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“Greenway will wait in the lane as agreed.” He reached down the side of the armchair and produced a small backpack. “I’m sure she already has warm clothing, but there’s a coat and snow boots in here, just in case.” He handed over the bag. Jesse took it with numb hands.
“And what happens when they find out she’s missing?”
“Darragh has everything arranged.”
Jesse examined him for a long moment. “I get you want your kid back, Emory. I just hope you’ve thought about the blowback.”
“I’ve thought of everything.”
“Really? Like what people will say if a haemophile kidnaps a human kid and holds her hostage?”
“I know you don’t think that’s what I’m doing.”
“Idon’t,” Jesse said. “But the news? Social media? The internet?” He snorted, shaking his head. “You thought rumors were destructive in your day.”
“Like I said, I have considered everything.”
Jesse gave a helpless shrug. “Okay. I’m just surprised your fancy-ass advisors haven’t tried to talk you out of this to save you the sheer PR shitstorm it’s going to be, if nothing else.”
“Who’s to say they haven’t?”
Jesse examined him. His face was blank, his dark eyes unreadable. Jesse fought the sensation that Emory was a hundred miles or a hundred years away from him. “We’ll need to hire extra security at the very least.”
“What aren’t you asking me, Jesse?”
Jesse gnawed a thumbnail and stared at the wall. Emory came over and perched on the arm of Jesse’s chair.
“I understand this is a demanding task,” Emory said softly. “And maybe you’re wondering what my intentions toward you are in all this?”
“Can you blame me? A job. A home. Mind-blowing sex.” Jesse took a shaking breath. “Was it all just so I’d do this for you, no questions asked?”
Emory was quiet a long moment. “I admit when I found out about your break-in here, getting Dimity back was the first thing that came to my mind,” Emory said softly. “At the time, maybe I thought money and security would be enough to secure your loyalty.” His eyes were hard but earnest. “But it means the world that I can now trust you with this on a personal level, too.”
“So now it’s…different?”
“Don’t you think so?”
Jesse shrugged. “I’m having trouble telling up from down right now, to be honest.”
“Jesse,” he said softly. “You can still say no.”
Jesse stared hard at the wall for several long moments. Then he dared to meet the haemophile’s eyes. “I’ve met Dimity before, you know. The night of the Christmas light switch-on. She knew you would be in the square. She tried to get to you but got lost. She was crying. All she wanted was her daddy.”
“All I want is what’s best for my daughter,” Emory said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I think so, too,” Jesse said after a brief pause. “But doing it this way has consequences, Emory—to you, to her. Wouldn’t it be best to wait for the legal shit to work itself out?”
“The legal wrangling could take years. I resent every day Dimity has to spend away from her family.” He looked into Jesse’s eyes. “I promise you, I really have thought of all this, including the impact on you, Jesse. And you have my promise I will protect Dimity…and I will protect you.”
“And yourself?”
He smiled so his sharp teeth glinted. “Have no concerns on that front.”
Chapter Eleven
Jesse had wanted to stay with Emory, lose himself in his intoxicating embrace and forget everything for as long as possible, but Emory insisted he get some rest.
“Tomorrow,liebling,” he murmured, pressing a chaste kiss to Jesse’s cheek in the doorway of the library. “Tomorrow night, we’ll have everything we want.”
