All The Pieces (Pieces of Lies 3) (13 page)

Norah cleared her throat. “Alight. Fine.”

She turned to me and stared up into my eyes. They were glossy, like she was doing her darnedest not to cry. I could see her humiliation and pain for having to perform like an animal for him. And now she was being forced to kiss me. I know she didn’t have to, but I also knew we had no other option at this point. He was the only way to Josh, and Norah would do anything he told her to if it meant his safe return.

Norah hooked her hand around my waist. I could feel it shaking. I wanted more than anything to steady it with my own. I wanted to comfort her, and draw her hand to my chest to show her that I would help her get through this, but all I could feel were her shaking fingers.

She lifted her head up to mine and immediately shut her eyes. Was she imagining she was about to kiss Josh right now? Whatever was going through her mind, she was doing her best to try and hide her emotions, keep her face steady and controlled. I closed my eyes too. I couldn’t watch her struggle through this, especially with me. It was cutting a lot deeper than I expected.

As soon as I closed both eyes, I felt her lips gently connect to mine. They were restrained, hesitant and also trembling with the rest of her body. She pulled away quickly and stepped away from me, still not making eye contact.

So that’s what a loveless kiss feels like.

Hamilton shook his head.  “Now, now Ms. Rossi. You are going to have to do better than that. Look, I will make you a deal. You show me a kiss worth remembering, and I will show you where Joshua Hollows is.”

Her back stiffened as she glared at Hamilton. I knew she didn’t want to do that again. I saw her swallow, but then finally breathed out, “You promise you will show me where Josh is?”

“Yes Lenorah.” He held his palm over his chest, like it really meant he was being honest. “I swear.”

She turned to me now, finally meeting my eyes, a grave look on her face. She leaned into me and whispered, “Clint, I’m sorry you have to do this. I know this must be the last thing you want to do with me, but I will need your help this time. Can you help me make it look...”

She couldn’t finish. Was she crazy? All I had thought about in the last six months between the nameless faces of women who tried to get my attention, were her lips, her smile, her voice, her face. This was something I had to hold on to for as long as she allowed. Last thing I want? No, it was the first and only thing I’ve ever truly wanted in my life.

I put my hand gently on her waist, softly, so she knew she had nothing to worry about. “Norah, I will help it look believable. I’m here to help you. Let me help you as much as I can, alright? You need to relax. Follow my lead and I will take care of the presentation. Just keep your hands on my hips. Are you going to be okay to do that?”

She nodded and looked to the ground. This was hurting her. I didn’t want to hurt her. I wanted her to look at me as if this was not a punishment but a gift. But she wasn’t. She was dreading the moment. I lifted her chin and mouthed, “Trust me.” She gave me a slight nod and closed her eyes, keeping her hands on my hips. I whispered into her ear, “Just think of me as a canvas and you as the paint, and try and imagine that we are creating a masterpiece that’s so beautiful, that no other piece of art could rival its beauty.”

Norah opened her eyes and smiled at me. Really smiled. It was like she understood my meaning and intent. I didn’t want to make her think of anything uncomfortable or complicated, like what was happening around us or our past. I wanted her to think of something that made her happy. Something that she loved to do. Something that was beautiful. I knew if I reminded her of her painting, then maybe she could do this — create a kiss that was art.

She stared into my eyes, looking deep, remembering something. Her eyes then went down and they flicked across to my cheeks and then down to my lips. She was doing as I instructed her. She was imaging me as a canvas, and her mouth the paint. This was it. We were about to kiss, and I knew she would need to open her heart just a fraction to our memory to make it look and feel right. When I saw her lick her lips, and her eyes meeting mine again, I could feel the pull of our once burning love, and I took it as my cue to take control. Her body melted into my arms as I gripped her tight, both arms wrapped around her chest; clutching her like she was my air, my reason for living. Our lips crashed onto one another, possessive, and wanting and yet still so tender and restrained. We devoured the moment with our lips, her fingers in my hair, one of her legs lifting slightly and wrapping around mine. In that moment, we were beauty, we were passion, we were love. Our kiss was a piece of art, and nothing, not even Josh, would ever take this moment away from me. After a minute of being on display, we snapped apart, like it was the only way we could break the connection. It took an extra minute of us both clutching our chests before we could breathe normally again.

