth tone of his voice. “Noelle and I haven’t seen each other in a long time. There are some things we need to talk over. Especially since she traveled so far.”

An edge sharpened his words, and she cursed the knot of anxiety that sat in her chest. But then again, most people didn’t bother peering past his gilded masculine beauty. She’d watched him tunnel his hands through his perfectly styled, golden hair in agitation. Seen his stunning, emerald eyes bright and diamond-hard with calculation. Observed the sensual curves of his mouth flattened by rage.

No, most only saw the playboy good looks and missed the stalking predator beneath.

“Aiden,” Lucas murmured, slipping an arm around Sydney. “Maybe you should come home with us.”

“No, we shouldn’t.” The cold resolve in Aiden’s tone practically warned Lucas to mind his own business. Christ, she hadn’t meant for her presence to incite dissention between them.

“It’s okay, Lucas. Thank you for inviting me, though.” She nodded at Sydney. “It was nice meeting you.”

“You, too, Noelle.” The other woman smiled, but when her gaze shifted to Aiden, her eyes narrowed. “Good night, Aiden.”

“It was good seeing you, Noelle,” Lucas said, then, with a hand on the small of his wife’s back, guided her out of the building and into the freezing November night.

“Trying to ingratiate yourself with my friends, Noelle?” Aiden murmured, the question almost pleasant, amused. “Sorry, that tactic didn’t work.”

Annoyed, she jerked at his grip again, and this time he freed her, the faint twist to his lips indicating he detested having his hand on her in the first place. Hell, she wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d rubbed his palms down his pants to rid himself of the Rana taint. She straightened her shoulders and gathered the façade of bravado she’d perfected over the years around her like a sheltering cape. Trying to ignore the shame that pierced her—shame made all the sharper and brighter because there’d been a time—a short time—when he’d seemed to enjoy touching her.

“Before you interrupted, I was going to decline her offer,” she said.

The corner of his mouth quirked, the gesture humorless, mocking. “And turn down the chance to use more people for whatever reason you’ve popped up here? I doubt it.” He pivoted, denying her a chance to reply. Not that she could. Fury and humiliation strangled the words in her throat. “Come here,” he ordered, heading back toward the ballroom and then veering off down a corridor.

He paused in front of a closed door with a gold plate that declared the room beyond “private.” But that obviously didn’t apply to him. Aiden walked in and flipped a switch, bathing the room in light. A long table flanked with big, leather office chairs dominated the space, and a floor-to-ceiling window granted a beautiful view of a large park. “Boston Common,” the signs she’d driven by had stated.

“I’m guessing there’s a purpose behind your dramatic entrance,” he said, sliding his hands into his pants pockets.

The action parted his tuxedo jacket and stretched the white shirt over the wide expanse of his chest and the flat plane of his abs. She jerked her gaze to the wall over his shoulder, disgusted with herself for noticing. But damn, a formal shirt really shouldn’t fit like a freaking wet T-shirt.

“I found your home address and went by your apartment building, but you weren’t there and security wouldn’t allow me to wait for you. No one was at your office either. Your company’s website had a mention about sponsoring the auction, so I took a chance you would be here.” She shrugged, exhibiting a nonchalance that was a blatant lie. “I didn’t mean to party-crash your flesh market. That kind of just…happened.”

Like shit happened. Usually bad shit.

“Right,” he drawled. “I have to admit, I’m pretty surprised at the tactic you chose. From what I remember, your brother was the showman with a flair for drama. You were a little more…subtle.”
Conniving. Sneaky
. She could easily read between those lines. “Is he act two? Does he or your father plan on showing up soon, too, if you don’t seal the deal?” He sneered.

Just the mention of her father, even when it was laced with revulsion, momentarily stole her breath. Pain lanced her heart, and she curled her fingers into a tight fist as if she could contain the grief, the loss, inside her hand.

“Tony isn’t with me, and Dad…” She paused, swallowed past the wedge of emotion clogging her throat. “Dad’s dead,” she whispered. “He passed four months ago.”

Years of drinking alcohol had taken its toll in the past two years. Frank’s health had steadily declined as he suffered first from hepatitis, and finally, dying from cirrhosis of the liver in July.

