Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
EMERSON
Leaving Ava had been the toughest thing I’d ever faced.
I hadn’t intended to, had wanted to keep her with me, to never let her go.
But seeing her so fragile and hurt that night had opened my eyes to the dangers she faced with me.
I couldn’t keep her in this world. She had stayed sheltered for so many years and she was safer under my brother’s watch.
Her uncle would ensure she stayed that way, just like he always had.
But that excuse had only been part of the reason I’d left her.
I needed to know if it had been real. If the emotions would remain with distance and time or fade because it had only been the situation causing them.
And if they remained, then to offer her the power to return on her own.
Not me forcing her into my life like I had, but her choosing that life.
A life with me, a life of danger. As much as I hated the thought of being without her, I wanted her safe.
The thought of anything else happening to her killed me, but if she decided I was worth taking the chance, then I would accept her decision and find every way in my power to ensure no one hurt her again.
Needing my mind off her, which was difficult to do, I threw myself into rebuilding my businesses, cleaning up the messes Henley and his idiots had made.
I denounced all association with trafficking after seeing for myself how horrendous it was.
My reputation didn’t need that stain. The girls we found we had freed, returning them to their homes and giving funds to those who had no home so they could start a new life.
A convenient fire at the warehouse had left it in ashes and in its place, I was building a women’s shelter, with Jill leading the helm.
The men in Henley’s database had suffered for their crimes and I had buried the remains of Henley and the other two who had touched Ava in the caved in tunnels.
Every one of their last breaths had given me exquisite satisfaction.
Being in the house without Ava was miserable. All the little places she had left her mark reminded me of her. I kept the gray scarf I had taken from her the fateful night she’d come into my life next to my bed, picking it up every so often and inhaling her scent just to keep me sane.
My phone rang, and I picked up Greyson’s call. “Have you given it any thought?” Always right to the point.
“Hello to you, too, Grey.”
“I don’t have time for formalities, jackass. You know who it is.”
Chuckling, I said, “Yes. It’s a good offer.”
“Good? I don’t take partners, Mer. This offer is the only one you’ll ever get from me and the best.”
“Maybe, but I don’t like partners either, Grey. Too messy and you can’t trust them.”
His growl had me laughing harder. “Fine. I accept. Partners again, but this time dominating both coasts. It’s an empire that will be hard to take down, Grey.”
“Exactly. Just play nice. With Brinks in my life, Donelli and Strint are allies. Don’t piss them off and don’t get in their territories.”
“I don’t play nice.”
“Neither do I, but apparently we both do now.”
“How was she?” I asked, watching a car come down the street.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself? She should be there about now to change before the party.”
The car pulled up to the curb.
“You’re so whipped now. Parties? Since when do you do parties?”
He hung up on me, and I laughed, knowing I’d pissed him off.
One of Greyson’s men left the car and looked around, his eyes landing on me.
He had known to expect me and gave me a gesture of acknowledgement.
He opened the door, and my heart leaped so hard against my chest that I almost lurched forward.
Ava gave him a big smile, talking about something as she reached back into the car and grabbed her things.
He said something to her and her eyes flitted to me, growing large.
Her smile spread to light every part of her face.
The car left. Greyson’s man knew I had her covered. I had my men hidden in enough places to take out anyone who got within ten feet of her.
She strolled toward me, and I took her in. She looked beautiful in a black dress that flattered her curves. The hem came to her mid-thigh, the sleeves short and leaving enough skin to turn me on. Her brown hair darkened her eyes to a rich chocolate and the diamond in her nose sparkled in the sun.
A single text had flashed on my phone that morning. I’m ready to conquer the world, but only if you’re with me. And I had dropped everything to get there. It was the message I’d been waiting for, but one I hadn’t expected for months. Not one month later. Not the morning of her graduation.
“I thought I told you no wearing my diamonds for anyone but me?” I said when she was close enough. She held her gown, cap, and diploma in her hand.
“I didn’t break that rule,” she said. “You’re here, aren’t you?”
“So, I am.”
“Are your ready for me, Emerson Tides?”
I reached out and weaved my hand around her neck, then pulled her to me. “I’ve been ready for you my entire life, Avani Shelton.”
She scrunched her nose. “That’s gross, considering I wasn’t even born when you were a teenager.”
I shut her up with a kiss, digging my fingers into her curls and wrapping my other hand around her waist to bring her flush against me.
Her things fell and her hands came up over my shoulders and into my hair, pulling my head down closer.
If anything in my life had ever felt right, it was this moment.
Being away from her had been like having half my soul stripped from me and stretched across endless miles, clinging by a fragile string.
Now that string wove through me, repairing the damage and ensuring it would forever be whole as long as she remained with me.
