by Judy Corry
I’d crossed into dangerous territory by kissing her earlier tonight. I realized deep inside I shouldn’t have done it, but the moment our lips touched, I knew I could kiss her for hours and never get enough.
I shook my head. I shouldn’t be thinking about that. Jason said we’d most likely be moving on to plan B tomorrow. My stomach churned at the thought of what might happen when she found out the truth. Would she understand? Would she hate me?
Emma’s eyes popped open and she screamed. I almost jumped out of my skin. I reached over to try and calm her, but she struggled away from my hand at her shoulder. Her panicked eyes gaped at me.
“Shhh, it’s me, Arie.” I put my hand on her cheek. Slowly her wild eyes relaxed as she took in my face.
“S-sorry,” she said. “I-I thought you were Mr. Lund, coming for me again.”
“No,” I tried to speak in a soothing voice. “It’s just me. I was checking on you.”
“I’m a little out of it. Sorry.” Her voice trembled.
“No, it was my fault.” I reached up and brushed away the hair that had fallen in her eyes. As I ran my fingers down the side of her face, I felt moisture on her cheeks.
She was crying.
Soon her crying had elevated to sobbing. My heart squeezed in my chest when I realized how frightened she must be. I climbed on the bed next to her and gathered her to me, careful not to touch her broken arm.
Emma clung to me as she cried. I knew she needed me to help her feel safe again, but what could I do?
The only thing that came to mind was to hold her until she calmed down. I moved to sit against my headboard, then pulled her onto my lap. I whispered, “It’s okay. You’re safe with me now.”
After a time, she rested her head against my chest, drew in a deep breath, and moved her good arm behind my back.
She turned her face up to me. “Thank you,” was all she said.
I nodded and squeezed her tighter.
A minute later, her eyes grew heavy, and I knew she would soon be asleep in my arms. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and watched as she drifted off to sleep.
I sat holding her close for a few minutes until exhaustion crept over me again. I wanted to just lie down in my bed with her close by. But I didn’t. I kissed her cheek and then scooted to the edge of the bed, gently laying her head back on the pillow. I crawled back to my sleeping bag on the floor.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
EMMA
I WOKE in the morning to the sound of someone knocking.
“Emma? Are you awake?” called an accented female voice from behind the door.
“Yeah.” I awkwardly sat up in bed, noticing Arie was not in the room with me. I checked the clock—it was twelve thirty in the afternoon.
“Can I come in? I brought you lunch.”
I combed my fingers through my hair, careful to avoid the bump at the back of my head. “Come in.”
“I thought you might be hungry,” Arie’s aunt Sophie said as she entered with a tray holding a plate of bread and a bowl of soup. She set it in front of me and then sat on the edge of the bed. “How are you feeling today?” She studied my face with a look of real concern.
“I’m doing okay. I hope Arie’s not in trouble for letting me sleep over.”
“Not at all. You’re welcome any time,” she said. “Your parents called a few hours ago. I would have told you sooner, but I figured you needed your sleep after last night.” She offered me a warm smile. “Your mom said they are on their way and should be here by six if the weather cooperates.”
I nodded as I eyed the food before me. “This looks and smells delicious.”
“My mother always made it for me when I wasn’t feeling well.” Sophie lowered her voice to a whisper and gave me a wry grin. “She always said it had magical healing powers.”
“Well, if that’s the case, I may need to eat the whole pot.” I felt a little better than I had last night, not quite as sore, but my head and arm still throbbed. I noticed my pain pills also sat on the tray and decided to start my meal with those.
The food was as delicious as it looked and had such a different taste to it than what I was used to. It was spicy yet sweet at the same time.
“What is this?” I asked after eating a few bites. “It’s amazing. I bet my mom would love the recipe.”
She shrugged. “It is a recipe from my homeland,” she answered.
“Where’s that?” I always wondered where her slight accent originated.
A guarded look crossed her face, and it took her a moment to answer. “I moved here from Russia almost twenty years ago.”
“Wow. Russia. That’s really cool.” Something told me this was a major revelation for her for some reason, but when she didn’t say anything more I just felt awkward.
She got up a minute later. Before she left, she peeked out the window, which only reminded me of how much danger I could be in. I was opening my mouth to ask whether she’d heard any more details on my kidnapping when Arie walked through the door carrying an ice pack.
I heard Sophie mumble something to Arie as they passed each other, something about moving forward with plans.
Arie nodded at her. He plopped down next to me on the bed. “I’ve been talking with Jason and Sophie about last night.” He rested the ice pack carefully on my arm. “They said the police weren’t able to find your kidnappers. They checked their apartment, and it was completely cleaned out. Apparently, they hadn’t planned on sticking around town at all after taking you last night.”
“They’re still out there?” My voice raised a few notches.
“For now.” He placed a hand on my knee. “But we won’t stop searching. We know what they look like, and they have a whole file on Mr. Lund from the school, so they can’t hide forever.”
