by Ravenna Tate
She had trouble taking a full breath. “How can you stand there and ask me if what we had was a fluke?”
“God, you haven’t changed a bit. You never supported my dream.”
“Bullshit! I supported it all the time. But it was never enough for you. You expected me to be your fucking groupie, not your partner.”
“Yeah. Law school. I took a backseat to it.”
“I took a backseat to your music. And me going to law school could have eventually helped you, numbnuts. Sounds like right about now you could use someone skilled in contract negotiation.”
“That’s a low blow.”
“You’ve been gone two months, and now you’re back here insulting me because you lost your temper.”
“I’m back here because I wouldn’t compromise my artistic integrity.”
“Something you should have made sure you wouldn’t have to do before you left.”
“I didn’t expect this kind of welcome from you.”
“Really? No word for two months, Sam. Nothing. And clearly you didn’t miss me.”
“I thought you’d wait for me.”
“When you left, you made it pretty damn clear you weren’t coming back.”
“But I did come back. I’m here now.”
****
The door to the music room was only partially closed. Digger had followed them moments after they left the living room, despite Tony and Teresa protesting. He had heard their voices down the hall, but couldn’t make out the words until he got this close, peering through the crack in the door.
This was wrong, but he didn’t give a shit. That fucking asshole was in there, with his Emmi. He couldn’t simply sit in the damn living room with her parents as if this was an ordinary occurrence.
The man had left her. She’d been heartbroken. But what if she realized she still loved him and gave him another chance?
No! Digger couldn’t let that happen. He would not let that happen. Emmi was his. He would never let her go.
She shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing this.” Her back was to Digger, but he could certainly hear her. He could hear the way her voice shook.
Sam stepped closer to her and grabbed her shoulders. When she didn’t move or protest, Digger nearly retched. She let that fuckwad touch her! His worst nightmare had just come true.
“Listen to me. Just listen.”
“Fine. Talk.”
Okay. So her voice had an edge to it. But she was having a conversation with him. He was touching her. She’d empathized with him over his stupid plight. This couldn’t be real. Even if he stopped it, what would that change? Sam had come back for her, and she hadn’t tossed him out on the front lawn.
“Emmi, I made a mistake. A huge mistake. I know I broke your heart. It was to follow my dream, but it hurt you. That girl meant nothing. I’m back now. I’m here to stay. We can pick up where we left off. I will never leave you again.”
In his mind’s eye, Digger saw himself aiming a gun at the back of Sam’s head. He heard the shot. He saw the blood and the brains spewing out of the wound. But that was too quick. Too neat. Sam deserved a prolonged, agonizing death, not a swift execution.
He didn’t wait to hear her response. He’d heard enough.
Breathing was difficult. Walking was worse, but he forced himself to do it.
Digger grabbed his coat off the hook in the back hallway and left. He got into his car and drove, mindless, directionless. It didn’t matter now where he went because the one person he’d lived for all these years was gone. His Emmi was lost to him. Lost to her past. What a fucking fool he’d been to believe he could hold onto her.
Chapter Seventeen
“It’s too late, Sam. I’m in love with someone else.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Emmi had to fight the urge to grin like a fool. Saying them out loud felt incredible. It was true. It was so true!
“What?”
She shook his hands off her shoulders and took several steps back. “I’m in love with someone else.”
“The fuck? Who? When? Jesus Christ, Emmi. I’ve only been gone a few weeks!”
“You’ve been gone eight weeks. Eight. Without a word to me. After throwing away the twelve years we had and forcing me to choose. Like I said, you made it quite clear this was forever. You made your choice, and it wasn’t me.”
“And so just like that you’re into someone else? Who is he? Is he that guy in the other room with your parents? Oh, holy fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair as understanding dawned on his face. “I met that guy once. He’s some family friend.”
“His name is Daniel, and yes, you met him once.”
“Well he didn’t waste any fucking time, did he?”
“You fucking asshole. Did you waste any time? You made your choice, and now I’ve made mine. You need to leave.”
“God, seriously? Why are you being such a bitch?”
“I’m not being a bitch. This was over the day you got on the plane. You made that clear to me. You can’t just show up now because it didn’t work out for you, and expect me to pick up where we left off, as if your absence didn’t affect me one bit.”
“But I said I was sorry. I admitted I was wrong.”
“And I’ve moved on. You need to do the same.”
Emmi turned to walk away as emotions coursed through her. Elation, a sense of power, and an intense need to look into Digger’s dark eyes and finally tell him how she felt.
Sam grabbed her arm, but she shook off his hand. “Enough. Enough! I will not let you mess with my head like this, Sam. It’s over. Go home.”
“I don’t have a home any longer. You sublet the apartment.”
“Oh, I see. So it was all right for you to leave me with it, and expect me to simply take care of it, but now that you’ve changed your mind, the fact you have no place to live is my fault?”
