Ruthless Noble by Alley Ciz
CHAPTER 39
I have beenin my fair share of offices for political figures, but none of them could have prepared me for Chuck Falco’s.
Sure, there’s the requisite American flag and state flag bracketing a large oak desk with an equally sizable padded leather chair behind it, but it’s the homey, almost welcoming vibe of it I can’t seem to wrap my head around.
The desk itself is positioned in front of a wall of glass draped in cream-colored curtains that coordinate perfectly with the cream and tan upholstered furniture and royal blue area rug arranged in the center of the room.
There’s a signed Eric Dennings Baltimore Crabs jersey hanging on one wall, built-in bookshelves that match the wood of the desk on another, and a beautifully carved fireplace set into the wall opposite them.
While the football jersey is a cool touch, I couldn’t tell you why I noticed any of the other details. I can only guess it was an attempt to distract myself from how utterly stressed Savvy seems.
She hasn’t said a word in the ten minutes we’ve been here. She came in, hoisted herself onto the edge of Chuck’s desk, tucked her hands under her thighs, and has sat silent ever since.
Carter’s been pacing the room like a caged lion while the other Royals settled in talking amongst themselves and Tessa.
Despite her current silence and how she’s coming to terms with her own bombshells, Savvy has been a pillar of strength and the driving force in doing what needed to be done for today to protect those she cares about.
It’s too early to tell how her relationship with Mitchell will shake out, but since he showed up at my dorm last weekend, he’s been nothing if not a true partner to his biological daughter.
The heartbreak was clear to read on his face as Savvy told him about all the ways Carter, even at a young age, made sure she was cared for. The way Mitchell’s expression transformed in anger at how Natalie was not only threatening both her children, but how she could so blatantly dismiss everything the one did to step up in the wake of her abandonment had me confident he would be our true ally.
Matching silver frames line the wide mantle above the fireplace. The heat from the healthy fire burning in the hearth warms my legs as I inspect each individual picture.
The largest frame, an eight-by-ten horizontal shot of what I can only assume is the entire Falco clan, sits front and center in the arrangement. A stout woman with curly white hair sits at the focal point, and the slightly younger Chuck and a man I guess is most likely his older brother Anthony given the strong resemblance stand just off-center from her, each with an arm around an adolescent version of a King sibling.
Another frame features a photo of Carter in a black cap and gown sandwiched between both Falco brothers, the three mugging it up for the camera.
Farther down the line is one of a little girl, and though the hair tied back into pigtails is blonde, not dyed silver, I’d recognize that taunting tilt to her lips anywhere. It shouldn’t surprise me in the least that even as what is probably a six-year-old, Savvy managed to radiate her innate fierceness while clutching a familiar-looking black stuffed dragon in her arms and hanging upside down from a twentysomething Chuck’s arms.
I’ve heard the stories and know the older Falco brother is their godfather. After I got over my irrational jealousy, I witnessed the familial way they interact with each other. Seeing Savvy and Carter featured so prominently in this display only drives that fact home.
“Is this where your obsession with Toothless began?” I tap the glass of the dragon picture, angling my body around to see Savvy where she’s perched on Chuck’s desk.
“Obsession.” Wes snorts. “Yeah, that’s an accurate description.”
“Bite me, Wes.” Savvy doesn’t bother to look at him sprawled out in Chuck’s chair, feet kicked up on the desk behind her. She just holds up a hand and flips him off, causing the others spread out around the room to laugh.
“Aww, don’t be salty, ma reine.”
My molars are at risk of cracking at the casual use of the endearment. The way he leans back farther in the chair and shoots me a wink tells me he knows it too and is going to keep doing it to mess with me. It might be safe to say I’ll be dealing with delayed payback for how I treated Savvy when she first arrived at BA for some time to come.
“Plus, you’re the one who still sleeps with that thing when you’re at home, Savs” Cisco adds.
“Really, Princess?” My bad mood is gone in the wake of learning this shocking tidbit about my girlfriend.
“Not a word out of you about it, Noble,” she threatens.
Undeterred, I close the distance between us, nudging her knees wide to move in close. Her long legs bracket my hips while I do the same with a balled fist on either side of hers. I feel as much as I hear her quick intake of breath when I bring my mouth down to her ear. “You know what you calling me Noble makes me want to do to you, Princess.”
Hands coast up the length of my torso and grasp the strings hanging from my hoodie. “Promises, promises…Noble.” She punctuates the taunt with a nip to my jaw.
I’m point two seconds away from saying Fuck it. Who gives a damn about all these people in the room or that one of them is her older brother. I even go as far as sliding a hand up to the middle of her back, readying myself to lay her down on the surface of the desk—
Knock, knock.