RUIN (The RUIN Series Book 1), page 7
"Why were you there?" I turn now to look at him. He's standing less than a foot away from me in a crowded bakery. "Why are you here now?"
"Alexa told me about the tie."
"What tie?" I take a step back. "I don’t know what you're talking about."
"His tie was in your apartment."
The tie. That fucking tie that she saw in my bathroom. "It was just a tie, Noah."
He moves closer to me, his hand jumping to my elbow. "I went to buy a suit because Alexa asked me to."
"Yes," I say because there's nothing else to offer as he steers me through the crowd and onto the street.
We finally stop near the edge of the building. The pedestrian traffic is moving quickly just a few feet away from us.
"I wanted that tie until the sales woman told me that they'd only sold one like that." His eyes bore into me. "She thought it was amusing that it was sold to another Mr. Foster. Actually, she said Dr. Foster bought it."
You've got to be shitting me. I'm busted because of a goddamn necktie?
"You had no right to follow me to his place, Noah." I know the words sound petulant and spiteful. "I'm old enough to make my own decisions."
"Alexa loves you." He taps his hand on my shoulder. "You're like a sister to her."
I don't feel the guilt that is implied within the words. Why should I? "Alexa gets to love you, why can't I…"I stop myself. I don't love Ben. I'm crazy in like with Ben. "Why can't I be with Ben?"
"He's a no good piece of lying shit," he hisses each word slowly over his tongue. "He's not who you think he is."
"Maybe he's not who you think he is." I push my finger into his hard chest. "Maybe you just can't get over losing your mother."
He takes a step back as his hand reaches to the brick façade of the building. I hear him curse beneath his breath. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"I do." I take a step closer to him. I'm the one on the offense now. He doesn’t get to dictate my life to me. That's not how this works.
His eyes search my face. "What did he tell you?"
It's common knowledge. It's not as though I'll be betraying Ben in any way if I repeat what he told me. "He said you and your father blame him for your mother's death."
"He actually told you that?" He doesn't hesitate as he barks the words at me. "I can't believe he told you that."
I stare at him. I can't gauge whether Noah's reaction is strictly based in the emotional void that he's felt since losing his mom or if he's harboring more resentment towards Ben than he's letting me see. "Noah," I say his name softly. "Ben told me he was with someone the day your mom died. He told me he was supposed to be watching her."
His brow furrows as he digests my words. "Say that again." He leans forward craning his ear towards me.
"Ben told me that he was in the guest house with a woman while you and Ron were out."
His hand flies in the air in a circular motion. "Go on."
I blow a heavy puff of air out between my lips. "He said that she died and he didn't know until you both came home."
His chin tilts down as his hand scrubs over his forehead. I've seen Ben do the very same thing. "That's what Ben told you?"
I nod slowly looking for confirmation of the story in Noah's eyes. I find nothing but a blank stare.
"Do you trust me, Kayla?"
It's not a fair question. If he asked me at any other moment in time I'd tell him absolutely without hesitation. Noah is an extension of Alexa in my eyes. I can count on him. I know he wants the best for me. The only problem is that in this instance, he can't see things clearly. His resentment and hatred for his brother is clouding his judgement.
"It's not that simple, Noah."
"It's a very simple question." He taps his fingers against the brick. "You are an incredibly important person to the woman I love. She needs you. She counts on you. I can't let anything happen to you."
I scratch the back of my ear. "Nothing bad is going to happen to me, Noah."
"He will hurt you." His voice is calm and controlled. "He will damage you in ways you can't even imagine. You are nothing to him. Nothing."
I lean back into the wall for balance. "Ben is a good person. He's a doctor."
He shakes his head slightly. "You think that makes him a saint?"
"No," I say briskly. "I'm not naïve, Noah. You're making me feel like an idiot."
"He didn’t tell you everything about the day she died. I doubt he's told you everything about his life." The words bite into me deeply. He's making me feel silly and foolish for falling into bed with Ben.
