‘Dante,’ Emory whispered, her excitement unbearable, ‘fuck me, Dante. Fuck me hard.’
His face took on that intense look she loved, and he thrust deeper, harder as if he wanted to rip her in two. Emory cried out his name, feeling the desire flooding through her body until she couldn’t hold back any longer and came, her body vibrating. Dante, his own orgasm pumping thick white semen deep inside her, didn’t let her recover, though. His hands and mouth were rough on her breasts, tasting and biting and Emory lost herself in the pleasure he was giving her. Dante pinned her hands over her head and fucked her again, harder, almost violently until she begged him never to stop.
Eventually, exhausted, and overcome by love, Emory fell asleep in his arms. As she was drifting off, she whispered, ‘I love you, Dante Harper,' but she was asleep before she could hear any reply.
When she woke, the bed was cold, and Dante was standing at the window, staring out. Emory, shivering, wrapped herself in the sheet. ‘Are you okay, baby?’
Dante nodded and then turned to her. His expression was blank, but something in his eyes made her shiver.
‘It’s time,’ he said in a soft but determined voice, ‘It’s time, Emory. It’s time for you to know the whole truth.’
Kizzie sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed where she stretched, enjoying the feel of her limbs working. Jake was passed out, his head leaned against the wall. She looked around, grabbed a blanket and covered him.
She went to check on Ethan. He’d come through the surgery but was still very critical, and now was in a coma. Kizzie stroked his head, feeling how cool his skin felt.
‘Don’t leave us, Ethan. Nothing is that bad we can’t overcome it.’
She laughed softly, remembering Jesse saying the same thing to her when Lexi died. What the hell was Ethan hiding and who was he protecting? A few days previously, Jesse had come to the hospital to see her, ask her who Ethan was, and how she was involved with him. Kizzie told her brother everything she could and Jesse had agreed it was odd. ‘Whatever it is, though, Kiz, can wait until he’s recovering well.’
She had smiled at her older brother. ‘You’re a good man, Jesse Kline.’
Thinking about Jesse was when the idea came to her. Julieta was just a few corridors away – and Kizzie wanted to ask her why she had done it, why she had aborted her own child. Julieta must have known it was the only thing tying Jesse to her. Kizzie didn’t understand why she would have done something so self-destructive. And she wanted to know why. She slipped her bathrobe on and padded through the darkened hospital to see if Julieta was awake.
There were no nurses around in the gynecological wing. Kizzie peered into each room. At the far end, there was a light on. She headed towards it. She heard a male voice as she stepped up to the half-closed door of the room.
‘I told you, after everything is resolved, we’ll go away.’
‘Why not now? Jesse’s left me, he knows about the pill you gave me. That damn Fonseca asshole tried to off himself. Word is he’s not going to make it. We’re home free. No-one knows it was us, no-one knows what we did to Azano…’
‘Shut up. This is not the place.’
‘I’m just saying if Ethan wakes up and rats us out, we’re fucked.’
Kizzie edged forward to peer through the crack in the door. She saw a guy she didn’t know sitting on Julieta’s bed. Julieta was caressing his face.
‘Haven’t I done enough for you? Aren’t I enough for you, Nick?’
Nick didn’t answer. Julieta became whiny.
‘I aborted our baby for you. Your baby, Nick. I did what you asked, I distracted Jesse enough to stop asking questions.’
Kizzie gasped. Nick’s head shot up and he turned towards the door. Kizzie backed off, turned and ran. She heard him following her, and terror flooded her body. There was no-one around, no-one she could ask for help.
Jake. He would help her. She ran silently through the hospital but got lost and had to double-back. Up ahead she saw Ethan’s room and gave a sigh of relief…but then she was grabbed from behind.
The guy called Nick slammed her back against the wall. Kizzie’s blood froze as she saw the scalpel in his hand. Oh, god no…
‘Hey!’ Jake.
Nick dropped her and ran, and Kizzie collapsed with relief. Jake’s arms were around her then, pulling her up. ‘Are you okay? What the hell was that?’
Kizzie was too shaken to speak for a moment. Jake brought her back to Ethan’s room and held her hands while she calmed herself. She told him haltingly what she’d heard, and Jake was appalled.
