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Rayne sighs and looks over at me briefly as we pull onto the highway toward the penthouse. “We grabbed one of Russo’s men this morning and questioned him. Russo is… obsessed with you. And when I killed his man who came to collect you, he decided if he isn’t able to get you, he’s going to go after our sisters.”
I suck in a harsh breath and bring my knees up to my chest. I don’t understand what I did to capture Angelo’s attention like this, what I did to make him so desperate to get a hold of me that he’s willing to threaten other people.
“I don’t want you to worry about this. Storm and I are handling it, and we’re going into lockdown as a precaution. We have full faith in our security guys, but we aren’t willing to risk anything with the most important people in our lives.”
Tears pool in my eyes and I quickly swipe them away. “I don’t understand why.”
He takes a deep breath to calm himself before reaching his hand across the console to place it on my thigh. “Apparently Russo has had an interest in you for a while, longer than we’ve known one another.”
“But I’ve only met him once. Just that night at Aces. How could he have been interested in me when we had never met?” Panic claws up my throat, my entire body paralyzed with crippling fear. The only thing keeping me grounded is the warmth Rayne provides, the hand holding my thigh so tightly I know he’s trying to remind himself I’m okay, that he’s with me and nothing can hurt me.
“I think you underestimate how incredible you are, sweet girl,” Rayne murmurs as we pull into the parking garage. “Everything is going to be fine. I promise I won’t let him anywhere near you, okay?”
I nod, but I can’t be the reason Wynter and Snow are in danger. I would never be able to live with myself if something happened, if they got caught up in the mess I never meant to make. I have to find a way to make this right, even if it means leaving Rayne and becoming one of Russo’s casualties.
Having Rayne’s sisters at the penthouse is actually like having the siblings I always dreamed of. We watch movies together when Rayne and Storm are working, have family dinners, and they even help out with some work with the Center.
Wynter is still working for Frost Industries, but she seems to be leaning on her assistant for a lot, which means she has more time to spend with us. It’s nice to have people to lean on when being stuck within the same four walls starts to get to me. It’s kind of like one big slumber party apart from the fact their brother takes me to bed every night and makes me forget everything but his name.
I never knew sex could be like this. I never knew another human could play my body so perfectly you would think I’d given them a roadmap. And yet Rayne knows which spots make me moan, and which make me scream. He doesn’t seem to care that his siblings are all asleep down the hall, and after the first few nights, I stopped caring as well.
“Do you guys have to work tonight?” Wynter asks from the kitchen as she stirs the pasta sauce she’s had simmering all day.
“Nope, we’re all yours, little sis.” Storm grins. He’s a lot more casual than I’m used to seeing him, always wearing a T-shirt and sweats when he’s hanging around the apartment.
The Saint James family aren’t anything like I expected them to be. When they’re home together they’re just like any other siblings. Snow and Storm bicker like there’s no tomorrow. Rayne and Storm have a brotherly bromance they don’t seem to get to enjoy very often, and Wynter and Snow are a force to be reckoned with when they’re together. Honestly, I’m surprised Rayne and Storm survived them as teenagers without killing them.
But being here with them, getting to know them for the people they are rather than the people the media portrays them to be makes me feel like part of the family.
Rayne wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into him. “How was work?” he asks, kissing the top of my head.
“It was good.” I smile. “Laurence called earlier, he got early acceptance for Brown and wanted to let me know. Apart from that, I’ve been working through some resumes to get some much-needed help. Even if we can just get someone in to do the breakfast with Dad, it would be a load off.”
“Wynter’s good with that kind of thing,” he tells me. “She hires a lot of our staff.”
I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Our legit staff.”
“She’s been helping a lot.” I smile warmly at her.
“Emerson is a little fussy with who she wants to interview though,” she teases.
“Hey! I’ve never hired staff for the Center before and we haven’t had help for a long time. I’m selective about who spends time with the kids.” I shrug.
Rayne chuckles behind me and holds me close. He does the same thing every night when he and Storm come home. He goes straight to the bedroom and showers, and then he seeks me out and holds me as close as he can for as long as I’ll allow him to. It’s a ritual I can’t get enough of, one that makes me feel safe and wanted. Loved.
“Any news?” I ask and Rayne’s hold on me stiffens at the question.
“I’m sorry, sweet girl. I know you’re going stir crazy being stuck up here.” He presses a tense kiss to my bare shoulder.
I sigh. “That’s okay. I’m just going to go read a few more resumes before dinner.” I step out of his embrace and feel the loss immediately. Where there was warmth a moment ago, the cool air takes it away after only a moment.
I’ve tried my best not to make a habit out of working late, but when my mind wanders too far, it’s the only way to bring me back. I’m ahead in all my classes after Rayne somehow organized for the classes I’ve always had to go in for to be streamed, and apart from hiring a new staff member, everything at the Center is up to date as well.
For the first time since I started college I’m up to date with everything in my life, but it comes at a time I need a distraction, that I need something to occupy my mind so I’m not thinking about the fact Russo intends to take me as his own, even if it’s against my will. I’m trying not to think about Rayne leaving the penthouse every day with the threat of not coming back to me. And I’m most definitely trying to keep my mind from wandering to the fact that if Angelo can’t get his hands on me, if he can’t take me and do God knows what, he’s going to take Wynter or Snow, the women I’m quickly considering to be friends.
“Emerson?” Snow says softly from the doorway. I only got as far as standing in front of the desk. Raynes given me his home office to use for as long as I’m here. Well, what he actually said was something along the lines of, ‘this is your office now that you’ll be living here.’ But I’m trying not to think about the future because it has never seemed as uncertain as it does right now.
