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“How long is a while?” I ask. The more info I can get, the more I can use it to find out who (or what) she’s running from.
“Three years,” she answers.
“Fuck!” My fingers grip the phone so tight I’m surprised it’s not crumbling in my hands. Three fucking years! She’s been living under someone else’s control for three fucking years. She’s been beaten and abused and God only knows what for three fucking years.
“Josh?” Emmy’s voice is strained. It took a lot for her to tell me that little bit of information, and I’ve just yelled my frustration through the phone.
“I had a dream last night, babe,” I tell her. It’s a lie, but I need to change the topic. I need to reassure her that she’s okay. That she’s safe.
“You had a dream? Okay, what about?” she asks.
“You were riding Jasper. You were wearing these little denim shorts and a white top. Tan boots. Your hair was blowing in the wind behind you. Fuck, now I’m hard again, picturing that image of you in my head.”
“Me, on a horse, turns you on? That’s… strange, Josh, even for you,” she says.
“You turn me on, Emmy. But that dream, I want to see it. Make sure you buy those tiny shorts and boots today.”
“Sure. How long do you have to be at the office?” she asks, her voice quiet.
“I’m going to be in and out. I’ll be back before you know it. Unless you want me to turn the car around and come back now?” Part of me is begging for her to say yes. To give me any reason to go back to her.
“No, it’s okay. I think it might be fun to hang out with Ella and her sisters.”
“Emmy, remember, it’s your home. You can kick them out whenever you’ve had enough of them. You don’t owe anyone anything,” I tell her.
“It’s your house, Josh, and I’m not about to kick your family out of it.”
“It’s ours. And the only one who is family is Ella. The other two are her family, not ours. The redheaded one is batshit crazy. Don’t let her choose clothes for you.”
“Okay.”
I know I need to hang up, but I don’t want to. I don’t think she wants to either.
“I gotta go. I love you, Emmy. Don’t ever forget that.” My voice chokes with emotions I’m not used to feeling.
“I know,” she replies.
“I know too, babe,” I tell her; she doesn’t have to say it back. I know she will when she’s ready.
* * *
I’mannoyed as fuck the moment I walk through the office. “Mr. McKinley, good to see you back, sir,” Kathy, my sixty-year-old assistant, says from her desk outside my door.
“Kathy, what am I in for today?” I ask her. If anyone knows what’s going on in this building, it’s her.
“We have you until two. You have a meeting with the board at ten, a lunch meeting with Hunter Jackson from Jackson Imports, and then a meeting with the legal department at one thirty.”
“What the fuck does the legal department want?” I ask. They’re not the ones who usually call for meetings.
“Something about your brother getting married without a prenup. The board isn’t too happy about that either.” She smiles.
“Well, the board can kiss my ass. Ella is now a McKinley; she’s entitled to the shares that are being transferred into her name. I want to make sure she’s protected if anything were to happen to Dean,” I tell her. “Besides, they should be more concerned over the fact that I fully intend on getting married without a fucking prenup.”
The thought leaves my lips, then my words sink in. Did I just say I’m getting married? Kathy’s eyes widen and a huge smile spreads across her face.
“Did you meet someone? Who is she?” she asks.
I don’t answer her. Shaking my head, I storm into my office. My love life is not going to be the fucking talk around the water cooler. Sitting down at my desk, I send a text to Emily.
