by Kendall Ryan
I had no idea how he would react, but it was time. Because I did love Gavin, with every ounce of my soul.
Nerves suddenly dancing in my belly at the thought, I ran a hand through my tangled hair and swung my legs over the side of the bed. Rolling to my feet, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, and threw them on before heading downstairs to the kitchen. After making myself a quick cup of tea, I grabbed a bagel and sat at the rickety kitchen table to plan my day.
It was better to keep my hands and my mind occupied. Otherwise, this new, bright relationship with Gavin just might swallow me whole.
The house still needed a ton of work. The moldings needed to be sanded and the kitchen needed to be painted. It wasn’t a day in bed with the world’s best lover, but fixing up my home was still something that would give me immense satisfaction once the job was done. I made myself a little shopping list and stuffed it in my pocket before finishing off my tea and hopping to my feet.
Grabbing my purse from where I’d left it on my sofa, I slung it over my shoulder and opened the front door as I took a deep breath of the cool morning air.
At least, that’s what I’d intended to do. Instead, I breathed in something rank and unsettling.
Confused, I moved to take my first step, nearly tripping over a mound of wadded-up newspaper on my doormat. It was stained a deep crimson that seemed somehow menacing.
With my heart hammering in my chest, I crouched down and gingerly opened the paper only to slap my hand over my mouth in horror. My fingers trembled as I dared another look. The coppery smell of blood was stronger now, and I held my breath as I stared at the gory flesh that had been wrapped inside. I didn’t know quite what I was looking it, but the viscous liquid had soaked into the paper beneath.
My knees quaking, I took a step back and slammed the door. Then, with trembling fingers, I locked it for good measure.
This was no accident. This was a message for me. A message of fury and hatred and ugliness.
Whoever had done this had been here, on my doorstep, in the last few hours. Gavin would never have left if he’d seen the carnage on his way out. That fact alone left me feeling exposed, violated, and the bagel I’d eaten felt like a ball of lead as my stomach pitched.
I wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to settle myself, but if there was one thing I knew, it was that I couldn’t be alone.
Not right now.
I pulled my phone from the back pocket of my jeans and dialed the first number in my contact list. The person I knew would protect me no matter what.
“Hello?”
Gavin’s deep rumble of a voice sent a wave of calm reassurance over me. I closed my eyes, readying myself to tell him what had happened.
“Hey,” I said, but my voice came out as a trembling whisper.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, his immediate concern crackling over the line.
“Is your press conference over?” I asked softly.
“Just ended. What’s wrong, Emma?” His voice was more urgent now. There was no downplaying how scared I was, and he could read me all too well.
“I need you to come here,” I said, digging up what little strength I had left. The image of the bloody mess was seared into my mind. “S-someone left dead animals on my doorstep. I think it might have been Nathan. You’re the first man who’s spent the night here since . . .” I could bring myself to finish the rest of the sentence.
“Stay put. Make sure the door is locked, and I’ll be right there.”
The line went dead, and I shoved the phone in my pocket before leaning against the back of the sofa.
If Nathan had seen Gavin here last night, did that mean he’d been watching me all these months since we’d been apart? That, even when I thought I’d found freedom from my abuser, I’d always been under his thumb?
Tears welled in my eyes and burned down my throat, but I held them back. He’d made me cry so many times before, but I wouldn’t give him that power again. Not if I could help it.
Twenty minutes later, my doorbell rang. Although I knew it was Gavin on the other side, I approached the door carefully, looking through the peephole before unlocking the door and opening it.
I was surprised to see Gavin was flanked on either side by his brothers. They all wore grim expressions as they stepped over the gore on the steps.
“We took a look around before we rang the bell,” Gavin said, cold fury lighting his eyes.
I nodded, looking from one brother to the next. “Come in.” I stepped aside as they filed in like soldiers prepared for battle. “C-can I get you all coffee or—”
“Sit down, princess,” Cooper said. “We’re going to get you through this.”
Quinn gave me a solemn nod. “Let’s start with the essentials. Have you eaten? Do you need a glass of water?”
I nodded and then shook my head. “I ate, and no, I don’t need anything. I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Let me make you some tea anyway,” Cooper said, making his way into the kitchen.
“I’ll go take photos and call the police,” Quinn said, more to Gavin than to me.
Gavin ran his hands up and down my arms, doing his best to soothe me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. “I think so.”
The doorbell rang, and when Quinn opened the front door, a man stood there staring down at the mess on my porch. He was graying at the temples but had sharp blue eyes that seemed to take in everything around him. A camera was slung around his neck, and he leaned into the living room with curious eyes.
“Mr. Kingsley?” he asked.
Gavin moved toward him. “Rick, thanks for coming on such short notice.”
When I glanced from Gavin to Rick, Gavin introduced us. “Emma, this is Rick Hart. He’s the best private investigator in the city. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Leave it to Gavin to hit the ground running. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but just having him here taking care of things when I was so wrecked made me almost dizzy with relief.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Hart. Please, sit down.”
