by Ravenna Tate
Liane didn’t know what to do. She only knew two things. Everything about Emmett was more than she’d ever imagined was possible, and she was head over heels in love with him. Both of those realizations should have had her jumping with joy, but instead they absolutely terrified her, and she had no idea why.
Chapter Twelve
Emmett sensed Liane’s hesitancy to give herself to him completely. Not in bed, but in her day to day life. She still had her apartment, even though by now, the middle of the third week he’d known her, the only things in it were her furniture, pots and pans, and her towels and bed linens. It was ridiculous for her to have it, and he told her so about three times a day.
He knew why she wouldn’t take the last step. They hadn’t discussed it, but they didn’t need to. He was holding back, too, and until he stopped, she wouldn’t be able to trust him completely. He didn’t fault her for that. This was his demon to wrestle. She’d conquered hers. He had no idea how or when, but the change in her was obvious.
Her work was outstanding. His friends talked about her all the time, to the point that Emmett actually was jealous of their praise at times. She was off limits and he’d told them that, but he knew his friends. Until he made an official commitment to Liane, they wouldn’t stop flirting with her. He’d been the same way once, so he couldn’t be angry at them.
He took Kim aside as the week drew to a close and asked her for a special dinner the following Friday night. She made a list of items, and then Emmett went into his office where Liane was still working. He wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I’m asking my girl out.”
She turned and smiled up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Next Friday night. We’re not working at the office or here. We’re having dinner and then we’re going to talk.”
Her smile faded slightly, and his stomach clenched. “About what?” She tried to keep her voice casual, but he heard the trepidation.
“About my past,” he said quietly. “It’s time I told you a few things.”
She gave him a look full of tenderness and love. Yes, it was love. He’d seen that look in her eyes enough times these past few weeks to know it. Then she rose and hugged him. Emmett reflected that in any other woman he’d dated, seeing that look would have ended the relationship. With Liane, he lived for it. He was so in love with her it was ridiculous, and next Friday she would know that. Who said it first didn’t matter. She needed to know. It was right to tell her.
Just the same, he prayed she would say it, too, and would move in here with him. He hated being away from her for even one second. If he could, he’d move his entire operation to this apartment so he never had to leave it or her.
****
The following Wednesday morning, Emmett received two emails that had him nearly jumping out of his chair. The first one came from a friend of his named Paul Band who owned a private investigation agency. Emmett’s search for Connor Fargo had taken him only so far and then the trail had grown cold, but Paul had found the sleazebag attorney. He was practicing in a dingy office in NorthCentral, serving mostly indigent clients and apparently living off the money he’d collected in helping people like Liane.
Emmett thanked Paul, and then he told Tania to tack on an extra twenty percent to his pre-negotiated fee when she sent him the funds. The next call he made was to Blaine Parker. “Hey there. How is life in my least favorite city?”
“Better than where you are, and it always will be.”
“I need a huge favor. Actually, this will be doing Liane more of a favor than me.”
Blaine’s face lit up. “Well then, what is it? I’ll do anything for her.”
“I told you she’s mine.” Emmett outlined what Liane had told him about Connor and the help he’d given her, for a price. As he talked, Blaine’s face grew angrier until he thought his friend was going to punch something.
“I know people here. I’ll take care of it.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I’d do it myself, but she’d see right through any excuse I’d give her for traveling there.”
Blaine grinned. “It’s that serious with you two?”
“I sure hope so.”
His friend shook his head. “Must be something in the water. Ace is like a lovesick puppy. You should see him.”
“It’s not so bad, you know.”
“Right.” Blaine held up hands. “Don’t say another word. You’ll infect me with the same bug.”
Emmett laughed. He knew Blaine was only teasing him and in reality was happy for him and Ace both.
“But seriously, consider this taken care of.”
“Thanks. I owe you one big time.”
About an hour later, it was Dominic calling him. “Hey, do you happen to know what a Hochdorf dagger is?”
Emmett leaned back. “Yes, I do. It’s a dagger from a burial site by the same name. The dagger is believed to be Celtic in origin and ceremonial. Judging by the fact that it’s made of gold, a metal too soft for battle use, it’s believed that Hochdorf was important figure in history.”
Dominic chuckled. “You sound like an encyclopedia site.”
“Why are you asking about the dagger? That burial site was broken into about fifty years ago and the items were stolen. Have they been found?”
“The dagger has. It turned up in the private collection of an ex-Storm Trooper by the name of George Markus. Do you know him?”
“Yes, I sure do. He’s a collector like me.”
“Well, he has it in his bunker in what used to be Tennessee. Not too far from where you are if you access the surface from a northern viaduct.”
Emmett grinned. “Sounds like you have this trip all planned out for me.”
“Hey, I know how much you love that shit.”
“How did you find out about the dagger?”
