by C. R. Ellis
“Fair to whom?”
He stepped back, doubling the space between us. “Don’t you know I’ve given you parts of me nobody has ever even gotten close to before?”
I shook my head. “No. You’ve given me what you want to give me. But giving all of yourself means giving me the truths you’d rather keep hidden, too. You don’t get to pick and choose when it’s convenient.”
He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair, ruining its perfection, yet also making it sexier. “I can’t just turn into an open book overnight. I told you from the start my life is messy and complicated.”
I shook my head and held in a scream of frustration. “You don’t get to go back to hiding behind that wall!”
“I’m not hiding behind anything.”
“Bullshit, Emmett! Don’t lie to me,” I argued, fighting the urge to shout.
His eyes flared in response to my outburst. He took a step closer, then another, and boxed me in against the couch. “I’ve never lied to you, Jade. You don’t get to make that claim,” he growled, desperation overtaking his voice. “I’ve never lied to you. Not since day one. You think I wanted to feel this way? You think I wanted to be so fucking hung up on you I could barely see straight?”
I tilted my chin up to meet his eyes.
He cut me off before I could respond, leaning down to level our heights. “Let’s get something straight right here, right now. You barreled into my life and owned me from the start. You hear me? Fucking owned me. So don’t try to tell me I’m hiding.”
I blinked, having a hard time holding on to my anger thanks to his confession and his proximity.
The sight of a visibly pulsing vein in his neck and his scowl quickly brought me back down to reality, where I was reminded of how we got to this point. “Then why are you keeping me in the dark about whatever’s going on right now? Why do I feel like you’re giving me half-truths?”
His jaw clenched, frustration rolling through him and replacing any other emotion he’d just shown. His hands scrubbed against his face as a strangled groan tore from his throat. “Is it not enough? The fact you already fucking own me?”
Under normal circumstances, those words would’ve probably elicited a lot of positive emotions. Right now, I had to hold my ground. Had to ignore the pull he held over me. If I caved, I might never get the answers I needed.
“You tell me, Emmett! You’re so adamant on keeping whatever-this-is from me. Am I not enough?” I challenged, pressing up on my toes to give myself an extra couple of inches. He was so tall, I felt like I was at an automatic disadvantage just because of our height discrepancy.
His nostrils flared, and I would’ve sworn a vein was about to burst in his neck. “Don’t,” he commanded roughly. “Don’t even fucking try to turn this shit around, Jade.” His eyes scanned my face, narrowing in anger and conveying the sincerity of his words.
“Talk to me.” My voice was small, practically begging.
He pushed away from the couch and put several feet of space between us before running his fingers through his hair again. “There’s nothing I can tell you. Don’t you think I’d tell you if there was?” His voice sounded defeated, like this fight was slowly crushing him.
“You can always talk to me,” I pleaded, crossing my arms and digging my fingers into my biceps to keep them from going to his body. The messy tie, rolled sleeves, wild hair look only made this already outrageously sexy man even more appealing. My desire—my need—for Emmett was reaching heights that exhilarated and terrified me. The walls and distance he’d thrown up put me firmly in the terrified state right now.
He pulled his tie off and tossed it onto the leather sofa. My eyes closed in an attempt to help me regain the senses Emmett stole from me. Maybe if I don’t see him, his presence won’t affect me so much.
“I know, pretty girl,” he sighed, gently tilting my chin up and breaking my resilience to keep my eyes off of him. His touch was feather-light and lingering. It was the first time he’d touched me in what seemed like forever. But I was still upset he was keeping me out when he’d promised to let me in.
He was close—close enough for me to study how long his eyelashes were. Annoyingly, unreasonably long. Emmett’s hand opened and cupped my cheek tenderly. “I just need some time to figure some things out. I’ve gotta go meet Harrison at the office. I’ll be back later.” Removing his hand, he stepped away. “And Jade, just so we’re clear, your ass better be in my bed when I get back.”
