by Ciara Cole
The trip was more about rest and relaxation, but that didn’t leave out some adventure. Just the day before, they’d enjoyed soaking up the sun and surfing on the beach. Emily had loved her first ever go at paddle boarding with Chace as a patient instructor. Getting a vantage view of sea and sky had made Emily feel like they were worlds away, not just an hour or two from home.
Today they went on a guided hike, stopping at a variety of nature viewing spots. Dressed in comfortable athletic clothing, it was easy to move around the coastal sage and spot birds that were unique to the locale. They took loads of photos and this was just one more happy memory for the collection of unforgettable moments Emily wanted to keep in her heart.
Something told her it wasn’t just the fact that they were at this ultra exclusive resort. She knew it would be just as special no matter where they’d chosen to visit. Their friendship and contentment would prevail even without the huge price tag, thought Emily firmly.
She never wanted to imagine any of this slipping away.
“We’ll just catch the sunset and then we can make it back for the seafood buffet,” Chace suggested. They all thought it was a good idea, and much later they met up again, this time at the said venue of the famed restaurant.
The interior was open-air and done in a warm, natural earth tone to give an instant feel of welcoming comfort. They chose an indoor terrace where the windows afforded a stunning coastal view. For a high end resort buffet, it really gave off a highly personal, homey vibe. It looks like this will be one of the best food experiences of my life, thought Emily enthusiastically.
The vast array of fresh, delicious seafood available truly surpassed Emily’s expectations. Just as fabulous was getting to enjoy the wines, cocktails, and beer that went so well with the dishes.
Emily tried as many delicacies as she could, from the hot seafood appetizers, to some very tasty varieties of oyster, crab and sushi. She was glad to see the restaurant did well with desserts, too. It was a smorgasbord of the senses in more ways than one, and the others whole heartedly agreed.
Emily told Chace how glad she was they’d picked the restaurant. Eating out frequently sometimes made everything start to taste the same. For the first time in a while, Emily enjoyed a meal that was indeed a culinary pinnacle, every bite a delightful discovery in flavor.
Hours later as they walked out of the restaurant, Emily’s phone rang and she wondered who it could be. Most of those close to her knew she was away on holiday. As she fished into her purse for her phone, she moved slightly to the side to take the call without disturbing the others.
They were on the side of the road just outside the restaurant, and the occasional car drove past. Emily unearthed her cell phone and stared down at the unfamiliar number. She slowly answered the call, feeling a suddenly jab of foreboding. “Hello?”
There was no reply at the other end, and she was so distracted she didn’t even notice the motorcycle that came roaring down the road.
Chace was just yards away, talking to Zane, but then he noted the horrified look on Ciara’s face as she stared beyond his shoulder. Glancing around in alarm, he was just in time to see the bike speeding up from Emily’s side of the road. Even though it was night, Emily was under the streetlight, so the rider definitely was able to see her standing there.
Much later, Chace would remember shouting to Emily to look out. There seemed hardly any time to react with the bike just meters away from her.
Chace didn’t even think first and simply moved. The sound of the bike’s roaring engine echoed loudly in his ears as in a flash, he jumped to grab Emily and spin her out of the way. The sudden move had them toppling, Chace holding on tightly to Emily as they began to roll off the bumpy terrain which inclined down the side of the road.
He almost didn’t feel the pain of the rough landing when their fall was finally broken as they slammed against a tree trunk. In the distance, he could hear Zane and Ciara calling out for them, but it was the last thing he could register before he blacked out.
Chapter 10
Chace wasn’t sure how happy he was to see Jan when she rushed into the hospital as if a storm was after her.
He was seriously regretting his decision to call her, but he hadn’t known who else he could count on. The last thing he wanted was the incident getting blown out of proportion. While the police carried out their investigations, he needed as little publicity as possible.
“Oh my God,” Jan gasped in horror as she lifted a hand to Chace’s face. “Are you okay?”
“Just a few bruises – nothing broken,” he said. “Thank you for coming all the way out here, Jan.”
“It’s a good thing I hadn’t yet returned to New York after the deal was finalized. I’m glad I could get here so quickly. Especially since I know you didn’t want your parents worrying unnecessarily. But they have to know how Emily got you in danger,” Jan raved.
Chace sighed, shoving a hand through his hair and then wincing as his muscles stretched painfully. He really needed to be resting, but couldn’t. He was just glad Emily was okay and that was the most important thing right now.
“Don’t let’s go overboard, Jan.”
“But you said it yourself. When you phoned, you told me there was an accident and you were the one that got Emily out of harm’s way. Where is she, if I may ask?” Jan’s tone was biting.
“She’s sedated right now,” Chace replied, feeling glad that Ciara and Zane were there with her.
“How come she gets to rest while you look a wreck?” Jan fumed. “How long are you going to let her problems become a menace to your safety?”
“What are you talking about now?”
“The reason the police are involved was because this wasn’t just an accident, was it?” asked Jan. “I mean, if someone tried to run Emily down, there’s only one possibility. This has to be her ex getting back at her.”
“It’s not,” Chace said, his tone already weary. “It could be totally random.”
