CC moved cautiously through the darkly shadowed rebel hideout. Though she could detect no sign of anyone’s presence in the old two-story structure, she knew better than to assume that there was no one around. For years they’d been forced to meet in secret, and they were most adept at disguising their whereabouts. CC was aware that there were several windowless meeting rooms in the building, and it was in one of these that she hoped to finally locate Ryan.
CC ascended the staircase as quietly as possible, and when she reached the hall, she noted with relief that light was shining from beneath the door to one of the rooms. Quickly she rushed forth, anxious to impart her news about Noah’s treachery so that precautions could be taken against any possible action by the Crown.
CC knew a momentary pang of sorrow over the fact that she had to tell Ryan of Noah’s betrayal, but the memory of the scene at the jail between Noah and Eve assailed her then, erasing any kinder emotion she might have felt for him. She had always known that he was a double-dealer, and she felt foolish for having believed any of what Matthew had told her last night. She was glad now that she had not arrived at the jail before Eve. Who knows what kind of a fool she would have made of herself, professing her love to him? Her witnessing of his embrace with Eve had cured her of wanting him, and any love she had felt for him was buried beneath a hard shell of hate. It was in that frame of mind that CC knocked once on the door to announce her presence and then turned the knob to open it, calling out to Ryan as she did so.
Noah, try as he might, had only managed to get a few minutes’ sleep since being left there. Unable to rest, he had lain upon the bed trying to come to grips with what he really wanted from life. His entire plan for the future had been destroyed by the events of the past few days, and he had to admit to himself that he was not altogether sorry. Matthew’s blunt assessment of his character had shocked him, and yet at the same time it had forced him to accept the ugly truth about himself. He had changed. He had become a different person, and Noah knew he didn’t like the man he’d become.
Looking back objectively, Noah could see how the humiliation of his father’s failure had rendered him a slave to his obsessive desire to “prove” his worth to those who’d shunned him. He understood his own motivation in striving to reestablish himself, but he knew now that the goal of returning to England possessing great wealth was a useless, fruitless achievement. The opinions of his so-called friends among the peerage were not important, for, had they been true friends, they would not have deserted him in the first place. Noah’s thoughts drifted to remembrances of the life he’d led before his father’s death. He realized now that his existence had been completely hedonistic, not unlike Geoffrey’s here in the colonies, and he knew he could never go back to that. He had discovered that there was more to life… There was justice and dedication and love…
A sound in the hall interrupted Noah’s thoughts, and thinking it to be one of Ryan’s men returning to check on him, he quickly got up and started toward the door as it swung open.
CC stepped inside the room fully expecting to come face-to-face with Ryan and several other members of the group. Instead she found herself staring up at Noah. He looked so tall and so handsome that for a minute she froze, overwhelmed by his very nearness. Her hands went cold and clammy, and her heart began to pound in her breast. What was he doing here? Of all the people she’d expected to see when she came through the door, he had been the last. Her moment of disbelief was brief. He was a double-dealing traitor!
“You! What are you doing here?” CC erupted in shocked fury.
“CC!” Noah was surprised, but thrilled, to see her. He had never suspected that she would be the one coming to check on him, and all he could think of was that he was finally going to have the chance to tell her everything. She looked beautiful to him even in her boyish garb, and he could hardly wait to take her in his arms and profess his love.
“I asked what you were doing here!” CC snapped, her emerald gaze a vicious glare as she stepped warily backward to maintain a definite distance between them. Trying to ignore the way her pulse was racing, she nervously glanced around the room, hoping someone else was there. To her dismay, they were alone. Where was everyone?
“You don’t know?” Noah approached her slowly, a slight smile curving his handsome lips. “It’s obvious, isn’t it?”
“It’s not obvious to me!” she retorted, feeling overwhelmed by his dominating presence in the small room.
Noah frowned as he considered her answer. Surely she knew about the jailbreak… “CC, I’m here because this is where Ryan sent me,” he explained simply.
“Surely you don’t expect me to believe that. I know what a filthy, double-dealing liar you are!” she declared, her green-eyed gaze scathing upon him as she remembered him heatedly embracing Eve several hours earlier. How had he come to be here in the rebel hideout when he had been plotting with Eve? CC was desperate to locate Ryan and find out the truth.
