Theirs To Claim (Predatory Desires Book 1) (42 page)

“Neither did I, Gabriel,” Emily said softly. “I never knew it was Eric, and he was in and out of my house repeatedly over the course of this. He even came in to check for listening devices the stalker might have planted. I was duped too, just as they were.”

Gabriel’s eyes roamed over her face again, searching for the strength within himself that Emily was so clearly demonstrating. God, how was he going to pull this off? Be in the same room with them, without completely losing his temper?

“I’ll be right beside you,” Emily vowed, as if she were hearing his internal dialog and reassuring him that she wouldn’t let him go that far. “Noah on one side of me and you on the other. Between the two of us, and all these other strong guys in the room, we’ll make sure you don’t lay hands on anyone.”

Emily pressed her lips together and tried diligently to suppress her laughter. She didn’t know where in the heck it was coming from, but she knew she was moments away from letting it pour fourth. Oh, what the hell, she thought. They all needed it as much as she did.

Gabriel growled her name as a warning, though he was right there with her. He watched the familiar pink spread across Emily’s skin as she lost it and began to laugh. When Noah began to chuckle too, Gabe let out a sigh of resignation. But funny thing was, once he allowed a slight crack in the anger he was holding on to, Gabriel found he felt compelled to laugh too.

“Oh, hell,” he breathed and then wrapped an arm around Emily, hauling her against his chest. “Call Hollington, Noah, and tell him yes.” Gabriel placed his cheek against her temple and kissed her gently there. “Am I always going to be outvoted by the two of you?”

“No,” Emily laughed. “You’re both going to listen and talk with me, and then we’ll work through whatever comes our way. Together.”

“That I can live with,” Gabriel murmured.

CHAPTER 42

The chime of the doorbell drew Emily’s focus from the chore of tidying the kitchen with Tara. They each paused in their respective tasks and stared at each other. Emily offered her best friend a hopeful smile and shrugged. She grimaced when her left shoulder gave an uncomfortable twinge from the motion. Tara noted the brief flash of pain in Emily’s eyes and zeroed in on it without hesitation.

“You still need your sling on, don’t you?” Tara asked.

“No, I do not,” Emily countered quickly. “I’m just fine on the outside, and I want all of you to stop hovering so much. I wouldn’t say I felt better, if I didn’t. Really, Tara, I have slight aches here and there, but nothing that should keep me down now.”

“Obviously,” she retorted dryly.

“What’s that tone for?” Emily chuckled, and looked on as Tara smirked at her.

“I wouldn’t say you were hurting too bad this morning, if your late arrival to the table was any indication.”

Emily continued to laugh lightly as she walked around the island to stand behind Tara. She wrapped her arms around her friend’s waist and dropped her chin on Tara’s shoulder.

“You know I love you more than my luggage,” Emily whispered, quoting a line from one of their favorite movies,
Steel Magnolias
.

Tara laughed loudly and nodded.

“And I’ve loved having you and the guys’ teammates here as well these last few weeks, while I really did start to heal,” Emily said more sincerely. “I know you’re all leaving us soon, but I couldn’t have done it without you, Tara. I really couldn’t have.”

“I love you too,” Tara said in an unusually hoarse voice. “And I’m just as glad that you’re here with us. Couldn’t imagine life without you, Em.”

“Well, that’s one thing you never need worry about again,” Gabriel said from the doorway. He pushed himself off of the wall where he was leaning and taking in their conversation. “Noah and I aren’t leaving her anytime soon.”

“Good. You’d better not, or you’ll answer to me, buster,” Tara huffed, glad to have their banter back in place so she could squelch her emotions firmly back inside. She hated public displays of sappy sentimentality.

“Emily, Hollington is here and he says Strauss and the others are just a few minutes out now. Come on into the den and let’s get ready for their arrival. Tara, come with us?”

“Of course,” she nodded without hesitation. “I have no problem kicking anyone’s ass if they mess with the three of you.”

“Good to know,” Gabriel chuckled. “Come on, honey,” he said to Emily as he extended a hand to her. She released her hold on Tara and let him tuck her under his arm, sheltering her as they headed out of the kitchen.

Tara took in a deep breath and tried to steel herself for this meeting. She was honestly in the guys’ court on this one. She had no real desire to be faced with local law enforcement either. But Tara knew Emily had been right to say forgiveness was needed all around, if they were to really move forward. She just wanted to be mad at them for a little while longer. Maybe one more day wouldn’t hurt, she chuckled to herself.

