by Scarlet Day
“Soon, you will be mine,” the evil voice whispered in her ear and sent fear through her.
The green eyes glowed brighter, and a ferocious growl tore through the darkness.
* * * *
Emma gasped and bolted upright. She looked around in confusion as her eyes tried to adjust to the bright light.
“It’s okay, Emma. You just dozed off for a while.” Chase brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Bad dream?”
“I–it–I don’t know.” Confusion and unease washed over Emma. She shivered as the images and sensations from the dream washed over her. But it was just a dream. Just a dream.
“The awful rocking of this boat probably just unsettled you.” Emma looked at her mother, who had a sour look on her face.
Emma disagreed with her mom about the motion of the boat. She loved it. It was what had lulled her to sleep in the first place. She remembered the offer Chase had made to go snorkeling, and her heart sank in disappointment. This trip had been so unexpected and short-notice, not to mention she had been so pissed about missing her gallery showing that she hadn’t even thought to ask her mother when they would be returning home. Now that she knew they would only be here for barely two days, she found herself wishing they could stay for a few more days.
“How much longer until we get there?” Emma’s mother’s voice was laced with impatience and tension.
Emma was used to her mother’s condescending tone, but she had rarely seen her mother so tense. As if in response to her mother’s question, the engines abruptly cut off.
Cash emerged from the upper deck where the bridge was located and everyone focused on him, although he addressed Chase first. “I talked with Brad. They’re going to meet us out here.”
Chase nodded, but Emma’s mother stood up. “Why? I thought we were going to this island of yours?”
Cash turned to her. “You are. It’s right over there.” He motioned toward one of the nearby islands that dotted the horizon. “But we can’t get any closer than this with him on board.” He glared at Diego.
“That makes absolutely no sense.” Emma’s mother crossed her arms in front of her. Emma recognized the posture. Her mom was preparing to dig her heels in and do battle.
Cash squared his shoulders and mirrored her stance with his own arms crossed over his chest. “There are a lot of things that haven’t made sense lately, Mrs. Walker. Perhaps you’d like to start the explanations first.”
Emma’s mother opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She shut it again. She looked at Cash, then Chase, and finally at Emma. Emma watched as the fight went out of her. Her shoulders slumped, and she sat back down in her chair.
“No. Not yet. I’ll wait until everyone is here.”
Emma couldn’t believe it. She had never seen anyone go toe-to-toe with her mother and win. She would have to get Cash to teach her how to do that before she left. A skill like that could come in very handy.
A roar caught everyone’s attention, and they all looked toward the island. Another boat, not nearly as big as the yacht they were on, but not a small boat, either, approached from the island Cash had indicated. Emma instantly recognized the two figures standing on the bow waving their arms, long, black hair flying behind both of them.
Abby and Kate! Emma rushed to the side of the boat and waved back to them. Oh, how she had missed her sister and cousin! Life had completely sucked after they both abandoned her in Texas. She had felt as though she had lost the people she was closest to. They were the only two people in the world who had ever really understood her and accepted her just the way she was—quirkiness included.
The smaller boat pulled up alongside the larger yacht, and one of the men on board threw a rope to Cash. Chase tossed long, rubber-looking bumpers over the side to keep the two boats from rubbing against each other.
Emma had been so focused on Abby and Kate that she had barely even noticed the other people on the smaller boat. Now that she got a look at them, however—holy cow! No wonder her sister and cousin had no interest in coming back to Texas!
Three of the men were identical, with dark, sandy-blond hair and chocolate-colored eyes. The other two men looked similar enough to be relatives to the others, but with lighter-blond hair and blue eyes. All of them were drop-dead scrumptious. Almost as mouthwatering as Cash, Chase, and Diego.
Emma felt heat flood her cheeks. Oh, good grief! What the hell’s wrong with me? She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about all three men. The tropical sun must really be getting to her.
Abby and Kate were helped as they transferred off of the smaller boat onto the yacht. Emma thought it was curious at how protective the trio of men were who hovered around Kate. And the other two men seemed awfully attentive to Abby. Odd.