Noah knew CC had every right to be angry with him over the way he’d treated her when they were last together, but he had not expected this type of reaction from her. His only hope was to apologize for that night, but she gave him no opportunity.
“I’m going to find Ryan!” CC was seething as she started out the door, “And I’m going to tell him the truth about you!”
Surprised by her vehement accusations, Noah stood immobile for a moment. Only the thought that she was stalking out without an explanation goaded him to react. Grabbing her by the shoulders just as she would have left, Noah spun her around to face him.
“What the hell is the matter with you?” He gave CC a brief shake as he dragged her closer. Even as annoyed as he was with her, the feel of her slender shoulders beneath his hands sent shock waves of awareness through him.
“You are what’s the matter with me! I know all about you and your deals and plans! You’re the lowest of the low, Kincade! You’re nothing but a damned insidious traitor!” CC hissed, wishing she could break free and slap him.
“A traitor?” Noah could only stare down at her in complete bafflement. CC thought him a traitor? The idea was as close to ridiculous as anything he’d ever heard.
“That’s right!” she challenged, taking advantage of his momentary confusion to wrench herself free from his firm hold. “I’m going to find Ryan right now and let him know just how low-down and conniving you really are! Unless…” The thought suddenly struck her that Noah must have already set his betrayal into action and that her friends were probably even now being arrested by the authorities. She blanched as she stared up at him, her eyes dark and haunted in her pale face.
Noah read her distress and didn’t understand it. “Unless what, CC? What the hell are you talking about?” Noah was completely confused by her wild charges, and he raked a hand nervously through his hair as he stared down at her in consternation. Where in the world had she ever gotten the idea that he was a traitor?
“Unless Ryan and the others have already been arrested…” She backed toward the door, her very real fear reflected on her features. “No wonder I couldn’t find anybody! You’ve already turned them in!”
“Turned who in, CC? I’m no traitor!” he protested, reaching out to snare her arm as she would have fled the room.
“You expect me to believe that after what I saw and heard this afternoon?” CC struggled against his overwhelming strength as he drew her closer to him.
“Yes, I expect you to believe it, especially since it’s the truth! And I’d also like to know just what it is you supposedly saw that convinced you I was so devious.” Noah countered, trying to make sense out of her accusation. “Don’t you know that I just sold the arms shipment to Ryan for half of what I’d originally asked?”
“Oh, I know all about that. You almost had me convinced that I’d been wrong about you.” CC glared up at him mutinously. “Almost. I had forgotten for a moment what a despicable, amoral man you really are, but after seeing you with Eve today, you can be sure that won’t ever happen again!”
“You saw me with Eve?”
“I went to the jail and accidentally walked in on the two of you. I saw you kissing her, and I heard you make a deal with her!”
Noah was stunned. CC had gone to the jail to see him? Why? He longed to know the answer, but first he had to find out what it was she thought he’d done.
“I made no deal with Eve. In fact, CC, when Eve left my cell, she was in quite a temper.”
“If Eve was in a temper when she left you, it was probably because she couldn’t bed you right there! I saw you kissing her, Noah! I heard her say that she knew you were a man who liked to deal and that she could have you out of jail before the day was over!”
“Just what kind of deal do you think I made, CC?” Noah asked, his tone quieting as it became clear to him just what had happened. For some as yet unknown reason, CC had gone to the jail to see him and had evidently walked in just as Eve was trying to blackmail him into marrying her. He regretted that CC hadn’t stayed past that one kiss, for, if she had, they wouldn’t be having this confrontation right now.
“She was probably working for the authorities, trying to convince you to turn us in in exchange for your freedom! What else?” CC looked up at him, her gaze cold and accusing upon him.
“Ah, CC,” he murmured in understanding as he lifted one hand to gently caress her cheek, “what else, indeed…”
CC slapped his hand away in irritation as she tried to deny the desire that was stirring within her. “Don’t patronize me, Kincade!”
“I’m not patronizing you, CC. I’m trying to explain exactly what it was you thought you saw and heard this afternoon.”
“I know what I saw and heard!”
“You’re right about Eve kissing me, and you’re right about her offering me a deal, too, but you’re wrong about everything else.”
CC looked at him skeptically as she began to doubt her long-held beliefs about him.
“Think about it,” he urged as he sensed that she was calming. “If I had done what you accused me of, why in the world would I be here?”