Rick sat and I joined him, taking the seat across from him as he offered me a reassuring smile. “Gavin filled me in. I’ll take some photos, but I wanted to talk to you first. That must have been quite a scare to wake up to.”
I nodded but said nothing.
“The police are going to ask you a lot of questions similar to mine, but because there was no written threat, it’s going to take cutting through a lot of red tape to get an investigation under way at all. You understand?”
I nodded again, sick at the thought that this might go nowhere.
Gavin, probably sensing my distress, took a seat beside me and covered my knee with his warm palm. “It’s okay, Emma. Rick is going to make sure we figure out who did this so we can protect you.”
I glanced at him, slightly encouraged, then turned my attention to the investigator again. “Okay, so your questions?”
“Are you aware of anyone who would want to scare you or cause you harm?”
“Only my ex-boyfriend,” I said. “His name is Nathan Jeffries, and he lives just outside the city.” I rattled off his address and the investigator jotted it down.
“And why would Mr. Jeffries want to hurt you?”
I pursed my lips and stared at the floor, trying to find the right words. “He was abusive in our relationship. And last night . . . I had a man here for the first time since the breakup.”
Rick gave me an understanding nod, then pressed on, peppering me with rapid-fire questions, asking about Nathan’s state of mind, if he was unbalanced, if he owned a firearm.
“How long ago did you break up?” Rick asked, his pen poised to write.
“A year ago,” I answered.
Rick pursed his lips, no doubt thinking it odd that a whole year had passed and my ex had just now decided to harass me.
And it was odd.
• • •
The questioning seemed to
last for hours. When Rick was done, the police came, and I went through it all over again.
The entire time, though, Gavin never left my side while his brothers bustled around my house—checking locks, making coffee, herding people in and out, and making sure I was tended to.
The three of them worked like a pack, my own little wolf pack. A family totally in tune with one another. Not for the first time, I marveled that they had done all of this for me in spite of the fact they hadn’t known me very long, and some of that time had already been rocky.
Still, whenever Cooper swooped in with a fresh cup of tea or a sandwich for me, I felt another stab of guilt. It was the first time I’d seen him after our talk. Although he acted as though it had never happened, I couldn’t help but wonder if that act was wearing on him. If his true heartbreak was just beneath the surface.
I shoved the thought aside and focused on the questions that seemed to never end.
Hours later, when at last the house was empty of everyone except the Kingsley brothers and me, I made my way into the kitchen and found Cooper standing at my stove, brewing yet another pot of tea.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?” I asked, and he nodded.
“Sure.”
“I just wanted to say I appreciate you being here, considering . . .” I sucked in a breath, wringing my hands.
“Nothing to worry about there, princess. You made your choice, and I respect that.”
“I just feel so bad for misleading you—”
“Well, don’t. Really,” Cooper said, and though he’d cut me off, his words weren’t harsh. “I could see where your heart was right from our first meeting in Gavin’s office. I chose to ignore it because I wanted to believe otherwise. That was my mistake. And I want nothing more than for you and my brother to find happiness.”
“Thank you. That means a lot to me.” I glanced away, my throat tight with emotion, and took a step closer to rest a hand on his shoulder. “Your princess is still out there, you know.”
“Just in another castle far, far away, maybe.” He grinned. “But you’ll always be my princess.”
My stomach twisted at that, leaving me unsure how to feel, when Quinn walked into the kitchen to join us. He glanced at my hand on Cooper’s shoulder, and I pulled it away as he spoke.
“Okay, I secured all the windows upstairs and downstairs, and added another lock to the door.”
“Thank you,” I murmured.
“Anytime.” Quinn nodded. “Now, Coop, I think it’s time we get back to company business.”
Cooper nodded, and the two moved quickly through the living room and back out the front door after saying good-bye to their brother.
When we were alone again, I rejoined Gavin on the couch and nestled close. “How are you doing?”
“Me?” He let out a low exhale. “What about you?”
“I’m better than expected. But I don’t want to be alone tonight.”
“You won’t be,” Gavin said.
“Thank you. For everything.”
He gave me a stiff nod but said nothing.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
There was a beat of silence and then, “What were you and Cooper talking about?”
“I wanted to thank him. And to apologize for everything.”
Gavin grunted his understanding.
“You can’t be jealous of your brother, you know.”
Gavin raised a brow. “Can’t I?”
“You can’t. You’re the one I . . .” I bit my bottom lip and looked into his eyes. “You’re the one I want. I’ll admit that I did kiss your brother before, but with him it was just . . . nothing. Sweet, but nothing. He doesn’t fill me with passion and need the way you do. When I touch you, I feel a rush of lust.”
“Is that so?” Gavin’s eyes darkened as he pulled me tighter to his chest.
“It is.”
Without another word, I stood and held my hand out to him, ready to take him to my bedroom and spend the rest of my day the way it should have been spent in the first place.
In bed, secure and locked away from all the ugliness that lay in wait just outside my front door.
