Witness

42. Chelsea

Madelaine tells me very little about Noah's childhood. 

She tells me that his parents are lovely. She tells me that his father cooks the best Italian food she's ever had the pleasure of tasting. 

She once told me that she probably wouldn't have fallen in love with him if she had known him during his late teenage years, and didn't invite question once she'd said it. Like the amazing person she is, she doesn't like to spread his business around, even with me. 

But it's obvious there's a history with Damien there. 

The first time I met Tony Mierro, Noah and Damien were there too, speaking like old friends, smiling with each other. Later that night, Noah told both Maddie and I that we should stay away from the both of them. 

Looking back, I probably should've taken that advice. 

His words now though, let's talk childhood trauma, take the wind out of my lungs. 

Noah is a tough guy. He's six foot four. He's tattooed to holy high heaven. He's almost the width of a fucking doorway and he looks as if he could deadlift a car straight from the road in a spout of bad traffic. He looks solid, impenetrable, and I never saw him as someone who could be vulnerable. 

Now, he looks between Kaiden and I before leaning back into the opposite couch and throwing an arm around Maddie's shoulders, cool and collected. 

"You both look shocked, so I'll just-" he gestures "-rip the bandaid right off. Here we go. When I was fifteen, I was a bit of a..." 

"Little shit," Maddie supplies.

"Thanks, love. Yes. You said Damien keeps kids around, right? The ones in the room with all the coke? I was one of those kids." 

I had a feeling that would be the case. 

Apparently, Kaiden has had a similar inkling because he doesn't outwardly react either, just nods for Noah to continue, casually, like the four of us are talking over dinner and not broaching the subject of being groomed into crime as a child.

"You seem oddly calm despite what I just said." He turns to Maddie. "They heard me, right?" 

"I...have seen a lot of Damien's life over the past few months," I say, "and this is the least shocking thing about it all. I mean, you already knew Damien and Tony. I kind of figured." 

Kaiden shifts in his seat. "You also popped up in my background check on him, so, uh..." He bares his teeth in a semi-grimace and tries to smile, all toothy and wrong, but Noah, thankfully, laughs it off. 

"How deep is your background check?" I ask, curiosity peaked. 

Kaiden smirks and looks down at his lap. "It's pretty deep," he murmurs, in a way that feels like it's for my ears only. I have no way of knowing (Noah-ing - funny) if Noah and Maddie heard that.

And I know my face heats up. 

Goddammit. 

Life was so much easier when he hated me. Now he's all flirty and charming and distracting, and I can't even have a serious conversation without ending up horny and embarrassed. 

Part of me thinks back to when Maddie first met Noah, when they were new and secret and not quite together, and I always looked at them and wished that I could've had something like that. 

Now I do, a small voice in my head says. But I don't know if I believe that voice yet. 

"Well," Noah smiles, "that makes things easier."