Josiah Kent has my heart, yet he left me without an explanation.
With every mile I run harder, move my legs faster. Pushing myself past the limits to make the ache in my stomach disappear. Why did he leave without a word? That seems to be the question of the hour, and I can’t get the play-by-play loop running through my head to stop. How tender he was, how passionately he kissed me, how he turned my body into his own personal playground.
Freaking hell. I shake my head trying to wipe the images away knowing it’s no use. Joss owns me, body and soul, and I’m at his mercy. This is a hard thought to comprehend when I try so fiercely to be the independent woman my mom raised me to become.
My phone begins ringing scaring the ever-living crap out of me. I pull it from my sports bra and see Joss’s name on my screen. I debate not answering, then think better of it.
“Hey.”
“Where the hell are you?” he says sternly.
“Um, I’m great. How are you? Some night, huh?” I sass.
“Emerson, where are you? I just tried to bring breakfast to your room, and you’re nowhere to be found.”
He brought breakfast to my room? Do one-night stands do that? I’m hoping that’s my answer to all the questions in my head.
“I’m out for a run.”
“The concierge says you left two hours ago.”
I look at the screen of my phone and see I have indeed been gone for a few hours. “Wow, the time flew by. I had a lot on my mind.”
“Like?” I don’t miss the impatience in his tone.
“Waking up to find you gone. Imagine my surprise after the best night of my life, I find you snuck out without so much as a word.” I didn’t intend to say all of that, especially about it being the best night of my life. Oh well, in for a penny, in for a pound.
“I left early because I didn’t want Dan finding out that way. I wanted to talk to him first thing this morning. He needed to hear what’s going on between us from me.”
“Say what now?” He definitely catches me off guard with that comment. He’s talked to Dan? “You talked to Dan?” I pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration. “Don’t you think we should have decided on that together?”
“No.”
“No?” I repeat slowly.
“It had to be from me.”
“Okay. Well, how’d it go?” I inquire the man about to give me a coronary. He could be the best host on a reality show with how he draws pivotal information out.
“I’ll tell you when you get your sweet ass back here.”
That makes me smile, and then immediately blush when I remember his lips on my most intimate of areas last night. A tremor works its way through my body at the thought, and suddenly I’m cursing myself for being so far away from him.
“It’ll be a bit, I don’t know where the hell I am.” I laugh. “I’ll throw on my phone GPS and head back.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “You thought I’d just leave you?”
“What else was I supposed to think?” I whisper. “I almost thought I dreamt it all.”
“When you get back, I’ll prove to you it wasn’t a dream, and I think I’ll start with my tongue in that sweet pussy of yours again. I still have your taste on my tongue.”
My knees buckle at the thought as I pull up my location on my GPS. “My phone says I’ll be back in forty minutes, but you can count on me being back in thirty,” I promise.
“I’ll be waiting,” he growls before hanging up the phone.
Wow. It’s really happening — Joss and me. I jump in the air and wave my hands around.
I’m on cloud nine as I begin running back to the hotel. I make it a personal challenge to beat my GPS and be back in bed with Joss before the original time it stated.
All that is thrown for a tailspin when I receive the next phone call that changes everything.
Chapter 20
Emerson
I’m sprinting through the main lobby of the hotel when Danny meets me. My friends and Joss trail him with their bags and hopefully mine as well.
“What do we know?” I question, following him back outside and into a waiting car.
“She’s in the hospital. Quinn was running through the park near your apartment, and two guys grabbed her out of nowhere. They roughed her up pretty bad before someone intervened and scared them off.” Danny looks out the window of the car and takes a deep breath.
“Don’t,” Joss states.
“She has a right to know,” Danny growls.
Something smells fishy to me, and I’m not one to be left out.
“Tell me what? Tell me, Danny.”
“Dan,” Joss says in warning, but he thankfully doesn’t listen.
“Quinn said they made a comment about thinking she’d put up more of a fight. The police think they may have been looking for you, but that hasn’t been confirmed.”
My heart sinks right through my stomach and doesn’t stop until it’s lying in a mess on the floor. Me, Quinn got jumped at the park because of me. Apparently, I’m silent for way too long when Joss and my brother start arguing.
“I told you it was too much for her to handle. It hasn’t been confirmed yet.” Joss bites at Danny.
“What, you two are in a relationship and all of a sudden you know what’s best for her?”
That catches me off guard. It’s weird that Danny knows what’s going on with Joss and me and from the sound of it, he knows more about my relationship than I do. We haven’t even had the whole relationship talk yet. Who the hell knows what we are?
“Shut up, both of you. Can’t I freaking process what I just found out? If you found out your sister was injured because of you, wouldn’t you need a freaking second?” The backs of my eyes begin to sting from the guilt I feel after saying that all out loud.
“Em…” Danny tries to throw his arm around my shoulders, but I dodge him. “Like Joss said, it’s speculation.”
“I said shut the fuck up,” I scream in the small confines of the car and lose the battle with my tears. What’s bothering me more than anything is not being there for my sister. My best friend.
