Chapter 51

Steve arranged it all.After arranging for a garage to pick up Steve's car and for a rental car, they picked up the boys and Emma's parents. They boarded a plane for Florida three hours later. Her mother was a little concerned by the rush, but was thrilled for the chance to get out of town. It had been such a long winter, she kept telling Emma on the ride to the airport. They would stay at a resort down there near Universal Studios in Orlando. The boys had wanted to go back there since a trip they made as a family two years ago. A trip Steve had abandoned them to when he was called back to his office three days early.Funny how she and the boys remembered that time so differently.Instead of driving home, Steve pointed the rental car toward downtown Fort Worth."We are we going?" Emma asked."A hotel."She turned in her seat. "Do you really think that's necessary?""Someone slashed the tires on my car, Emma. In the middle of downtown." He glanced at her. "Someone ran you off the

Chapter 52

Emma handed Steve the lists she had made on the hotel stationary after they finished eating. The DVDs were back in their bag, waiting to be destroyed. That had been her promise to Tommy. If anything happened to him, she was to take the DVDs and destroy them. He had no desire to hurt anyone else.Steve just glanced at the lists at first, but when he began to recognize name after name, he slowed and began to read the lists again."You're kidding me, right?" he asked.Emma shook her head."Some of these people are worth billions. And he slept with all of them?"Emma paled slightly. She had been trying not to think about that aspect of the situation. "I don't know. I didn't watch any of them."He nodded absently, as though it didn't really matter. Finally, he put the lists down and sat back. "There are a lot of important people on those lists," he said after a moment's thought, "but I don't see a single one who might want to hurt us or hurt you specifically. Except for maybe the incu

Chapter 53

It was a slow, gentle kiss. But it touched her in places that had forgotten what it felt like to with the one she loved.She stepped into him, felt the tip of his tongue just brush against her bottom lip. She opened to him, and was rewarded with a sigh of such power that she could feel it as though it had issued from her own lungs, her own lips.She ran her hand slowly over his chest, could feel his heart pounding against her fingers. His hand moved from her jaw to the back of her head, buried its fingers in her hair to pull her closer, always closer. And then he buried himself inside of her, moaning against her lips with more pleasure than she had thought possible from such a simple touch.Her breath stuttered in her chest as he ran his hand over her back, slipped his palm over the curve of her hip, the roundness of her bottom. He pulled her to him until she could feel his need hard against her hip. She slid her hand around his back, drawing him so close that there was nothing but

Chapter 54

Emma lay on her back, her bruises aching, her muscles popping along her back, her sides, as she tried to find a comfortable position. Steve lay on his side next to her, his fingers moving lazily along her belly, playing a game of their own making around the scar of childbirth. She watched him, her thoughts swirling in a dozen different directions.Guilt lay heavy on her shoulders. She couldn't help but think of Tommy now that the heat of passion was done. She missed his easy smile, the way he looked at her as though she was the center of his world. She wanted to run her fingers through his thick, dark hair, wanted to feel his heavy hands on her breasts, her belly.It hurt, how much she had in such a short time and how much she would never know.Was it possible to love two men so completely?She ran her fingers through Steve's hair, traced the curve of his ear. He looked up at her and smiled. It was a beautiful smile.She wished she could return it.She closed her eyes, her mind s

Chapter 55

She dialed Jen's cell number as she navigated the still dense late evening traffic on the interstate just outside of Denton. Jen answered on the first ring."Steve, I've been trying to get through to you all day.""It's Emma, Jen.""Oh." There was a long silence on the other end. And then, as though a switch had been flipped, her voice filled with concern and caring. "Is everything okay, sweetie?""Fine," Emma lied. "I wanted to apologize for the way I was with you the other day.""Don't worry about it. I understand.""Do you?""Losing Tommy like that must have been difficult.""It was. Especially the way he died.""Suicide, right?" Jen asked, an undercurrent of cruelty in her voice. "Such a pity."Emma maneuvered the car around a curve, nearly dropping the phone as she tried to hold it in the crook of her shoulder."Where are you?" Jen asked. "I went by the house earlier, but there was no one home.""We took the kids to the airport." Emma grabbed the phone with her right h

Chapter 56

Emma managed to stay ahead of the truck for a few miles, speeding dangerously on the little back roads that led to Pilot Point. Just as she came around the bend that would take her into the tiny hamlet of downtown, the truck gained on her and swerved around her. Emma slammed on the breaks and tried to move around him as she had before. However, the truck anticipated her movements and slammed his transmission into reverse, cutting off her escape. She swerved, the car stuttering to a stop in a shallow ditch at the side of the road."All you had to do was pull over," a voice said as her door was wrenched open. Rough hands grabbed her upper arm and yanked her from the car.Emma stumbled, her sore ankle felt wrong, as though she had hurt it even more in the attempts to control the car."What do you want?" she demanded."Just doing what I'm told, lady."He dragged her to the truck, pushing her in through the driver's side door before climbing in after her. Emma slid over to the passenge