by Rachel Blake
“Nuh huh, Angel. You’re exactly where I want you.”
“Please, Sir, please.” She moved her hand down her belly, not able to get the words out but hoping like hell that he would understand her need before she reached her clit to help get her to the wonderful fireworks.
“Go ahead, baby, make yourself come. I want to see you explode with pleasure. Come for me.”
Embry didn’t waste any time, allowing her fingers to find her clit and apply the perfect amount of pressure, propelling herself closer.
“That’s it, Angel. Let me see you shatter.”
Shifting his angle the slightest bit had her throwing her head back as she screamed his name and came undone. Her internal muscles clamped down on his shaft.
“Angel, fuck!”
She watched as he rode out his orgasm. His body stilling a second before he collapsed on top of her, his weight was on her a second before he leaned on his elbows.
After a few minutes, their breathing slowed, and he buried his head in the crook of her neck, kissing the sensitive spot of her neck, sucking and biting it as they both came down from their high.
“You’re going to give me a hickey.”
“Good, then everyone will know you’re off the market.”
“You could at least pretend to be worried.”
He didn’t bother to answer, he simply went back to nuzzling her neck.
“Your whiskers are rubbing my neck raw.” She giggled at the irritating, near tickle.
The ringing phone had him pulling his lips from her neck and catching her eye. “Saved by the bell.”
“Really, that’s the line you’re going with?”
“Do you have a better suggestion?”
“Maybe something from this decade?”
“You’re such a brat. I need to get that.”
“Okay.” When he still didn’t move, she pushed lightly on his chest. “George?”
“I’m not ready for the real world to come crashing in on us yet.”
“The real world is literally calling. We can’t pretend it doesn’t exist forever. Hell, we’re lucky we finished before it reared its ugly head. Answer it.”
Planting one last kiss to her jawline, he moved off her and snagged the device from the bedside table. “This is Grandgeorge.”
Sitting up, Embry watched the muscles of his back flex as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed. Shit, who would have thought a back could be so hot?
Reaching out, she ran the tip of her finger along his shoulder blade, earning herself a glance over his shoulder for her efforts.
“No, I hear you. We’ll be on our way shortly.” Setting the phone on the nightstand, Maverick planted a kiss to the side of her head before patting her twice on the ass. “Come on, Angel. We’ve got to move.”
“Why, what happened? Is everything okay?”
“Parker’s awake, and your father has demanded we move the meeting up. Get dressed, and we’ll grab some food on the way.”
A heavy weight settled in her belly. She wasn’t so hungry anymore.
Chapter Ten
Embry once again found herself sitting in the corner of the hospital room, trying to stay out of the way.
Parker’s little ICU suite was filled with people. Eden, Prim, James, Maverick, herself, the occasional nurse, and two officers took up all the extra space.
“Did you get a look at the man who attacked you?” one of the officers asked as he took notes.
“No, I heard V scream, turned around, and all I saw was the dark street.” Parker’s voice was rough from being intubated. “I yelled out when I saw her crumpled on the ground, called for help, but when I went to move toward her, I felt something tap me on the shoulder.”
“Is that when you heard it?” The other officer asked.
“Yeah.” Parker winced when he shook his head. “I could tell they were trying to change their voice, to disguise it, but I heard them say ‘I’m sorry’ before I started to turn around, and they hit me in the head.”
Nodding, the officer questioned, “Did they say anything else?”
“I know they did, I mean, I can hear the words in my head, but I can’t make them clear enough for me to understand. I’m sorry.” Parker closed his eyes as he rested his head against the pillow.
“That’s enough for today,” James announced as he moved toward the officers. “He needs to heal. If you have more questions, you can come back tomorrow.”
“Make sure you contact us if he remembers anything else between now and then, yeah?” the older officer requested as he was ushered to the door.
“You know we will.” A scoff sounded from the officer a second before James shut the door behind him. Turning to the people gathered around the hospital bed, he smiled, “Right after we look into it first. You going to tell us what the person who attacked you said or do you really not remember.”
Swallowing hard, Parker spoke, “He said something about a warning and Eden. I don’t know, it was whispered right before he hit me.
“He?” Prim questioned, hope clear in her voice. “Did you actually get a look at the attacker?”
“No, Mom, I just said he.” Pushing himself to sit straighter, Parker turned to Eden. “How’s V?”
“She’s still hasn’t woken up and has lost a lot of blood with some extensive swelling. Far worse than yours.” Eden shook her head. “They had to make some burr holes to release some of the pressure on her brain, and they don’t think it’s enough.”
“Fuck, it’s my fault. I should have told her no. Should have put my foot down.” Parker groaned, when hitting his hands against the mattress caused his whole body to shift.
“Parker, you have to be careful,” Prim scolded.
“I should have come to you sooner.” Parker looked between James and Eden for a second before shifting his eyes to his mother. “Ma, I need to talk to Maverick, James, and Eden alone.”