‘We have to go to the police.’ He stood, but she grabbed his arms.
‘Wait. Let’s wait until Ethan wakes up and tells us what the hell happened. I don’t; want him waking up to find he’s about to be arrested for something he never had any hand in. We need to know the truth, Jake. Please, wait.’
Jake didn’t look happy, but he gave a quick nod. ‘Okay. But you’re not to go anywhere on your own, understand me? I don’t want that guy attacking you again. We at least need to tell the hospital so he can’t get in again.’
When Jake had sent her home in a cab (‘Don’t let him stop, just get home safe.’), Kizzie had sat, angry with herself but even angrier at the situation. What Nick had done and not just to her – to Ethan, to Julieta and to the school.
When Jesse let her in, she looked fierce. He gave her a half-smile
‘Hey, what got your goat?’
‘Jesse, the baby wasn’t yours.’
That floored him, and he sat down heavily in a chair. She reached over and touched his face.
‘Should I not have told you?’
‘No, of course, you should. And part of me isn’t surprised but hell, what a bitch.’
She nodded. ‘I went down earlier to talk to her. I know –’ she grimaced at the look on Jesse’s face. ‘But I wanted to know why she’d done it. It didn’t make sense. If she wanted to keep you, why did she get rid of the only thing you were staying for. I was outside the room when I heard his voice. She said ‘I aborted your baby, Nick.’ He heard me listening and threatened me.’
‘What the fuck? Is she talking about Nick Petersen?’ Jesse stood up now, ‘the fucker, what did he say?’
‘Just to keep my mouth shut. Which obviously, I’m not going to do. Except…Jess, I think Ethan is involved, somehow. He’s caught up with this, with the shooting at the school. I can’t believe he had a hand in it, so it must be something else. Nick Petersen is at the center of this, I know it.’
Jesse looked as confused as she felt. ‘Julieta told me she had gotten rid of the baby because of Bree.’
Kizzie shook her head. ‘Misdirection.’
‘Looks like. God, what are we going to do?’
‘Wait for Ethan to wake up. He’ll tell us everything, I know it.’
Jesse looked at his sister, his eyes sympathetic. ‘Will he wake up?’
Kizzie swallowed. ‘God, I hope so, Jesse, I really do.’
Emory looked at the photograph of the man Dante put in front of her and felt a tug on a memory.
‘This is Luca Saffran. Before you were shot, before I met you, you were in a relationship with him. A romantic relationship.’
She looked up at Dante and could see the torment, the regret in his eyes. ‘With Bree’s father?’
Dante nodded. He sat beside her and took her hand. ‘I think it’s time we contacted him. Emory…I’ve been unfair. I should never have started this thing with you without informing you about your relationship with Saffran, and I’m sorry. I’m not sorry about our relationship but God, if we are to be together, then I don’t want to hide anything from you. You deserve the chance to go back to your old life if that’s what you want.’
Emory’s emotions were in turmoil and she got up and walked around the room. Dante watched her, his eyes hooded and haunted. ‘Sweetheart, I promise, whatever your decision is us…I will respect it, even if it means…’ He tailed off and shook his
head. Emory went to him, sliding into his arms and kissing him.
‘You,’ she said, making him look her in the eye, ‘are all I will ever want.’
Dante shook his head. ‘Don’t say that, please, Emory. You loved him, and he loved you. If, when you meet, when you remember how you felt, if you want that life…I won’t stop you.’
Emory felt suddenly tearful. ‘Dante…I am in love with you. I fell in love with you of my own free will.’
Dante kissed her. ‘I don’t doubt you, Em. My heart is yours, it always will be.’
‘Then let’s not change the status quo,’ Emory said suddenly, her panic rising. ‘Let’s just stay like this, you and me…’
‘We can’t. I won’t have this hanging over us forever. You asked me not to let ‘him’ find you – you meant Raymond Grace - and I kept that promise. But there are other people out there, Emory, who care that you are alive. Who love you and in mourning. We have to do the right thing.’
