Freed by You (29 page)

“Is there anyone inside, sir?” one of the firemen asked as he approached.

“No. At least not that I’m aware of,” Julian replied in his usual sure voice, his eyes revealing nothing of his lie.

As soon as the ambulance came to a stop Julian marched me straight to it.

“She’s had a nasty bang to the head,” he explained to the paramedic, not even allowing him the opportunity to vacate the ambulance before his approach, “she needs seeing to, straight away.”

I winced each time a square of wool wiped around my wound before they insisted on repeatedly stretching and squashing the thin gash, checking its’ deepness, apparently.

My wound was pretty much superficial; I wouldn’t need stitches, just a couple of butterfly strips to hold the parted skin together as it healed. Apparently, head wounds always bled much more than any other part of the body, so I was assured that it looked much worse than it actually was.

Once I was all cleaned up, my eyes scanned the scene for Julian. He was on the other side of the ambulance that I had just exited, calmly talking to a police officer. I decided I had better call Samantha to check on Maia and let her know that we wouldn’t be home for a while, thus my attempt of keeping out of the limelight for as long as possible. The thought of having to lie to the police was an extremely daunting one; I had always been a terrible liar and if I slipped up, I was certain that Julian would be behind bars for a very long time. That wasn’t a welcome thought.

Shit! My phone was in my bag and my bag was now burning to smithereens inside the club.

“Julian?” I almost whispered as my nerves caused a hitch in my breath.

“Hey, baby. You okay?” His eyes traced over my plastered forehead.

“I’m fine. It’s just a small cut; they said it looked much worse than it is. How about you?”

I could see that his wound also had thin white strips across it, five, I counted, but no plaster.

“Pretty much the same.”

“Where’s your hideous plaster?” I grinned.

“That wouldn’t do much for my image now, would it?” he snorted casually.

I giggled at his usual, cocky tone, a tone I hadn’t heard for what seemed like a long time.

“Sorry to interrupt but can I borrow your phone? Mines in there and I need to call Sam.”
He handed me his phone and lightly kissed my forehead. “Don’t go anywhere,” he whispered, his warm breath breezing across my cold skin. “You’re freezing. Here.” He quickly shrugged out of his jacket and placed it around my shoulders, squeezing them reassuringly before returning his attention to the police officer.

I scrolled through his contacts and found Samantha’s name then pressed dial as I took a deep breath. What the hell was I going to tell her?

“Julian? Where the fuck are you both?” she snapped as she answered her phone. Her voice was thick with sleep.

“Sam, it’s me.”

“Emily, what’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“It’s alright; everyone’s okay but there was a fire at the club so I’m assuming we’re not going to be back for a while. I think the police want statements.”

“You’re kidding me? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Is Maia okay?”

“She’s sleeping like a baby. I haven’t heard a peep from her all night.”

“Would you mind checking on her for me?”

“Emily, there’s something you’re not telling me, what’s happened?”

“I can’t explain right now. Please can you just check on her?”

The voice on the other end of the phone disappeared and I drummed my foot impatiently against the damp tarmac. I knew she was safe, there was no way anyone could have gotten to her, but I could hear the loud thrumming of my heart and my stomach wrenched as I waited for Samantha’s voice to return.

“She’s fine, Emily. She’s flat out.”

Tears sprang to my eyes as yet another wave of relief washed over me. Everyone I loved was safe, and our one threat was no longer a threat. He was gone. I released my held breath in a long, audible sigh as I pushed the air through my pouted lips.
“Thank you, I’ll see you soon.” My voice cracked as my joyful tears escaped my eyes and rolled steadily down my cheeks. Julian’s arms were around my shaking body in an instant. I inhaled deeply and snuggled myself into his warm chest as loud sobs escaped me.

“Hey, it’s okay, baby. It’s over now.”

I was overwhelmed by emotion as I breathed in Julian’s air as it left his own lungs, somehow it smelled so sweet. I clung onto him as if my life depended on him, just as it had only moments ago. The mere thought of someone harming him absolutely crushed me and, right now, the relief that coursed through me as I held onto his chest as it rose and fell with his every breath, clutched at my heart in ways I never thought possible. I would never be able to thank him sufficiently for what he had just done for me, for saving me, For saving Maia.

“Come on, let’s get you home, you’re exhausted,” he said as his strong hands rubbed up and down the length of my upper arms. “You’re shaking. Are you okay?”

He lifted my chin with a single finger, raising my eyes to meet his.
“I will be, I just want to go home, I need you to hold me.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

“Don’t we need to stay here? What about the police?”

“They’ll come and take our statements tomorrow, there’s no way they’re getting near you tonight. Ryan will stick around here for as long as he needs to.”

“Poor Ryan! Doesn’t he have a home to go to?”

“Right now you are my only priority, Emily. Ryan’s a big boy and he gets paid a considerable wage!”

I glanced over to where Ryan stood. His arms were wrapped tightly around Natalie as her head rested against his broad chest. My eyes shot back to Julian questioningly.

He smiled warmly and nodded in response to my silent question.

“Oh, congratulations, you two!” Natalie called out as Ryan nodded once in my direction, a smile brightening his handsome face.

My cheeks heated as I smiled shyly at the couple. How had I not even noticed that they
were
a couple? I was usually quite switched on when it came to these things!

I looked down at my heavily occupied finger and my heart leapt.

“Looks good on you,” Julian grinned as he followed my gaze.

“Thank you, Julian.”

“You’re very welcome, Miss Braxton. Thank you for accepting.”

“As if I could ever say no to you,” I teased.

“I’ll remember you said that.”

He pulled my body closer to his and scooped me off my feet, cradling me against his chest as he walked in the direction of home. His home, of course, but it was slowly beginning to feel like my home –
our
home.

Coming soon...

Part two of Emily and Julian’s story.

After freeing Emily of her demons, Julian now must face his own...

A massive thank you to my husband, Jody, who has put up with my constant moods and lack of housework whilst writing
Freed by You
, not to mention enduring many lonely evenings whilst I have had my head buried in the computer!

Many thanks to my mum who has had her ear bent on countless occasions and read Freed by You chapter by chapter as I wrote it. I would never have done it without your encouragement and praise!

And, thanks to my mother-in-law, Angela, who also read
Freed by You
in the very early stages and gave me heaps of support.

You all made me believe in myself, thank you.

Finally, a big thank you to the rest of you who found the time to read my first draft and gave some great feedback.