Leo quickly jumps over the seat barrier and into the middle row of the SUV wrapping me tightly in his arms. “This isn’t your fault Rebs. It’s the guys that jumped your sister. It’s on them. Not you.” He rocks me back and forth as I’m assaulted with thought after thought of who could have done it and why they did it. “It’s not your fault.” Leo continues to coo in my ear as I sob all the way to the airport.
The ride is a blur and so is getting on the private jet my dad set up for us. Once I’m seated and we’re taking off, I finally take a few steadying breaths to calm down. I’m giving myself this moment then I’m pushing all my emotions aside. My sister needs me, and I need to be her rock. Be there for her like she’s always been for me. I didn’t even stop and ask Danny how he was doing; she’s his sister too.
Once we’re allowed to move around, I walk over to my big brother and sit beside him. “How are you taking all of this? I’m sorry for the dramatics. It hit me hard.”
“Understandably so. I’ll be better once we get home. When I can see with my own two eyes that she’s alright.”
“I don’t know what I’ll do if they really thought she was me.” It’s not a farfetched assumption. Out of all us Cage siblings, Quinn and I look the most alike. Just like our mom.
“No matter what, it’s not your fault.” He kisses the top of my head after I rest my cheek on his shoulder.
“How are mom and dad doing? Everly?”
“They’re hanging in there. Last I heard, they were waiting to get in her room after her surgery.”
“She had to have surgery?” I whisper.
“Yeah, they had to fix a break in her wrist.”
“Fuck.”
“Fuck is right. Don’t worry, dad has the best on this. We’ll most likely know who was behind this before we land.”
I nod my head because I truly have no words. I’m so tha
nkful for the man that saved my sister in that situation and can’t wait to thank him for his heroics personally.
I don’t leave Danny’s side for the duration of the flight. Joss takes up residence in the seat beside me and holds my hand. Just sits there without a word giving me his support. He’s my rock, and it means more than he could ever know.
As we finally pull up to the hospital in the early afternoon, after what feels like a lifetime later, we’re met by a bazillion paparazzi outside. Word has gotten out, and it’s been splashed across the tabloid sites everywhere.
Joss and Danny take the lead, shielding us from the shouting crowd. Halfway to the sliding doors of the building, the crowd seems to close in on us, and we’re met with four more security guys from my dad’s personal security detail.
“What a fucking circus.” Danny straightens his clothes and wraps a visibly shaken Penny in his arms. “Everything’s fine, baby,” he reassures her.
“Let’s get to Quinn,” I plead with whoever’s listening to get me up there. Joss holds my hand and pulls me to the front desk.
“We’re looking for Quinn Cage’s room,” Joss tells the lady behind the desk.
“We don’t have anyone by that name here.” She eyes us.
“Wait a fucking second…” Danny starts, but I stop him by placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Try Quinny of Camelot.” I’m embarrassed to say the childhood name she made everyone call her, but I need to find her freaking room. The lady looks at me for a beat before typing on her computer.
“Take the elevator to the third floor and find room three zero four.” We thank her and find the bank of elevators.
My heart is beating out of my chest, and I feel like I’m about to have a nervous breakdown as we approach her room. No matter how much I psyched myself up to see Quinn, it does nothing once I actually lock eyes with her.
“Oh, Quinn.” I race for her bed but don’t make a move to touch her. I’m not sure where to touch with all the bandages and casts. Tears are tracking down my cheeks at the thought of her pain.
“I’m not going to break.” She raises her good arm and gestures for me to jump in bed with her. I easily slink in and wrap my arms around her. I jump back when she winces from my arm briefly grazing her ribs.
“Sorry, they’re bruised.”
“Don’t fucking apologize,” I argue.
I hear a throat clear and pull back from my sister to see my dad and mom standing across from me. I can tell my dad’s emotions have been through the wringer and my mom has tears in her red-rimmed eyes.
“I’m so sorry, you guys. You will never know how truly sorry I am,” I apologize to everyone in the room feeling personally responsible.
“Emmy,” Quinn whispers. “Don’t do that.”
“Emerson…” My dad watches me but closes his mouth. He’s unsure of what to say, and a moment later, he continues. “Come take a walk with me.”
I don’t want to leave Quinn, but I get out of bed and promise to be back soon. My dad’s already out in the hall when I catch up to him. He’s leaning his back to the wall with his head facing the floor.
“Come on, sweetie. Let’s go get something to eat in the cafeteria.”
“I’m not hungry,” I argue but follow him anyway.
“Then we’ll get coffee. I have some things I have to say.” Dad throws his arm around my shoulders and steers us away from the third floor.
We’re silent the whole walk, and when I hear footfalls behind me, I turn around and see Joss following us. Knowing he’s there lets me breathe a little easier.
We sit at one of the tables away from a crowd of people, and Joss hangs back scanning the room. I gesture for him to join us, but he shakes his head the tiniest bit and remains a safe distance away.
“What’s going on, Dad? Your silence has me wondering a million different things.”
“We have an idea of who was behind the attack.”
“Do we know them?” I question.
He shakes his head. “No. But my guys are running some names around and seeing if we can find a common link. There’s already a warrant for those bastard’s arrest. They didn’t know that there are cameras placed sporadically through the park.”
