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“I will not be held accountable for her dangerous stunt. She begged me to come here to see you, but this was not my idea. Emma did not have my permission to jump on the back of a trick pony.”
Luke read into the heart of the matter quicker than I expected. He reached for me, but I stepped backward, increasing the distance. “We will talk about it later. Come here.”
“No, I will not stand here and watch something terrible happen. I’m leaving.” I hated the tone coming from my mouth, scared, whiny. It wasn’t the way I spoke normally, and I wanted out of there.
“Elias.”
“I’m done. With all of this.” Tears threatened to spill. I would not cry here in front of everyone. “I catered to her every fucking whim while you were away, but it still wasn’t good enough. Now she’s going to get herself killed. I won’t stand for it.”
“We don’t run away when things get tough, and you never have before.” He glanced into the ring and my eyes followed.
Something had captivated everyone, including the large crowd. Our Emma. Stunning. Transitioning as naturally as breathing from one pose into another, Emma shined in ways neither of us could have imagined.
“She’s amazing, Doc.”
I couldn’t bear to watch another moment. She seemed to have a handle on the horse and her stage presence was incredible. Emma had a better hold on the situation than I could see from here. Still seeing her in the ring was too much. “We can sort this out some other time. I’m going back to Cheyenne. Alone.”
“Hang on a minute.” He gripped my upper arm, but all I wanted to do was get out of the arena. “The show will be over when Emma finishes her routine. Let’s take a breath.”
“Fuck you, Luke.”
There. That finally shut him up for a moment. Something flickered across his face, but he waited for me to continue, instead I shook him off me and walked away.
Cursing myself out mentally, I blindly pushed through the crowds. I had a lot of things to work through if I was going to handle this relationship, and Luke knew me well enough to understand there was something bigger at play tonight. He would undoubtedly get to the bottom of the situation just like I had done with Emma.
Fuck.
I hadn’t told him about her job search, not wanting to worry him while he was away, but we’d need to discuss that as well. The thoughts calmed me a little. If I was thinking about future stuff, then I wasn’t done. Not by a long shot. Still, I needed a better way of expressing myself. Luke had been right. I didn’t run away from hard situations or decisions. I always ran headfirst into a crisis, no matter the cost or risk to myself. So, what was this nonsense tonight?
Emma.
The fear of something happening to her and me not being able to save her. The same irrational fears swirling around Luke whenever he mentioned the possibility of getting on a bronco again. I’d be sore once Luke got through with me, but so would Emma when I got through with her.
The thought renewed the heart of it all. I loved them both more than anything in the world.
Chapter 11
Lucas
I let Lee storm off, knowing he would not abandon Emma or leave things on a bad note between us. His flippant tone grated against my thinning patience. I’d sort him out later.
Emma sauntered out of the ring, confidence oozing out of her pores. She looked positively delighted with herself, but she immediately slowed down as she caught me glaring in her direction. “Are you mad at me, Daddy?”
“I’m not mad, darling. Concerned. Worried. You also upset Lee to the point where he took off.”
“We need to go find him!”
“We will. You’re both in a whole heap of trouble.”
“Is Elias in trouble because I got lost and took a wrong turn?”
“No. He’s in trouble for telling me to fuck off.”
Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Elias wouldn’t do that.”
“Under normal circumstances, you’re right. Let’s go get him.” Holding out my hand to her, I waited for her to accept it. She hesitantly did so.
“You still seem mad, Sir.”
