Chapter 34
Emerson
I knew that someone was sitting on my bed. I knew that it wasn't Ace. It didn't surprise me when I opened my eyes to find that it was Ruby. I thought I'd recognized her light scent, and I was so thankful that she was there. I thought that I'd dreamt hearing Ace tell someone on the phone to bring an old lady with him.
I thought I'd dreamt that Ace had rescued me. I knew that he was still at my apartment, and that others were, too. Their murmurs had been a constant but welcomed buzz in my unconscious fog, eventually pulling me out and back to the living. I don't know how long I stared up at Ruby before she noticed that I was awake. Her smile was instant and reassuring.
"You okay now, honey?" I nodded. "What happened, Emerson? Who attacked you?"
"A monster," I whispered, meaning it. Images from the video that my father had made me watch flashed behind my eyes. Seeing him kill Sophie, and knowing that he'd probably done something similar to Gracie, would haunt me for the rest of my life. Bile rose in my throat, but I forced it back down.
"Ace, Tanner, and the others are here to help you, but they need to know what's going on." She took my hand. "Our men are tough bad asses, honey, and they won't stop until you're safe."
I knew that Ruby was right. I couldn't expect Ace and the others to help me if I wasn't honest with them. After what my father had pulled, it was clear that I wasn't safe. His sudden appearances lately had been meant to taunt me, to flaunt the fact that he was free and could do anything that he wanted to me. He had apparently escaped my apartment and could be anywhere now, just waiting for another chance. He’d said that he wasn't going to kill me, but he could do so much worse by killing the people I cared about.
It was time.
Reading my expression, Ruby asked, "Do you want me to get the boys?"
"No!" I rushed out in panic. "I-I'll never get this out with them, with Ace, in here. It's too, degrading. I…" I paused to take a calming breath. "I couldn't bear to see him look at me differently."
"Oh, Emerson, that's the least of your worries. No matter what you say, that man's all in with you. He's claimed you as his woman, honey, and that's huge. There isn't anything you can confess that will cause him to look at you as anything other than the woman he wants in his life."
After the way Ace and I had parted earlier, I was skeptical about that.
"He raped me."
The silence that followed was abrupt and piercing, defining a moment that neither one of us had expected. I hadn't planned on blurting it out like that, and I was certain that Ruby hadn't anticipated such a raw and explicit confession. I could see the shock spreading across her face, her eyes brightening with emotion. I glanced away, afraid that the first tear that fell would release the torrent I was holding back. A slight sound at the doorway caused me to raise my head to look in that direction, but no one was there.
"Oh, honey." I hated the pity that I heard in her tone.
"It was a long time ago," I continued before she could say anything else. "I know the man who attacked me tonight. I've known him all my life. He's a child rapist that I helped put in prison." I wondered if I wouldn't need to expose the shameful truth of who he was.
"You were a child?" She was taken aback.
I hesitated before finally nodding. "I had just turned fourteen, and I wasn't his only victim. His preference was young teenage girls. I don't know how many rapes he got away with before he turned to me, but my cousins and I are the ones whose testimony sent him to prison for twenty years. He just got out."
"They should have locked the door and thrown away the key," Ruby said with disgust. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that."
I was, too, but I couldn't voice it.
"So this man is here for revenge?"
"Looks that way."
"What's his name? I can let Tanner know so they can track him down."
I froze. If I told them his name it would just be a matter of time before they discovered our connection. God, I just wanted the whole thing to go away. Ruby rose to her feet and I climbed out of bed, panic beginning to set in. I felt my heart begin to race. "I need a shower, I-I've got to brush my teeth."
"But—"
I ignored the perplexed look on Ruby's face. "I-I can't right now!" I rushed out as I dashed in front of her to leave the room. I knew deep down that I was only prolonging the inevitable. Sooner or later the truth would come out, and Ace would know my disgrace. I couldn't help the overwhelming need that I had to keep everything inside. I'd spent the last few years keeping it bottled up, and pretending that it never happened.
When I exited my bedroom, all eyes suddenly shifted in my direction and all conversation came to a dead stop. I made the mistake of meeting Ace's eyes, nearly crumbling at the look of torment burning in them. Oh, God, somehow he knew! But how? The light sound that I'd heard in the doorway earlier, had he been in the room while I was telling Ruby that I'd been raped?
God, what must he be thinking? I felt sick. I didn't want him to misunderstand and think that the rape had occurred tonight, but I couldn't bring myself to speak the truth. Ruby was right behind me, I could feel her presence, and I continued to the bathroom. Thankfully no one tried to stop me.
I closed the door behind me and leaned against it, feeling like a coward. This wasn't me. I was a strong, independent woman. Years of therapy and positive life experiences had shaped me into someone that that monster had been unable to take away from me. But in one night, it appeared that he was doing exactly that now, and who could blame me after what I'd seen on that video? Who could watch something like that and remain unaffected?
I stripped and jumped into the shower, turning the water on as hot as I could stand it. I scrubbed my body and washed my hair, staying there until the water began to cool. Then I dried off, brushed my teeth, and donned the robe that hung on the back of my door. I left my hair wet and loose and took a deep breath before opening the door. I was determined to leave the bathroom a more composed woman than when I'd entered.