“Purely by accident. I was searching for something specific in Celtic history for Pete’s niece . She’s doing some paper in school.” Pete Gonzalez was Dominic’s administrative assistant. “When I saw George’s name listing the dagger for sale, I thought I recognized it, so I looked through our files and saw he used to be a Storm Trooper. Explain to me how he can sell it if it’s stolen.”
“That is a complicated mess. There was no one in the provisional government of Germany who came forth and demanded the return of the items from that burial site, so their government eventually declared the items fair game.”
“Well that sucks.”
Emmett shrugged. “It happened a lot with sites like that after everyone moved underground.”
“So he doesn’t technically own it,” said Dominic, “and he may well have stolen it himself, or someone he knows did.”
Emmett nodded. “All of that is true. I’ve run into this situation before. Give me his current contact information.”
Once Emmett had it and he and Dominic disconnected their call, Emmett stared at the name and email address for a long time. Liane would kill to have something like this, but it meant going above ground to retrieve it. Emmett would gladly do it, but what excuse would he give Liane?
He knew she was terrified of him doing that again, and he understood why, but he had to have this dagger for her. If what Dominic found was true, it wouldn’t be a long trip at all. Then again, any trip up there was dangerous, no matter how short.
First though, he had to contact George and make sure this dagger was the real deal, and that he actually had the object. Then he’d explain to Liane why he needed to do this.
****
Liane clinked glasses with Emmett as they sat in his dining room, sipping some mighty fine white wine. She could smell the lobster and wild rice that Kim was cooking, and it made her mouth water. “This reminds me of my first night here.”
Emmett gave her a molten look of lust. “Should I fuck you against the sideboard again?”
“How about on the table this time?”
He laughed and leaned over to kiss her. “I adore you. You know that, right?”
Her pulse raced. It was the closest he’d come to saying the “L” word. “I know you do. I can feel it in your touch. I hear it in everything you say, and I see it in your beautiful eyes. I adore you, too.”
His gaze grew soft and tender. “I know you do, Liane, but it’s time you had your fears laid to rest with respect to my past. You’ve been open and honest with me, and I owe you nothing less.”
She had to wait until Kim and Jeremy brought in the food, and then Emmett wanted her to taste everything before the two finally left the room. They closed the doors behind them and Emmett leaned forward. “My earliest memory is of finding my parents’ wedding album. Want to know where I discovered it?”
She nodded.
“In the trash. I took it out and kept it hidden for five or six years. I believe I was eight or nine when I finally asked them why they’d thrown it away.”
“Were they upset that you took it?”
“No. They were indifferent, just like they were about everything except business. They told me they got married as a business arrangement, nothing more. I then made the mistake of asking why I had no siblings like most of my friends did, and my father got this look on his face like the kind you get when you accidentally bite into something sour or bitter.”
She put down her fork and covered his free hand with hers.
“The only reason I didn’t tell you this is because I was afraid it would trigger bad memories for you.”
“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Liane repeated what she’d told him the night he’d paddled her until she cried, and he beamed like she’d just announced she’d found the hackers responsible for fucking up The Madeline Project.
“Liane, that’s amazing. I know you said the same thing weeks ago, but I didn’t realize until right now how much that experience had affected you.”
“I thought it was weird and no one would understand.”
“Oh, sweetheart. I do understand. Completely.”
“Thank you. But I didn’t mean to stop you mid-story. Please go on.”
“It’s all right. I needed to hear that again, especially now. All right. So, my father got this nasty look on his face and said … he said, and I quote, ‘You were an unfortunate mistake and we made sure another one wouldn’t happen.’”
The pain on his face was horrible. Her heart ached for him. Liane rose and crawled into Emmett’s lap, then just held him. There were no words. Her family had been loud and boisterous, but she’d never had one moment’s doubt during the too few years she’d had them that they had loved her and each other. Her parents had been huggers, even her father.
Keith’s family had been just as warm and welcoming, even when they announced their quickie marriage. They’d known she was pregnant and had never judged her or their son. They’d been thrilled, and had done all they could to help her and Keith get set up in their tiny apartment.
She couldn’t imagine growing up with the knowledge that your parents had only married as a business arrangement, and that they had never wanted you. How did he deal with it? “Do you still have the wedding album?”
He shook his head. “My mother went into my room one day while I was in school and took it. I’m pretty sure she burned it because when I got home that day, there was a pile of ashes in the back yard. She told me she’d burned some underbrush, but the album was gone and I didn’t bother asking.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“They still own the company. Technically I work for them, but I hardly ever see them. Any business we have to conduct is done via email.”
She hadn’t realized that his parents were in the same city let alone the same building. How awkward. “Where do they live?”
“A few streets over. The company owns this building and the one where they live. A lot of your fellow employees live in both.”
She hadn’t realized that either. “Thank you for telling me.”
“You’re welcome. I should have done so weeks ago.”
“I’m not upset that you didn’t.”