“How can you be so sure?” Jan sighed angrily. “The wedding has to be postponed indefinitely. We have to get to the bottom of this and find out who that bike rider was that ran you down and then escaped. That’s the only way we can be sure you’re in no real danger for getting mixed up with Emily.”
Chace had already turned away impatiently, but slowly faced Jan again, his gaze narrowing in suspicion.
“What?” Jan asked warily, pausing in her tirade.
“How did you know it was a bike rider that ran us down? I never told you that.”
“Yes you did,” Jan said. Her eyes darted as she chewed on her bottom lip.
“No, I didn’t.” Chace’s gaze hardened along with his tone. “I only told you there was an accident when someone tried to run us over. I never mentioned what kind of vehicle. Only the police know the details, along with Ciara and Zane. And I’m the only one you’ve spoken to about it, so how did you know?”
Jan shifted uncomfortably on her feet before shrugging. “I’m not sure. Maybe I just took a guess. I mean, it couldn’t have been a car, right, or the injuries would have been more severe. So I must have simply assumed…”
“Don’t lie to me,” Chace gritted, suddenly grabbing Jan’s shoulders. His eyes bore down into hers. “I’ve never really known what you’re capable of, but if I find out you’re in any way behind this…”
“How can you even think that?” Jan angrily shrugged off Chace’s grip. “You always paint me in a bad light. Just because a year ago I was dumb enough to confess my feelings, you’ve treated me like an outcast. The only time I’m relevant is when it has to do with business or you need my help with something. That’s why you called me here, isn’t it? Ever efficient Jan reporting for duty.”
“That was my mistake – thinking you were someone to rely on, but I see now that I should never have trusted you,” Chace gritted.
Jan’s face suddenly crumbled. “It’s Emily you shouldn’t trust. She just had to show up out of nowhere and ruin everyth
ing. Now she even got you mixed up in her shady past. You almost got killed because of her and you would still rather think the worst of me.”
Chace was staring at her and shaking his head. “Look, I’m sorry. For whatever it is you think I did wrong. After that night a year ago…I wanted to cut all ties, but it seemed like I’d be going too far. And then, of course, with us being so closely connected due to family and business… Well, now I’m afraid I may have to take that road.”
“You mean…we won’t be business partners anymore?”
Chace steeled himself against her shattered look. “Jan, I won’t deny you’ve been indispensable as a partner. But let’s face it, almost every woman I’ve been with felt threatened by you. This has been the case for a couple of years, but I never put much stock into it until you told me your feelings. Even then, I made it clear I didn’t feel the same and believed that was the end of it. I see now I was wrong.”
“Chace…” Jan reached out a hand to him but he backed away.
“I have to be getting back to the ward. Emily will be awake soon. In a few hours, I have to make it to the police station to give a proper report. I suggest you go back to New York and wrap things up in the business end of things.”
“What about my heart?” whispered Jan, eyes downcast. “How am I going to wrap that up, when you’ve hurt me so much already? Do you know the extremes you’ve pushed me to? How I even…” She suddenly broke off, giving a shake of her head.
“If you really want to go ahead with marrying Emily, I guess I can’t do anything more to stop you. I just hope it’s a move you don’t regret in future.”
“I’ll never regret being with Emily,” Chace said, staring long and hard at Jan until her pale cheeks flushed with emotion. “Being with her is more than an unhealthy obsession. I really do care for her in ways you can’t even understand. And I’ll never forgive anyone who tries to hurt her or deliberately puts her in danger.”
He gave Jan that meaningful stare that made her look even guiltier. But she held herself together, squaring her chin. “I guess there’s nothing more to say.”
Chapter 11
Emily had been through a lot of shocks in the past few days. First was having their beautiful little holiday turn sinister when out of nowhere, that incident with the motorcyclist happened.
Emily had woken up in the hospital and had felt unspeakably relieved to see Chace unharmed sitting next to her. Also present were Zane and Ciara and from them she was able to piece everything together.
Now they were back home, and Emily was in for another surprise when Chace’s parents arrived. They’d flown in from New York bearing gifts and looking just as relieved as Emily had felt to see that no one was dangerously hurt.
“We can’t say how sorry we are that something like that had to happen,” Laura Hammond said feelingly.
“Mom, it wasn’t your fault,” Chace began.
“If we hadn’t been so blinded by Jan, we’d have seen how unstable she really is,” his mother went on firmly, and Gerald Hammond, Chace’s father agreed solemnly.
“We were wrong, son. Trying to think we knew best, when in fact, we ended up putting you and Emily in danger.”
Emily drew in a sigh, recalling how everything had come to light.
They’d found out that hours after the incident when investigators spotted the bike ridden by the motorcyclist parked in front of a motel several miles away. By morning, the man had been apprehended and questioned. It didn’t take long to find out that someone had paid him to run Emily down. But then Chace had pulled her out of the way. Thankfully, Chace hadn’t sustained any major injuries, just some swelling and bruises to the face and back.
It had taken just two days for the man to crack, where he finally confessed that a woman had paid him to do it. He claimed he’d only been ordered to give Emily a scare and he hadn’t planned to get anyone killed or gravely hurt.