Chapter Eleven
Gavin
I didn’t leave Emma’s side all weekend. Together, we read, watched a couple of movies, and worked on our laptops. But mostly, we lay in bed for hours, talking and fucking and doing whatever we damn well pleased. A few times, I even forgot about that fucking mess someone had left on her porch, but by the time Monday morning arrived, it was impossible for me to wipe what had happened from my mind.
It killed me that someone had gotten that close to her and I hadn’t been there to stop it. Someone who wanted to do her harm. And now I had to send her back out into the world.
Rage shot through me, and I spent the next ten minutes talking myself down.
I made a pot of coffee and another of tea before Emma joined me downstairs. Her eyes were bleary, but she was dressed in her sexy work clothes, a navy skirt and a peach-colored top that stretched over her cleavage with little silver buttons. Her dark, shiny hair was pulled into a loose bun at the nape of her neck, leaving several dark strands framing her face.
I poured a cup of tea and handed it to her. “I want you to listen to me.”
She sighed but took the cup. She knew already what I was going to say—it was the same thing I’d been saying all weekend, but I couldn’t go to work without giving this one last try.
“Take the week off,” she said in unison with me, and I gave her my best exasperated expression.
“I told you,” she said, “I can’t do that. I run the library; I don’t own it. It doesn’t work that way. There’s no one to take my place on such short notice, and that makes it impossible for things to run smoothly.”
“If this was Nathan, he knows where you work,” I reminded her, unable to contain the growl in my voice.
“And he knows it’s directly beside the police station. He’d have to be an idiot to try something in a public place that way. Trust me, I’ll be fine.”
“I’m still going to stay here,” I added flatly.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” she replied, taking a sip of her tea as I poured myself a mug of coffee.
I’d tried to talk her into staying at my place instead, but Emma was adamant that she wasn’t going to run away in fear. This was her home—it had been in her family for generations.
“I still don’t like it,” I said.
“You don’t have to.”
Together, we finished our drinks. When the clock turned to seven thirty, we headed through the front door and shared a quick, hard kiss before I tucked her into the new car waiting for her—complete with the driver I’d hired.
In truth, it was still later than I preferred to leave for the office, but I knew my brothers would understand, given the circumstances. I climbed into the backseat of my own car, closing my eyes as Ben navigated the city streets.
In spite of everything that had happened, I couldn’t remember a weekend where I’d felt more in tune with someone. Then again, Emma made that easy. She didn’t expect things of me; she just let me be myself. And when it came to the bedroom . . . well, she was a natural.
My jaw twitched as I thought of her again, spread out on her bed and screaming my name while I bucked inside her. Damn, if she wasn’t the complete package.
And damn it all if that didn’t scare the hell out of me.
“Mr. Kingsley?”
I opened my eyes to find Ben staring at me in the rearview mirror. The car had stopped, and I looked out the window to see the shiny glass facade of the building that belonged to my brothers and me.
“Sorry, must have nodded off.”
I thanked him and slipped from the car before making my way to the elevator. Exiting at my floor, I knew it would be hard to keep Emma from my brain and focus on work, but I also knew I needed to give it my best shot.
As I headed through the reception area, Alyssa nodded at me
but didn’t say good morning. I sighed with appreciation when I walked into my office to find a fresh cup of coffee waiting for me.
Thank God for good assistants.
No sooner had I picked up the mug, however, than my door opened behind me and I spun to find Quinn in my doorway, his face lined with concern.
“Christ, what’s wrong now?” I sipped my coffee, pretending the expression on his face didn’t rock me to my core.
He shook his head. “I have good news and bad news.”
“Which do you want to tell me first?”
“It’s the same news. We’ve been invited to speak on the Morning Herald.”
“That morning show on the News Network?”
Quinn nodded.
“But they film in DC, don’t they?” I asked, and Quinn pursed his lips.
“So, you’ve spotted the problem.”
Frowning, I settled in behind my desk. “Not exactly.”
“It’s a great opportunity to be heard nationwide. We have to leave right away. You and me. Which means—”
“I’d have to leave Emma alone,” I finished for him. “No way. Are you crazy?” I shook my head. “Go by yourself. I can’t leave her after—”
“I know, and I get it. But, goddamn it, Gavin, you’re the face of the company. If I do all the talking, it looks like we brought in the ‘suit’ rather than the ‘face’ of the company, and it makes us look less trustworthy,” Quinn said. “It was scary, but Emma wasn’t hurt. If there was someone threatening her or she’d been injured, I wouldn’t even suggest it. Plus, I’m not saying she should stay home alone. There is another alternative.”
“She can’t come with us. She won’t leave the library,” I shot back.
Quinn shook his head. “Not that. Look, I know you’re not going to like it, but . . .” He glanced away and cleared his throat. “Cooper can look after her while you’re gone. Everything has been ironed out, so there’s no reason it has to be awkward, right? We all worked well together on the day of the incident. We can do it again.”
I frowned. It was far from the perfect solution, but Quinn was right. The business needed me. Moreover, as jealous as I was of Cooper, there was no one who would take better care of her besides me. It was my only choice right now.