When they entered the den, Hollington moved forward to hug Emily and then Tara. He introduced the FBI lawyer he’d assigned to her case, an older gentleman named Piers Murdock. Emily politely shook his hand and then stepped back into the space between Gabriel and Noah without delay.

Hollington sensed her uncertainty, and immediately sought to soothe her worries away. He stepped closer and smiled.

“Emily, I asked Mr. Murdock to come down with me for a few days, for several reasons. We need to make sure you not only have me in the room when you talk with Eric’s colleagues, but also appropriate counsel. Piers won’t let you say anything that could be later held or used against you when you take the witness stand. It’s imperative that we monitor all such conversations until the trial actually takes place.”

“I understand, sir,” she nodded. “And I thank you for thinking of this. I wouldn’t have.”

“No,” he chuckled. “I would not suspect so, having no frame of reference for such cases.”

“You said Piers was here for several reasons?” Gabriel asked, needing specifics from his superior. Noah was already staring at the man and sizing him up.

“I did,” Hollington smiled. “It’s time for Emily to issue an official press release to the fans who read her books and to the media. Piers will help her with the correct wording for those documents today. She also needs to take care of protecting her assets in all of this, and Piers is one of the best defense and financial lawyers the firm contracts with. I asked him to take this case as a personal favor, and he agreed.”

“So, after we talk to the local lawmen, I want the three of you to sit down and discuss with Piers and me, how we might ensure nothing within Emily’s personal portfolio is targeted by Eric or his family. There is still the very real possibility that he might turn around and try to sue her.”

“
Portfolio
?” Noah asked and angled his head down at Emily.

She blushed from the tip of her head, all the way down to her toes. Suddenly, she was the solitary focus of everyone in the room and she swallowed hard. Emily looked from Ethan to Ross, hoping one of them would say something to help lighten the sudden tense silence. But they only arched an eyebrow at her and proved no help at all.

“Let’s talk about all that after we meet with Strauss,” Emily sighed.

“Oh, you can believe that we will,” Gabriel all but growled.

Emily smirked at him, but wiped the expression from her face when she looked back at Hollington. “Thank you again for thinking of all this,” she said.

“You’re welcome, dear. Ah, I think I hear a few cars pulling up. Shall we, everyone?” he asked and looked around the room.

“Lawton, take my gun away from me,” Gabriel said as he handed the piece over.

“Where did you have that thing hidden?” Emily asked in surprise. Every team member laughed at her question and she felt mortified. “Never mind.” She blew out a heavy sigh and rolled her eyes.

Gabriel bent down and murmured in her ear, “I’ll show you later.”

“I just bet you will,” she whispered back.

Gabriel lightly kissed her ear and then straightened as Hollington led not only Strauss, Jasper, and Andrew in, but also Gabriel and Noah’s fathers. The men moved alongside their sons, offering them a quick, one-handed hug, before they bent to enfold Emily in a loving embrace.

“I see you have the sling off your arm today,” Noah’s father remarked. “Feeling better without that thing in your way?”

“Yes, sir,” she grinned.

“Good.” He nodded in approval.

Emily peeked around Mr. Johnston and saw their three guests standing near Hollington, Piers, and Lawton. And she saw the pain in their eyes too. It was a tangible thing, their grief, and she could not bear to see them hurting so. She moved around her future father-in-law before either Noah or Gabriel could grab her and Emily opened her arms to Sheriff Strauss first.

“I’m so glad to see you today, sir,” she began. “Thank you for coming.”

“The thanks are all ours, Emily,” he said in a strained voice. He looked to Hollington first and said, “Can I touch her? I’ve known Emily all her life, and I’d never harm a hair on her head.”

“Of course, you can, if Emily is comfortable doing so.” Hollington nodded and gestured him forward.

Strauss looked back down at her and, after hesitating for only another second, he gently took her into his arms. “I am so, so very sorry, Emily,” he murmured against her ear. “So sorry.”

“Shhh. It’s all over now. So let’s focus on the good, not the mess that came before.”

“I made so many mistakes in this case. And they cost you, Emily,” Strauss said, his voice choking up as his emotions got the better of him.

Emily leaned back from his hold and she began to wipe his tears away. He was old enough to be her grandfather, she thought, and he didn’t need this kind of stress and guilt in his life. That helped her to offer her next words.

