Noah was a womanizer, but he didn’t bring those women around his kids. If they were starting to talk about this bitch, then she was important. Nadine held her tongue and bided her time. She figured this whore, Lissette, would eventually get as tired of Noah’s need to fuck other people as she’d gotten herself. No such luck. That slut had dug her heels in and gotten Noah to get her pregnant. She was pregnant now.
Lissette’s pregnancy had gotten Nadine’s ass in gear. Sure Noah had fucked around on her with an inestimable number of women, but Lissette was real competition because she was carrying his child. That bitch could actually take Noah away from her! Nadine had to stop her.
There was one sure way of doing that. Granted, it was the oldest trick in the book. It hadn’t been hard to get Noah to sleep with her.
After all, she was — at least up until now — the love of his life. Now Nadine finally knew how it felt to be the other woman. Noah was cheat-ing on Lissette with his ex-wife. He’d found out Nadine was pregnant, too, the day before this horrible thing had happened to him. Now he had no choice but to choose. Nadine had no doubt that she’d win.
Nadine thought of all these things as she watched Noah’s heart beat blip across the monitor. She loved Noah, and she didn’t want to lose him. Nadine lost her train of thought as the door opened and someone walked in.
It was a woman, a little less than average height, with a nice curvy figure. She was very pretty, with stylishly short hair. Nadine frowned, but relaxed some when she saw the 9mm clipped next to the detective badge on her belt. People had been in and out of Noah’s room all day.
She was just another cop looking in on him.
Nadine still didn’t think anything of it when she saw that she was crying — she’d seen a lot of that today, but when she ran her fingers through Noah’s curly hair and bent to kiss his face, Nadine sat straight up in her chair. She watched as the woman picked up Noah’s hand, kissed it, and held it to her face. It was one hell of an intimate gesture.
Nadine stood and quietly walked up on her.
“Excuse me, but who the hell are you?” Nadine asked, one hand on her hip, her eyes sizing her up. The woman took her time answering her. She gently returned Noah’s hand to the bed and turned to face Nadine, wiping her tears with her fingers. A small smile curved her lips.
“You must be his ex-wife … Naomi.”
Nadine’s eyebrows went up. No, this bitch didn’t! Nadine folded her arms over her chest and shifted her weight to one foot. “That’s exactly who I am. Mrs. Nadine Ramsey. I’ll ask my question again. Who the hell are you?”
That small smile was still on her face. Nadine bit her bottom lip.
She wanted to scratch that smile off with her fingernails. She felt herself starting to sink. She wanted to dig her heels in to keep from going there, but her downward slide to a lower level had already begun and to come back would be like trying to climb out of quicksand.
“You’re holding on to an old title a little too hard, Nadine. It’s a lot like Miss America trying to keep the tiara from the new girl.” Nadine narrowed her eyes. “What new girl? You? ” The woman kept her sweet smile and shrugged. “You never know.” Nadine had to tuck her hands under her arms to keep from hitting her. “I’m not going to ask you again. Who are you?” Her smile became derisive. “You just did.” She gave Nadine the same once-over she’d given her. “I’m wondering if I should take that as a threat.”
“Maybe you should.”
She laughed and it infuriated Nadine. “You’re funny. You want to beat my ass because I won’t tell you my name. What difference does it make?”
Nadine wanted to rip her hair out by the roots. “Are you fucking my husband?”
Another chuckle. “You’re divorced. Noah’s not your husband. Does it matter?”
“Oh, it matters. Noah married me.” She scoffed at her. “You’re delusional. He’s a single man. He can do whatever he wants.”
Nadine frowned. “Noah wants to come home.” She looked back at Nadine, slyly. “He doesn’t know what he wants.
That, plus the fact that he’s single, makes it fair.”
“What are you, his girlfriend?”
The more upset Nadine got, the cooler this woman seemed. “Well
… I’m a girl … and I am his friend. You’d have to ask him about the extent of his feelings.” She looked Nadine in the eye. “Look, I’m a realist, Nadine. I might have started out as a side piece, but you’re a little peculiar. I think I may be about to get bumped up.” Nadine smiled. “Noah’s not bumping up a side piece. You’re just a hoe to him. Just something he was doing.”
“You really want that to be true, don’t you?”
“It is true, and while you’re so busy telling me things I need to ask him, why don’t you ask him about his baby?” She dismissed Nadine with a wave of her hand. “Please. I know that girl is pregnant.”
“I’m sure you do, but I doubt he had enough time to tell you about our baby.” Nadine patted her belly in triumph. Top that, bitch! Nadine finally ruffled her feathers. She looked down at Noah sharply and Nadine knew she’d drawn first blood. She took a moment to come back at her. Nadine watched with satisfaction as she gripped the rail of the bed, stared down at Noah and pursed her lips — obviously having an internal debate. Nadine didn’t like who won.
“You know something?” she asked, turning her head to face Nadine. “I don’t give a rat’s ass if you are. That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book. Don’t you think he knows that? You lack confidence, Nadine.
The move you made is an ultimate show of desperation.” Nadine stared at her with her mouth open. She couldn’t believe her audacity! Talking to her like she was stupid, and like she had Noah’s affections sewn up and in the bag. Where had this heifer come from?
Nadine clenched her teeth and fisted her hands. “I think you need to leave.”
She smiled at Nadine. “Guess I struck a nerve. Okay. I’ll go, but not for you. Noah doesn’t need to wake up to this.” She walked to the door, opened it, and turned back to Nadine. “Oh, since you wanted to know so bad, my name is Leah Wheeler. Now that you know my name, I should tell you something else about me. I am very tenacious … so you might want to keep your dukes up.”
Nadine watched the door close and walked over to Noah. She reached into her pocket and took out a new tube of Cherry ChapStick and broke the seal. Nadine put it on Noah’s lips, careful not to disturb the tube going down his throat. She returned it to her pocket and pulled his covers up. Nadine touched his hand. If it was a fight that bitch wanted, then it was a fight she’d get.
“I love you, Noah. Always have, always will.” The door opened and Noah’s parents re-entered the room. John pulled up a chair and sat close to his son as Anita reached for Nadine.
“You look tired, honey. Why don’t you check on the children and get some rest. If there’s any change, we’ll call you.” Nadine resigned herself to lifting her leg all the way up to mark her territory. She rubbed her still flat belly. “You’re right. I am tired. This baby is taking a lot out of me.”
John put his face in his hands and shook his head. Anita didn’t seem thrilled. “Does Noah know?”
Nadine nodded. “Yes, he does.”
Anita’s mouth turned down at the corners. “I see.” Nadine sighed. “The baby’s Noah’s, Anita. It’s his baby.” Anita looked shocked, and John stretched his legs out and laced his hands over his stomach, still shaking his head. “If that boy wasn’t already unconscious, I’d knock his dumb ass out.”