"I'm not marrying him, Noah," I offer as a reprieve. "I'm just having fun with him."
He throws his head back in frustration. "I am trying desperately to protect you. Why can't you see that?"
"You are angry with him because your mother died." I reach for his forearm. "That doesn't make him a bad person."
"I am angry with him because he has fucked over every single person who was close to him, including me." His free hand jumps to cover mine. "He uses people as if they are nothing. He takes what he can from them and then throws them away like trash."
I shake my head. "That's wrong."
"It's right." He squeezes my hand harder. "He's a master at manipulating people. He tried to ruin my life. "
"How?" I shoot the question out without realizing how much desperation is attached to it.
He scrubs his hand over his face. "I can't talk to you about this, Kayla. I need to talk to Alexa first. It will kill her inside if she knows I'm sharing stuff about Ben with you and not her."
Normally, I'd take that as a weak excuse for wanting to hold his secrets close to him, but this is Noah Foster. Alexa is his life and I know that he honors her in a way few men honor the women they adore.
"What am I supposed to do?" I ask genuinely. I feel completely conflicted inside. I have nothing concrete to dissuade me from Ben's confessions about the day his mother died. All I have to contradict that are some loosely disguised accusations that have come from my best friend's boyfriend.
"Stay away from him." He pushes on my hand. "I'm going home right not to tell Alexa everything about Ben. Then you'll come over and the three of us will talk about this together."
I nod. It's not in agreement. I want to know what happened in the past that has convinced Noah that Ben is the second coming of evil. I want to hear it from Ben. I need to talk to him now.
"Promise me you'll stay away from him."
That's not a promise I can keep. "I want to know what's really going on, Noah."
"You will." He reaches forward to graze his lips across my cheek. "I should have told Alexa about all this months ago. I'll talk to her and then we'll talk again."
I sigh deeply as he turns and heads down the street.
Chapter 19
"Have you ever wanted something that was bad for you?" I pull air quotes around the word bad. I don't know how else to define what Noah thinks of Ben.
"I'm a doctor." He laughs as his hand races up my thigh. "Everything is bad for me. There's like two things I should be eating. Everything else is the root cause of some kind of disease."
I laugh at the words even though I'm bundled into a tight ball inside. I keep glancing at my phone waiting for Noah or Alexa to call.
"Are you expecting a call?" Ben nods his chin towards my smartphone.
"I am." I've been debating whether I should just ask Ben about Noah's attack on his character. I trust them both. I care about them both. I feel as though I'm sitting atop a thick tug-of-war rope that they both are clinging to for dear life.
"Is it a work thing?" He moves his body closer to mine. "Your boss was in the ER the other day."
"What?" I say in surprise even though I anticipated it happening at some point. "She was smitten with you that day you called in for me."
"Smitten?" he parrots back within a wide grin. "Is that like saying she's hot for me?"
"All your female patients are."
"Some of the male ones too, " he says through a wide grin.
"It's not about work. I'm waiting for Noah to call."
His jaw tenses at the mention of his brother's name. "Why would Noah be calling you?"
"He's talking to Alexa about a few things right now." I pick up my phone and hold it in my hand. "Then they'll call me so I can go over."
"What kind of things?" He leans back into the soft leather of his couch. "Wedding things?"
"No." This is it, Kayla. Just say it. "It's about you."
"Me?" His finger scoops a piece of hair behind my ear, before it floats down my cheek. "What about me?"
"Noah knows we're sleeping together."
"How does Noah know that?" He tilts his chin towards me. "You told Noah?"
"No." I shake my head. "He saw us together."
He leans forward to brush his lips against my cheek. "It's not the end of the world. You know he'll try and poison your mind with thoughts about how bad I am, don't you?"
I feel the rope pulling me closer to Ben. "He said you weren't good for me. He said you'd ruin me."
"Ruin you?" He smirks as he says the words. "How can I possibly ruin someone so completely perfect?"
They're words. They are simple words that melt hearts. "He said you tried to ruin his life."
