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“I feel shaky, but I’d like to go downstairs.”I stood, sliding my arms under her legs, picking her up. “I’ll take you.”She trembled in my arms, her head falling to my shoulder. “Are you cold?”“No. I’m . . . tired.”“You can eat, and we’ll go to bed. We all will. Everyone needs to sleep.”“Can I stay with you?”I hated hearing her sound vulnerable. She was always so strong.“Always.”We descended the stairs and joined our friends. I sat beside her, encouraging her to eat the scrambled eggs and toast Andrew had made. The rest of us ate the sandwiches. For the first time since everything started, I was hungry and wolfed down the food in front of me. I noticed it was the same for Maddox and Aiden. We cleared the enormous pile in minutes.I tensed when Cami looked up and asked Emmy. “Did you fight?”I started to object, but Emmy placed her hand on my arm. “I tried.” She sighed. “When I realized what was going on, I prepared myself. I knew the car would stop and they would have to open t
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BentleyEmmy cried out, her hand flailing, pushing herself into me. I cupped the back of her head, whispering soothing words into her ear.“It’s okay, Freddy. I got you. You’re safe.”She calmed, and gradually her body relaxed back into the sleep she so desperately needed. Despite the exhaustion she felt, and the pill she had taken, her mind wasn’t letting her rest. I had hoped she would sleep, knowing she was safe, but nightmares had plagued her, no matter what I tried. I left the light on, I held her close, I murmured her name, but still, she only slept for short periods before the fear gripped her and she started crying.Every time it did, my anger toward Greg grew a little more. When her hand reached out, and the bruise on her wrist caught my eye, the need for retribution became sharper. Still, I kept my voice soft and tried not to show my emotions when her eyes fluttered open, scared and anxious. I met her gaze; assuring her everything was okay and lulled her back into sleep.At
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“He’s waiting for you.”Aiden scoffed, the sound low in his throat. “I bet the asshole is,” he muttered, following me into Greg’s office.Greg was at his desk, his usual self. Not a hair out of place, suit pressed, white shirt starched, and tie perfectly knotted. His face was clear, with no worry lines or frown. For the first time, I noticed his eyes. Emmy’s brown eyes were warm and lit from within, whereas his were flat, dark, cold—void of expression. How had I not noticed that until now?He wasn’t even remotely concerned about the woman he thought was still chained up in a deserted warehouse. He’d lost no sleep over her welfare. All he cared about was the piece of land he was so desperate to get his hands on. I wanted to grab the tie and tighten it around his neck until he couldn’t breathe, but Aiden’s presence kept me calm.“Ah, Bentley. You’re later than I expected.”I sat across from him, and Aiden stood close.I had to force the words out of my throat. “Rough night. Late start.
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Greg sneered, focusing his attention on me. “You never listened to me. You always put their opinions first. What Aiden thought, how Maddox felt. No matter how many times I showed you how valuable I was to you—I was just the fucking lawyer—the joke. I was so damn sick of it. It was fun to watch you squirm when you lost those pieces of land. I simply planned to sell them on to you and make a tidy profit. Seeing how indignant you were . . .” He laughed, the sound cruel. “I enjoyed it and decided to screw you over completely. I was going to buy the land and make you pay through the fucking nose for it. At least I’d get a piece of your company monetarily.”I stared at him, feeling ill. How had I not seen what he was doing? The kind of man he really was under his expensive attire?He waved his hand in anger. “Then your stupid, precious Emmy, a woman you barely know, suggests an inane notion about some ridiculous building project, and instead of telling her to mind her own business, you actu
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BentleyThere were so many voices around me. Police, paramedics, Aiden—all of them talking, gesturing, the movement constant. My head ached, my swollen hand throbbed, and I was still in shock from what happened. After Greg shot himself, his office door flew open, and it was the sound of Mrs. Johnson’s screams that brought me back to reality. Aiden had taken charge of the situation, immediately calling 911 for an ambulance, pushing her out of the office, and returning to shove me out of the way and into a chair across the room.Disoriented, I looked up at him, running a hand through my hair, then staring in confusion at the smear of blood I could see on my palm.“Bent,” he urged. “Look at me.”I met his gaze. “I need you to calm down. The police are on their way up, and there is going to be a lot of questions we are going to have to answer. I need you to relax.”It took me a minute to realize the odd noise I could hear was my gasps for air. Images swam through my head. Greg holding the
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“Okay.”I brushed a kiss across her cheek. “Okay.”I dressed and went downstairs, once I made sure Emmy headed to the sunroom. Maddox and Aiden were waiting for me in my den, and I sat down with a sigh.Maddox studied my face, looking concerned. “You okay, Bent?”“As okay as I can be after watching a man shoot himself in front of me.”He frowned. “You know it wasn’t your fault, right?”I stroked my chin, thinking out loud. “I keep telling myself it isn’t, but part of me says I am responsible. I should have seen it. Looked closer. Done more.”“What do you think you could have done?” Aiden questioned. “None of us saw Greg’s true colors. He hid everything. His hatred for us. His distaste for everything we did. All of us—yet, none of us even suspected as much. He was simply looking for someone to blame, Bent. You ended up being his scapegoat.”I leaned forward, clasping my hands between my knees, hoping they wouldn’t notice the slight tremor that had been there since it happened. A tick I
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“He deserved them. Especially after he stepped up on the Townsview building. It was his contacts that got us the ‘in’ we needed.”“For which you paid him handsomely, added in a bonus, and sent him on a cruise with his second wife. Now read the bottom line of that email.”“I offered him a spot in the company—again.”“You offered him a spot three times over the course of the past six years. You even offered him his own department. He had free rein.”“That’s not what he wanted. He wanted a partnership.”Aiden barked out a laugh. “Bentley, how bad is your freaking memory? You have never simply offered a partnership—to anyone. You hired Maddox and me. You didn’t make us a partner for over a year. You bloody well know you would have done the same with Greg. He turned down your offers. All of them.”Maddox added in his thoughts. “You did try, Bent. You invited him on several trips. The one he agreed to go on was a disaster, and he was the one who told you not to bother with another invite.”
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I held her tight, momentarily silent, unpleasant thoughts rampant in my head. She could so easily have been taken from me forever. Left alone and chained in that room to die. If we hadn’t figured it out, if something had happened, and Greg realized she knew. I shuddered when I realized if he were prepared to kill himself, killing an innocent woman wouldn’t have been an issue either. He had hurt her, though, and she was suffering from the after-effects, much the same way I was.“Tell me.”“I feel frightened. I’m too scared to be alone and in the dark. I’m terrified at the thought of going out tomorrow. I have never felt like this—even after Jack left.”“I think it’s normal after what you went through.” I pressed a kiss to her head. “I’m sorry he did that to you. Above all else, I hate him the most for doing that.”She nodded, not answering.“Colin gave me the name of a therapist. Maybe it’s something we need to explore.” I huffed out a sigh. “I think perhaps I need some help, too. Aide
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