As soon as Abby and Kate were on the yacht, Emma rushed to them and wrapped them both in a group hug.
“Oh my God, I’ve missed you guys!” Tears sprang to her eyes as they hugged and laughed.
Abby wiped a tear off of Emma’s cheek. “We’ve missed you, too, sis.”
Emma heard her mother clear her throat, and all three women turned as one toward her. Abby untangled herself from Emma and Kate and went to hug her mother.
“Hi, Mom. I’ve missed you. Thanks for coming.”
“I’ve missed you, too, dear.”
Emma actually saw a tear run down her mother’s face as she hugged Abby. Geez, what was happening? Was her mother going soft all of a sudden?
Kate moved forward and exchanged a hug as well. “Hi, Aunt Beth.”
“Oh, Kate. I’ve missed you—and your mom—so much.” Emma watched, stunned, as more tears slid down her mother’s cheeks. She hadn’t seen her mom cry this much since their Aunt Jen, Kate’s mom, had passed away.
Introductions were quickly made, though Emma noted that it hadn’t yet been made clear how Abby and Kate knew all of these men. She also noticed the barely veiled hostility directed at Diego from Cash and Chase’s brothers and cousins. She wondered what they could possibly have against him. None of them even knew Diego, after all. Rather than being intimidated, Emma felt Diego’s rising determination and belligerence. Something very strange was definitely going on between all of these men. And how the heck was she able to feel Diego’s emotions, for that matter? The odd perception had started on the airplane and just seemed to be getting stronger.
“Ladies, it looks like we may have an afternoon shower moving in. Let’s take this inside, shall we?” Cash motioned toward the interior cabin and held the door open for them.
Looking up, Emma realized dark thunderclouds had built above them and were now blotting out the sun. She headed toward the door Cash held open, but she was skeptical that there would be room for all of them inside, especially considering the number and size of the men. As soon as she went down the few steps into the interior cabin, however, she realized the boat was much bigger than it seemed from the outside. Having never been on a boat before, she’d had no idea how much interior space there was in a yacht of this size.
A galley kitchen lined part of one wall, complete with a cooktop, dishwasher, and refrigerator. A full bar lined the wall opposite the door, with barstools bolted into the floor. Doors stood on either side of the bar, but they were closed, and Emma couldn’t tell what was behind them. Though, based on the size of the boat, she guessed there had to be somewhere to sleep. The rest of the room was filled with a seating area and a dining table. Windows lined both sides of the front of the room near the bar area. One large cabinet stood against the wall next to the door they had entered through. Spearguns sat in brackets in the open-faced cabinet, though she couldn’t tell if they actually worked or if they were just for show.
“Please, make yourself comfortable. What can we get everyone to drink?” Cash and Chase took up positions behind the bar.
“Juice for me.” Kate plopped down on the curved couch that took up the middle of the room.
Emma watched her mother’s eyebrows rise and disappear behind her
bangs when the triplets, Blake, Drake, and Jake, hovered around Kate. Two sat on either side of her, and one perched on the back of the couch behind her. Then Abby settled into one of the wide leather chairs near the couch and the other set of twins, Brad and Bryce, settled on the chair arms on either side of her. Whatever was going on between her sister and cousin and all of these hunky men, it was getting more interesting by the minute. Had Kate and Abby finally gotten over their years of self-imposed near-celibacy? If they were finally in the game, it looked as though they were playing the whole field! Emma smothered a giggle at her mother’s appalled expression and vowed to get the juicy details out of Abby and Kate later.
Diego handed Emma a drink, and she smiled when she tasted it. Vanilla vodka and Diet Coke. She could definitely get used to having Diego around. She looked around for a place to sit and decided on the other end of the wide couch from Kate. Diego stayed close and perched on the arm of the couch next to her. He had been very attentive and, true to his word, had not wandered more than a couple of feet from her since they left the airplane.
