Conversation was subdued while each of the men took a turn washing the night’s grime from their bodies. Once everyone was refreshed, Tara proved good to her word. She pulled out more food than they could hope to consume, but the men dug in with gusto and tried. Even Gabriel’s two younger brothers attempted to help polish it all off.
But as the shared meal came to a close, they all began to talk of their immediate plans. Gabriel and Noah learned that Hollington had been busy. He’d reserved rooms for everyone at a nearby hotel, ensuring the team and their families could remain close while Emily remained in the hospital. He’d also stepped in while they gave over to exhaustion, to take the reins where Eric and the fallout in Whitford Falls was concerned.
A quiet moan from the bed had all eyes turning towards Emily. Noah and Gabriel rose from their chairs straight away and moved to her side. Noah let down the bed’s side rail and gingerly sat on the edge of the mattress. He gathered the hand of her uninjured arm in his and lightly stroked her fingers. Gabriel leaned over and kissed her forehead while his hand began to gently sweep over her hair in a soothing pattern.
Noah called her name twice before she responded. Ever so slowly, Emily lifted her weighty eyelids and stared at him. A small smile lifted the corners of her lips. Her eyes left Noah’s gaze and connected with Gabriel’s. Both men offered her such loving, tender smiles, filled with gratitude and happiness, that it stole Emily’s breath right away. Her eyes flooded with tears and her bottom lip began to quiver.
“Shhh, don’t cry, baby,” Noah whispered. “You’re safe and so are we.”
“I know,” she breathed and squeezed his fingers. “They’re happy tears.”
“Well then, we’ll shed some of those together. ’Cause I’m pretty damn happy too,” Noah chuckled helplessly. He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles.
“How long have I been asleep?” she asked in a raspy voice.
“Several hours,” Gabriel answered. He bent to kiss her lips this time, not satisfied with placing his own lips to her forehead any longer. It was feather-light and the softest contact he could manage, but he felt it all the way to the depths of his soul. She was alive and safe, and somehow the world didn’t seem quite as dark as it had twelve hours before.
“I love you, both,” Emily said when he drew away. “So much. Thank you for coming to get me.”
“There was never a question about that, honey.” Gabe sighed and shook his head. “Even at the start of the evening, Noah and I felt like you were close to the lake. We just happened to be on the wrong side of it at the time, but we finally got there.”
She hummed and closed her eyes momentarily. When she didn’t speak or move again, they thought that she had drifted back under from the pain medication, but Emily surprised them and began to talk again. Haltingly at first, but gathering speed as if she were trying to push words out that she’d rather not utter.
“I need to tell you what happened with Eric. From the time he tasered and drugged me, until I knew I had no other option but to make a break for it.” She reopened her eyes and looked from Gabriel to Noah. “I wanted to get away sooner, but he was very determined that I stay.”
“He tasered you?” Noah asked in disbelief. “While you were still in our house?”
“He did,” she said sadly. “I wanted to call out, because I knew the guys and Tara were inside, most likely in the study, but the moment that internal fire ended, Eric gave me an injection of something that knocked me out. He stuffed a rag in my mouth, blindfolded me, and had me over his shoulder before my body regained the ability to let you know what was happening. And then when I finally did wake up, he had me bound hand and foot to that damned bed, and…”
“I need everyone out, please. Now,” Gabriel said quietly, though he did not take his eyes off of Emily.
Noah raised her hand to his lips again and just held on, not knowing where this tale was headed. The knots that had settled in his gut all night and into the early morning hours returned in earnest, and he felt bile rising up his throat. What kind of hell would they hear about as she recounted this nightmare?
When the door closed quietly behind their friends and family, Gabriel noticed Hollington still with them. He moved forward and stood between Gabriel and where Noah perched on the side of the bed. He took a small recorder from his pocket and switched it on.
“Emily,” Hollington called to her. “An official statement is required in such cases as this. I’m sure you know that, don’t you, dear?”
“I do,” she nodded.