Silence permeated the room. Not a flicker of emotion touched Aiden’s face.

“I’m sorry for you,” he said, his tone quiet, soft…surprising her. Considering his hatred for her family, she hadn’t expected anything from him. Yet his four words somehow seemed more sincere than the effusive but empty, hypocritical platitudes from her father’s drinking buddies and cohorts.

“Thank you,” she murmured. Frank wouldn’t have won any awards for father of the year. However, when it would have been easier for him to abandon her like her mother had, he’d stayed and raised her to the best of his ability. And she’d loved him, warts and all.

“None of that explains why you’re here, though. You want something. So why don’t you just tell me so we can cut this”—he waved a hand back and forth between them—“short.”

Now or never
. She tipped her chin up, steadily meeting his eyes when at the moment, she wanted nothing more than to run back to her beat-up old 2000 Honda Civic, get behind the wheel, and not stop until she hit the Illinois state line.

But when she’d packed up that same car with everything she owned two days earlier, she’d vowed to stop living for others and just start
living
. For her future. For her dreams. For herself.

“I need you to keep your promise.”

There wasn’t a need to elaborate; he’d only made one vow concerning her. And it’d been to his mother, the one person he held in the highest esteem. She was counting on that deep respect and love. Aiden would sooner break a promise to God than to Caroline Kent.

If possible, his face hardened even more. His full mouth flattened into a grim line, the slashes of his cheekbones and the lines of his jaw seeming more pronounced, more forbidding. His emerald eyes glinted. For an instant, Noelle was reminded of a sleek, silent cat, motionless and hidden, only the unblinking gleam in his eyes warning his prey of the danger stalking them.

“You really want to bring my mother into this?” he asked, the almost silken tone sending an ominous shiver tripping down her spine. A wise person would heed the danger in the deep, soft voice and back away slowly before getting the hell out. But desperation defeated wisdom as assuredly as a royal flush trumped a four of a kind.

“No,” she breathed. “But I don’t have a choice.”

She didn’t. Not when the stakes were so high. Her chance to rise above her past, to be something more than a “no-good Rana” teetered on this. Her dreams and plans hung in the balance.

“It isn’t enough that your father sucked my mother dry of everything—her joy, her money, her security, her
home
? It isn’t enough that he trashed her home, stole from her after she died? It isn’t enough that your brother…” He bit off the rest of the sentence, and Noelle fought not to flinch.

“It isn’t enough that my brother cheated with your fiancée behind your back,” she murmured.

A frigid silence descended between them.

“So you know about that?” he asked, voice as soft as hers, but with a menacing note that had the hair on the back of her neck not just rising but cowering in fear.

She nodded. Tony had never admitted his betrayal to her, but Noelle had overheard his confession to their father. Shame slid through her like an oily sludge. Hell, he’d been
bragging
. But she’d keep that tidbit to herself.

“And yet you want me to fund a free ride for you,” Aiden continued. “That’s what you’ve come here to get out of me, isn’t it, Noelle?”

“That’s not fair,” she said, amazed her voice didn’t waver. Especially while, inside, she was shaking like the freaking Cowardly Lion. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t—”

“Desperate?” he interrupted with a sharp crack of hard laughter. “Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Look, I’m crystal clear on how you feel about my family, about me. Your loathing has never been a state secret. So believe me when I say if I had another option, you would be the last person I approached. But Caroline asked you to…” She closed her eyes, hating that she was
here
, the equivalent of crawling to a man who had obliterated her heart and pride, then stepped on the pieces on his way out the door. No, correction: to stomp on the pieces, he would’ve had to notice them. And he hadn’t. He hadn’t cared and hadn’t looked back. Yet, here she stood, pushing ahead, determined. And, as he’d pointed out, desperate. “I need you to keep your promise.”

“I offered you a check once, and you turned me down,” he said, voice hard.

“Yes, I remember. How could I forget?” she asked flatly. It had been complete with more zeros than she’d ever seen in her life. But the money had been stained with hate, with resentment and disgust.

While Caroline’s body had been riddled with pain, the ovarian cancer ruthlessly and greedily eating away her life, she had made her son vow to take care of Noelle.