Oh, hell no. He did not just give me an order after confirming he’s still keeping something from me. Apparently he thought his five seconds of tenderness meant he’d fixed everything.
“And if I’m not?” I challenged.
He stopped mid-reach for the doorknob and turned back to pin me with his eyes. I froze dead in my tracks. A scary intensity set the oceans in his eyes aflame, then encompassed his entire face. “Do not fucking push me on this, Jade. I’m serious.”
Before I could open my mouth to do exactly that, he jerked the door open and walked out of his condo. I wasn’t actually considering the possibility of leaving, but I didn’t like the idea of waiting around for him to decide to let me in on whatever secret he was determined to keep.
After two hours of pacing across the living room and letting my mind run through every possible worst case scenario, I finally gave up on waiting for Emmett and let myself doze off to sleep in his bed. I would’ve found another spot to sleep—somewhere other than the bed he commanded my ass to be in upon his return, just to piss him off—but his stupid bed was annoyingly comfortable.
One second I was laying down, doing my damnedest to stay awake and listen for the sound of the door, and the next a pair of voices in the living room pulled me out of a dream.
“This is the right choice, even Hope would tell you so.”
“Then why is this so damn hard? I finally felt like things were going in the right direction, and moving to Austin was going to be perfect. Hope’s been fine in California, off of William’s radar for years. But now, you know he’ll go after her. Especially if she talks to Curtis Long,” Emmett replied.
Moving to Austin?! I had to still be sleeping. Job or not, there was no way Emmett would leave Boston. He hadn’t mentioned anything about a job opportunity, but I couldn’t imagine him walking away from the career he loved.
“Emmett, you’re making the right choice. We will figure out a way to stop your father’s campaign from picking up steam. You’re the right person to run Axtero. There’s nothing more you could do by staying here, anyway,” voice one said. I dragged myself out of bed and shook off the fog of sleepiness when I realized the voice belonged to John, and Emmett’s phone was on speaker.
I tiptoed out of the bedroom and stopped around the corner, just short of the living room. What campaign was he talking about?
“It still feels…I don’t know, off,” Emmett responded as he paced back and forth across the living room. “Like I’m choosing Jade over Hope’s safety, even though I’m not just going for her. How am I supposed to keep tabs on William and my brother from Austin?”
“Harrison can hire another set of eyes to help him here. You deserve to be happy, and going to Austin, being with Jade, will bring you happiness. I could tell by the way you looked at her tonight, Emmett. Hope wants you to go, to follow your heart.”
Emmett snorted. “That’s because my sister is a romantic. But I need to be realistic. I won’t walk away from Jade again, but I need to know I’ve done everything in my power to stop William. Maybe we could just delay my start date with Axtero.”
John sighed audibly. “We can do that. By the way, when are you going to tell Jade? The girl cares about you, Emmett, and you need to make sure she knows how much you care about her.”
I edged my way toward Emmett’s bedroom again, my head spinning with all the information I’d just overheard.
Emmett said he was moving to Austin, but I couldn’t help the sinking feeling in my stomach. I wanted to
feel elation at the thought of having Emmett in my city, but I kept thinking about everything he would give up to go to Texas. Why was he keeping this from me? Why would he leave J.S. Innovations and John and Emily? I could tell he loved this city in the way he had described buildings and areas to me earlier in the day. His pride was hard to miss considering how broad his smile grew every time I asked about a monument or about Boston history. I didn’t like the idea of our time together ending, but he couldn’t give that all up for me after we’d only spent a week together. I didn’t want him to feel like he had to choose between protecting Hope and being with me. As much as he already meant to me, I’d never let him feel like he had to make such a choice.
I eyed the bed like the mattress had sprouted thorns. Being in Emmett’s bed without him no longer appealed to me. Conflicting emotions coursed through me, and I craved the heat of his touch. The comfort a stroke of his hand brought was unparalleled, and I hated not having it right now. I needed the peace his words and his embrace brought. I tugged off the thick comforter and padded my way into his master bathroom. Crawling into the tub, I wrapped myself in the blanket as evidence of my conflicting emotions leaked from my eyes in the form of big, heavy tears.