“Very good Mr. Weston and Lenorah. Very good indeed. I enjoyed that immensely. As did my audience I’m sure.”

Norah shook her body and righted her shoulders to attention at what Hamilton just said. “Audience?” she asked.

“Oh yes. Did I forget to mention there were others in the room? Sorry, I do apologize. Bring him out into the light gentlemen.” His fingers gestured towards the security guards.

Suddenly a couple of tuxedo clad men brought Josh out of the shadows behind him and into the light next to Hamilton. Josh’s face and body looked like it had been roughed up pretty bad, which I’m sure was more for shock value. He had a piece of material tied around his head, gagging him from talking, and he had a streak of dampness on his cheeks. I didn’t want to admit to myself, but it looked like they were tears. Probably from watching me and Norah. I did feel bad for the guy for being made to watch that. I knew what that would have done to me.

Norah charged forward towards the men, “JOSH!” she yelled, and suddenly the two men lifted guns which brought us all to a standstill in the room.

“You bastard,” Norah seethed at Hamilton. “Let him go right now. You got your show.”

Hamilton began laughing at Norah. This was not the end. Far from it. I already knew why he had brought her here. It was already clear to me what he intended. It was after all, what they  
all
intended.

“Not so fast Ms. Rossi. I must say though, I do admire your determination. But it won’t be that easy. If you want Joshua back, you need to officially join the Lappell. Become a member.”

Josh started shaking his head. But Norah only stared at the bruises on his face, the cut above his eye.

“Yes, yes, yes. I’ll become a member. Give me the stupid piece of paper and I’ll sign it right now.”

Hamilton's head cocked to one side, like he remembered something.  “Oh that...No, this isn’t the same offer as you were presented with in Morewell.”

“What does that mean?” Norah asked, clearly confused.

“It means, if you want to join the Lappell, you’ll need to go through initiation this time.”

Oh no. Not initiation. I couldn’t help but speak up. I knew all about our initiation processes and the type of activities that were involved. I couldn’t believe he was adding that element to this. He must have wanted to punish her and Josh, or initiation wouldn’t have been suggested.

“Surely you won’t put her through that? I mean, wouldn’t you want to keep up good relations with her father? I’m sure a little leniency will go a long way with interpersonal relations. You’re a smart man Hamilton. You must know that.” Yes, I was playing the Dad card. It was the only hand I had. I had to try and prevent this. Even with Norah’s inner strength, I knew there were some things she could not stomach, Lappell initiation being one of them.

“Hmmm, Mr. Weston does have a point.” Hamilton sat, moving his leg back and forth, allowing the silence to stretch on. Norah had not taken her eyes off Josh while we waited for him to come to a decision.

“Alright. I’ll leave the decision up to Miss Rossi then.” He raised his hand in the air. “Both envelopes please.” One of the men holding Josh, walked into another dark corner of the room and came back with two large envelopes, one red and one blue. “So, Lenorah. What will it be? Initiation of the mind...or...initiation of the body?”

Please select mind, please select mind, please select mind.

“I choose, mind.”

Hamilton frowned slightly as the same man who delivered Hamilton the envelopes, went and took the blue envelope and turned it over to Norah.

“Can’t say I’m not disappointed at your choice Miss Rossi because I had intended to give you body.” Hamilton’s eyes were on her bra and panties again. “But you’ve made your choice. Now, you have exactly twenty-four hours, to decipher the riddle in that envelope. It will lead you to a destination where you will find Mr. Hollows.” Hamilton began playing with the red envelope in his hands. “If you don’t figure out the riddle, and are unable to find Joshua before 11.21pm tomorrow night, then you will need to try this again, with initiation of the body.”