“Then let’s have this retelling be the only time you have to go through it all, for a while. I think at some point therapy might help you recover some of your lost trust in your fellow man, and of course when there is a trial you’ll have to go back through it all. But for now, if you’ll permit me to stay with your fiancées, then we can get this over with. What do you say?”
“Gabriel, Noah, what do you want?” Emily asked, not sure she could make such a decision for them. What they might want and need, might be totally different than what she desired. Somehow, Hollington had understood that she wouldn’t want to go back through the terrifying ordeal over and over again, and she was grateful for his suggestion.
Gabriel saw the relief flash in Emily’s eyes the moment Hollington offered her the chance to let this retelling be her only one for a while. He looked to Noah and saw Noah’s slow nod, and he knew then that Noah had picked up on the same thing. Gabriel smoothed his hand over Emily’s hair again and smiled slightly.
“I think Hollington’s right, Em. Let’s have you tell us everything, from start to finish, and then let it lie for a while so you can heal, inside and out.”
She sagged against the bed and whispered her thanks.
“Start whenever you’re ready, Emily,” Hollington quietly encouraged her. He stepped away to pour her a glass of cold water from the small jug a nurse had left in the room. He thoughtfully placed a straw in it, then passed the cup to Gabriel. Gabe thanked him and let Emily take several sips before she cleared her voice and began.
Initially, they did not interrupt or ask her questions, rather they let the entire story unfold. But once Emily reached the moment where she’d lost consciousness on the helicopter, the three men began to take her back through it all with their questions and need for further details. Though she was feeling the pull of sleep calling heavily to her, Emily shrugged it off, knowing how important this information was to them. Not just for the investigation’s sake, but for Noah and Gabriel’s peace of mind.
She wanted so desperately to put their fear that Eric had hurt her more than he had, to rest. Even though she’d been terrified and manhandled, Emily knew she had fared far better than most kidnap victims; and she thanked the Lord that Eric had not had the time or opportunity to act upon the mental world he’d created for the two of them. She was whole still, and she used her words and touch to let Noah and Gabriel see and feel that as they talked.
When at last the questions were at an end, Hollington extended a hand to Emily. Noah gently placed Emily’s hand in his, and watched as his boss placed his other palm atop hers, creating a supportive cocoon there between them. Hollington gave Emily a tender squeeze and a nod of approval.
“Emily, there is one final question I must ask you, though your recounting of events has already addressed it. I need a direct answer, however, so I must put this to you. Eric has latched on to the idea you planted as a distraction there at the end of the ordeal, that the entire event was kidnapping only if you had not consented to go with him.”
“What?!” Noah asked in disbelief. Though he admitted to himself that he shouldn’t be surprised by anything Eric dreamed up regarding Emily at this point. Still, he was livid at the unhinged man’s scheme.
“Yes,” Hollington sighed resignedly. “He honestly believes now that you voluntarily agreed to leave Gabriel and Noah’s residence, Emily, and that nothing happened between the two of you, which was not consensual.
So my question, though an obvious one, is: did you, of your own free will, accompany Eric William Waltower in the late hours of yesterday afternoon, to the cabin in which you awoke? Or did he take you by force, against your will, and keep you there as an unwilling prisoner?”
“I did not willingly go with Eric!” Emily stated emphatically. “He forced me out of Gabe and Noah’s house with drugs and a taser. He tied me hand and foot to a bed while I was unconscious and not in control of my faculties. When I barely touched the sliding glass door that signaled my freedom and told him I could not enter into a relationship with him – that I would not have sex with him – he pushed me against it and held me there until I capitulated to rest alongside him.”
Her breathing increased and she tried to sit up, but her wrapped shoulder and arm wouldn’t let her. Emily gasped and laid back as Gabriel and Noah each settled a hand on her to steady her. But she was beyond angry now, and Emily wanted her voice heard. Clearly.