Sometime later the door to the bathroom burst open. “What the fuck?” a startled whisper called, stirring me out of slumber.
Strong arms slipped underneath my body, scooping me up and into a broad chest that smelled like clean cotton and felt like home. Emmett. I shifted in his arms to angle my head into the crook of his neck.
“Thought I told you to keep your ass in my bed. Pretty sure I would’ve remembered saying bathtub,” he mumbled. The vibrations in his throat made his unshaven neck tickle my skin, causing me to sink into him even further. I still had a thousand questions, but I wasn’t immune to the power his proximity held over me.
“Mmm,” I replied against his neck, lifting a hand to graze the stubble along his jawline. “Didn’t wanna be in your bed.”
He leaned over and gently deposited me onto the mattress before sliding in next to me. “So you got in the tub?”
My eyes fluttered open, focusing on the man in front of me. Soft light from the windows flooded in, allowing me to make out the features of his face I’d come to love. His chiseled jawline, eyebrows a shade darker than his golden hair that perfectly framed those bright, bottomless ocean blues, perfect dimples. Then there was his mouth with those lips. They were soft and smooth, until they were rough and demanding against my own. I lived for the moments when his lips crashed down on mine.
“Jade.”
“Hm?”
“You got in the tub. Why?”
I shrugged, dropping my eyes to the space between our bodies. “You were gone and the bed felt too big without you. Too lonely.”
His shoulders dropped with a sigh. Big, rough hands moved through the darkness to find me—one reached for my hand at my side and the other cupped my face, thumb stroking my cheek softly. “I’m sorry, Jade. I shouldn’t have left you here. Shouldn’t have left things between us like that.”
“Well, I shouldn’t have acted the way I did. Look, Emmett,” I started, inching myself closer to his body. “I know I can’t expect you to become an open book overnight. I know this is new and there will be things we have to figure out as we go. But I don’t want to feel like there are secrets between us, not ever.” And I feel like the secrets between us are multiplying.
“Jade, you’ve gotten more of me than I’ve ever given before. But I know you’re right, about giving you all my truths, even the ones I’d rather set fire to.”
Winding my fingers through the hair behind his ear, I wiggled myself closer until we were sharing his pillow, side-by-side, studying each other in the near-darkness. “I’m not going anywhere, Boston. I’m here, and I’m not going to crack under the weight of your truths.”
Emmett shifted one hand to his head, propping himself up with it while resting the other in the dip of my waist. “Two things. Just know I had an entirely different plan for how this conversation was going to go, but fuck it.” He paused, drawing in a breath and forcing my eyes to wander down to the hard surface of his chest. “The weekend we met I was in town because we’ve been in negotiations to buy out an Austin-based company called Axtero Technology. I needed to get a feel for how things are run, what the day-to-day looks like. Assuming there aren’t any further delays or last minute changes, I’ll be running the company starting next month.”
My jaw dropped. “You’re actually leaving Boston and moving to Austin?”
He leaned over and flipped on a bedside lamp before turning back to me and nodding slowly, searching my face to decipher my reaction. “I couldn’t tell you at first because the deal wasn’t done; technically it still isn’t.”
Several lengthy seconds later Emmett’s words registered in my brain. He’d been planning to move to Austin since before we met. He wasn’t leaving because of me, and he wasn’t completely walking away from J.S. Innovations.
“You knew you were going to move to Austin, and you still wanted to walk away from me?” I asked quietly, hating my inability to hide the hurt in my voice.
Emmett winced. “I wanted to do what was right, what was best for you, Jade, which meant keeping you away from my family.”
“But your family is in Boston.”
He shook his head and rolled back to his side. “Doesn’t matter. William fucking flew to Austin at the drop of a hat, and Will is determined to make me pay for taking Tracy from him.”
