Chapter 21
Gannix
I uncuffed one of her arms and helped her sit up in the bed. I even made her a plate of eggs and bacon for breakfast. She sits with the plate on her lap, looking at it like it’s poisoned, and I can understand why, but I need her to eat. I need her to get her strength back.
“I didn’t do anything to the food, Emerson,” I tell her. She looks over at me but doesn’t say anything.
“When can I go home?”
“Eat,” I demand, nodding toward the plate. She isn’t going to get any answers from me if she doesn’t do as she’s told. She looks back at the plate and grabs the fork, taking a bite. I can’t help but watch her. Everything about her intrigues me more than she could know.
I drink my coffee as I watch her eat her food. I fell asleep last night for the first time in a while and slept through the night. I attribute that to her being here. Knowing she’s safe and in my home has done wonders for my sleep.
Emerson finishes her food and I reach for the plate, taking it from her and setting it on the table.
“I’m prepared to answer a few questions for you today. The first being when you can leave. You can’t,” I state matter of factly.
“What? What the hell do you mean I can’t?” Here we go. I was ready for her to react this way.
“I sold your house,” I tell her. Her mouth falls open as she looks at me before shaking her head.
“You can’t do that. How can you do that? I didn’t sign off on it,” she argues, not sounding as if she believes me.
“I have money, Emerson. I can do a lot of things others can’t,” I inform her.
“Why? Why would you sell my house?”
“To keep you here.”
“Keep me here? Why would you want to keep me here?” she asks, bewildered.
“As I told you, you’re mine now. And what’s mine belongs with me.”
“Are you crazy? Are you fucking delusional?” She yells this time.
“Crazy, yes. Delusional, no.”
“You can’t keep me here. You have to know I’ll run as soon as I get the chance.”
“And you have to know I will chase you, Emerson.”
“Why? Why do you want me?” she asks as if she’s thinking she isn’t good enough for someone like me.
“Why wouldn’t I want you is the better question.”
“I’m … nobody. I’m nothing.” Anger surges inside of me, choking me. She can’t possibly think that, could she? I suppose she could after the life she’s lived.
“To me, you’re everything, Emerson. Do you know how hard it’s been to see you and not touch you? To watch you with other men and not kill them?” Her lips part as her eyes widen. She’s getting it now. She’s understanding.
“Brandon,” she whispers the asshole’s name.
“Was in my way.”
“Of what?”
“Having you. You should have never called him to come over to your house,” I tell her.
“You … you killed him, didn’t you? He was there, he was dead …” she rambles on as some things start to make sense to her.
“Like I said, he was in the way.”
“I don’t even know you!” she screams this time.
“But you do. We’ve been together more than once, baby. Don’t you remember the hotel?” She seems to think long and hard about it when her eyes come back to meet mine, her brows furrowed.
“That was you?”
“That was me.”
“I was drugged, wasn’t I?”
“I couldn’t let you see me. Not the real me and I still can’t. So for now, every time we’re together, I’ll have to drug you,” I admit to her.
“No. That’s over! That’s never going to happen again. You kidnapped me!”
“From a man who was going to put an arrow through your heart.”
“You were going to put an arrow through my heart!” she yells in return.
“That was never the plan. You were never part of the plan, Emerson,” I say as I run my hand through my hair. I knew she’d have questions, and I knew I’d have to answer them, but this was harder than I thought it would be.
“Why were we there? All of us girls?”
“He wanted to prove a point.”
“Which was?”
“That women only hurt us. Ever since we were children, it’s always been a woman who has hurt us. All of those women you saw there? I was with them at some point and they disrespected me in some way,” I tell her.
“You sent them there?” I shake my head.
“That was all his doing.”
“Who is he?”
“Enough questions for the day,” I say pressing my fingers into my eyes, feeling a headache coming on.
“No. Who is he? How does he know about you or what women did something to you? What did I do to you?”
“He’s my brother. And I don’t know how he knows any of this and Emerson, you did nothing wrong. He must have thought you did, and that’s why he took you.” She reaches up and runs her hand through her hair before scrubbing it down her face then turns to look back at me.
“Your brother? He’s … your brother?”
“Yes.”
“And are you going to do the things to me that he did?” she asks, fear evident in her tone.
“No. I would never do those things to you.”
“Why did he do that? Why did he hunt us?”
“It’s … it’s what we do. It’s what we’ve been taught to do since we were kids,” I confess, although I shouldn’t. She needs to know. She isn’t going anywhere anyway. I won’t let her. I won’t let her go.
“You were taught to hunt and kill women?” she asks, her voice shaking. I nod my head once before shoving off the bed and pacing the room.
“I don’t want to, Emerson. I don’t want to have to do it, but what the fuck am I supposed to do? Huh? I’m sick! I’m a fucking sick man!”
“You could let me go.”
“No. That isn’t an option.”
“Why?”
“Because I need you, that’s why. You make it all stop. Don’t you fucking see that? You make all the fucking bad better, Emerson!” Before I can think, I turn and storm out of the room, slamming the door behind me. I hear her scream in frustration but I don’t go back in there.
Her questions are becoming too much for me. I can’t fucking think straight. Emerson has that effect on me.
I head downstairs and into the kitchen, where I drop onto a stool. I rest my head in my hands when I hear Ren coming in.
“Trouble in paradise?” He chuckles. I don’t think this shit is all that funny.
“She asks too many questions.”
“And you answered her?”
“Mostly,” I tell him. “You find out anything about Gary?” I ask, lifting my head to look at him now.
“No. As far as we know, he’s still at home.”
“This is completely fucked up. Why hasn’t he come after me?”
“Is that what you want? A war with your brother?” he asks, grabbing an apple and taking a bite.
“No. Of course, that’s not what I want. I want to hear something from him. This silent shit isn’t sitting well with me,” I tell him.
“I can understand why. What do you think he’ll do?”
“He’s going to come for her. I just don’t know when or how,” I reply.
“You’re not going to let him touch her, though,” he adds as I nod my head.
“That’s the plan.”
“And she’s on board with this?” I chuckle as I look up at him now.
“On board? She doesn’t even have all the details yet.”
“She’s doing better, I assume.”
“She is. Now I just need to make her understand she’s mine now, and there is no escaping me.”
“And you think that’s going to make everything better?” he asks. I shake my head.
“No. She doesn’t want to be here or at least she thinks she doesn’t right now.”
“You think, in time, she will?”
“I don’t know, but she doesn’t really have a choice,” I remind him. Ren nods his head before walking over and slapping a hand on my shoulder before he leaves the house and I get to work on calling those I need to call.