Chapter 36
brIELLE
There’s an unhealthy amount of worst-case scenarios running in circles at full speed through my mind right now.
The image of Emris covered in blood, and the look of pure anger on his face as he tortured that man flashes through my mind as I sit here and wait.
The pain in Emris’s eyes was evident, but only I could point it out. To anyone else, he looked like the devil he swears he is. There was no trace of the man I’ve somehow grown to love while he was down in that basement. Nothing but a shell of the man I’ve grown to understand.
I’m not sure how long I’ve been locked up, but I don’t have to wait long when the sound of the door opening hits my ears. I don’t look. I keep my eyes out the window, not knowing what to do or how to act around him right now. There’s an empty pit in my stomach the closer he gets.
Emris lightly touches my shoulder, and I pull away.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Brielle, please.” I can hear the desperation in his voice, and that alone makes me want to turn and face him, but I don’t.
“Don’t—” I begin, but he stops me by turning me in his arms, not giving me the chance to stop him this time.
“I need you to listen to what I’m going to tell you, Brielle. Let me just get this all out,” he says, taking a deep breath before walking us over to the bed.
His hands grab mine, and his blue eyes boring into me, fear filling them. And I want nothing more than to get rid of it.
“There’s so much you don’t know. So much I don’t want you to know, but I need you safe, and I’m not sure if knowing is going to help protect you or make you more of a target.
I’m only going to tell you what you need to know.
I refuse to tell you anything that could put you in harm’s way.
Do you understand that?” he asks, his eyes moving frantically between mine.
I nod, and he continues.
“Susie isn’t who you think she is. She owes some bad men a lot of money, which is where this next part is important.
” He takes a deep breath before continuing.
“After she realized she wasn’t going to be able to pay back the money she owes, she started dipping her toes into bad shit to earn more money.
The women that work at the bar? She’s been selling them to that man named Peter,” he pauses, letting me process what he said.
Kristie.
The man at the hotel. That was Peter.
Bile rises up my throat, and I have to fight it down as I bring my hand up to cover my mouth. Is that what happened to Kristie?
Susie sold her. Susie fucking sold her.
That has to be why she didn’t want me snooping around and trying to get a hold of her.
“Peter is the one who helps run the whole operation and who we are actively trying to shut down. Archer and Killian have their own reasons, as do I, when it comes to why we do what we do. The things I’ve done and will forever do are questionable, but please believe that it’s for the greater good.
I’d never hurt someone if I didn’t have to.
Never women and children, but I’ll never hesitate to take a piece of shit who sells and rapes women out of this world.
” Emris’s chest is rising and falling deeply, like he can’t get the words out fast enough, as if he needs to know he’s not going to lose me over this, to make sure I don’t see him as the devil he sees himself as.
Tears leak out the side of my eyes, and I want to wrap my arms around him and let him know he won’t ever lose me.
“Emris—” I try again, but once again he interrupts me.
“Please, Brielle. I was only keeping this stuff from you because I didn’t want you to think of me differently.” He squeezes my hands.
“I already do think of you differently, Em.” Hurt fills his eyes as he nods, defeat filling the room. Emris stands from the bed, but he doesn’t understand what I’m struggling to say.
I’m not fucking good at this shit, either.
“I understand.” Emris nods as he keeps his eyes trained on the ground. I stand up and move in front of him before he can try to leave the room.
“I think of you as a man that I’m happy to have in my corner. One who has shown me his true colors. Who has taught me so much in the short time I’ve known him,” I tell him, and his head shoots up.
“I think of you, the man that—” I hesitate because this might be way too much too fast, but I’ve never felt this way for anyone before. He makes me feel like I’m breathing in fresh air with every breath I take. I love him. I love him so much, and he deserves to know that.
“I love you, Emris.” It’s my turn to look toward the ground, not wanting to see any kind of rejection that might come with admitting my feelings.
Emris leans down and wraps his arms around my waist, picking me straight off the ground with a smile plastered to his face.
“I love you.” He shoves his face into the space between my neck and shoulder.
“I fucking love you so much.” Emris lets out a laugh and twirls us around before setting me down on my feet.
When he pulls back, he doesn’t waste any time pressing his lips against mine. We kiss for everything that’s happened this past week, for all the hurt and the sorries.
The secrets.
Everything.
He shows me in this single kiss that he does love me.
“I promise from here on out I won’t keep anything from you.” I look up at him. “I have to go back down there and talk to Susie, and I want you to come with me.” My eyes widen because he can’t be serious, right?
“Are you sure you’re okay with that?” I ask.
“Yes. I want you to know that I’m not lying about being honest with you about everything. But I want you to be prepared that it’s not going to be fun or easy. I won’t kill her, but that doesn’t mean I won’t use any necessary force to get the answers we need.”
“I understand.” And I do. Will it be a hard pill to swallow? Yes. Susie has meant a lot to me for a while now, and to find out she’s not who I thought she was hurts. The one question that keeps going through my mind, though...
Would I have been next if Emris didn’t take me when he did?