“And though I fought against Eric in the bedroom yet again, he pinned me beneath him on the bed and threatened me with another syringe full of sedatives if I didn’t obey his instructions. He did all of that against my will! All of it! I wanted none of what he was forcing on me!”
“I chose to pretend to sleep next to him, over the sedatives, because I had to keep my wits about me. And when I moved towards the lamp, he took my movement and words as in invitation for something more. So, I grabbed the lamp, smashed it over his head, and took off. I ran for quite a distance initially, and then once again when he discovered my hiding spot by the road. But throughout the entire ordeal, I did not want to be a party to any of it.”
“No,” she said as her voice broke on a sob. “I want this statement filed against him. I want Eric to stand trial. And I want him to pay for what he’s done. I never want him to have the opportunity to hurt another person like he has me. I’ll do whatever it takes to see that he doesn’t go free after this. I’ll testify, do anything you need me to do. I’m not going to be silent about this, anymore. Not anymore.”
She broke off again as her grief welled and collided with her anger. How dare Eric try to use her words as an out?! Emily couldn’t fathom such a broken mind and a will determined to subvert another’s freedom. She prayed the wheels of justice would turn in her favor and that he might not see the outside of a prison for a very, very long time.
“Okay,” Hollington said quietly. “Well spoken, Emily. And well played, if I may say so. You kept your wits about you, as you said, and outsmarted an extremely determined criminal. We’re all very proud of you.”
“Now, I think I’ll let the doctors know you’re awake, so they can look you over. Then the three of you need to get some shut-eye. All right, dear?” he added, and arched an eyebrow at her.
Emily could only nod as Noah mopped her tears away with a napkin Gabriel had handed him. Gabe had lifted another for himself, and he was tenderly cleaning her right cheek.
“I’ll be in touch later in the day,” Hollington said, then released Emily’s hand back to Noah. He reached out and collected the recorder, turning it off before he slipped it back into his jacket’s interior pocket. Then he walked over to the door and paused as he opened it. Hollington watched the remarkable sight before his eyes for several moments, then he turned and left them to their much needed privacy.
The rest of the team, Tara, and the families of Noah and Gabriel were all there, lining the hallway, waiting for information.
“I’m going to let the staff know Emily is awake,” Hollington began. “And if you all want to talk with them briefly, they’ll probably be up for that in a few minutes. But they’re running on empty, just as the rest of you are. So, I told the three of them that I expected a long nap to take place, before we all meet and talk again.”
Gabriel’s father stepped forward and shook Hollington’s hand. Noah’s father did the same, and each man thanked him for all of his support and help through the crisis. He smiled and nodded, then went in search of a doctor. He hoped that his words had given Gabriel, Noah, and Emily the buffer they needed for a few more minutes of privacy, before everyone crowded back in to say good-bye for a short while.
CHAPTER 40
Emily opened her eyes to see two heads resting near her own, one light, the other dark, and she smiled. The sun had just begun to make its appearance in the sky and she thanked God that she was witnessing another day dawning. She lay there unmoving as she watched the gradually increasing light stream through the windows in Gabriel’s bedroom while the minutes ticked by.
Their bedroom now, Emily corrected herself, not just his. After a brief discussion, the three of them had decided the downstairs master bedroom would be the better choice for them long-term. With its two walk-in closets, adjoining sitting room, and spacious bathroom, it offered enough room for them to cohabitate without constantly running into each other. Not that Emily minded running into either of her loves, though. She preferred it, in fact, after so many years of wishing for more with them.
They had been home for two and half weeks now, and so much had changed. Yet, so much had stayed the same too, Emily admitted. They were just finding their rhythm in and amongst the chaos that had ruled their lives of late. But no matter what challenges they’d faced, Noah and Gabriel had not left her side, and together they’d made it through.
The day after she’d arrived bloodied and bruised at the trauma center in Dalton, Georgia, the doctors there had released Emily to her men’s care. Hollington had arranged for them to leave the hospital via one of the FBI’s helicopters from the rooftop helipad, because the media had caught wind of what had taken place in Whitford Falls and descended on the medical facility in droves.
