Chapter 16

Shea~

E ven though Noah had granted me a reprieve after we'd had sex last night, I still hadn't been able to fall asleep until way after what'd been wise. Where most women would have been thrilled to have a partner that could make them cum three times in one sitting, I'd felt like my body had betrayed everything that I stood for, and I hated how every memory of last night didn't come without the honest acknowledgement that Noah Murphy was fire in bed. Even my self-esteem issues hadn't been enough to ruin the night, and it was also unfair how God hadn't stopped at giving Noah a gorgeous face and stunning body. Nope. He had to go and give him a big dick on top of everything else.

Now, while I couldn't say what all Noah had done after I'd fallen asleep, after we'd had sex, he had slipped us both underneath the sheets, then had freakin' big spooned me, not letting me get up to go clean myself. He'd made a mess, and he'd wanted to preserve it to continue making his point about our marriage.

When I'd finally woken up, it'd been a little past one in the afternoon, and after going to the bathroom, washing my face, then brushing my teeth, I'd gone into the living room to find Noah and a few other men packing up my condo. He also hadn't been wearing the same clothes from earlier, so I could only deduce that he'd gone home to shower and change before bringing his men back to finally move me into his house.

Wise or not, neither of us had spoken about the night before as they'd started packing my life into boxes, but my job had been on my mind more than my marriage. Though I'd given Noah what he had asked for, I'd be stupid to believe that he'd no longer use my job as a means of making me come to heel. However, as I had helped the men pack, I'd thought about how I could use my job to my advantage. If I put in a request to work nights, my sleep cycle would reverse, and since I'd be leaving at six in the evening for work, then I'd never have to sleep next to Noah again. He'd be getting ready for his day when I'd be getting home in the morning, and if I went to bed as soon as I got home, then there'd only be a brief window from three to five where I'd have to see him. My days off also wouldn't matter since I'd have to keep with my sleep schedule for work. There was also the fact that I didn't trust my guard, so it'd be the same thing with him.

After we had boxed up all my stuff, my condo had been left with all the furniture and appliances, and everything had been unplugged like a sad goodbye. What I hadn't wanted to bring with me had been thrown away, and after separating my sentimental belongings from my decorations, I hadn't been left with much. Only five boxes had made their way to Noah's house, and after the boxes had been carried up to his bedroom, that's when he had introduced me to Craig Doyle, my new bodyguard.

I hadn't been happy.

Of course, it'd been on the tip of my tongue to argue against needing a bodyguard, but Noah had shut that down before I could even open my mouth. Craig was to act as my guard and driver, and I could rest assured that he wasn't going to have to follow me while at work. After Declan O'Brien had called the medical director of Donza, the O'Briens had been allowed to do a sweep of the hospital for ‘security reasons,' and after being satisfied that their security was adequate enough, it'd been agreed that Craig wouldn't have to stay with me during my shift. Of course, according to Noah, while chatting with the medical director of the hospital, Declan had been clear about what would happen if any harm ever came to me while I was under the hospital's watch, so there was that.

At any rate, whether intentional or not, Noah had left me alone to put my stuff away while he'd ‘gone to work', and after putting away my clothes and toiletries, which were all that I'd brought with me, I had stored my small box of sentimentals behind my clothes in the closet, then had explored the grounds. Now, while I hadn't given it much thought, I'd been surprised when Noah had driven up to a five-story structure that looked more like a business building than a home. After seeing where his parents lived, I had just assumed that he'd live in the same neighborhood or something.

When we'd gotten there, Noah had informed me that he had the entire top floor, and that he shared the building with his two brothers and four guards. Noah lived on the fifth floor, Aran lived on the fourth floor, Lochlan lived on the third floor, and the guards all shared the penthouse on the second floor. The first floor was a communal area that had more cameras and security than the White House, and everyone parked in the underground garage that housed four separate elevators for each floor. Noah, Lochlan, and Aran were the only ones that owned keys to their elevators, and you needed access granted to go up to their floors.