His reasoning was maddeningly logical, but still CC didn’t want to believe him.
Noah read her mistrust and went on. “I’m here, CC, because Matthew and Ryan arranged for my escape from jail.” As he revealed the truth of all that had happened, Noah studied her expression, hoping to see revealed there an acceptance on her part.
Despite her initial reluctance to accept his explanation, CC felt her fierce belief in his treachery begin to fade. However, the memory of the scene with Eve was still branded in her mind, and she knew that she could not completely accept what he was telling her. “But what about Eve? I heard-”
“I know exactly what you heard,” he agreed steadily. “Eve offered me a deal of sorts that would have guaranteed my release from jail. I refused to take her up on her offer. Suffice it to say that when she left me, she was pleased at the thought that I was going to face the gallows for my crime.”
“Why would you refuse her deal if it would have freed you?”
“There were too many strings attached.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Eve witnessed the fight between Geoffrey and me.”
“She did? Why didn’t she tell someone?” She looked up at him in surprise.
“She saw it all, all right, but she withheld her testimony in hopes of forcing me to marry her.” There was a bitterness in his tone that betrayed his true feelings for the cunning, beauteous widow.
“What?” CC was truly shocked at his revelation.
Noah smiled thinly, but it was not an expression that mirrored happiness. It was a cynical sneer that reflected the contempt he had for the woman’s sly maneuverings. “It seems Eve was at Geoffrey’s the night I went there and quarreled with him. Geoffrey had just discovered that I had killed his brother in a duel in England. He was determined to seek revenge, and he drew a pistol. He planned to shoot me and then tell the authorities that I’d attacked him, but I wasn’t about to let things end that easily. He didn’t expect me to fight him for the gun, so at least I had that much on my side. The gun went off accidentally while we were struggling over it. The whole thing was entirely a matter of self-defense, but unfortunately, I was discovered in the very compromising position of having the murder weapon in my hand when the authorities arrived. Had Eve been a woman of honor, she would have come forth then to profess all she knew. Instead she maintained her silence, condemning me to arrest.” He gazed down at CC standing so close to him, listening so intently. “I wasn’t even aware she’d been there until she showed up at the jail this afternoon. Her deal was that she promised to tell all and see that the charges were dismissed if I would agree to marry her.”
“And you turned her down?” CC knew Eve was capable of such treachery, but she thought Noah’s refusal to save his own skin oddly out of character for him. He was a man who first and foremost took care of himself, with an eye always on profit. His decision was to remain in jail when he could have been freed. “I don’t understand. You would have been free…safe…”
“I would have been trading one prison for another, CC.” Noah’s voice was hoarse as he regarded her solemnly. “Death seemed far preferable to the prospect of a lifetime married to a woman I didn’t love. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life knowing that I had sold myself to her for a price.” His gray eyes were dark and filled with emotion as they met hers. “There is only one woman I’ve ever loved, CC, only one woman I’ve ever proposed to…”
There in the smoky depths of his very serious regard she saw the truth of his feelings openly revealed for the first time. Her breath caught in her throat, and she found she could not answer.
“I love you, CC,” Noah went on, finally professing the emotion that had tormented him for so long.
CC had dreamed of having his love for so long that she could only stand there and stare up at him. She wanted to ask him about the night at the inn when she had told him the truth of her love for him and yet he’d rejected her. She didn’t understand why he hadn’t told her of his love then.
When she didn’t respond immediately to his declaration of love, Noah’s heart sank. He was too late. He had feared as much but had held out a last shred of hope until now. Now he knew that there was no hope at all. She didn’t love him, and he couldn’t blame her. “I know I’ve treated you badly. I know I have no right to expect you to feel anything for me at all, but I had to tell you. I had to let you know before…” He looked away from her as he tried to bring his feelings under control.
CC heard the defeat in his tone and reached out to touch his arm. “Noah…”
He looked down at her hand on his arm before glancing up to her face, his expression wondering.
“Noah…I love you, too.” She said it softly, yet with deep feeling as the hard protective shell that had encased her heart melted away.
It was his turn to be stunned, but only for an instant, before he swept her into his arms and crushed her to him. “I thought it was too late… I thought I’d lost you,” he told her huskily as he held her close.
“You haven’t lost me, Noah. I’m yours forever.” CC savored his embrace.