Her father walked into the room, which at least had the effect of wiping the righteous anger from Sam’s face. “Mr. LoPresti, I was just telling—”
“I heard what you told her. You need to leave my house, Sam.”
“I don’t know where to go.”
A quick flash of regret tore through her, but she pushed it away. “You still have friends here. Go to them.”
“Yeah. I can do that. Emmi, is there really no chance you’ll take me back?”
“None. You sealed that deal when you made me choose and then left me high and dry.” She faced her father. “Is Digger still in the small living room?” She didn’t want to wait one more second to tell him she was in love with him.
“No. I thought he was here. He followed you two a few moments after you left the room.”
“Oh my God…” What had he heard? When had he left? Where did he go? “I have to go.”
They both shouted after her, but she ignored it. She was in a full-blown panic by the time she grabbed her ID and coat, and got into her car. She recognized Sam’s car, but Digger’s was nowhere to be seen. He’d left the house. She prayed he was headed for his condo.
Three times she texted him, asking where he was, but he didn’t answer. What part of that crazy conversation had he heard? Why hadn’t he come into the room? She had to make this right. Granted, it wasn’t her fault Sam had shown up, but Digger wondered whether she’d ever feel the same way about him as he did about her. Whatever he had heard probably convinced him she would not.
She would find him and tell him the truth. It would be okay. It had to be. She’d never felt this way before, and she would not lose him.
****
Digger made it home in record time, and by the time he did, he felt like a damn fool. She had texted him three times, and three times he ignored the message. He was acting as childish as Sam. The only way to deal with this was to face it head-on.
But his heart was breaking, and he couldn’t do it. She kept asking where he was. Where the fuck did she think he was? Leaving the house like that had been impulsive and cruel, but he hadn’t thought about
it. He had merely reacted.
Still, considering what Sam had put her through, she likely saw his leaving without a word as the same kind of betrayal. Or maybe not. Who the hell knew? He hadn’t stuck around to talk it out with her. This was fucked up.
Digger had never been through anything like this, but that didn’t excuse acting like a petulant child. He poured himself a drink and called her, but she didn’t answer the phone. That could mean everything, or it could mean nothing.
While he tried to calm down enough to talk to her, he opened his desk drawer and stared at the damn mistletoe he’d cut down from the ceiling. Why the fuck had he kept it? It was so dried up it looked like something he’d scraped off the sidewalk.
You know why you kept it.
Yeah. He knew. But it seemed pointless now. He removed it and put it next to his drink.
Why the fuck wasn’t she answering him? Why text someone three fucking times to ask where they were and then not answer your goddamn phone? He was just about to use the Find Friends app to see if she was still home, when he heard someone coming in his front door.
Christ! There was only one other person who had a key. Digger stood, hardly daring to believe she’d followed him here. Had she come to tell him in person it was over? He drained the drink and poured another one, then picked up the mistletoe for good measure. Maybe it would be a talisman, like it had once been? A guy could hope, after all.
****
Emmi stopped a few feet from him and stared at him, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know what you heard.”
“I heard enough.”
Oh God. Had he heard her tell Sam she was in love with someone else? If he had, why had he left? “What was the last thing you heard?”
“Emmi, please. No fucking games. I can’t handle it.”
He was so angry and hurt! She could still hardly breathe. “Please just tell me.”
For a few horrible seconds, she was convinced he wouldn’t answer. Finally, he sighed. “He told you he made a horrible mistake, and he knew he’d hurt you, but that he was back, and he’d never leave you again.”
“And that’s the last thing you heard?”
“Yeah. Okay? You happy now?”
She shook her head. “You should have stuck around a few seconds longer. I told him he was too late because I was in love with someone else.”
It didn’t register. She saw it in his eyes. “What?”
Emmi stepped closer, and her gaze was drawn to something in his hand. What the hell was that? “I said, I told him he was too late because I was in love with someone else.”
All he did was blink. She moved closer still and took his hand. “What is this?” When it fell, she picked it up. “Oh my God. You saved this?”
“Yep.”
“Digger … I sent him away. I told him to leave. So did my father. I don’t want Sam back. I want you.”
“I’m such an ass. I shouldn’t have left like that.”
“It’s all right. I understand why you did if that’s the last thing you heard.”
“But he left you, too.”
“It’s not the same thing. But I wish you’d stuck around. The conversation got worse. He whined about the apartment being gone and having no place to go. He called me a bitch for telling him to leave.”
“Want me to kill him for you?”
Emmi laughed until the tears that had threatened spilled over her lashes. The mistletoe fell to the floor again, but neither one of them retrieved it. They were too busy kissing.
“Is this real?” he asked, after releasing her mouth. “Are you really in love with me?”
“More than I can put into words.”
“Are you sure, Emmi? I have to know this is forever.”
