around us. A smile teased the corners of her lips, and with her eyes gleaming, she said, “You can kiss me any time you want, paddy. I could use the luck of the Irish.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
NOAH
Present day . . .
All eyes were on me. I felt the stares of everyone in the room burning a hole in me, but I was only focused on one person. This man who stood before me was a stranger, one I had never laid eyes on in the entirety of my life.
“My husband?” I could hear the disbelief in my voice as I spoke the words. “You’re not my husband – I’ve never been married.”
He stared at me unblinking, and I watched as confusion filled his dark eyes. I was surprised when an expression of deep hurt marred his features. He shook his head as if not believing what he was hearing. He took a step forward but he looked a little unsteady on his feet.
“Noah, baby.”
I flinched at the endearment. I had never liked that pet name, but this man seemed so comfortable with calling me it, like he had done it a million times before. He looked from me to my parents and back again. I didn’t look away from him once.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know you, mister.”
“Baby,” he repeated, his face having lost all colour. “I’m your husband.”
I nearly collided with my mother as I attempted to sit upright.
“What is this?” I demanded, groaning as my arm suddenly stung. I looked down and noticed I had pulled the IV out and was now bleeding.
“She’s hurt herself,” Mum said to Doctor Abara as she gently eased me back against my bed. The doctor removed the line completely and pressed a cotton ball against the wound and held it in place with a bit of tape.
“A new line will need to be placed in your other arm,” he said to me. I nodded and tried to look around him to the stranger who claimed he was my husband.
“Where’s Elliot?” I demanded. “Where is he?”
“Elliot?” Anderson almost gaped at me in shock. “Your ex?”
Your ex.
“My ex?” I tensed. “What the hell do you mean Elliot is my ex? He’s my boyfriend!”
My mother’s earlier words echoed in my mind. She’d said Elliot and I broke up four years ago, but that couldn’t have been true. It couldn’t. Elliot and I were in love. We were planning a future together.
“No, he’s n-not!” Anderson stammered, looking completely lost and panicked. “I’m your husband. You’re Noah Riley. Mr Ainsley, Mrs Ainsley . . . tell her.”
I looked to my parents and waited for them to deny this man’s claim, but they didn’t. They looked from him to me and their expressions were ones of sorrow.
“No,” I whispered. “Mum, tell me this is a lie. A sick joke. Please.”
Fat tears slid down her cheeks. I stared at her, waiting for her to tell me the words I so desperately needed to hear, but she didn’t. She took my hand in hers and gave it a comforting squeeze.
“You and Anderson married over three years ago now.” She rubbed her thumb over my skin when I stilled. “You and Elliot broke up and never got back together, honey. I’m so sorry, sweetheart.”
I felt the moment that my heart broke in two. A pain that was body-consuming stabbed at my chest, and before I knew what was happening, I turned to the side of my bed and vomited until I was dry-heaving. My mother was in a state of panic.
“I want Elliot,” I cried as I retched. “I need him.”
“I already called his mum when I was out in the hallway earlier with your dad. She’ll get him here, honey. He’ll be here.”
“The hell he will!” Anderson spluttered as my father grabbed a tissue to wipe my mouth with. “Noah made it clear years ago that she doesn’t want to be anywhere near him. That arsehole isn’t getting close to her so he can hurt her again. I won’t allow it.”
Anderson’s words were like a hard slap to my face.
What on earth had happened in my life for me to marry someone other than my Elliot – and worse, to never want to see or be near him again? I stared at Anderson as tears rolled down my cheeks, and I looked at Doctor Abara as he crossed the room, stood in front of Anderson and spoke in hushed tones. Then I looked back at my parents and found their gazes on