She gripped the doorknob. As fast as he knew he was, as powerful, she was still out that door and running down the steps before he could get to her.
Cursing, he jerked his shirt from the floor, dragging it over his head as he raced down the stairs after her, nearly tripping on the dragging strings of his boots.
"Damn it, Sabella," he yelled as he burst into the office to see her racing out of the garage.
Rory stared at him in shock, Toby's face tightened in anger. That damned kid was too protective of Sabella by far.
Noah sat down, quickly tied his boots, and headed out of the garage to watch her running up the hill to the house. She wasn't going far, he told himself, forcing back the lust, the demand that he race after her, that he force her to acknowledge everything she was running from.
His hands clenched at his sides as he stared at the house. His home. His woman.
He forced himself to turn and stalk back to the garage. Forced himself to jerk up the roster and go to work. He forced himself to concentrate. He knew how to do that. He had spent six years doing just that. He could wait just a little bit longer. Just a little bit. And then she would learn she was his. She had been his before, and now, she would be his again.
An hour later, he looked up from the engine he was tuning, twirling the wrench he held absently as he watched Sabella's car pull out of the driveway and head into town.
His eyes narrowed, his lips thinned. She was running, and he hated that.
His gaze slid to his side as Rory moved in carefully then reached up and took the wrench.
"Told you once, the funny thing about this wrench," Rory said softly, making sure no one heard but Noah. "My brother used to do the same thing." He slapped the wrench back in Noah's hand and moved away again.
Sabella was pissed. Rory was pissed. And that was just too damned bad, because Noah was home now, and he was set to reclaim everything he thought he had lost. Just as soon as he cleared the garbage out of his town, and away from his wife.
Sabella had had enough. She pulled her car into Kira's driveway again that day and drew in a deep, hard breath. Sienna was still there, which was unusual. Sienna didn't normally hang around with Kira after Sabella left. Sometimes, she wondered if Sienna even liked Kira.
"Belle. Come on in." Kira's attractive face was lit with a smile as she opened the door and waved her in.
She tugged at the hem of her T-shirt. She should have changed clothes. She tugged her braid over her shoulder. Maybe she should have done something with her hair.
"Sienna's still here?" It was nearly three in the afternoon.
"She just showed up again perhaps an hour ago." Kira smiled. "We pulled out a bottle of wine and decided to trash men for the day."
Uh-oh. Obviously Sienna and Rick had had another fight after the other woman returned home.
She inhaled slowly and walked up to the porch where Kira stepped out and welcomed her into the house again.
Dressed in jeans and a gaily striped shirt, her dark hair piled carelessly on her head, Sienna looked like an overgrown teenager. In comparison, Kira Richards looked dark and mysterious. With her black hair and friendly gray eyes.
Dressed in silk capris and a camisole. Kira looked cool, sophisticated, and yet still managed to convey compassion.
"The planets are out of alignment," Kira said softly. "Let me guess, your Noah was acting like a man too?"
"Tell me that Ian at least is pretending to have some common sense." Sabella sighed as she collapsed into a chair across from Sienna and glanced up at Kira.
"Ian is a man, darlin'. What do you think?" Kira laughed.
The wine was on the table. Kira detoured to the kitchen and a few seconds later returned, another glass in hand, as Sabella glanced back up at her.
"Rick's pissed because I took the baby to his sister's again this morning." Sienna sighed. "Kent loves his aunt."
And Sienna loved her social life. Sabella agreed with Rick, Sienna needed more time with Kent, but the aunt was possessive as well. Sabella could only imagine how difficult the situation was.
"Sabella, I hate to tell you this, but the beard bum is worse on your chin. You need to have a talk with that mechanic of yours," Kira said, laughing.
"Talking doesn't work," Sabella muttered.
"I think she likes it," Sienna accused with a laugh. "She hasn't been gone more than three or four hours and already she's back after he got another taste of her. She's hiding from him."
Sabella bit her lip and looked back at Sienna.
"I heard Rick had to respond to a call of harassment because of him?" Kira said then. "Was he harassing you?" She leaned forward and stared back at Sabella curiously. "I talked to Ian after you left. He seems to think he's a very odd man. Maybe you should fire him."
Sabella looked from Kira to Sienna with a frown.
"He's not odd," she finally muttered as Kira sat down slowly, filled Sabella's wine glass, and pushed it to her with a faintly apologetic look.
Kira stared at the two women. As Ian's wife, and an operative herself, she knew the truth. She would have been amused if she didn't feel so damned sorry for the widow who wasn't a widow. She didn't like the fact that Nathan Malone hadn't come clean with his wife. She sure as hell didn't like the fact that the girl looked so bewildered and lost. And the friendship they had developed over the years had only increased Kira's worry. Sabella had never let go of her husband, and now he was back again, tormenting her in another way.
"Ian's worried about you after this morning," she told Sabella, giving her a quiet, almost gentle smile. "He loved Nathan like a brother." And he still did. Though Kira would have preferred to kick the other man's ass.
"I know he did." Sabella sighed then took a healthy drink of the wine and Kira watched as her jaw clenched in anger.
Kira wasn't having any part of being pushed out of this particular conversation.
Sabella had been faithful to her dead husband for over six years. The memory of the love she felt for him had tormented her. And for half that time, Nathan could have eased her pain.
Sabella licked her lips. She pressed her knees together and seemed to be trying to hold in emotions that were only festering inside her.
"He's making me crazy," she muttered. "He just takes over everything, as though it's his right."