Prim’s annoyance at being dismissed was visible, so Embry stood and grabbed two donuts out of the long-forgotten box and held one out to her friend.
“Prim?”
“Yeah, let’s go for a walk.” Taking the offered bear claw, Prim took a huge bite as she walked out of the room.
She was still chewing when Embry turned to her, “Are you okay?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come on.” Looping her arm with her friends, Embry steered her toward the waiting room but didn’t get very far before she was pulled to a stop. “Prim?”
A wicked smile crossed her face as she tossed the bear claw into the trash and rubbed at a spot on Embry’s neck. “What is that?”
“Fuck.”
“Fuck is right. Is that a fucking hickey?”
“Shhh.” Looking around to see if anyone had overheard, Embry forced her roommate to move down the hall to an empty waiting room, where she promptly shut the door behind them. “I can explain.”
“Explain? What the hell is there to explain? You’re a grown woman. If you want a hickey, you’re damn well within your rights to have one.”
“It’s not professional.”
Prim rolled her eyes.
“One, it’s Saturday. Who cares? Two, you should see some of the marks I’ve gone to work with on a Monday. Delicious, every one of them, but not what polite society would call work appropriate. The best part,”—she dramatically looked around the empty room before she continued on a whisper—“my boss put them there.”
Laughter filled the small waiting room as the two wrapped their arms wrapped around their bellies.
“I can’t believe you said that.”
“And I can’t believe that you, Embry Grace, have a hickey.” As if realizing for the first time that she couldn’t have put it there herself, Prim’s mouth dropped open. “Wait, that means you had sex.”
“It does not! Plenty of people have hickeys without sex.” When her friend gave her an ‘are you serious’ look, she cracked, “Okay, I had sex. Happy now?”
“Wi
th who?”
Embry nibbled her lip. “Maverick.”
“Maverick! Holy fuck! Our lawyer?”
“Yeah.”
“You fucked your old high school sweetheart?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Holy fuck.”
“Damn it, will you quit saying it like that? You’re making me self-conscious.”
“Why in the hell would you be self-conscious?”
“Because she was raised to know better.”
The voice that sounded from behind her had Embry freezing. Shit! No, this couldn’t be. He agreed to go through the lawyer, agreed not to attempt to contact her before their meetup.
She quickly allowed her eyes to search the room for possible exits, but even before she started looking, she knew there were none. They were trapped.
Taking a deep breath, Embry turned to face the newcomer. “Dad, what are you doing here?”
His eyes narrowed, just enough to tell her he wasn’t happy with the way she’d addressed him, but not enough for anyone else to notice. “Don’t be rude, Embry Grace, introduce me to your friend.”
It took everything Embry had to ignore his order, “What are you doing here, dad? You said you wouldn’t attempt to make contact with me.”
“I heard there was an accident, and I needed to check, make sure it wasn’t you lying in the hospital bed.”
How her father managed to keep a straight face, she wasn’t sure, but she knew without a doubt, he’d hoped it was her. A thought came into her head, and before she would think better of it, it fell out of Embry’s mouth. “Did you hire someone to attack them thinking it was me?”
The backhand wasn’t a complete surprise—she hadn’t exactly expected it, but then again, she hadn’t planned to accuse him of trying to kill her—but she knew the second she’d said it, it was going to result in a reprimand.
His strike had her head whipping around, the taste of blood coating her tongue. Keeping her head turned away, Embry dabbed at the corner of her mouth.
“That’s enough, Ross.”
Prim’s use of her father’s first name had Embry cringing. Only a select few people were allowed to call him that, and she wasn’t one of them. “It’s okay, Prim.”
“How dare you accuse your father of trying to hurt you? You’re my daughter. My only living relative.” Ross talked over her like it was nothing, a common practice when it was just the two of them, but he usually tried to be polite when he was around others.
Prim stepped between them when he attempted to move closer. “That’s enough. You need to leave.”
He stood tall before Prim, wrongfully assuming her size had something to do with her ability to defend herself. “This is a public hospital. I have every right to be here, just as the two of you do.”
“To be in this hospital, yes, but to assault someone, no.” For the first time, Prim turned to look at Embry. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” Embry allowed her tongue to run over the gash in her lip. “Nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”
“Family business has no place here, Embry Grace.”
The growl from her father had her cringing, even though she knew he had done all he would while still in the public eye. Hating herself for showing him that bit of weakness, Embry straightened her spine and faced the man she’d feared her whole life. “I no longer live under your roof, which means that I no longer have to answer to you or fear you. If you touch me again, I will call the cops.”
Ross’s short laugh was bitter. “Go ahead, you remember how well that went for you the last time.”
“Yeah, I do, but the thing is, I’m not that scared little girl afraid to leave her mother alone with you anymore.” Embry silently begged for the tears she felt burning the back of her eyes to stay hidden. “You no longer have any power over me.”
“I’ll always have the power,” her father sneered.
“You lean into us like that again,” Prim stated as she pushed him from her personal space, “and you will have the power from the floor.”