He smiled slightly. “Does that mean you’ll move in here with me now? I know you weren’t sure what I was hiding, and that’s why you haven’t agreed to do so.”
“Emmett, I swear. Are you a mind reader?”
He chuckled, and the sound was like manna to her ears. “No, but you are that transparent.”
“Oh, I see. Well maybe I should just stop talking then?”
He nuzzled her neck. “Don’t you dare. I love the sound of your voice.”
Liane gave him a long, searching look. It would be so easy right now to tell him she loved him, and it seemed like the perfect segue, but then he moved her off his lap. “Let’s not waste this great food.”
She took her seat again. “Are you all right? Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“I’m okay now. Anything else I could tell you is simply more of the same. I was ignored most of my life. My friends were online, not in real life, until I began meeting the other Weathermen. We all have similar backgrounds and bonded over that, and now look at us. We’ve each made something of ourselves and just might save the planet on top of all that.”
“Yes, you might at that. I’m honored you’ve chosen me to be part of it.”
He leaned over and kissed her. “You’ve earned it. Your work is amazing.”
It seemed too easy. Was there something else he needed to tell her? She watched him eat, his face and manner as carefree as ever, but she had the irrational feeling that something lurked under the surface, ready to pull the rug out from under her.
Chapter Thirteen
Emmett wiped small beads of sweat off his forehead, which he blamed on the food. Telling her about his parents had been the easy part. They were finished eating, including dessert this time, and they’d polished off an entire bottle of wine. He had no more excuses. “Let’s sit out on the patio.” He needed fake fresh air and a fake night sky for this conversation.
Once they were seated, he turned to face Liane. “Have you heard of the Hochdorf burial in Germany?”
Her eyes widened. “Of course. Why?”
“Do you remember hearing how it was ransacked and the items disappeared?”
She nodded, her gaze turning wary. She was a mind reader herself at times, although he doubted she was aware of it.
“One of the daggers has supposedly turned up above ground in what used to be Tennessee.” He recapped Dominic’s conversation, leaving out the part for now about how he wanted to go and find it.
“How do you know this man actually has it?” Her tone of voice left no doubt she already suspected he’d asked.
“I contacted him. He sent me proof it’s there with him.”
“Why does he live above ground?”
“He’s an ex-Storm Trooper who retired two years ago. He lives in a shelter he built himself that includes an underground bunker.”
She nodded slowly. “So you believe him.”
“Yes. We have his name and background in our files.” Technically, each of them employed several teams of Storm Troopers, so no one would be able to fake that kind of a past.
She stared at him for a long time, and Emmett was afraid he’d pushed it too far. “You want to go and get it, don’t you?”
“For you. I want to retrieve it for you. It’s so damn rare, Liane. Think about it. You told me this was exactly the kind of item you’d go above ground for.”
“I know what I said.”
“I’ve done this dozens of times, baby. I know what I’m doing.”
“I know that, too.”
He reached over and pulled her onto his lap. “Liane, it’s so damn close! I can travel to the north side of SouthEast and access the surface there. It’s the closest viaduct to George’s place. The trip above ground won’t take more than a day, tops.”
She said nothing, and he couldn’t interpret her expression.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve made trips that have taken me away for months.”
<
br /> “You probably will be fine, but can you even try to imagine what it will be like for me while you’re gone, even for such a short time?”
“Yes. Yes, I can. You’re afraid you’ll lose me just like you lost Keith and Molly. Just like you lost your entire family.”
She looked at him with so much pain on her face that he nearly decided the hell with it. He’d send a team out to get the damn thing.
“I can’t lose you, Emmett. I love you.”
He blinked a few times. Had he heard her correctly?
“Did you hear what I said? I’m in love with you. I can’t lose you, too. I can’t do it.”
He wiped the tears that fell from her face. “You won’t, baby. You won’t. I love you, too. Oh, Liane … I never thought this would happen for me. Never. But it has, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I am fucking head over heels crazy about you.”
Her breath came out in a loud gasp, and then she wrapped her arms around him and held him so tightly it was actually painful. They stayed that way for long moments, and then Emmett kissed her. He tangled his fingers in her hair, and then strayed down to her dress. She hadn’t worn a bra, so he simply slipped his hand inside and fondled her full breast.
She sighed into his open mouth and moved so he could reach the other one, too. How could he help but love this extraordinary woman? Emmett had no clue if they could be seen this high up, and right now he didn’t give a shit. He released her mouth and laid her on the wicker sofa so he could open her dress and suck those incredible tits.
Liane writhed and moaned under his touch. He’d never get enough of her. Never. He had her dress off within minutes, and then she reached up to take his dick out of his pants. “Fuck me, Emmett. Right here outside. Just take me. I need you. I need so badly right now.”
He groaned loudly. What man in his right mind could say no to that? Emmett sank his cock into her waiting wetness and pounded into her like he might never do it again. She cried out loudly as her pussy contracted around his dick, and it was all he could do to hold on until she finished.