I leaned in and pressed my lips to his, breaking the hold of whatever was taking over his mind. His hands flew to my neck, thumb stroking my jawline and holding me in place. By the time we came up for air, the pain and conflicting emotions I’d seen in his eyes had settled. He dropped his forehead to rest against mine. “I was an idiot to think I could walk away from you. I hate to even think about bringing their attention to you in any way, but I’ll never let anything happen to you,” he vowed.
“I know you won’t, Boston.” My hands went to his shoulders, and I leaned back to meet his eyes. I shook him gently, probably looking like a woman possessed. “Ohmygod, you’re seriously moving to Austin!” I squealed, excitement and happiness finally crashing down on me and leaving no room for any apprehension or questions.
“I am. Thinking you’re on board?”
I paused, pretending to think about his question. “Eh, I guess.”
His hands move to my sides and came alive, tickling me ruthlessly.
“Okay, okay,” I screamed through yelps of laughter. “You win! I’m definitely on board!”
He smirked and ended the torture. “Much better.”
“When?”
“That’s the second part. Earlier, Harrison pulled John and me away because he saw William across the street. I know it doesn’t excuse my behavior, but seeing him was mostly what put me in such a shitty mood tonight. I hate the person I become when he’s around.”
“It’s okay, Boston. Why was he there? Was he trying to crash the party?” I frowned. “Seems like just enough of a dick move for him to try and pull.”
One side of Emmett’s lips tilted up briefly. “I wish that’s all he was doing. He was announcing—Jesus, I can’t believe I’m going to say these words out loud,” he paused, dropping his head. I felt the tension rolling through him.
“You can tell me,” I urged, moving my hand to his cheek.
“He was announcing the launch of his campaign to run for President.”
My mouth fell open. “You think this is why he wanted to ask you about the reporter back in Austin?”
He nodded. “He knows Hope’s existence is a liability to his career. An article like the one Long wants to write could cause irreparable damage to his image. He knows Hope’s mom kept copies of the check he wrote to her in an attempt to buy her silence and pay for the cost of an abortion. She also kept a letter he wrote to her that describes the intimate details of their affair. There’s no telling how far he’
d go to cover up his dirty little secret.”
“Will he even get support for a presidential campaign?”
A grunt rattled from Emmett’s throat. “I’d like to say no, but with William, I’ve learned to never count him out. He’s unbelievably determined when he’s got his sights set on something.”
Great. “What are you gonna do?”
“Whatever it takes. But I won’t be able to leave Boston in my rear view mirror until I’ve dealt with this.”
I raised my hand back to his cheek and swirled my fingertips against his temple in an attempt to ease his bubbling anger. “Emmett. It’s going to be okay. I’m sure you and John and Harrison will figure something out.”
He nodded, pulling me closer. I went willingly, like I knew in my heart I always would.
“Promise me this will be the first and abso-fucking-lutely last time we ever have a conversation involving William in my bed.”
“Promise. Bed is a he-who-shall-not-be-named-free zone.”
Emmett chuckled. “He’s not Voldemort, Jade, you can use his name.”
“Ooh, better yet, let’s just call him Voldemort. William is too unassuming.”
“Works for me. Know what also works for me? Not fucking picturing my worthless father when I’m laying in bed, wondering why the hell you’re still fully clothed.” He hooked a finger into my tank top to peek inside.
I shifted purposefully, aware of the serious cleavage created. “Um, excuse me, sir, but I believe your only command was for me to be in your bed; my level of clothing was not addressed. Plus, I’m not fully clothed.” Emmett’s lips twisted at my word choice, and his eyes dipped before I could finish my sentence.
“Sir, huh?” he smirked. “Rest assured, I won’t make that mistake again, pretty girl. Now,” he continued, dipping his hands from my waist to the hemline of my shirt, lightly running his fingers along the exposed skin on my stomach. “What should I do about the fact you ignored my instructions and nearly gave me a heart attack when I didn’t find you in my bed?”