At any rate, after I'd finished putting my stuff away, I had familiarized myself with the layout of the penthouse, and while I hadn't snooped, I had walked around enough to know where the kitchen, laundry room, and living room were. I hadn't cared about anything else because I only needed five rooms to live my life in, and that was the kitchen, living room, laundry room, bedroom, and bathroom. The rest of Noah's house was none of my business.

Now, by the time that I'd been done with checking out Noah's home, I had called my parents, and when they had invited me over to dinner, I'd gone. Despite having dinner after the wedding, there was still this awkwardness between us, and I knew that it was because they felt guilty for serving me up to the O'Briens, which they deserved in all honesty. They'd sold me out to save their own skin, but since they were the only family that I had, I couldn't hold one mistake over their heads forever, no matter how big the mistake.

So, with one text to Noah- now that I had his number -Craig had been waiting for me in the garage, and the drive to my parents' house had been as uncomfortable as the past few days had been. Craig also hadn't spoken to me the entire drive there, nor had I spoken to him. It'd been the same on the way back to Noah's penthouse after dinner, and it'd been the same this morning when Craig had driven me to work. I also hadn't seen Noah since he'd walked out of the penthouse after moving me in, and I hadn't bothered to ask anyone where he was.

"So, is it true?"

Ethan's voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and when I turned to look at him, I was still a little foggy from lack of sleep last night. "What?"

"There are rumors going around that you married Noah Murphy," he said, and I'd been so wrapped up in my own drama with Noah that it hadn't even occurred to me to call my friends to give them a heads up about what my life was now. "Is it true?"

I let out a heavy sigh before telling him the truth. "Yes, it is."

"What the hell, Shea?" he hissed under his breath. "I didn't even know that you were dating him."

"It's a long story," I said, not feeling like shaming my parents by turning their mistakes into fodder for the gossips. "Just know that it's true."

Ethan looked pissed and hurt, and it was kind of hard to blame him. "Are you seriously not going to tell me what's going on?"

"It's not my story to tell-"

"Bullshit," he snapped, his voice still low. "You're the one married to him, so it is your story to tell."

"Even if I wanted to tell it, now is hardly the time," I pointed out.

That's when he blew me out of the water by saying, "Well, unless you're going to tell me how you ended up getting involved with the O'Briens, then I don't see how we can continue to be friends."

My head reared back, surprised and hurt, but this shit with Noah was bigger than Ethan's bruised ego. Because I had a low opinion of men right now, I was convinced that this was about more than me just keeping secrets. After all, he'd always had hope for something more between us, and that was impossible now that I was married.

"I'm sorry that you feel that way," I said, refusing to choose his ego over my parents' pride. "I hope that we can still work together, but if not, then I'll understand." I took in another deep breath. "I'm also considering switching to nights, in case that makes a difference."

Instead of letting Ethan get more hits in, I turned from him to get back to checking on my patients. In my line of work, I couldn't afford to be distracted, and I was already struggling with my lack of sleep last night, so I didn't need Ethan's shit on top of that.

Even though I'd already known what was coming, and even though I hadn't ever had any illusions about my marriage to Noah, I still hadn't expected him to end up in someone else's bed so soon after getting married. I'd honestly believed that he'd be decent enough to wait it out a while, but I'd slept alone last night, and now that I knew what he was capable of in bed, there was no way that Noah Murphy was sleeping alone at night. Granted, with silence following the sex that we'd had the other night, he could very well have been disappointed in what we'd done, so if that was the case, then I could see him finding himself a blonde to drown out the memory of his not-so-exciting wedding night.

It also sucked that I couldn't distance myself emotionally from his infidelity like I'd thought that I'd be able to. Noah Murphy was my husband, and we had consummated our union, and I had no idea how to come back from that now.

Honestly, I had no idea what in the hell I was doing anymore.