“I once heard Gram say to a busybody at church, ‘Show me one person who’s infallible and I’ll introduce you to your Lord and Savior.’ We all make mistakes, sir, and I don’t hold you responsible for what Eric chose to do. None of you,” she added and looked away from the sheriff to the two deputies behind him.

Noah and Gabriel were there on either side of her by then, and they each cupped one of her elbows, holding Emily back from hugging either Jasper or Andrew. Gabriel gave her a light squeeze, letting Emily know that they were not comfortable with her approaching them. And in deference of how difficult this was for them too, Emily remained where she was.

“Jasper, Andrew, I mean what I say,” Emily nodded. “I don’t want any of you leaving here today, thinking that I blame you or feel resentment towards you at all. Nothing could be further from the truth. You did your best to protect me, and that’s what I’m focusing on. I’m just sorry that you were hurt through all of this too.”

Jasper stepped forward until he was right in front of Gabriel. He looked from Gabe to Noah, noting the defensive stance they held, and he dipped his head in understanding.

“I don’t intend to touch, guys, I promise. But I need to tell Emily, know that she heard it from my own lips… I’m very sorry too.” He sighed and turned his eyes down towards her. “I’ve sat so many nights alone and gone over this again and again in my head – trying to figure out where we all went wrong – how we missed the clues. And the hell of it is, I still can’t. I can’t, Emily. He seemed like your concerned friend, not a man bent on tearing your life apart.”

“I know, Jasper. I get it, I do. I’m having trouble reconciling it all too,” Emily quietly admitted.

“I understand you’ve not ventured into town since coming home from the hospital. But I want you to know there is nothing but support out there for you,” Jasper told her. “Everyone feels the backlash from this, and they just want to shelter you now. Protect you.”

“Thank you for that, Jasper,” she murmured and looked down momentarily to see that her hands were tightly clasped in front of her and, surprisingly, they’d begun to shake.

“Let’s take our seats now, and talk that way,” Gabriel said, noting her trembling as well. “Em’s still recovering.”

“Of course,” Strauss immediately agreed.

Andrew looked like he might speak to Emily at that time, but he held his comment and took one of the additional chairs placed in the den for their meeting.

Noah and Gabriel led Emily to a sofa and positioned her between them. Noah took her right hand in his left and Gabriel draped his right arm behind her. He shifted a little closer and laced his left hand with hers, letting any and all who looked at them know the three of them were a solid, unbroken chain.

“Andrew, son, do you want to say something?” Strauss asked him once they were all settled.

“I do,” he said, his voice sounding strained as well. “Emily, when you called me after the first package came in the mail and I realized what was happening, I wanted so badly to solve the case quickly and spare you all of what came afterwards. But try as I might, I felt like we were hitting one dead end after another.”

“I know, Andrew. I could tell you were just as frustrated as me as the weeks rolled by.”

“Yeah, but I still messed up,” Andrew said and sighed heavily. “I never told you this, but I’ve told the sheriff, and Mr. Hollington and his investigators now, that it was Eric’s suggestion that you install a security system. Like Jasper and the rest of us, I just thought he was looking for every available resource we could tap to keep you safe. I never knew we were giving him a way into your house.”

“Not until Gabriel and Noah came home and blasted us for having the surveillance video on networked computers, that is,” Andrew added sadly. “It was then that I had pause. But I had nothing to back up the dread that had started to settle in my gut, though I began to investigate him as much as I could. I was looking into Eric before you ever came home, and I think that’s why he did his best to frame me. Make it look like I had been the one all along.”

“I see,” Emily whispered. She looked down at her hands laced with her fiancées much larger palms. She drew in a deep breath as they squeezed her fingers, then she looked back at Andrew.

“I suppose, Andrew, that’s why such crimes go unsolved for so long, or end on a tragic note. Because so often the one who wants to do harm looks like your neighbor, your coworker, or your friend. They look just like you and me. And I’d think after serving on the force for all these years, you would have an even better understanding of that than I do.”

“It just makes me glad that there are still good guys devoted to tracking down said criminals, so the rest of us stand a chance. I’m grateful the three of you are still there on the force, you know? Don’t lose your careers or let your work suffer because one bad soul manipulated us all. You do so much for the community, all of you, and that should continue.”

“Thank you, Emily,” Andrew breathed and looked down at his own hands as he tried to collect himself.

“And what of Ryan?” she asked quietly. “How is he faring in all of this?”