45. Emmett
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
EMMETT
I ’m going out of my fucking mind.
Waverly ignored us for the rest of her shift and then disappeared before I could offer to drive her home. I’m actually not entirely sure how she got out of the club without Kade or me seeing her, but she slipped out, and the only reason we know is because both of our tracking apps notified us she was on the move.
It turns out Kade and I have a lot more in common than I thought we did. Perhaps the twin similarities go past just our appearances.
We’ve been sitting in my car for the last hour in silence, watching her window like the creepers we are. The lights are on, which means she’s still awake, but I don’t think she’s ready to speak to either of us yet.
Hell, I’m not sure she ever will be.
She would have every right to stay as far away from the two of us as possible, but unfortunately for her, that’s not something we’re going to allow.
I’m coming around to the idea of sharing Waverly with Kade. At first it seemed like a terrible idea, but the more I’ve observed him, the more I’ve seen how much he cares for her, which is no small feat for my brother.
I can’t remember ever seeing emotion in his eyes until I realized he was just as obsessed with Waverly as I am.
“We should go up there,” Kade says. It’s the first time he’s opened his mouth since he got in the car, so I’m not surprised it’s a terrible fucking idea.
“No.”
“The longer she sits up there, the longer she has to make a plan to run. Do you feel like chasing her across the country again?” He raises a brow at me. “Do you know how hard it’s been to convince Dad why I needed to be based in these cities? Keeping an eye on you has only ever given me a partial reason, the rest I have to make up, and Dad’s not exactly the easiest person to bullshit to.”
He’s not wrong. Our father can spot a lie a mile away. Or at least when most people lie, he can. Kade has always had the uncanny ability to slip beneath his defenses, something that will likely come in handy in the future.
“I don’t want to move again,” I admit. I finally feel like I have a place in the world. Helping people find faith has given me purpose other than keeping the woman I’m obsessed with safe, and although I could do it anywhere, I don’t want to start again if I don’t have to.
“And neither does she. This is the most at ease and relaxed I’ve ever seen her. She has a job she seems to like, that pays her well, and that keeps her safe. She’s making actual friends, where she never has before. We can’t let her get in her head about this, because all of us will be miserable if we leave New York.”
I shoot him a glare. “I don’t know if I like you being the practical one.”
He chuckles. “You prefer when I’m the stabby one and you’re the cool, calm and collected one?” I tease.
“What do you propose?”
“I think we ambush her. She won’t expect us tonight, which means her guard will be down and it will be easier to get her to come around to our way of thinking.”
My mind screams at me that this is the wrong course of action, that by pushing her we could lose her altogether, but my heart tells me this is the right move, that my brother is right, and that he’s willing to do anything to keep her the same way I am.
“And what exactly is our way of thinking, Kade? Before we go in there guns blazing, what exactly are we proposing?”
“We both want her, so I think we tell her that, and then we tell her she doesn’t have to choose.”