Why had Mr. Lund kidnapped me? It didn’t make any sense. He didn’t even know me. Not really.
Why did my parents have to be so far away when this was happening? All I wanted was for my mom to hold me and make me feel safe again.
“You know what I think you need right now?” Arie smiled. “You need something to take your mind off things. How about we go downstairs and watch movies until your parents get here? It won’t do you any good to sit here in my bed, worrying all day long.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ARIE
I DIDN’T KNOW how tired I was until I woke up and the movie was over.
“Tired much?” Emma asked.
I rubbed my eyes and looked at her, finding her smiling at me with an arched eyebrow.
“Yeah, sorry.” I tried to shake the sleep fog away and ran the back of my hand across my mouth. It came away slightly wet. I’d been drooling.
I cleared my throat a couple of times and worked myself back up into a sitting position. “How was the movie?”
“It was fine, though I could barely hear what was going on over your snoring.”
“I was snoring?” Smooth, Arie. Real smooth.
She laughed. “No. But if you were, I probably wouldn’t tell you anyway.”
“Great.” The movie seemed to have done something, at least. She wasn’t nearly as anxious as she had been earlier. If my drooling and snoring had anything to do with that, then I guess it was worth it. “Do you want to watch another movie?” There were still a couple of hours before her parents should arrive.
“Sure,” she said.
We went through the movie options on TV, eventually deciding on a romantic comedy. Not my first choice, but this was for her.
“Are you still thinking about last night?” I asked when I noticed her fidgeting as the movie started.
“Yeah.” She sighed. “I mean, movies are a good distraction, but . . . you know.” She shrugged.
I did know. I needed to see whether I could help her relax. She was safe now. Now that we knew she’d been discovered, we would make sure she wouldn’t be taken again. Only a couple more hours and Fenris would have no idea where she was.
“Here, lean agai
nst me.” I tugged on her arm, and she let me pull her into my side. I wrapped my arms around her. “You’re safe here with me.”
She breathed in deeply as she tucked her good arm behind my back, and I felt the tension release from her body as she melted against me.
As we watched the movie, with her head resting on my chest, thoughts of last night’s kiss flashed through my mind. It had been incredible. My best first kiss, hands down. And if we hadn’t been in such a public place, I probably would have tried to kiss her all night.
Her lips on mine. Her body so close.
My heart started banging thinking about it.
She gazed up at me.
“Checking to see if I’m still awake?” I asked, hoping to play off my escalating attraction.
A slight smile played at her lips. “Your heart is beating so fast.”
“Heard that, did you?”
She nodded. She knew she was the reason for it.
“I-I like listening to it. It’s so strong.” She rested her head against my chest again.
I had no idea what went on in the movie after that. All I could do was study her. Her silky brown hair, her beautiful blue eyes, and her heart-shaped lips. I wanted to kiss those lips again. But as much as I wanted to kiss her, I knew I should wait. Jason and Sophie were arranging everything for plan B tonight. Which meant I only had a few short hours before Emma would know everything.
“Do you have any idea what’s going on?” she asked, turning her head up again.
Was she talking about the movie? Or was she talking about my high chances of having a heart attack?
“Not a clue,” I breathed.
“Me neither,” she whispered, nuzzling into my chest again. I kissed the top of her head, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair when she tilted her head back to look at me. Her eyes told me she wanted more than a kiss on the head. There was a tightness in my chest as I tried to decide what I should do. Jason and Sophie were upstairs, busy with plans for tonight, so they wouldn’t walk in on us. But I shouldn’t kiss her again with this secret hovering between us. That wouldn’t be right.
But the signal didn’t transfer from my brain to my lips.
Instead of stopping the kiss before it got started, I cradled her head in my hand and pulled her lips to mine. I tried to keep my lips soft and careful, deliberate and unhurried, but the moment our lips connected, it was . . . fire. I wound my arms behind her back and held her tightly against me, mindful of her broken arm.
Her lips met mine in a long, slow kiss, and I knew she wanted me. She cared about me. The thought that she might feel the same way about me as I felt about her caused my stomach muscles to tighten. I slowly traced a path along her spine until my fingers gently stroked her hair. It was as soft as I remembered. And she smelled amazing.
When I felt her relax against me, I knew I needed to stop. It took all my willpower to push her away.
“Wow,” I sighed.
“Yeah,” she said as she smoothed her hair.
“Maybe we should go back upstairs for some hot chocolate.” My voice came out much rougher than I wanted, but I couldn’t breathe anymore. “I think I could use a little fresh air.” I stood and reached for her hand, then helped her up next to me. “I have to admit,” I whispered in her ear, feeling more vulnerable than I’d let myself feel in a long time. “I’ve wanted to kiss you like that for months.”
Her eyes widened, and her face filled with desire mixed with something else. Apprehension?
“So why did you stop?” she asked in a quiet voice. And I knew it had taken a lot for her to say those words. She wasn’t usually so bold. The fact that she said that to me melted my insides, and I had to kiss this girl again.