Her words sent a shaft of pain through him. Forever, she had said. It unnerved Noah to think that forever might only be right now. He bent to her and kissed her. It was a desperate kiss of desire and longing, and when it ended he still held her close, fearful of ever letting her go. Had he discovered the woman of his dreams, the love of his life, only to have to tear himself from her? How could he tell CC that now that they’d finally found each other, there could be no future for them? With an effort, he forced the possibility from his thoughts. They had now, and that was all that mattered.
“CC…love.” He swung her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. This would be their night-a night of loving and giving, a night with no misconceptions or lies. There were no more doubts or suspicions between them, no more half-truths… They loved, and love conquered all.
Together they sank down upon the bed. All else faded into oblivion as they immersed themselves in each other. Each touch, each kiss took on special meaning as they whispered the long-denied endearments and pledges of devotion.
With the most exquisite of care, Noah stripped away the barrier of her clothing, revealing to his cherishing gaze the beauty of her womanly form. “You’re lovely, CC… You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen…” His voice was husky as he stared down at her, enthralled by the perfection of her breasts and the sweet invitation of her slightly parted thighs. “I love you.”
“Oh, Noah, please…love me… I need you so…” She lifted her arms to encircle his neck and pull him down to her for a passionate kiss. Her lips parted under his, and her tongue met his in a sensual duel of desire.
As their mouths blended, he drew her against him. His caresses were almost worshipful as he stroked her with beloved reverence. Noah played upon her body as if he were the master, and she were a finely tuned instrument worthy of only the most delicate of touches. He held her enraptured, bringing her senses more and more alive with each delightfully arousing caress. His lips followed his hands, tasting and exploring every inch of her silken flesh as he sought to give her the ultimate in sensual pleasure.
CC began to move restlessly as the fire of need he was creating within her flamed uncontrollably to life. She wanted him… She loved him… She needed him. There was only Noah and the joy of their being together. Her hands moved over him hungrily, unbuttoning his shirt and slipping within to caress the hard, hairless expanse of his chest. Suddenly she was impatient to have him undressed and naked beside her. She wanted to feel the hard, hot strength of him against her and know that he was hers, and hers alone. With eager hands, she pushed the shirt from his shoulders. Noah was momentarily distracted from his lovemaking by her actions, but he understood her need. He, too, wanted that ultimate closeness, and he stood to quickly finish stripping away the rest of his clothes.
CC’s eyes were glowing as she watched Noah undress, and when at last he stood before her gloriously unclothed, she marveled at how perfectly he was made. There was no ounce of spare flesh on him. He was long and lean and firmly muscled. Her emerald gaze glowed with the fire of her inner need as it traced the width of his powerful shoulders and then followed the path of his chest down past his waist to the proof of his desire for her.
CC’s heart quickened at the thought of being possessed by him, and she glanced up heatedly to find his gaze upon her. Their eyes met and held as Noah joined her on the bed once more. She knew a surge of wild passion as he moved above her and then settled his hot, hard weight against her welcoming softness. His mouth sought hers in a flaming, devouring exchange that told her of the power of his love.
Though his need was near to overwhelming, Noah held himself in check, going slowly so he could treasure every moment of their lovemaking. Easing a hand between them, he sought out the damp sweetness of her and he gloried in the knowledge that she was ready for him. With a slow, erotic rhythm, he caressed CC until she was moving hungrily beneath him. Knowing that she wanted him as badly as he wanted her drove him over the edge of self-restraint, and his need to bury himself within her could no longer be denied. Noah positioned himself before the portals of her love and thrust into the hot, velvet heart of her in one swift, sure movement. The moment was ecstasy. Enthralled, they blended and merged, taking and giving until the differences between them became nonexistent. They were one. When the excitement became too intense for them to bear any longer, they peaked, surrendering to the heated waves of rapturous splendor that pulsed through them. Wrapped in each other’s arms, sated and secure, they drifted through the aftermath of love’s splendor.
Reason returned slowly to Noah as he cradled CC against him. Though he wanted to stay there with her forever, loving her and holding her, he knew it was not to be. His situation was desperate. He was a hunted man…a man wanted for murder. He was going to be smuggled out of town like some illegal cargo, and his future was uncertain at best. He loved CC, yet he knew they could not hope to be together. What possible happiness could there be for her with him? He couldn’t return to England or to Boston society. He had nothing he could give her…nothing…not even his name. The ecstasy of their moment of loving erased, he tried to ease himself slightly away from her, but CC stirred at his movements and gazed up at him.
