Noah's Lifeline

If loving Westwoods was easy, everybody could do it

Author's Spiel :  Spring equinox is here and I'm so happy ! By the way, I heard somebody wanted to hear from Noah this chapter ? You're in luck because he has a lot to say ...

Edited (:

Noah's POV

I knew my grip on the steering wheel was too tight when the tendons under the skin of my hands protruded, the paleness of them almost fantastical than human as the unnatural flex of my skin was nearly stretched to the very limit.

But human I was. A sad one running on caffeine and half of the meals my nutritionist had prepared in the last couple of weeks since that night at the arena.

I'd won.

The match at least.

Just as the floodgates of memories of that night tried to open, I gritted my teeth unyieldingly and released one of my hands from the wheel to toss back the pills that were waiting for me from atop the console of my truck.

In the back of my mind I knew just as well that it was all a means to an end, a brief escape that wouldn't cost my placement in the finals or damage the press run I was still on leading up to them, but an escape that would require a refill soon enough.

Time seemed to pass differently with the medicine I'd reluctantly accepted from my doctor and the high I got from the pills was just a byproduct of the pain occurring both in muscles and my heart. A pain that was taking me longer to snap out of.

"You can fucking do this."

I exhaled deeply, willing the control to return to the forefront of my mind as I stared out of the window with hatred in my eyes as I imagined the damned building alight with flames and smoke. With each step I took from my car to the front door I imagined the bastards inside running out frantically as they stopped, dropped and rolled before me.

A sight I'd almost pay good money for

The security barely checked me over before pushing the next set of heavy wooden doors open to the reception area where a banquet of all things was being held. Members from all the primordial families were seated across the room, all huddled together as intimate conversations took place.

How a crime family banquet could look like a damned tea party was beyond me as the melodic musings of classical songs filled the space. Leaning over the bar-top I'd strode over to, I ordered a basic non-alcoholic drink as I searched the room for the assholes that I shared blood with.

It didn't take long before some of the features I saw in the mirror came into view.

Out of the five of them, Jasper was seated the furthest in the back corner, his reddened ears the first sign of distress this particular table reeked of. Judging by the bloodshot eyes and tightly wound fists, I could tell that his sulking was nowhere near complete as the men seated around him held an equally tight tension in their form as they all glared him down.

I took a hearty sip of the drink placed before me and slid the bartender a twenty, watching the scene unfold like a movie. A bad one at that.

"What in the entire fuck is wrong you, Jasper? We gave you explicit instructions and you failed, miserably enough that we're in a tougher spot than we started at months ago." David jeered, his finger millimeters from Jasper's face in his anger.

My cousin didn't respond. Instead he gritted his teeth, still keeping his gaze pinned to the plate before him where untouched delicacies from the appetizers portion of the night stared right back at him.

The drink wasn't nearly as good to me as the sorrow and anxiety coming off of him in waves before Jasper cleared his throat and addressed the surrounding family members. It was all bullshit about to come out of his mouth. I could clock it from where I stood so I knew the other men with a front row seat were not convinced either, even after Jasper assured them he had things handled and plan in place.