I gasp. “Did you see?”
“Yes.” His jaw clenches and murder swims in his eyes. “They’ll get what’s coming to them and then some. Nobody fucks with my family.”
“What does this mean? Do I cancel my fight?” I ask hesitantly. If it came down to it for the safety of my family, I would. No questions asked.
“Absolutely not. We can’t find anything that links back to you as of now. Hopefully, the detectives will know how to get them talking so we know for sure there was no ulterior motive. You aren’t going to like this Em, but we have to beef up security and do what we have to until this all blows over. It looks like this isn’t the first time these guys have attacked. There’s been a string of women that have been assaulted at parks throughout Boston in the past few months. That leads me to believe you weren’t the target, but I’d feel safer after they speak to the bastards.”
“Okay. Whatever you have to do.” The guilt subsides at hearing I’m not the intended cause of Quinn’s attack. It doesn’t make me feel any better that it happened, but at least this doesn’t land squarely on my shoulders at the moment.
“Never thought I’d see the day that you didn’t argue with me. You feeling okay, sweetie?” He cracks a smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf after all that crap was videoed on the trip. Luckily for you, we live in a building that has a doorman and front desk. It’s secure.”
“Things are going to be extreme until your fight, and I know from firsthand experience. Some asshole leaked what happened to your sister. The media is in a frenzy, and they’re going to be on you harder than ever before. I’m going to talk to Joss about things. Figure out what we can do to ensure your safety.”
“I’ll lie low. We can cancel the gym appearance on Monday…”
“No. Cages don’t run, and we don’t cower. I’ll make sure anyone in attendance knows talking about Quinn or the attack is off limits. We need to do this to show a united front, let everyone know that you don’t fuck with a Cage and live to tell the tale.”
I nod my head in complete agreement.
“Emerson, give me the words. This is a lot more than you bargained for and you’ve always been a wild card. I need to know you get what’s happening and that you’ll listen to me to keep you safe. You don’t know how bad the media’s gotten since you left.”
“I get you.” I finally take a sip of my scalding coffee and place it back on the table.
“Why don’t you get back upstairs to your mom and sisters and I’ll fill in Danny and Joss.” I turn and find Danny standing next to Joss. Both of them scanning the room with their arms over their chests.
“Aw look at our little Danny. How cute.” I try to lighten the mood and achieve my goal when I hear my dad chuckle.
Before I head out of the cafeteria, I slide in next to my dad and give him a big hug. He squeezes me back, hugging as only a father can. “I love you. I’m so sorry this happened.” My voice wobbles and I hate that I’m still acting like a baby when he told me I had to be strong. Cages don’t run, and we don’t cower.
“Me too, but we’ll get past it. We need to be strong for Quinn now. Not only will this be physically grueling for her to overcome, but also mentally. You live with her, if you need anything let your mother and me know. She’s extremely jumpy and will need your support at home.”
“Will do.” I finally get up and walk over to Danny and Joss.
“I’m going to head back upstairs.” With one look into Joss’s soft eyes, my eyes tear up all over again. I try to take deep breaths in through my nose and out through my mouth to keep them from spilling over. I feel like too much information has penetrated my brain at once and the feeling of being overwhelmed is consuming me.
/> “Come here.” He reaches out and pulls me to him. He engulfs me into the best hug of my life and rests his chin on my head. “Everything’s going to be okay, Emmy.” After a kiss to my forehead, I pull back and give him a nod and halfhearted smile.
“I’ll see you guys upstairs.”
As I go to walk by Danny, he surprises me by pulling me in for a hug too. Man, this must be hug the men in your life hour. “I didn’t get it, now I do. Everything’s going to be okay.” He lets me go and musses my hair. I’m pretty sure the first statement had to do with Joss and me and the latter being Quinn and the mess our family’s going through.
I tuck it all away the best I can and head back upstairs to catch up with my mom and sisters. As I walk into the room and hear Leo telling the tale of the psychic fair I want to die. I decide to let him live when I hear the laughter coming from Quinn’s lips.
***
Joss
I watch my girl until she’s out of the room. Damn, I wish I could bring her back upstairs, but I can already see Zander has one of his guys tailing her. I should be with her right now. With all she’s going through I can’t help but want to wrap her in my arms and never let go. To let her know everything will be okay.
“Let’s go lover boy.” Danny nudges my shoulder and begins walking. I follow but don’t miss the ice in Zander’s eyes when I look his way.
I take a seat across from the two and keep my eyes on him. He doesn’t say a word for long seconds, not until Dan clears his throat.
“Any news?” My best friend asks.
“Not enough for my liking, but there’s been some. Those assholes assaulted Quinn on camera and the police are locating them as we speak. What I wouldn’t give to go a round with them in the Octagon.” His fists clench and unclench.
“Any link to Em?” I question.
“None as of yet.” Zander levels me with another glare. “Care to tell me what the fucks going on with you and my daughter?”
“What isn’t going on with them?” Dan mutters under his breath and now its my turn to shoot daggers at him.
Rebel: A Brother's Best Friend Standalone Romance Page 13