Emory got up and went to the window. She looked out over the grounds of Dante’s estate. She knew he was right, of course, she did. But she was scared. Scared of this bubble bursting. Scared that Dante would give her up because he was the most decent, kind man she’s ever met. She felt like Luca Saffran was a stranger to her. But you’re not to him. You’re his love. You’re not the only one in this.
She returned to Dante’s side and sat with him. ‘Okay. Okay then. Let’s do it.’
Dante looked at her, his eyes sad. ‘I’ll set it up.’
He stood, but she grabbed his hand. ‘Dante…’
He pulled her roughly into his arms and kissed her so passionately that her head swam. ‘Dante…I love you so much, please don’t let me go without a fight…’
Dante buried his head in her neck, and she felt his tears damp against her skin. ‘I promise,’ he said simply, ‘I promise.’
Luca Saffran had been working at his office from early in the morning to past ten at night. He functioned as normal in his business world, felt almost like his old self but when he had to go home – to eat, to bathe, to sleep – he felt the chasm of loneliness stretching out. He was terrified of forgetting – his happiness with Emory, the love they shared, the fun they had together. She was drifting further and further away with every passing day. He had accepted now that they would probably never find her body, never get that closure. Clem, Bree, and even Maximo had been his anchors; after Maximo had revealed the story of his own lost love, he and Luca had grown closer, and Luca knew that Clem and Maximo were crazy about each other.
He sighed then started as someone knocked on his office door. He looked up and smiled. Tatiana Mendelssohn grinned at him. ‘I know you’d still be here.’
Luca got up to shake her hand. ‘It’s great to see you again. To what do I owe the pleasure?’
‘Honestly, I had a meeting across the street which ran late. I haven’t eaten, and then as I was leaving, I saw your office light on. Want to grab some food? There’s a great little place down the block.’
Luca considered. ‘Actually, that sounds great.’
They walked down to the little tavern on the corner and ordered food. Over a delicious paella, they chatted easily, Luca asking about Tatiana’s British roots.
‘My dad’s an American which is why I can work here so easily, but I was brought up in London. My mom was a journo in the Eighties, she had Thatcher, poll tax, and the IRA. I don’t know if journalism is really me.’
Luca was surprised. ‘Really?’
Tat nodded. ‘Writing is my passion, but I never had the patience to write a novel then wait for it to be published. I needed to be earning money.’ She gave a throaty laugh. Believe it, or no, J.K. Rowling is an exception, not the rule.’
Luca nodded. ‘So, is fiction your thing?’
Tat smiled. ‘I prefer biography. That’s why I’m so interested to be working on this project with Clem, and hopefully it’ll do some good. I assure you, it won’t be salacious in any way.’
‘I trust you not to make Emory’s murder into a sideshow. I’m not naïve, I know how these things work. Beautiful young woman, heroine, falls to the man who is supposed to love her most.’
‘It is compelling,’ Tatiana admitted, her blue eyes searching his. ‘You miss her.’
‘Of course. Every day. I just hope…’ he trailed off and she tilted her head.
‘What? What, Luca?’
Luca sighed. ‘I’m forgetting things already, Tat. Like how her hair smelled like flowers but I can’t remember which flower. Or her laugh. Or what we used to talk about, God,’ he looked away, suddenly ashamed. ‘How could I forget those things, Tat? The important things?’
Tat grabbed his hand. ‘Luca, it’s normal. You’re panicking, scared of losing her entirely. Your brain is telling you you’re forgetting but really, you’re not.’
Luca smiled at her. ‘Thank you, Tat, I…’
His cell phone beeped and he looked apologetically at her. ‘Sorry, I have to check, it might be Bree.’
‘No problem, do you want some privacy?’
‘No, no, I’ll just be a second.’
Tat sipped her drink while Luca listened to the voicemail. When he put his phone down, he looked confused. Tat studied him.
‘Who was it?’
‘Dante Harper.’
Tatiana’s eyebrows shot up in surprise ‘The market guy? Of course, you must deal with him in your line of business.’
Luca shook his head, frowning. ‘That’s not it. He told me he needed to meet with me urgently. About Emory.’
That shocked Tatiana. ‘Did they know each other?’
