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“Just stop.” I stood abruptly, my hand in the air.
“Luc.” Gabe took a wary step toward me.
“Don’t.” I stared at my brother in disbelief. “You can’t possibly be serious. I took a bullet foryourwife and now you want me to intentionally put my woman in danger. What happens to her if I get caught? Huh? Did any of you fuckers think of that?”
“Enough, Luc.” Alec stepped between us. “I think this whole thing is fucked six ways to Sunday and exponentially more complicated than we were originally led to believe. However, if there is anyone in this room who could pull it off without blinking twice, it’s you.”
“Agreed,” Rico added.
“I thought you wanted me to cancel my trip?” I glanced where my youngest brother leaned against the wall.
“Oh, I want you to cancel, but not for the reason you think.”
“What’s your reason then?” I asked.
“When Emory finds out about everything––because she will find out––then I’ll be the one in the doghouse with River.”
“So…self-preservation.”
“One-hundred-percent.” He smirked.
EMORY
“HEY.” LUC PRESSEDhis hand to my lower back. “It’s not too late for us to get a hotel.”
It’d been a little over a month since Joel’s attack and Luc’s subsequent proclamation that we were dating. We’d had some phenomenal days together and I found myself falling further and further in love with him, despite the ever-present voice in my head reminding me to be cautious. But how could I not? He was not only a great guy; he treated me like I was the most important person in his life.
“No, it’s okay.” Taking a deep breath, I released it on a sigh. “Besides, this is New York. It was too late to book a hotel room two months ago.”
“I’m right here with you, Emory.” He squeezed my hand and kissed my forehead. Then he walked back to the limo my father sent to pick us up from the airport to retrieve our bags.
I hadn’t been back to my parents’ obnoxious penthouse apartment in over ten years. The handful of times I’d seen them since graduating high school, it’d been on neutral ground, which meant meeting at a restaurant or on a few occasions, at Gigi’s.
Standing on the sidewalk outside of their building brought back a host of unwanted, unhealthy emotions. Years of therapy and thousands of dollars spent on learning to love myself hadn’t really prepared me to face the demons of my childhood. They hadn’t prepared me for the onslaught of memories…the shame and ridicule I experienced at the hands of the two people in this world who were supposed to love and protect me above all else. Yet, here I was, back in the place where nightmares were made, all because I was afraid of the consequences if I hadn’t agreed.
Something felt different about this campaign though. I just couldn’t put my finger on it. Every six years, my father ran for reelection and they’d never been so adamant about my presence before. In fact, the opposite was true.
What had really sent all sorts of red flags flying was when my mother phoned to insist Luc and I stay in the family home when we flew in for the rally. She seemed particularly interested in my life, my career, and the town I called home. We were on the phone for about fifteen minutes, which was fourteen minutes longer than our annual call. It was odd enough, I ended up calling Gigi afterward.
“I don’t like it, Bear,” she grumbled after I finished telling her I’d be attending the rally.
“I’m not too keen on going either, but it doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice.”
“You always have a choice. But what I want to know is what my highfalutin daughter is up to.”
“What do you mean? Have you talked to her recently?” I inquired.
“Sure have,” she stated. “I’ve had the displeasure of several unwanted phone calls. All of them spent trying to convince me to attend that pompous fool’s little event.”
“Gigi,” I groaned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because until this second, I had no intention of going.”
“Wait. You’re coming?”
“Of course I am, Bear. I’m not leaving you to fend for yourself with those vultures. Besides, I need to meet this new beau of yours.”
Steeling my spine, I spun away from the opulent building to join Luc, only to find him staring daggers at the one person I was hoping to avoid the longest. Joel Peterson was sauntering down the sidewalk like he owned it, his vile gaze locked on me. Faster than I could’ve imagined and with a gentleness I’d come to expect, I was tucked behind my mountain of a man.