The guys all accepted bottles of beer, and Emma’s mother requested a glass of white wine. Emma knew her mother must be nervous, since she rarely drank alcohol. Once drinks were dispensed, her mother finally sat down in one of the dining chairs that had been pulled close to the couch, but she didn’t look at all comfortable. Chase took the empty place on the couch next to Emma, and she felt, rather than saw, Cash move to stand behind her. The hair on the back of her neck stood up again. It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. It was more of an acute awareness of the men next to her and behind her. Strange.
Emma’s mother cleared her throat, and all attention focused on her. She gulped some of her wine. Her hand shook and made the wine slosh in the glass. She looked at Kate, then Abby, and finally rested a tortured gaze on Emma. She took a deep, ragged breath.
“We never meant to hurt you girls. Everything we did, we did because we loved you. We wanted to protect you.” She took another drink of her wine and then closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, Emma thought she saw an array of emotions in her mother’s eyes. Fear, regret, sadness. And above all, a plea for forgiveness.
“I don’t know how else to say it. You’re not really twins. Kate isn’t really your cousin. You girls are triplets.”
Chapter Nine
Diego had felt the tension building up in the room, but it had not prepared him for the explosion of emotions that ripped through Emma.
“What?” Emma shot to her feet and looked at her mother, then turned her stunned gaze on Abby and Kate, who Diego thought were both taking the news fairly calmly. Emma stared at the women for several moments as the silence in the room grew thick. “Oh my God. You knew didn’t you? You both knew.”
Ah. That would explain the lack of surprise and the twinge of guilt he felt from the other two women. Emma’s emotions were all over the place. Confusion, outrage, and even betrayal.
“I can’t believe you knew and didn’t tell me.” She cast an accusing look at Kate and Abby.
Abby reached a hand out and started to get up. “Emma, we—”
Emma shook her head violently. “No! I need air.”
Diego barely even registered what she was doing, and he didn’t react fast enough. Emma bolted from the room to the outside deck. A moment later, Emma’s gut-wrenching scream very nearly stopped Diego’s newly beating heart.
Her pain tore through his mind. Everyone in the room stampeded up the stairs toward the door, but Diego got to Emma first. She had crumpled onto the deck and was clutching her head in her hands. Diego dropped to his knees and scooped Emma into his arms.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.” He held his hand up and waved off the others who were running to Emma’s aid.
Cash and Chase hovered closely. Diego sensed their strong desire to comfort Emma and their horror at seeing her in anguish. Diego knew what these men were. He had detected the fact that they were not exactly human as soon as he met them. While he had not been able to tell what type of shifter they were, the name of both their island and this yacht told him what he needed to know. Their reactions and possessiveness toward Emma also made him suspect they had pegged Emma as their mate. Something deep inside Diego objected to that idea, but he didn’t have time to examine his belligerence.
Emma gripped the front of his shirt in her fists and clung to him. Silent tears ran down her cheeks. “Why is this happening?”
Her small, pleading voice tore at Diego’s soul. He closed his eyes against the torture as he rocked Emma in his lap. “I don’t know, mi belleza. But we’re going to figure this thing out. I swear it.”
Diego continued rocking Emma until he sensed that all of her pain had vanished. The pain had been worse this time. It seemed that the longer Emma and Diego were near each other, the worse the pain became when they were separated. He chided himself for letting her get too far from him and vowed not to let it happen again. He couldn’t stand to see her in pain. The fact that he felt her anguish through their mysterious link made it even more unbearable.
Everything had changed for him in such a short period of time. When he boarded the plane for Miami, he’d had unwavering intentions of abducting this woman and handing her over to Tiberius. And now here he sat, comforting her in his lap.
Fat, sporadic splatters of rain fell from the sky. The dark thunderclouds were about to open up. With the pain gone and heavy rain imminent, Diego stood up and lowered Emma to her feet. She was still a little wobbly, so he supported her across the deck toward the cabin door as Cash held it open for them. Cash went down the steps ahead of them and then turned around to help Emma down.