Journalists had filled the first floor’s lobby and sidewalks surrounding the hospital’s entrance – just hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous author who had been stalked, abducted, and nearly killed by a local deputy whom she’d trusted for years.
When Hollington informed Gabriel and Noah of the media’s staggering presence, they began to realize just how renowned Emily really was. Though they’d seen others approach her for an autograph over the years, the incident with young Rachel at the state park in Kentucky had opened their eyes to the recognition her writing brought about. But it was that day and night spent at the hospital, that they truly saw the widespread notoriety Emily’s career garnered.
Agents had been posted along her hall, and they’d diligently kept the reporters far away while she rested and then left for home. The helicopter had set down directly on Noah and Gabriel’s front lawn, much to Emily’s surprise and delight. And when Noah carried her out of the aircraft, they were greeted by their family, the guys’ teammates, and Tara.
For the past seventeen days, Emily had been surrounded by more love and support than she could have ever fathomed. She was brought into the fold of two loving families in a way she hadn’t been when she, Noah, and Gabriel had only declared themselves as friends. Now, she had two future sets of in-laws to lay claim to, as well as Gabe’s two younger brothers. Nicholas and Spencer were both close to her age, and they loved the fact that they could now officially call Emily their sister.
All of Noah and Gabriel’s immediate family had, in fact, enthusiastically claimed her in return, with no shame or recrimination for the unique relationship the three of them had formed. Their support had meant everything to Emily, because she never wanted Gabriel or Noah to suffer disapproval or censure from those they loved most. Never wanted to be the reason they found themselves suddenly cut away from their original homes.
The guys on their team had proved just as determined to protect the three of them. They took care of errands and the house, all while running interference with the media, who still seemed resolute to gain access to the property when their calls were ignored. Emily had no desire to air her story to anyone except a judge and jury, and that day would come eventually. The case was already moving forward at a fast clip, thanks to Hollington’s connections, and she wa
s hopeful that within the next year there would be a trial.
And Tara. Just the thought of her friend made Emily smile. She had been the leader of said group the last two and half weeks, even if she drove the guys up the wall half the time. Tara had cooked, cleaned, and organized, all while drawing everyone into her tireless bouts of energy, which had her working the men day in and day out, until things were just as she thought they should be. Emily knew they all secretly loved the hell Tara gave them, though they pretended indignation just to goad her. Lawton and Ethan most of all.
The main thing Tara had helped to spearhead was the emotional visit to Emily’s own cottage, which had taken place earlier in the week. Everyone had pitched in, and over the course of a day, all of the furniture, pictures, clothing, and items Emily wanted to keep were neatly boxed, labeled, and then trucked over to Noah and Gabriel’s house.
Then, they’d spent the remainder of the week finding new places within the expansive home for everything. She and Tara had even taken over the study, each claiming a desk so they could write. Emily on her novel and Tara on her latest investigative article. The writing had proved therapeutic, giving Emily a chance to mentally distance herself from it all and be at peace for long stretches of time.
And now, she felt settled. The place was just as much Emily’s house as it was Noah and Gabriel’s, and she couldn’t be happier. Well, she could be, Emily corrected herself with a rueful smile.
Just the day before, Lawton had removed all of the stitches along Emily’s side, arms, temple, and legs, and she had luxuriated in a warm, soaking bath afterwards with Noah. Gabriel had found a way to join them in the spacious garden tub their master bath offered, and he’d even helped her shave her legs. And other parts too, Emily thought, as she blushed.
With her arm out of the sling as well, she wanted to reconnect with the two men who meant the world to her. The men who had held her through each and every nightmare she’d had since coming home with them, who never got upset when she was lost in a flashback, and who had bathed and even fed her while she recovered. Emily wanted to show them how much she loved them both, in a way no words could ever convey. With her body, heart, and soul.
Theirs To Claim (Predatory Desires Book 1) Page 39
