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Roslyn blinked and straightened her shoulders. Then she quickly wiped her tears and shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I’m sorry, Emma. I have no right to… I don’t know how you endured and survived that madman, but you did. I’m so damn proud of you.”
Physically taken aback, Emma bounced against my arm. Her eyes grew wide, then filled with tears.
“Is there more?” Rupert asked softly.
“Just him slamming himself against the table and breaking the chair I’d tied him to before he lunged at me and I shot him,” I replied.
“I’ll call the police,” Rupert murmured before kneeling down in front of Emma. Tears glistened in his eyes as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. “I’m damn proud of you, too, but I’m so sorry…sorry about everything, honey.”
As Emma broke down, like I knew she would—both from listening to the recording, and also from her father’s long-overdue affection—I lifted her onto my lap and simply held her.
Rupert pulled out his cell phone, then strode toward the hallway. Roslyn stood and stared at the drugs and paraphernalia on the coffee table, then cast a sorrowful stare on Emma.
“What can I do to help her?” she asked, easing onto the couch beside us before softly strumming Emma’s back.
“Exactly what you’re doing right now,” I said with a ghost of a smile, then nuzzled my lips close to Emma’s ear and whispered, “It’s okay to let the water flow away, my love. I think there’s plenty of new water to take its place.”
She lifted her head and nodded. “I think so, too. I love you so much.”
“I love you, too, little one…love you with all my heart.” I smiled, gently cupping her cheeks. Giving zero fucks her mom sat bedside us, I sipped Emma’s tears, then pressed a tender kiss to the uninjured corner of her mouth.
Rupert returned, looking shaken and pale. “The police are on their way.”
“Are you all right?” Roslyn asked him, still strumming Emma’s back.
“No, I need a drink. I was just inside the room that monster kept our daughter prisoner in. Then I went into his room. He was beyond insane, Roz,” he said, scrubbing a hand through his thinning gray hair. “He was a demon. I can’t believe Ted and Lydia kept this from us and from Emma. It’s more than inexcusable. It’s unforgivable.”
He paced for several minutes as if trying to outrun the images that were no doubt still searing his brain. Finally, Rupert flopped down on the loveseat and cupped his face in his hands.
Pressing a kiss to Emma’s head, I savored the warmth of her soft body pressed against mine, as well as the precious moments of calm before the storm.
Four minutes later, the storm hit with a vengeance as dozens of police officers, detectives, firefighters, and a couple of EMTs poured into the apartment.
I let Rupert orchestrate the chaos while I did what I could to shield Emma from the circus. As expected, three detectives immediately began pelting us with questions. Roslyn and Rupert sat on the loveseat, eyeing the drugs on the coffee table. They listened to every word we said, while the flash from the coroner’s camera strobed across their faces.
After the detectives finished their interrogation, I forwarded each of them the audio file on my phone before they announced we were free to leave. But before I could sweep Emma out the door, the EMTs moved in to assess her injuries. When she refused to let the medics transport her to the hospital, her parents’ true, controlling colors popped out of the box.
“What do you mean you don’t want to go? Youhaveto go, Emma,” Rupert demanded. “You’re…you’re a mess.”
My blood was already boiling over his overbearing demeanor and choice of words when Emma bristled.
“She’s not amess,” I bit out. “She’s been beaten.”
“I’m well aware of that,” Rupert countered angrily.
“Stop,” Emma snapped. “Iamgoing to the hospital, but not in a damn ambulance. Grant is taking me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. He’snota medical professional,” Roslyn scoffed in an icy, pretentious tone. “Youaregoing to the hospital, in thatdamnambulance, then you’re coming home with us, where you belong.”
The rage rolling off Emma melded with mine. Easing her off my lap, I launched from the couch, and glared at her parents. “I need a word with you two…in private.”
“Now, listen here. We’re grateful you helped Emma, but you need to sit down and mind your own business,” Rupert challenged.
“Emmaismy business,” I growled. Striding between the table and the loveseat, I glared down at them. “She’s not staying with you or in this city. She’s going to Texas…goinghome, with me.”
“Over my dead body,” Roslyn lashed out. “She’s already been kidnapped once. You’re not taking her from us again.”
Lowering my ass to the edge of the coffee table, I pinned the haughty woman with a piercing stare. “No, I’m not. I’m taking her whereshewants to go. Unlike both of you, I’ll neverforceEmma to do anything. I’m not the enemy here…you two are. Instead of giving her the freedom to spread her wings and fly, you lock her in a gilded cage and keep her trapped.”