“Anything could have gone wrong that night,” said Laura Hammond. “I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if…”
She broke off and placed a hand over her mouth as her husband gave her back a comforting rub. “It’s okay, sweetheart. There’s no way anyone could have guessed the truth. Now that the biker has identified Jan as the woman who’d hired him, we’ll leave it to the law.”
Chace looked furious, his hands fisted at his sides as he bit down a curse. “Once she knew we were on her tail, she fled the country. I know her parents are your close friends, but…”
Gerald Hammond was shaking his head firmly. “They’re just as horrified by what she did as we are. The fact that she felt spurned by you or jealous of what you had with Emily is no just cause for endangering you both in such a way. We shudder to think what could have happened if you hadn’t rescued her.”
They turned to Emily and it moved her to see their sincere remorse. “We’re really glad you’re okay, Emily. Seeing how worried Chace has been shows us how much he values you and we’d never stand in the way of our son’s happiness.”
Emily looked down at her clasped hands. “I’d never have forgiven myself, either, if anything happened to Chace while trying to save me. He took the worst of the fall, and I’m so glad there were no broken bones or lasting damage. There’s just so much to be grateful for.”
“We agree. And we’re glad our son has you in his life,” Laura Hammond said, her eyes shining. “His father and I truly believe you’ll both be perfectly happy together.”
Emily gasped inwardly, before her eyes flew up to Chace and saw his smile. He, too, seemed to share her thoughts as for the first time his parents truly voiced their approval.
It felt like a shining light at the end of a tunnel. Emily had been downcast after the incident and from realizing how far Jan had been ready to go just to get Emily out of the way or at least, delay the wedding.
Much later when his parents were gone and Chace drew Emily close for a warm embrace, she couldn’t help voicing her thoughts. “I couldn’t help but be curious…you seemed so sure it wasn’t Devan behind it all.”
“You didn’t think he was, either, did you?” Chace asked, and Emily shook her head as she looked up at him. “Well, the truth is that Devan and I got to meet.”
“What?” gasped Emily, as she drew back slightly to gape at him. “When?”
“Soon after he pulled that crazy stunt with you,” he growled. “He extorted a whole lot of money from my fiancée and I wasn’t going to let that slide. So I found him and made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”
Why does this suddenly feel like déjà vu, wondered Emily? Her mind went back to some months ago with the problem of that stalking reporter that Chace had helped Emily “deal” with. Now she couldn’t hold back a smile as he filled her in about Devan.
First of all, Chace tracked Devan down at one of his hangouts. When Chace appeared, Devan had looked appalled. “He actually seemed terrified as if I’d come to hurt him or something. It was later he admitted you’d practically threatened him with a broken bottle.”
Emily stifled a groan of embarrassment as she covered her face. Chace chuckled, dragging her hand down. “That makes me sound so ‘hood.’ I was just trying to scare him into telling me the truth,” she confessed, cheeks still warm with mortification.
“Obviously it worked, so you got the message across,” Chace said humorously. “I had to use other and just as effective means. When I showed up, I had some papers ready for him to sign.”
“I don’t understand,” Emily said in confusion. “What papers?”
“Oh, it was just a simple arrangement which ensured that if Devan wanted to stay out of jail, he had to agree to my terms. I simply requested that over the next few months, he’d see to paying back every cent he took from you. With the proof provided in the files Jan compiled, as well as my own investigations, I had enough to put him behind bars for a very long time. All he had to do was go along with everything I’d set out – which included him getting help for his gambling problem, as well as
finding an actual job while he repaid the part of your money he hadn’t already spent. The agreement also had a restraining order to keep him from contacting you or being even in the same area code.”
“What? Oh, Chace!” Emily looked aghast while still giggling with mirth.
“Maybe that sounds a little overboard, but the fact is: unless he wants to spend time behind bars, he’ll never dream of coming anywhere near you again. He was only too happy to leave town to put my mind at ease, knowing full well I’m going to keep my eye on him from now on.”
“You’d go through all that trouble, just for me?” Emily sighed, amazed yet brimming with joy. She thought of Chace putting himself in harm’s way as he’d saved her from the speeding bike when she couldn’t save herself. His fast thinking had prevented her from being run over. Even though the rider had claimed he wasn’t planning to hurt her, it sure had looked as if she could have been in serious danger if Chace hadn’t hauled her out of the way.
“I promised to keep you safe,” Chace said in her hair as he drew her close again to rest her back against his chest.
“I know,” whispered Emily. “Thank you.”
She felt she could never thank him enough. Never had emotions felt so deep and pure. Growing up with a foster family, Emily had felt blessed to feel the warmth of a real home with caring foster parents and their kids. Emily had never been made to feel different. She’d never even known her real parents and her new family had even given her their surname, adopting her into the family.
As Emily Cortes, she’d known so much love and it hadn’t mattered that in a Mexican family she stood out as African-American. They’d felt like her real parents, brothers, sisters. Even now, they shared a special bond. She knew they’d be at her wedding because she’d taken care to invite them and had even taken Chace to meet them. They’d been so happy for her and had wished her the best in everything.