“Noah…is something wrong?” she asked in a tender voice as she noticed a strange sadness in his eyes.
Noah grimaced inwardly at the question. Everything was wrong, but how could he tell her? How could he explain that at any moment Ryan or one of his men was going to show up, and he was going to be spirited away to God knows where?
“Noah…what is it?” CC could tell by his expression that he was tormented by something. She had no idea what the problem was, but she wanted to help him if she could.
“CC, I think we’d better get dressed.” Noah climbed from the bed and, keeping his back to her, began to pull on his clothing. “Ryan may be sending someone over to check on me tonight, and I wouldn’t want them to find us like this.”
CC was completely confused and more than a little hurt by his behavior. She had thought they had worked through all the problems facing them. They had admitted their love! Didn’t that count for something? Suddenly she was angry with him for shutting her out, and her temper flared.
“Is it something I did? Something I said?” Coming to her knees in the center of the bed, she faced him, her auburn hair streaming about her shoulders in tumbled disarray, her eyes flashing fire.
When Noah turned around to answer her, he was struck again by her loveliness, for she looked like an avenging angel. She was everything he’d ever wanted, and he wondered how he was going to tell her that he had to leave her and that it was over between them.
“CC, this has nothing to do with you…” he hedged, his gaze fastened on the beauty of her.
“How can you say that?” she demanded. “You make wonderful love to me, then leave our bed without a word. You became cold and indifferent…”
“CC, I am hardly indifferent to you, and if I seem cold, I’m sorry.”
“Then tell me what’s wrong. We love each other. If there’s something troubling you, maybe I can help.” Her plea was so heartfelt that Noah couldn’t prevent himself from sitting down on the bed and drawing her back into his arms.
“Ah, love…everything is wrong.” His voice was a hoarse whisper as he buried his face against the sweetness of her throat.
“What do you mean?”
“I love you, CC. There’s nothing I want more than for us to spend the rest of our lives together, but that’s not going to happen.”
The certainty of his words was like a slap in the face to CC, and she stiffened in his embrace and drew back to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“I have nothing to offer you, darling.” His words were despairing. Noah felt as if his heart were being torn from his chest. He wanted her, God knows he did, but his sense of honor would not allow him to make promises to her he would be unable to keep.
“I have your love. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”
“What good is my love going to do you if I’m a wanted man? Have you forgotten that I’ve just broken out of jail? I’m a criminal, wanted by the law. Ryan’s going to get me out of Boston as soon as he can, but after that I’m going to be on the run. There can be no future for us.”
Her eyes filled with tears. “But I love you! I want to be with you! It doesn’t matter…”
“It does matter!” Noah told her bitterly. “CC…I feel the same way you do. I love you… I want to be with you, but I won’t take you with me. It’s too dangerous. If anything ever happened to you, I’d never forgive myself.”
“Let me make that decision!” she demanded.
“No.” He was curt. “I love you too much to put you at such risk.”
“Then marry me now. I can stay here and wait for you…” she pleaded, wanting more than anything to be his wife and to bear his name.
“No, love. It wouldn’t be fair to you. I have no idea where I’ll be going or what I’ll be doing. The way things stand, I could be dead tomorrow.”
“Oh, don’t say that!” CC cried as she wrapped her arms about him in a fiercely protective embrace.
“I have to say it, CC. It’s something you have to think about. You’ve got to understand…” Noah pried her arms from about him and held her slightly away so he could meet her eyes. “I love you, darling. I’ll never love anyone else. It’s because of my love that I won’t put you through all the torment.”
“What’s going to happen to you?” CC asked in a choked whisper as she struggled to fight back the tears burning in her eyes.
“I wish I knew,” he told her, smoothing an errant lock of hair back from her face and then bending to brush his lips tenderly against hers.
“Noah, please, I’ll go anywhere with you! I’ll do anything… Just don’t say that we’re going to be separated!” she agonized.
Before he could reply, the sound of someone entering the house below tore them apart. “Get dressed,” he ordered as he closed the door firmly and then quickly finished straightening his own clothing. “It’s probably the messenger from Ryan.”
