Page 49 of Emeric

In the main living area, I came to a stop just as the door from the garage swung open. Oleander’s dark hair was down, moving with him, making him more menacing than normal. It worked in his favor with his job, but right now, it amped up my anxiety. God, why did I have to open my mouth?

No, I wasn’t going to do that. I said what I did for a reason.

With that, I straightened my spine and waited for him to yell.

Except he didn’t.

He rushed toward me, tackling me in a hug so strong I was glad he held me up. Oleander had the power to knock me down with much less force than this.

“Syl,” he breathed. “I can’t believe you did that. Jordan could have… You could have lost this house. Fuck, you risked so much for me.” What the hell was happening? Why wasn’t he yelling?

I didn’t know what to say. I just stood there and held him back. It wasn’t every day I could hug him after all. If I didn’t take advantage of what was right in front of me, I’d be doing a disservice to future me, who would regret not soaking up all Oleander was willing to give, even if I was still confused by what was happening.

He pulled back too soon but kept his hands gently on my biceps. “Between you and Vail, I can’t believe you both stood up for me. If you ask Shel, he’ll say he would have done the same but wasn’t sure I’d want him to. That’s his excuse. He can be as afraid of our boss as I am.”

“You’re not mad?”

“No, but I can see why you’d think I might be, and that’s on me. You don’t know me well enough to understand that I could never be angry at someone for looking out for me. Others might see it as saying I can’t fight my own battles, but that’s not the case. You care.”

I swallowed thickly. “I do.” That was an understatement.

“What did I do to have you in my life? I consider myself lucky to have both you and Emeric.”

“Same.”

“I’m going to kiss you now, if that’s okay.”

“More than,” I managed to get out. The man could lay me on the floor and have his way with me, and the only sounds I would make would be ones of pleasure. There wasn’t a situation where I would turn down having Oleander or Emeric’s lips on mine.

He leaned forward and gave me the sweetest kiss that didn’t stay sweet for long, not with me on the receiving end of it. Knowing he wasn’t angry made me greedy for more. I deepened the kiss, tilted my head just so, and put my hands on his hips to pull his body to mine.

That was when I remembered what happened the last time I was with them, and we were going further. I fucked it up and felt terrible.

Shame heated my cheeks, causing me to lean away from him.

“Hey, what happened?” His finger went beneath my chin to bring my eyes to his.

I shook my head, not trusting my voice. He knew though. I didn’t have to say a word.

“Syl, I still want you beyond what you could possibly understand. Emeric does too. But neither of us will push you to do more unless you’re ready.”

“What if I want to but keep sabotaging myself?”

“I’m not a therapist, so I can’t speak to what the healthy way to cope is.” He gave me a small smile.

“What if I just want you to take over?”

“How about I call Emeric and get him here so we can make that happen?”

“Yes, please.”

22

EMERIC

Usually, I was the one who was summoned. I was the one who was brought in to fix things. Now it was the other way around. It wasn’t even of my own doing. I mentioned an issue to Lana, and she went to Jordan.

“I want to know everything that happened,” he stated from where he sat at the table in my private conference room at the hotel. “Don’t leave any detail out.”