CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Kanye

Emmy is in my arms, her body shaking from her sobs. My girl. I’m so sorry. She’s already been through so much. I wish she didn’t have to go through this as well, but there was nothing else I could do.

“Baby, please stop, it’s okay. I’m okay,” I whisper into her ear.

She gazes up at me. My breath gets stolen as her agonized face and bloodshot eyes stare at me with awe. As if every word I speak is a miracle. I understand how she feels. It’s exactly how I felt when we found her at Marco’s house. The fear that at any minute you could wake up and realize this is all a dream.

“I’m so sorry you had to go through that, Emmy,” I state gently.

She straightens her body and wipes the tears away from her face. In the process, she gets some of my blood on her face. I reach up and wipe it away and she looks to my hand and then to my leg.

“Oh, my God.” Emily’s voice is high pitched and panicked.

“It's okay. The bullet went clean, straight through, and I have a bandage on to stop the bleeding. This is just what I lost straight after I was shot.”

Emmy regards me with wild eyes, scanning the rest of my body.

“I don’t understand. I heard... I heard another shot. You stopped screaming and then the man...” Em stops and swallows hard. “The man said it was done.” Her voice is achingly sad and her beautiful brown eyes show confusion.

“He did shoot me twice. Once in the leg another one in the chest. But the guys and I put on vests before we went in. You know Jake, he has this stuff as toys in the back of his car. When I realized he wasn’t going to stop until I was dead, I decided to play dead. He bought it and left. Straight after, I heard gunshots. I got to my feet, made it out and found three dead bodies with Jake and Joseph standing over them.”

Emily touches my chest, pushing up against my now vest-free abs. I wince and she pulls away instantly.

“No, no, it’s okay, just a bruise where the bullet hit the vest that’s all.”

Her body visibly relaxes then she jumps up, her arms going around my neck and her mouth on mine. Hard and possessive. The kiss is wild, desperate, and so fucking hot. That’s my girl.

“Shit.”

At hearing Alexa curse, Emily and I both pull back at the same time and look to Alexa. Then come the thundering footsteps in the house. Joseph runs into the room. He looks around wildly and then pins Alexa with his eyes.

A deep growl emanates from his chest and he takes purposeful strides toward Alexa.

“Give me that goddamn mouth, Lexie.”

Alexa looks like she’s about to fall on her ass, but Joseph picks her up and Alexa wastes no time jumping into his arms and their mouths come together in a fierce, brutal kiss.

I sense Emmy turn her face to me and I gaze down into my girl’s face. She gives me a small smile.

“Holy fuck,” Joseph says and then places Alexa back on her feet. We watch as his body visibly relaxes. “Thank God, you’re okay Lexie, but Christ, you are in so much fucking trouble. We have a lot to talk about.” Alexa nods, agreeing with Joseph.

Jake comes bursting into the room, finds Emmy quickly, and takes quick steps to her. He picks her up and gives her a big hug.

“Em, fuck. Thank God.” Jake’s voice is strangled as he holds his sister tightly.

He glares at me with murder in his eyes, sweat dripping down his face. I grin because I know what he’s about to say.

He points to me and says, “I’m going to kick your ass later for driving off and leaving me and Joseph behind. Do you know how far of a run that was?” he shouts at me over the top of Emily’s head.

Groaning in the room suddenly gets all our attention and everyone shifts their heads to the bleeding motherfucker tied to the chair.

“Oh, I forgot he was still here,” Emmy states.

I pull Emmy from Jake and inform her, “Time to go, baby. I’ll deal with that piece of shit. You and Alexa are leaving now.”

At that moment, we all hear sirens in the distance. All of us guys look at each other, knowing we don’t have long to get this done.

“Jake, take the girls to the airstrip through the trees. Tell them you were hiding until help came. Tell Smith we found the girls and there was a shootout. I was shot and Joseph has taken me to the hospital.”

“Emmy, when the police question you, tell them the three dead guys at the airstrip were the men who kidnapped you. Tell the police they took you to the airstrip and held you there until we arrived to save you. Tell them what I just told Jake and that’s it. Don’t mention Donovan. Smith is going to ask you if he was here. Tell him no. Do you understand Emily?”

Emmy nods, agreeing quickly. I see the determination in her face and the fight in her eyes.

“Joseph and I will take the cars when we’re done here. Go.”

Everyone starts moving. Joseph whispers something to Alexa. She nods and moves out of the room with Jake behind her. Emmy gives me a hard, closed-mouth kiss and then she’s out the door following Jake.

Joseph and I look to each other. Joseph’s smiling. It’s a scary as shit evil grin. I don’t smile, frown, or have any emotions about this moment. I just want this to be over with, once and for all so Emmy and I can finally move on. Knowing this man will cease to exist in the next few seconds, gives me all the peace I need.

Joseph and I move forward and stand in front of the motherfucker.

Donovan groans and then focuses on us standing over him. His eyes widen and he says his last words on this earth, “Oh, fuck.”