CC was grateful she had been wearing the boy’s garb, for it made it easier for her to dress, and she was completely clothed before the knock sounded at the door.
“Kincade?” Joshua Smith asked cautiously.
“Yes. Come in.”
Noah greeted him with pleased surprise. “It’s good to see you again, Smith.”
“You, too,” he returned, glancing questioningly from Noah to CC. “Did Ryan send you here, Miss CC?”
“No. As a matter of fact, I came here looking for Ryan and accidentally discovered Lord Kincade’s presence.”
Smith nodded. “Oh.”
“What’s the news?” Noah quickly asked, directing the conversation away from the subject of CC’s presence.
“It looks like we may be able to get you out of town just before dawn.”
“Is it definite?”
“We won’t be sure until after midnight. Ryan will get back to us then with a definite answer, one way or the other.”
“Us?”
“Yes. He gave me orders that I was to stay with you for now, just in case.”
Noah fought to keep from scowling at the news. Smith was staying! Were he and CC never to have another moment alone together? Was it to end like this?
“I can stay with him if you’ve got something else you have to do, Joshua,” CC offered, feeling the same terrible desperation that gripped Noah.
“No, I’m sorry, Miss CC. Ryan gave me explicit instructions that I was to stay here until we heard from him.”
CC was crestfallen. The thought that she might never see Noah again left her dreams shattered, and she felt as if her life were ending.
“How’s my brother?” Noah was asking. He was trying not to believe that CC would soon be forced to leave.
“They searched Matthew’s house first, but of course they didn’t find anything.” Smith was smug, pleased that their plan had worked so well.
“Good.” Noah was relieved that Matthew wasn’t paying the price for his present predicament.
“I’ve brought us some food.” He held up a saddlebag and then looked around the small room in annoyance. “Pity there’s not a better place to sit than on the bed,” he commented as he walked over and sat down. As he rummaged through the pouch for food, CC and Noah exchanged strained glances.
“Noah…I…”
“You’d better go now,” he told her firmly, not wanting to put her reputation at any greater risk.
“All right.” They were the most painful words she’d ever uttered. She wanted to throw herself into his arms and refuse to leave, but she knew it was impossible. Heartbroken, she picked up her tricorn and started from the room.
“I’ll go down with you,” Noah offered.
“Don’t go downstairs, Kincade. Someone might catch sight of you through a window. Stay up here,” Smith instructed, keeping his attention diverted to allow them a moment of privacy. Though he gave the impression of being a coldhearted man, Joshua knew love when he saw it. He knew that young Miss CC was carrying quite a flame for the Englishman, and he thought it quite a pity that things were turning out as they were.
Noah and CC moved in silence out into the darkened hallway, and they didn’t speak until they were near the top of the staircase.
“Noah…please don’t make me leave you!” Her tears were falling freely now as she gave up the fight to contain them. “Not now…not when we’ve just discovered how much we love each other! My life will be empty without you!”
“CC, it’s the only way I can live with myself. If you’re home with your father, I’ll know you’re safe and well.”
“But Noah-”
“No more, CC!” he cut her off brusquely. “Do you think I want this any more than you do? Do you think I enjoy the thought that I may never hold you, or touch you, or kiss you again? It’s tearing me apart to send you away, but it’s the only solution!”
Without another word, he clasped her to him and covered her mouth with his in a potent kiss meant to brand her as his for all time.
“No matter what happens, CC, always remember that I love you…” He said the words softly and then kissed her again, this time cherishingly. “Good-bye, my darling…”
“Noah…”
“Go now before it becomes even more difficult!”
CC gave a choked sob and then touched his cheek one last time. Steeling herself against the emotions that were ravaging her very soul, she turned away to stuff her hair up under her hat.
“Good-bye, Noah…and please, please, be careful.” Tears were coursing freely down her cheeks as she took one last look at him. Then she turned and raced away down the steps and out of the house, disappearing quickly into the night.
Miserable and dying inside, Noah watched her until she was out of sight. He felt as if someone had physically ripped his heart from his chest, and he drew a deep, shuddering breath as he started back to his room and Smith.
Unmindful of any attention she might attract, CC hurried away. She felt frozen and lifeless inside. Nothing seemed to matter without Noah…nothing. Eager to seek out what little comfort the familiar surroundings of her room could offer, she ran for home, unaware that her father was there in her chambers waiting for her.