I grasped her waist in my hands and walked her back against the wall. It felt so good to hold her in my arms. She wrapped her good arm behind me, pulling me closer, like she was inviting me into her heart.
I shouldn’t be kissing her like this. Not before she knew the truth. But I wasn’t thinking clearly—her kisses had taken me to a detached, light-headed place that pushed aside my usual caution.
I wanted to tell her everything. I wanted to know everything there was to know about her. She—in such a short amount of time—had somehow become the most important person in my life, and the fact that our whole relationship was built on lies gnawed at my conscience worse than ever before.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
EMMA
KISSING ARIE WAS nothing short of magical. I could stay in his arms all day.
But just as I was thinking I could kiss him forever and never get enough, I sensed him pulling away. First it was slow, drawing his lips back, and then seeming to change his mind and kissing me again for a minute. Then pulling back again and letting his lips linger next to mine with the lightest of kisses. I opened my eyes to see whether I could read his face. His eyes were pinched shut, his face etched with anguish—like he was having some sort of internal battle.
Then he groaned and pushed himself away from me completely, taking a step back.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I really shouldn’t have done that.”
He regretted kissing me.
My face burned.
“Sorry,” I said, barely able to meet his gaze.
“Don’t be, I’m the one who should be apologizing.” He lifted a hand to tuck some hair behind my ear. “I don’t want you to think I’m trying to take advantage of you.”
I dared glance at him. “Why would I think that?”
His face turned serious again. “There are things you don’t know about me, and I can’t keep it secret any longer.”
“What?” I drew in a quick breath. “What do you mean?”
“I need to tell you something, Emma.” He took a couple of steps back from me, his shoulders slumped.
What’s going on?
“There are things about your past that you need to know.” He covered his eyes with his hand and then rubbed his forehead. “I worry you won’t see me in the same way after you hear what I have to say.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
ARIE
EMMA and I sat down on the couch. How would I even begin to tell her everything that had been kept secret from her these past eighteen years? How did you tell someone their whole life was a lie? How did you tell someone you cared about that you weren’t who they thought you were? I was crazy about Emma and dreaded what she might think about me after hearing why I had come into her life. Would she think I was a complete fraud? Would she feel betrayed?
I looked into her eyes, and took a deep breath. “I don’t know how to tell you what I need to say. So I’m just going to start by telling you a story.”
“Okay.” She frowned.
I launched into the story I’d rehearsed many times in my mind. “Before you were born, there was a wealthy man named Cormac who lived in Russia. Cormac had two sons, Grayson and Fenris. When Fenris was in his early twenties, he became involved with a terrorist group and fell out with the family. Because of this, his father changed his will, leaving Fenris only a small portion of the family fortune.” I studied Emma’s face for a sign that any of this sounded familiar, but nothing seemed to ring a bell. “Fenris didn’t know about this change in his inheritance. He didn’t find out that all the money was willed to Grayson until after the terrorist group killed Cormac. This, of course, did not sit well with Fenris and his group. Within a few days of his father’s passing, Grayson was in a fatal hit-and-run accident, leaving all the money to his wife.”
Emma leaned back into the couch and frowned. “What does that have to do with us?”
“Just listen, that’s only the beginning of the story.” I sighed. “You see, Grayson and his wife, Adelle, were expecting their first child at the time of his death. And when both her husband and father-in-law died, Adelle worried she and her baby would be next.”
Emma nodded as if it made sense.
“So Adelle quickly drew up a w
ill of her own, setting up a trust fund for her unborn child to inherit once she turned eighteen. In the will, she also allocated a portion of her estate to her closest friend, Sophie, to pay for the protection of her daughter in case anything were to happen to Adelle. Once that was taken care of, Adelle fled to the United States. She told no one where she was going and slipped away in the dark of the night with Sophie to keep her company.”
Emma’s eyebrows furrowed. “Are you talking about Sophie your aunt?”
I nodded. “Adelle gave birth to a baby girl a month later, and shortly after that, an attempt was made on Adelle’s life. Adelle knew she needed to disappear, so she did the only thing she could think of to keep her daughter safe. She found a young couple to adopt her baby, requesting they never tell their daughter she was adopted. She told them that having people think she was their biological child would help keep the girl safe from possible danger. They agreed, of course, with the understanding that after the girl graduated from high school they should expect a lawyer to show up at their door with a letter explaining everything. Once her daughter was taken care of, Adelle asked Sophie to keep tabs on her baby, and then Adelle disappeared. But it wasn’t long before Fenris found her, too.”
Emma’s eyes widened as I said this, so I continued on carefully. “The couple took that baby into their home and raised her as their own, never telling her she was adopted. The girl grew up never knowing she was an heiress with a target on her back.”
“No . . . it can’t . . .” Emma placed her head in her hands.
“The girl was watched over the years by bodyguards that Sophie hired as a precaution.”
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. I was almost to the end of my story, and she would soon know everything.