“It is forever, and yes. I am absolutely positive.”
“No feelings left for Sam?”
“None. He’s a complete ass and a child. But you’re not. You’re a real man. And you’ve always been there for me.”
“Except I left today. I thought it was over.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through that. It’s not over. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Digger.”
The relief on his face sent her heart fluttering. “Emmi, I’ve waited so long to hear that. I don’t even know what to say right now.” He made a sound halfway between a laugh and a sigh. “This is a dream come true for me.”
“It is for me, too. You’ll never make me choose between my career and you.”
“Never. No way. Finish law school. I’ll be your biggest cheerleader. But I have to ask this. How did you decide what I do for a living is no longer an issue?”
“I finally understood that it doesn’t define you. It’s not who you are inside. No more than my clerking for a few months defines me.” She poked his chest with her index finger. “The person you are in here, that’s the person I fell in love with.”
“God, Emmi. About fucking time.”
She smiled and he kissed her again, sending a wave of desire racing through her body so strong, she could barely stay standing. When he released her, he walked over to his desk and opened a drawer. “I’m sorry this isn’t more romantic, but I can’t wait.”
When he got down on one knee, Emmi had to blink back fresh tears.
“I love you. I love you so damn much, and I have for years.” He opened the velvet Tiffany box to reveal the most gorgeous engagement ring she’d ever seen. It didn’t surprise her a bit that it was extravagant and simply perfect. Digger did nothing half-assed.
He removed it and placed it on her finger. It was also no surprise that it fit. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“The honor is all mine. I would love to be your wife.”
After he took her hands and she stood, he pulled her close and held her as tears ran down her face. This was the happiest she’d ever been, and their adventure together was only beginning.
It had taken coming face-to-face with her past to make her realize who she wanted in her future. But now that she had, Emmi vowed to love Digger with all the passion and emotion she could, every single day of her life.
And she also vowed never to let him forget, not for one solitary moment, how very much she loved him.
The End
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Other Books by Ravenna Tate:
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BONUS SAMPLE CHAPTER
TANNIN’S THUNDERBOLT
Demons on Wheels MC, 1
Ravenna Tate
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
“This isn’t happening to me.” Even as Rai uttered the words, the grim reality hit her in the face as she drove like a maniac down State Route 113, in rural Lorain County, Ohio. It was happening. She had packed as much as she could into her SUV and fled both her office and her apartment, after learning a Mob boss named Vito Cinquepalmi had ordered a hit on her.
Tears streamed down her face, and as she’d done earlier, she impatiently brushed them away. There was no time for that. She had to figure out where to go and quickly. If she holed up in a motel she was too exposed because she couldn’t hide her car.
“No…” she whispered as fat raindrops landed on her windshield. “No, please don’t rain. Not now.” She’d been down this road exactly two times in her life, and neither of those times had been in the dark, or in the rain. Her GPS was on, but since she had no fucking clue where she was headed, she could hardly tell it where to navigate.
Jennifer Wise-Minnick’s voice still rang in Rai’s ears. The CEO of Comfort First, one of Rai’s largest clients, had been on a phone call in one of the smaller conference rooms. Rai was supposed to be out of the building in meetings all day. Th
ose meetings had been cancelled, but no one knew about it. Rai hadn’t even yet told Tiffany Washington, her administrative assistant.
“I just spoke with Vito this morning.”
Rai had no clue who Jennifer had been speaking to, but it hardly mattered. She had paused after hearing the name of the Mob boss who, three weeks earlier, had tried to coerce Rai into becoming his partner.
“Rai has a price on her head. I doubt she’ll be back here at all. Everything is in place for Vito to take over the company once she’s out of the way.”
After turning on her windshield wipers, Rai spotted a gas station. There were plenty of other cars at the pumps, and parked in front of the convenience store.
You mean plenty of witnesses. Yes. Exactly. It would be safe to stop for a moment and figure out what to do. Surely Vito Cinquepalmi’s men weren’t stupid enough to try anything with others around.
“You sure about that?” she whispered. Her voice sounded hollow, like that of a frightened child. This wasn’t productive. It was time to get her shit together and make a plan. A real one. She couldn’t go back, and she’d be damned if she’d let those fucking thugs take her out. As for her company, she now had no choice but to let the FBI deal with it.
Rai pulled into the gas station and parked directly in the glare of an overhead light. That way, anyone glancing toward her SUV would see her features. And be able to identify them to the police.
A shudder ran through her. Stop that. Focus. She had plenty of cash on her because she’d emptied one of her smaller bank accounts this afternoon. Would they have that information? If she used a credit card, would they be able to track that online, or was that only the cops and the FBI who could do such things?
There had been no time to think through everything. She’d fled her office, taking everything she had about the company in paper form, plus her laptop. Not that it would matter now. How the hell can someone simply take over a company? Had they forged her signature?