Of course, Ross leaned into her again. “You and what army, princess?”
Just as a Prim started to move, a voice boomed from the door.
“That’s enough, Primly.”
A relieved sigh instantly deflated Embry. Prim was more than capable of protecting both of them, but knowing James was there to help was reassuring.
“Mr. Worthington, I have to ask you to leave.” James held the door open expectantly.
If only it could be that simple.
“You’ve turned my daughter into a common whore, Mr. Boyington, and I’ve come to take her home. This game has gone on long enough.”
The words stung. They shouldn’t have, she’d done nothing wrong, but to hear her father call her that without thought stung, nonetheless.
“Prim, go get Mr. Grandgeorge and the hospital security.” James issued his order without taking his eyes off the other man.”
“Yes, Sir,” Prim pushed her way to the door and disappeared.
“I’m not a whore.” When both men turned to her, Embry had to fight to stand her ground.
“Then what’s that shit on your neck? Hmm? You expect me to believe you work for Madam Eden, and you’re not out working the street? Not whoring yourself out for your room and board.” Ross huffed a laugh. “Eden and her company have a reputation. Everyone knows she makes her money by using stupid little girls like you.”
“That’s enough, Mr. Worthington.”
“You’re her hired muscle, so tell me, James, have you gotten a taste of my daughter yet? Gotten to dip your wick in the goods?” Her father’s lip curled in disgust.
“Enough,” James ordered, the vein in the side of his forehead starting to twitch with anger.
“I’m not a whore,” Embry said over the arguing men. “I tried to be when I thought I had no choice. I was prepared to sell my body to the highest bidder to get away from you.”
James called her name softly. “You don’t have to do this.”
“But I do.” Embry spared her ally a quick glance before returning her eyes to her father. “He needs to hear this. He needs to know what lengths I was willing to go to escape him, so he knows what I’ll be willing to do to keep him out of my life, to be free.
“I was willing to sell my body to escape you. Willing to trade one hell for another, but at least I would have control over the new hell. I knew what I was getting into, knew what to expect. So, call me, your only child, a whore, I don’t care. You have no power over me anymore. I took that power from you.”
“You didn’t take shit from me,” Ross roared, his face turning a dangerous shade of red. “I still hold all the fucking power. I still control that money, and it will be mine.”
The pieces finally fell into place for Embry. She had known all along it was for the money, but something about the way he phrased his last statement had it finally clicking. “That’s all you care about, isn’t it?”
“What else is there to care for? The ungrateful bitch I raised?” Her father’s lip curled. “No, I earned that money by taking care of your mother for all those years.”
“You didn’t take care of her. You used her money to pay for the shittiest care possible, and when she dared get strong enough to question your motives or step between you and me, you turned your fists on her.” Embry shook her head, “Tell me, how many times did she try to kill herself before she succeeded the last time? How many times did you bring her back from the brink only to beat her for trying to escape you?”
“That’s enough, Angel.” Maverick’s voice registered a second before the man wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his arms.
She knew the second he saw her split lip. The mumbled counting was an effort to control his anger, his only tell, and she was the only one who could hear it.
“So, you must be who she sold herself to and ended up with that monstrosity on her neck,” Ross sneered.
“George,” Embry whispered as his arms tig
htened around her. “George, please, he isn’t worth it.”
“You’re right, he definitely isn’t worth it.” Untangling his arms from around her, he moved her behind him. “Don’t you move from where I put you.”
“George?”
Maverick ignored her question and turned to square off against her father. “I thought I had made this perfectly clear when I spoke with you last, but I see I need to spell it out for you. You will no longer have any contact with my clients, Mr. Worthington. You wish to talk to Embry or anyone else working for The Garden, you will have to have your lawyer contact me.
“Furthermore, the meeting we set up between you and Embry will no longer happen.” When Ross opened his mouth to argue, Maverick simply held up his hand, “You should have thought about that before you showed up here and assaulted her. We’ll also be filing a police report and pressing charges, along with filing for a restraining order. Now, I believe your escort to the lobby has arrived, Mr. Worthington. I look forward to seeing you in court.”
Maverick turned to face her once more, his eyes searching her face for any sign of additional damage before landing on her lip. “Are you okay, Angel?”
Before she could answer, Ross’ voice drew her attention. “I will not be dismissed, do you hear me? I’m not a person you tell to have a good day and turn your back on.”
“Sir, if you would come with us, please.” One of the security officers held his hand out toward the door, waiting patiently for Ross to lead the way.
Her chin was caught in Maverick's firm grasp, forcing her eyes to go to his. “Don’t look, Angel. Don’t give him that power.”
From the corner of her eye, she could see her livid father shooting daggers at Maverick’s back, still not moving.
After about thirty seconds, the guard spoke again, “Sir, the police are on their way. It would probably be best for you if you cooperate with us before they arrive.”
“Do you know who I am?” Ross’ question was muffled by the door closing behind him as he had finally heeded their warning.