As Emma took the hand Cash offered, he felt a ripple of energy pass through their psychic link and heard Emma’s sharp intake of breath. He registered her shock, confusion, and a heightened physical awareness between her and Cash. And he didn’t like it. At all.
Cash didn’t let go of her hand when she got to the bottom of the stairs. Instead, he led her back to the couch and sat next to her, his hand still wrapped around hers. Diego watched Emma’s face. It was flushed and appeared more than a little shell-shocked. Diego sat on the arm of the couch next to Emma, while everyone took their seats again.
“Would someone please explain what the hell just happened up there?” Brad flashed a stern glare at Diego and then turned an expectant stare at Cash and Chase.
Cash quickly summed up the mystery of Emma’s pain. Diego felt the weight of accusatory glares and thoughts directed at him.
He also felt rising irritation coming from Emma who finally growled in frustration. “Could we just get back to the minor issue of being lied to all our lives?”
Abby reached across the men on the couch and put her hand on Emma’s arm. “I’m sorry, sis. We just figured it out a couple of days ago. And we didn’t even know for sure, until now.”
“And we didn’t want to tell you over the phone.” Kate turned her gaze on Mrs. Walker. “We thought we should hear the whole story together.”
Mrs. Walker looked around the room at each of the three women and then sighed and nodded. She picked up her wine glass from the table and took a long drink. She twirled the glass between her fingers and stared down into it for a few moments. Tension hung in the air.
“Jen and I were so close. We told each other everything. When she called and told me she was in love and pregnant and she was getting married, I was so happy for her. I’d been married for a few of years at that point, and I was thrilled that Jen had found someone who could make her happy. But then she started telling me this fantastical tale. I panicked. I thought she was losing her mind or she was on drugs or…I don’t know…something.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.
“I jumped on the first plane I could and came to Florida. I planned on getting Jen on a return flight back to Texas with me to get her away from whatever bad influence she was involved with. I thought she needed professional help.” She looked up at the wo
men again. “Then I met your father.”
“Jesse.” Blake’s voice was grave as he took Kate’s hand in his.
Mrs. Walker looked up in surprise. “Yes. You knew him?”
Blake nodded. “He was our father’s best friend.”
Mrs. Walker’s eyes widened, and she looked around the room at the men. “He was—different.”
Diego felt unease ripple through the room. He watched as several sets of eyes shifted nervously.
“Just exactly how much do you know about Jesse, Mrs. Walker?” Blake’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
“I thought the things Jen told me were hallucinations, either drug-induced or from a mental breakdown, I didn’t know. I threatened to force her to go back to Texas with me, even if I had to find a way to get her deemed unfit to care for herself. Jesse was furious. He said he could prove she wasn’t crazy or on drugs.”
She wiped a shaking hand across her face and lifted her glass to take another sip of wine. “Jesse…he…I still can’t believe what he did. He—”
“He changed, didn’t he?” Blake’s voice carried a certainty that Diego didn’t need psychic abilities to understand.
Mrs. Walker looked up at Blake. Diego felt fear and dread bubble up inside of her. “How did you know that?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Mom…” Abby glanced at Brad, and he squeezed her hand and nodded. Diego felt understanding pass between them. As mates, he guessed they must have their own mental connection. “Mom, we can all change.”
Chapter Ten
Emma watched the empty wine glass slip from her mother’s fingers and fall to the floor. Her mother’s face paled.
“Mom? What’s wrong?” Emma didn’t understand what all of this meant. What did Abby mean when she said they could all change? Change what?
“I…” Her mother swallowed hard and cleared her throat. “When Jesse disappeared, we didn’t know what to do. It took a while to convince her, but Jen agreed to come back to Texas with me. When we found out she was having triplets, she knew she couldn’t take care of all of you by herself. Bill and I agreed to adopt two of you. We had learned that I couldn’t have children, and we were looking into adoption anyway, so it just made sense.”