“I love you, Emerson Tides,” she said, our lips parting.
Her words resounded through me like a storm, washing over the broken pieces of the man I’d been before her and securing them.
“It has nothing to do with how we met and everything to do with you. No amount of time apart will change that, so please don’t leave me again. ”
I brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ear.
“I miss the pink,” I said, kissing her smile.
“I didn’t tell you the truth that night.
” Her eyes dimmed, smile dropping. “Because I couldn’t even admit it to myself.
It wasn’t until you were gone that I realized how real it was.
How every woman I saw only reminded me more of what I had set free. ”
“Did you…”
“No. Shit, Ava, that’s where your mind went?” My eyes narrowed. “Did you?”
She shook her head. “There’s only you now.”
I took her face in my hands. “And there is only you. I loved you the moment you opened your mouth and looked up defiantly at me, wildcat. But I couldn’t admit it because it was too soon, too convoluted and only when I drove away from you did I realize how wrong I was in not telling you.
I love you Ava and if you really want to conquer the world with me at your side, I’m here and I will never leave. ”
She reached her hands around my neck and pulled me into another kiss. This time, I wrapped both arms around her waist and picked her up the last few inches, holding her against me like I never wanted to release her.
“So, do you have all my diamonds in?” I asked, nibbling her lip.
“Yes.” Her response was breathless.
“Then I think it’s time for me to see them, sweetheart.” I scooped her into my arms.
“My things!” she squealed.
“Don’t worry, one of my guys will get them.” I opened the door and took her upstairs, letting her guide me until we were in her apartment and I couldn’t control myself.
I pressed her against the wall, hiking her skirt up and finding every piercing with my mouth.
Her cries I put to memory with the tug of my hair in her hands and the feel of her thighs quaking around my shoulders as I held her up.
As she tumbled, I caught her, thrusting into her while she rode out the climax around me.
I lost myself in her, knowing I would never be apart from her again, that nothing in this world would bring me the pleasure of her warmth, of her body, of her cries.
She tugged my mouth to hers, clenching her heels into me and sending me so deep I grunted.
My release perched on the precipice, waiting to chase hers and as I sensed hers climbing, I bit her lip and said, “Show me how much you missed me, sweetheart. Come for me again, like a good girl.”
Her head fell back, her body swept up as she broke, taking me over the edge with her. I held her there, pinned against the wall, our bodies one as the rush of my orgasm thundered through me.
“You own me, Emerson,” she breathed. “All of me.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” I nuzzled her neck before letting her legs go. “Now be a good girl and clean up. We have a graduation party to attend and I’m going to have a tough time sharing you with anyone else for the day.”
She pulled my head down and kissed me. “I promise I’m all yours when it’s over.”
“Damn right you are. And that dress stays on because I plan to strip it from you when we get back, although I might have you leave the heels. That’s a sexy look.”
I really wanted to keep her in her apartment for the rest of the day, but since I’d missed her graduation, I had to at least make it up to her by going to the party with her.
She didn’t have to know that was why I was subjecting myself to this, but it was the reason.
Besides, it would give me time to talk more to my brother about this new venture we were about to enter.
The Tides empire expanding across the provinces.
Now that I’d taken my real name, people were even more frightened of me.
It had me looking forward to the next chapter in my life, the one that would involve Ava at my side.
Later that night, after hours of discussion with Greyson and Brinks that unfortunately involved Raines, after hours of keeping my eye on Ava as she bounced around the party, talking and laughing, drinking and eating, smiling like she was the center of the world, I took her back to her apartment and ravaged her a few more times.
My fingers ran through her hair as hers drifted over my tattoos. She lifted, studying my Omen tattoo and peeking up at me. “You changed it?”
I had. Adding that annoying snake Henley had used to the center of the dagger.
Its head came out of the skull socket, its tail out the side of the mouth, but the dagger plunged into its middle, blood dripping from it.
A sign that I had crushed my enemy and a warning to anyone else who wanted to fuck with me.
Henley had left me at rock bottom, ready to give up, but Ava had brought me back to life.
“I added another one, too.” I twisted to show her the new one on my shoulder blade she hadn’t noticed in our frenzied lust for one another.
“A wildcat,” she said, tracing the jaguar I’d added the day I returned home without her. She followed its movement, its hind feet springing, jaws wide and ready to attack its prey. “You got that for me?”
She looked back at me, her eyes misty.
“I needed a reminder of you,” I admitted.
“I love you,” she said, laying across my chest.
“Always,” I said. “And forever.”
Her kiss was soft, leading to more, and I realized this was what life with Ava would be. Filled with the danger that had always been there, but now with smiles and kisses, laughter and love. Things I’d never known I needed, but ones I knew I could no longer live without.