I cringed. Norah held the blue envelope to her chest, her eyes still locked on Josh’s. Hamilton got off his chair and then spoke to the guards that had brought me and Norah into the room. “Time’s up. Now tick-tock, tick-tock. You have a riddle to solve.”

Norah resisted against a couple of pulls by the guard before she was moved from the room. Just before we were taken out, Hamilton yelled out, “Oh Lenorah...” Her head spun quickly from outside the doorway. “Good luck.”

After grabbing Norah’s coat that I had dropped in the ballroom, we were quickly escorted out of the mansion and back to our limo. I watched Norah sitting rigidly in the car, staring out of the window at the city’s lights as we headed back to my family’s estate. She was wrapped up in her fur coat and hugging her body tightly while the envelope sat on the seat next to her. Since we had left the party, she had retreated to her shell of silence. She was probably going over everything that had just happened. It was a lot to take in and I wished I knew what she was thinking.

Was she scared, anxious, overwhelmed?

Was she feeling guilty about our kiss?

Was there a possibility she might be thinking of me?

I wanted to help her deal with her emotions any way I could. I wanted to comfort and support and hold her in my arms. I would give anything to know if she felt what I felt during that kiss. I wanted to know if she felt that deep connection. How the kiss hungered and craved more. It was like it demanded for us not to ignore the need we had when our mouths were finally joined together again. A small part of me wanted to grab her and shake her and ask her how she could possibly be ignoring it right now, but another part of me, the one who knew her better, recognized she needed to process a canyon full of emotions, and pushing her into talking about it would only push her further away.

She had yet to speak about what Josh had done to all of us, and even though she hadn’t brought it up, I could already tell it had changed things. She still seemed very unsure as to why Sam and I were here, but I had caught her looking at us both with sorrow rather than suspicion. It looked like regret for believing in Josh, or remorse for what she said and did. I knew there must be underlying feelings from six months ago and how Josh’s manipulation had changed her course and her heart. No matter how much she must love Josh now and was putting him first, there had to be something still not closed inside her when it came to the other two loves of her life. I could feel it in the kiss. I could still feel ‘us’.

“Norah...” I said softly, reaching over to her shoulder, and touching her lightly to get her attention. Her head turned to me and I saw her eyes which were glossy and sad. She avoided my eyes and turned so her hair shielded her face like a curtain. God, I wanted to hold her and wrap her up in my arms. I wanted to be her strength. I wanted to absorb her pain and take it all away.

“Don’t,” her voice pleaded. She already knew what I wanted to talk about and what I was going to say. It was clear she still could read me with just one look. My heart ached to hold her close because of that connection.

“But...” I said, my own voice pleading back. I knew we would be back at the mansion soon and we wouldn’t have an opportunity to talk alone. Norah pulled her hair away from her face so I could see the line of tears trailing down her cheeks. She was allowing me to see her like this, even though I knew she didn’t like to be so upfront with her emotions, especially when it was sad or painful. It was an action which spoke volumes. Norah rarely allowed this kind of vulnerability. She needed me to see her internal struggle; needed me to see it wasn’t the time to talk.

“Clint,” she spoke, her voice straining to come out as it tried to remain lodged in her throat. “I would really appreciate it if we don’t tell Samuel and Tess what we had to do. I just...I can’t deal with...” Her voice trailed off. She could barely string together all the words to ask me if we could not create anymore unnecessary drama or pain. Was it because she was confused, conflicted, or angry at herself? I wasn’t sure. I was only sure of that feeling I felt when our lips opened up and succumbed to our once immortal love. I knew it was still very much alive, and because of that, I would do anything this girl asked of me.

I lifted her cheek with my right hand index finger and looked her in the eyes as the tears continued to line her cheeks. “Of course Norah. Of course. We won’t say a word.”