Page 98 of Tempting Fate

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Emerson

Fury doesn’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling. Jamie might be glad to see us, but there is still a hint of fear in his gaze, and he’s clinging to the door for dear life.

“Uh, Patch,” he says after a second. The door is rattling in the frame. “Do you mind?”

“Yeah, I…” Patch shuffles past me and grabs the door handle. It rattles again. Someone shouts.

Whoever is on the other side of the door, they aren’t Gideon. He’s not nearly strong enough for that.

I approach Jamie slowly. When I gently touch his face, he winces, hissing through his teeth.

A slap, though… That’s certainly Gideon’s style.

“He only got me once,” Jamie says. “Gotta say, it’s not how I imagined meeting your family.”

Patch frowns. “Family?”

“Well, the rest of them are dead, so…” I murmur. I want to cry. I also, maybe just a tiny bit, want to commit fratricide. I think that’s fair, given the circumstances.

“He hit you?” Patch says. Well, he growls the words, and when I look at him, my breath catches in my chest. His eyes aren’t dark the way they usually are. They’re silver.

“Breathe,” Jamie says firmly. “We need to think about this for a second, okay?”

“Nick went to get Kieran. We don’t have all that long.”

“I’ll kill him,” Patch growls.

Jamie sighs. He takes a step forward and I bring my arms up around him, holding him close. Just for a moment.

“No, I’ll handle this,” I say. I turn my head and drop a kiss on Jamie’s neck. I can’t help it. Jamie sighs again, but he sounds more content this time.

“I think he might have been stirring up trouble for a while, you know?” he says. He leans back and looks between the two of us. “All he’s done is ask me about you. For hours.”

“Yes, I thought he might.” Though I can’t for the life of me work out why.

Gideon is my older brother. My only brother. My only surviving immediate family, and I haven’t seen him since the day I graduated from university. I left and didn’t look back, and it’s not as though he’s looking for a reunion because when our father died a few years ago, I found out through his obituary just like everybody else.

“Right,” I say. I let go of Jamie and run a hand over my face. “Right. Patch, open the door.”

Patch growls. “No.”

“Patch.” Jamie and I speak at the same time, but he sounds vaguely more amused.

“Who’s in there?”

“Gideon,” Jamie says, “and some guy who works for him, I guess. Big guy. Strong.”

“Did he put his hands on you?”

Jamie crosses his arms over his chest. “No. He just… exuded menace, I guess.” He pulls a face. “I really got the impression this was their first time trying something like this, you know?”

“Doesn’t matter,” I say. “This should never have happened. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t you dare take this on yourself too,” Jamie snaps. “I applied for the job before you even got here. Sheer fucking coincidence that it was him, that we met, all of it.”

Patch narrows his eyes as though he isn’t sure about that, but when I approach the door, he sighs and stands aside.