"Emerson's name didn't pull up anything significant, brother." I recognized Sully's voice, heard the frustration in his tone.
"Then who the fuck is this guy?" Ace snarled.
I knew that it was time. I couldn't get the image of Sophie out of my head, and my father needed to be stopped. He needed to pay. I wasn't going to spend the rest of my life worried that I was going to see him around every corner, or that he was going to show up somewhere unexpectedly and hurt someone else that I cared about.
"His name is Morgan Hook." I took a deep breath, ready to deal with whatever came my way when I followed up with a reluctant, "And he's my father. The reason you didn't find out anything with my name is that I changed it years ago."
The silence was palpable. The eyes turned my way filled with stunned shock, disbelief, and finally, rage. Ruby gasped, covering her mouth with her hand as tears filled her eyes when she realized the full scope of what I'd just confessed. None of their reactions mattered, though, except for Ace's. His was the most important to me. I didn't have to wait long for it.
"I'm going to fucking gut him," he growled through clenched teeth, crushing me into his arms. I immediately felt safe and protected, loved, if I didn't already know better. I buried my face against his chest and savored the warmth of his body against mine, relief swamping my emotions. "Why, baby, why didn't you tell us sooner? Where the fuck has this pervert been?"
"Ace—" There was caution in Ruby's soft tone.
"No, it's okay," I responded, turning my head so that I could look at everyone. "I need to get this out." There was no turning back now. "He's been in prison for the last twenty years. My cousins—" My voice broke.
"The woman on the video?" Tanner asked.
I nodded, watching his mouth tighten. "Sophie and Gracie. We turned him in." I wondered if Ace was aware that his hand was smoothing down the back of my hair. His touch was comforting. The feel of his heartbeat against my cheek and the fact that he hadn't rejected me was the fuel that I needed to continue. "I don't know how much Ruby told you…"
"Nothing, honey, it's your story to tell."
I felt immediate relief that she hadn't said anything while I was in the bathroom. It showed that I could trust her. She had no idea how much that meant to me. I locked eyes with Ace.
"Trust, baby girl." There was an emotion in his eyes that I couldn't identify. Hurt? Tears burned my eyes, because I knew what he wasn't saying. I'd trusted Ruby with my secrets, but not him. Surely he could understand why? He surprised me by touching his nose to mine. "We'll get through this." In spite of his reassurance a tear slipped down my cheek, because he was the last person that I wanted to hurt.
"How much of the video did you see?" Tanner questioned.
Why would he ask me that? I stared at him with growing unease. "I saw what he did to Sophie," I admitted reluctantly. I looked back at Ace in time to see him give a sharp shake of his head. The warning glare that he directed at Tanner frightened me. I caught my breath. "God, Gracie…" The ensuing silence sent up warning flags inside of me. "What?"
He ignored me.
"Emerson." Tanner's voice pulled my gaze back to him. "Some of the shit that he said on the video led us to believe that he raped your cousins?" It took effort to hold on to his gaze and not look up at Ace, but I held my breath, and nodded. "When they were young girls?"
This time I couldn't resist bringing my eyes back to Ace’s. I drew strength from what I saw in his. "Yes." It was barely a whisper. "He raped me, too, when I was fourteen." My heart sank as I watched the transformation come over his face.
He pulled away from me with a savage snarl, turning and slamming his fist into a cupboard door. It splintered beneath his powerful hit. "Son of a bitch! I'm going to fucking skin him alive!" He punched the door a second time before ripping it completely off the hinges and slinging it halfway across the room.
I flinched at his wrath. Deep down I knew that it wasn't directed at me, but I felt responsible for it. His hands fisted, his breathing turned ragged. I couldn't take my eyes off of the rugged beauty of his dark and twisted expression. He wanted to hurt someone, stomping back and forth in my small kitchen like a lion in a cage that was too small. When it appeared that he might take out another cabinet door, Tanner stepped forward and put a hand on his arm.
"Brother." His warning growl brought Ace to a halt. Their eyes locked with fierce intensity. "Calm your shit down." When he felt confident that Ace was under control, he turned to me.
"He didn't rape me tonight," I said, more for Ace's benefit than for anyone else’s. I needed him to know that in case he'd overheard me telling Ruby. "My father only likes young girls."
His scowl imploded and he came to me, sliding his hand around the back of my neck and pulling me against him. "None of this is your fucking fault, do you hear me? None of this. He'll never hurt you again, Emerson. I swear."
I believed him. "He needs to be stopped, Ace, he's not going to stop with Gracie and Sophie."
"Found the motel!" Sully nearly shouted, drawing everyone's attention. "He's at the Sandcastle."
"Baby--" Tanner addressed his wife. "I want you and Emerson to go back to the house. Mike will go with you."
"Okay."
"But—"
Ace pulled my head back by my hair, but it was a gentle tug. "Go with her, baby girl. I'll come for you when we're done."
When he was done killing my father. I didn't want to think about what he was going to do for me. It was illegal, but it needed to be done. I hated my father. I had hated him since he'd stolen my innocence with drunken indifference. I'd had nightmares for years, and had never truly stopped being afraid of him. Now that he was free, I would never find peace, but more importantly, he needed to pay for killing Sophie and Gracie.
So I went with Ruby.
To wait for the man that I loved to come back to me.