His brow cocks. "Did he tell you how I did that?"
He's so calm. If anything Noah said was based in truth, wouldn't Ben be trying to convince me that Noah is a liar? I stare at his face. There's nothing there that speaks of panic or frustration. He's as collected now as when I arrived a few minutes ago.
I place my phone into my lap. "You'd tell me if there was more to your feud than what happened the day your mother died, right?"
"I told you, Kayla." He brushes his lips over my cheek. "Noah hates me because I let her die."
I turn my head slightly, catching his lips with mine. My hand floats to the back of his head, deepening the kiss. There's no possible way this beautiful, tender man would hurt me. It's not part of what he is. I've watched him in the moments when he thinks I'm not paying attention. I've seen the way he smiles at the people who pass us by on the street. He has dedicated himself to helping others regain their health. Noah is wrong. He can't possibly be right.
"I want to believe you so much," I say into the kiss. "I know you're a good person."
He nods as his lips race up my cheek to my forehead. "I've tried very hard to be someone my mother would be proud of."
I move my other arm to embrace him, pulling his tall frame into me. "Noah doesn’t want me to be with you, Ben."
"I know." He pulls his arms tighter around me. "We'll figure it out. We're going to do that together."
A loud thump on the door stuns us both. He jumps from my embrace, his head jutting around the room. "I'm not expecting anyone."
I lean back waiting for him to get up. He doesn’t move as another loud thud fills the space.
"You should get that." I push myself up. "Do you want me to get it?"
He reaches for my hand, pulling it to his mouth. "I'll get it. You wait here, okay?"
I stand in silence as I hear his shoes tap footsteps to the foyer. I can't see who it is but I hear the voice. It's loud. It's angry. It's Noah.
He rounds the corner with Alexa behind him. "Kayla, for Christ sake, what the fuck are you doing here?"
I'm stunned by the words. The strength of his anger pushes me back and onto the couch. I feel faint. Alexa is yelling at Ben. The words are all too quick and cluttered for me to make sense of them.
"Get the fuck out of here," Ben is in front of me now, shielding my body from them both. "I'll call the police. Get out."
"Kayla." Noah tries to dart around Ben but he holds him back. Their large frames are chest-to-chest now. "You have to come with us."
"No," I shake my head slightly. "Noah, please."
"Kayla," Alexa's voice calls from behind them both. I can hear her sobbing. "Oh God, Kayla."
I push myself up again. I need to stop this. They can't dictate my life like this.
"Ben." I tap him on his shoulder and he spins around instantly. "Let me talk to them. I'll tell them it's okay."
His eyes are filled with panic. His head twisting back to look at Noah. "Kayla, no." He grabs my hands, holding tightly to them. "Please, no."
"Leave." I look past him to where Noah is standing next to Alexa. "I'll come over right away so we can talk. Please leave."
"They arrested him, Kayla," Alexa screams through the air. "They arrested him after she died."
"Who?" My eyes sprint over Ben's face looking for an answer from him.
"Ben." Her hand flies past Noah. "Ben killed their mother."
"That's not true." I squeeze his hands, knowing the pain he must be in hearing those words. "Don’t say that."
"He was charged with murder," Noah shouts at me. "He disconnected her oxygen, walked away and let her die."
My eyes travel up Ben's chest and then to his chin before they reach his face.
I stare at him.
"Ben," my voice is barely more than a whisper. "Tell me that's not true."
His lips part slightly, his hands jump to my face and within a sob he whispers the two words that change everything. "It's true."
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About the Author
Deborah Bladon has never read a romance hero she didn't like. Her love for romance novels began when she was old enough to board the bus, library card in hand to check out the newest Harlequin paperbacks. She's a Canadian by heart, and by passport, but you can often spot her in New York City sipping a latte and looking for inspiration for her next story. Manhattan is definitely her second home.
She cherishes her family and believes that each day is a gift for writing, for reading, and for loving.
Deborah Bladon, RUIN (The RUIN Series Book 1)
