My stomach dropped to my toes. Sitting in the restroom stall made me feel like I was back in high school and listening to catty girls gossip about me. When Josie had stopped me earlier, she’d been full of fake sincerity.
“Evan came to me about Noah and her,” she continued. “He said he and Cade hoped it was a phase and that he'd get sick of her like he’d gotten sick of all the others. The rest of the family hoped that too. You know he’s a sucker for a charity case. She has no clue he’s fucking her out of pity. Evan thinks he has a hero complex. He even said she's ugly. And to think, he could have had me whenever he wanted.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth to stifle my sobs.
“I wonder if the rest of her body looks like Freddy Krueger’s sister.” She cackled. “Evan wondered that too. Imagine taking that to bed.”
Her words were a poison-tipped dagger to my heart.
Josie left the restroom, and I sat there, stunned. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have allowed myself to hope and dream and believe that he wanted me?
With a calmness I didn't feel, I left the restroom, went to my workstation, gathered my things, and walked out.
His family didn't have to worry about him getting over me because he would never ever see me again.
Chapter Eleven
Noah
There was a knock on my office door. I glanced up from my monitor and saw Michael standing there. He rarely came to my office.
"Have you seen Aubrey? She's not at her desk.”
I shook my head. “When did you last see her?”
“A few hours ago. She hibernated her PC then left. I assumed she was going to grab a coffee or maybe a late lunch, but I haven’t seen her since. She's not picking up her phone. No one knows where she's gone. And it’s kind of an open secret that you two are dating.”
Panic seized my heart, but I kept my expression neutral.
“If anyone would know where she went, I assumed you would.”
I didn't acknowledge what he’d said about our relationship being an open secret. I simply nodded and said, “Leave it with me.”
It wasn't like Aubrey to skip out on work. Maybe she was feeling sick and didn't want to worry anyone. Still, it wasn't like her not to tell me where she was going.
I dialed her number, and when she didn't pick up, my mind raced. Where was she? I rushed out of my office to the elevator. Josie stepped in after me.
“Did someone die?” She asked, getting way too close to my personal space.
“Have you seen Aubrey?”
“She went into the restroom right before me, but she was still in the stall when I was done. Maybe she was feeling ill and had to go home.”
Josie seemed gleeful almost giddy, but I didn’t have time to figure out what she was up to. I brushed past her when the elevator doors whooshed open.
I would check Aubrey’s apartment first.
On the drive there, I dialed her cell several more times, but she still didn’t pick up.
Fuck.
When I got to her apartment, I let myself in with the key she’d given me the night I’d told her I loved her. There was no sign of her.
I went into the bedroom. Drawers hung open, and clothes spilled out onto the floor. Wherever she went, she went there in a hurry. The only other place I could think of to check was her mom’s.
I pulled up the information she’d given human resources for her emergency contact. Her mom was a three-hour drive away, but I could make it in two if I broke every speed limit in the state.
Something bad must've happened for her to flee like this. Maybe her brother had shown up and was causing trouble. Maybe her mom had been involved in an accident. If either of those were the case, why hadn't she told me?
After everything we’d shared over the past few weeks, I didn't understand her disappearing act or why she’d run out on me again.
A little over two hours later, I arrived at a rundown trailer park. Dilapidated mobile homes sat on cinder block stilts that looked like they were about to give way.
How had her mom been able to take care of a kid with severe burns in a dump like this? How had she kept her daughter safe and free from serious infections? I shouldn’t judge too harshly because from everything Aubrey had shared about her childhood, she had been very much loved.
I had to ask several people where to find the Andrews’ place, and every single one of them had glared at me. From their reactions, they didn’t get a lot of strangers coming around. It took me a while, but I finally found her mom's trailer and Aubrey’s car at the back of the park.
I hammered my fist against the door. “Aubrey, it’s me. I know you’re here.”
Almost immediately, the door flew open. A small, wiry woman with brown hair and Aubrey's green eyes blocked the entrance.
“Can I help you?” she snapped.
“Mrs. Andrews?”
“That’s me.”
“I'm Aubrey's boyfriend. Can I talk to her? I'm worried about her. She left work without telling anyone where she was going.”
“So, you're the one whose family doesn't think my girl is good enough?”
My head jerked back like she’d punched my nose. “I'm not sure what you're talking about.”
“My girl told me everything. She overheard some bitch in the restroom on the phone saying that your brother hoped you’d get sick of her and move on. That he and your other brother hoped my Aubrey was a phase you were going through, and that you had to get over your hero complex.”
She jabbed my chest, digging her finger in. “My daughter isn't a charity case. She's worth a hundred of you. She’s too good for you and your family. If you don’t get out of here within the next ten seconds, I’ll get my gun, and I’ll leave a hole in your heart like the one you left in hers.”
I held up my hands. “Mrs. Andrews, I don't know what you're talking about. I need to talk to Aubrey to find out what’s going on. My brothers would never say anything like that. They adore her. They warned me not to hurt her because they didn't want to lose her as an employee. It’s all lies.” And I knew exactly who those lies came from.
Aubrey appeared behind her mother's shoulder, her eyes bloodshot and swollen.
“Please leave, Noah. I asked you not to hurt me, but that's what you did.”
I rubbed the heel of my hand over my chest. “I don’t know what I’ve done. Tell me. I'm begging you. I love you and would never hurt you. Please.”
Indecision flickered through her eyes.
Mrs. Andrews stepped out of the trailer. "Go on, get. I mean it. I will grab my gun.”
Aubrey followed her mom outside and placed a hand on her shoulder. “It's okay. I'll talk to him.”
Mrs. Andrews tilted her chin, her narrowed eyes warning me. “I’ll be right inside if you need me, baby girl.” She went inside, slamming the door behind her.
I reached out to take Aubrey’s hand, but she crossed her arms, closing herself off.
“Tell me why you left. I promised I wouldn't hurt you, and, as far as I know, I haven’t. You need to talk to me. You can't run every time something spooks you.”
“I wasn’t spooked. I overheard Josie in the restroom. You can explain why you didn’t tell me about the two of you dating another time. Not that it matters anymore.