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“Yes, Sir.” Hugging him tightly, I finally let him go. “I love you.”
“I love you, Emma. Go get dressed.”
I shuffled away from the couch, glancing over my shoulder to see both of them watching me. It brought heat to my face. Arousal burned through me, but it wasn’t the time. Or was it? Biting on my bottom lip, I cocked a hip and leaned against the doorjamb.
“She’s looking at us like that and you think I can concentrate on lunch?” Elias scoffed. He got to his feet. I ran to the bedroom giggling the whole way.
“You better run, brat!” Luke bellowed from the living room.
His feigned annoyance made me giggle louder. Jumping onto the mattress, I flipped to my back and perched up on my elbows. Elias reached me first, with Luke only steps behind him.
Our lunch plans were about to get thrown out the window, but it was more fun this way.
Chapter 14
Two weeks later
Lucas
Fists pounded against the front door, and I swung it open without looking. Jesse Wilcox, an officer from the local police department, motioned for me to step outside. I spotted Emma, who had a tall scowling man gripping her shoulder, preventing her from being in the safety of my arms. I wanted to get her away from him, but three additional cop cars pulled up the driveway.
“Good afternoon, Luke.”
“What seems to be the problem here?”
“This gentleman has made a formal complaint that you have kidnapped his fiancée, Ms. Emma Glade. He’s alleging that you are refusing to allow her to return home to him.” Jesse, a longtime friend, yelled across the expanse of my driveway so everyone could hear him.
“The only complaint I see is the way this ‘gentleman’ is handling my girlfriend. He’s got about thirty seconds to release her before I press charges of my own.”
“We have asked you once, Mr. Lester, to release Ms. Glade. This is your last warning.” Jesse held up his hand.
“Let me fucking go! I don’t want anything to do with you, Shawn! I never want to see you again!” Emma kicked the man holding onto her and I took a large step in her direction. Elias pushed past me and took her hand. He didn’t pull her away, but I could see how badly he wanted to.
“Get your filthy paws off my girl or you’re going to be the sorriest person who ever lived,” he growled in a tone I’d never heard from him before.
It made me damn proud, but I didn’t want anyone causing a bigger issue. I forced several even breaths, though I wanted the same outcome.
“Let the police handle this, Lee.”
“Your girl?” Shawn scoffed. “Did you hear this asshole threaten me? You ain’t nothing, pretty boy.”
I saw red. Elias suddenly threw his arm back as if he saw in my head what I was about to do. Shawn showing up on my property uninvited was only part of it. He refused to release Emma. He called my boy a name that had plagued him his entire life. I punched the son of a bitch in the face, cracking something in his jaw. Shawn hit the pavement hard.
“Get this man off my property right now.” Scooping Emma against my chest, I kissed her head, muttering words of comfort. She linked her arms around my neck, sobbing. Pulling Elias to my side, I wrapped my free arm around his shoulders.
“He hit me! Did you see him? That cowboy assaulted me!” Shawn screeched while holding a hand to his injured mouth. “I’mpressing charges.”
“It looked to me like you fell into his fist, sir.” Jesse stated plainly as two other officers assisted Shawn to his feet. “Let’s get you down to the station. Anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law.”
“My fiancée has been missing for months! Emma wrecked her car. I’ve been worried sick about her. Her parents are losing hope that their sweet girl is okay after all this time, and now I have happy news for them.” Shawn ranted, and the officers looked toward Emma as if waiting for some clarification.
“Shawn is lying. My parents abandoned me as a child. They are likely dead. Please, Daddy? Please don’t let him take me! Don’t let him hurt me again.”
Elias attempted to break free from me.
“No one is hurting our girl, Lee. We’ve got her.” He stopped fighting to get his hands on Shawn, but he was breathing heavily. Addressing the officers, I stepped back, pulling Elias with me further away from the conflict. “I need to take my family inside. They’ve had a rough night. You can get their statements tomorrow, but we all need some rest.”
“We’ll be in touch.” Jesse handcuffed Shawn, and I was only mildly surprised that he didn’t clock his head on the patrol car when he pushed him inside.