‘Not that I know of…I can’t imagine what he wants to talk to me about, but he’s invited me to go to his home.’
‘When?’
Luca was still reeling. ‘Friday. He told me to bring Bree. I just…what the hell could Harper want?’
Tatiana shook her head. ‘No idea. Maybe he wants to help with the search. By all accounts, he’s a good guy.’
Luca signaled to the waitress. ‘Okay, we’re getting more drinks, and you’re going to tell me everything you know about Dante Harper, Tat. Everything.’
Kizzie was thinking how very silent hospitals were at midnight when Ethan suddenly opened his eyes. He gasped for air, a panic attack, his eyes wild, unseeing as they wheeled around. Jake leaped to his feet to go to his struggling brother and Kizzie, her heart pounding, ran for the doctor.
A half hour later, they had Ethan calm enough to talk to him. He looked drained, scared, hopeless. Jake and Kizzie held his hands as the doctor spoke gently to him, explaining his recovery to him. Finally, they were alone, and Ethan looked at both of them.
‘I don’t know what to say…Jake, Kiz, thank you for being here. I don’t deserve your love but thank you for it all the same.’
Kizzie felt close to tears. Jake’s face had hardened. ‘Bro, you’re going to tell us everything. Nothing is off the table now, and you can start with why you did this. The truth, Ethan.’
Ethan looked away from his brother’s intense stare. ‘I can’t…if I do, more people will die.’
‘No, they won’t. We know Nick Petersen is behind all of this. Tell us now, or I’ll go straight to him. It’s just Kizzie and me in this room, Ethan. When you’ve told us, then we can decide what action to take.’
Ethan rubbed a hand over his head. ‘Jesus, Jake.’
‘Do it.’
Ethan sighed. ‘Nick knows that I saw him. Saw him give David Azano a cup of coffee laced with bath salts - mephedrone - the day Azano went batshit. Nick supplied the drug, the weapons, wound David up. He never stood a chance that day. When I challenged Nick about it – before David went crazy and started shooting – he told me that if I told anyone, he’d kill you, Jake. I believed him. Nick Petersen is a psycho.’ Ethan let out a long breath and looked at Kizzie. ‘I wanted to tell you, Kiz, I really did. I’m so sorry.’
Kizzie’s entire body felt cold. She squeezed Ethan’s hand but said noth
ing. Jake had his head in his hands.
‘God, Ethan…’
‘I know. That day, I was arguing with myself right up until the shooting started and it was too late. At the time, I didn’t know if he was just kidding around, if Nick would go through with it, thought he was just showboating. Then I heard the first gunshot and knew it was too late. Fuck…why didn’t I just get some balls?’
‘Why did he do it?’
Ethan looked them in the eye. ‘Kicks. He wanted to be famous but didn’t have the balls to do it himself. He wanted to use a teacher to do it, something different, he said. Afterward, there were a couple of local news stories about how Nick had ‘protected’ some of the students. Made me sick to my stomach to think he was being praised for being a ‘hero’. I called him, challenged him. That’s when he said he would kill you, Jake…and he also told me he knew I was getting close to you, Kizzie.’
All Kizzie felt was anger. She would like to have kicked the crap out of Nick Petersen, so now, she shook her head angrily. ‘You should have told us. What were you thinking, disappearing like that and then doing that,’ she gestured to the heavy bandaging on his chest, ‘to yourself. God, Ethan…’
Ethan was quiet for a moment then said softly, ‘I was taking the easy way out. Taking myself out of the equation.’
Kizzie gave a moan of sorrow and Jake looked over at her, his eyes concerned. ‘That’s never the answer, Ethan.’
‘I know.’
Jake sighed. ‘Look, there’s no other option but to tell the police now.’
Ethan nodded, resigned. ‘I know.’
‘Kizzie, will you stay with Ethan for a while?’
‘Sure.’
When Jake had left the room, the two of them sat in silence for what seemed like hours but then Kizzie drew in a deep breath. ‘So, David Azano was…if not innocent, but he wasn’t responsible for what he did. God, poor David. Poor Zea…you know she left town? Her life was destroyed like so many of ours, but in her case, she didn’t get the support, the pity.’
Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 23
