Broken Bonds (Club Imperial Series) (11 page)

“Nathaniel,” she breathed, her climax pulling him tighter inside her. He arched into her and spilled himself, thrusting sharply a few times and holding her tighter.

He wasn’t interested in letting her go. Reaching behind himself, he flipped the covers up over them. He wrapped them up and smoothed her hair back from her face. Nathaniel looked at her. She was mostly asleep with a sweet smile on her face. Placing a kiss on her forehead, he followed her into sleep.

~*~*~

The bed shook.

“Come on, wake up,” came Victor’s voice. “God, you two have no shame. Wake up.”

Nathaniel opened his eyes. Victor was standing at the edge of the bed in his pajamas, kicking the mattress. He closed one eye and peered at him through the open one. “What are you, seven? Kicking my bed to wake me up?”

“This isn’t your bed, this is one of the rooms on the third floor and the ninth one I’ve checked for the two of you!” All of a sudden Victor was standing on the mattress, jumping up and down. “Is this more to your liking?”

“Oh God, Victor, stop!” Emmy giggled. “You’re going to fall off!”

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!” he crowed, and then finally jumped off the bed. “Are you up now?”

“You are such an ass,” Nathaniel grated. “Get out. We’re naked.”

“Ew,” he sneered. “Thanks for sharing.”

“If you don’t leave, you’re going to get an eyeful,” Nathaniel warned, grabbing the covers.

“I’m going! I’m going!” He scurrying out of the room, and was only gone for a few seconds, before sticking his head back in. “I’m leaving for the airport in half an hour. Since you’re flying, you might want to be ready to go.”

“Go!” Nathaniel laughed.

Victor closed the door and Emmy rolled over, pulling the sheet over herself. She was still wearing the bustier, but it was the cut out one. He smiled to himself and sat up as well. Emmy looked around the room, then over to him. “Um, where the hell did we end up?”

“I have no idea.” He laughed, grabbing his boxers off the floor. He slipped them up and walked over to the window. “We’re somewhere in the back of the East Wing, third floor. Apparently, the ninth room Victor checked, looking for us.”

“Oh, the library.” Emmy remembered. “I was looking at what you had.”

Nathaniel laughed. “Right. It was more like, name something I didn’t own.” He walked around and handed her the robe she’d been wearing as he pulled on his sweats.

She pulled the robe around her and looked down at the floor and giggled. “You have to stop ripping my panties off.” Picking them up, she shoved them in her robe pocket. “I liked that pair.”

“I liked them better on the floor,” he leered.

“Mr. Walsh!” she exclaimed.

“You, mistress, you have created a monster.” He smiled, wrapping his arm around her. “Now I fully believe Victor will take off for the airport without us. So, let’s go get showered and dressed and go pick up your mother.”

They were out to the garage in twenty minutes. Victor was tapping on the wheel, pretending to be upset, but not really succeeding. He raised an eyebrow at them, then started laughing. He had decided bringing the baby would make everything more difficult so Laurel had her.

Emmy sat in the co-pilot’s chair again and watched Nathaniel work the controls of the plane like it was second nature. Which after flying a fighter jet, she thought it probably was. Before she knew it they were taxying out to the runway.

“Thank you for choosing Walsh Airlines,” he called back to Victor. “Buckle your ass in, and shut the hell up. We’ll be there in about an hour and a half, and you’re on your own for a damn drink.”

“You have drinks?!” Victor called back.

“Sure,” he said. “Have a hot cup of shut the hell up.”

Emmy laughed. “You two must have been a handful for your poor parents.”

“We used to wrestle across the main door of Galloping Ridge in our suits while the guests were arriving,” Nathaniel said. “We were terrors.”

“You still are.” Emmy shook her head. “No discipline.”

“You can take care of that,” he said, more softly.

“Hmm. Tempting.” She smiled at him with a devious gleam in her eyes. 

He watched as she braced herself both fascinated and terrified as he raced the little plane down the runway and tossed it up into the air. It really was a comfortable little plane, nothing like the raw power of the F-35 he flew in the Air Force. He was comfortable behind the stick and he hoped Emmy realized he knew what he was doing. She certainly knew how often he took the Lear out.

She glanced back at Victor and waved. Nathaniel knew his brother waved back. He smiled and was very happy that she and his brother got along so well. Emmy looked over at him, and then spoke, just barely audible over the roar of the engine.

“Nathaniel, I know it’s your house and you can totally say no…but, I would like to set up the equipment.”

Equipment? Oh.
He stared at the clouds in front of him, having absolutely no idea what to say.

“Ok,” she said a minute later. “I understand.”

He grabbed her hand. “No. Give me a minute here. My brain stalled, and I really don’t know how to answer you.” Glancing over at her, he swallowed his shock. “I’m just having trouble admitting to myself that I like it. I didn’t even realize you would want to put it back up.”

“Nathaniel, I’m happy with you, but that’s a part of who I am.”

“You don’t have to explain this, Emmy,” he said. “I have to. I have to get my brain to accept that I like it and I want you to put it back up.”

“I know your brother is privy to what goes on,” she explained. “But we can make it our little secret room. He doesn’t have to know we’ve put it all back together.”

The idea of putting the room back together unexpectedly aroused Nathaniel, and he shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable. “We need to find a good place for our little secret room,” he conspired with her. “Let’s keep checking out the rooms, and we’ll see if one doesn’t crop up that’s perfect.”

She smiled at him. “I like that idea.” Emmy looked out the window, then back to Nathaniel. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Of course.”

“Can I furnish the tower room? I would love to make that room something we could relax in.”

“Absolutely. You don’t have to ask me. You live there now too. If you want to buy furniture or new curtains, just do it.”

“Oh, I don’t have that kind of money.” She shook her head. “Just a few fun things to sit in up there. A nice rug. Maybe a kick-ass sound system. That sort of thing.”

“You do have that kind of money, Em.” Nathaniel was confused.

“I might be your brother’s admin, but I’m not rolling in the green here.”

“You don’t check your bank account very often, do you?”

“What?”

“I set up an allowance for you, Emmy. Last week.”

“Oh, my God, no you didn’t!” She gasped.

“Sure, I did. We have all your bank account information. I had Albright’s wife set it up last week. After you agreed to move in. I don’t want you beholden to my wallet, so you have your own money.”

“But it’s still your money,” she argued.

“And I’m giving it to you to spend,” he reiterated. “You’re going to need to buy a dress anyway.”

“A dress? For what?” He could see she was reeling.

“The party, Friday night,” he explained. “I’m going to use that damn ballroom. It sits there empty and lonely and I want to host a party. Get something cute. It’s a barbeque.”

“You’re serious!”

“I am.” He nodded. “Take your sister and mother shopping and get something for all of you.”

“You’re nuts,” she said, sitting back.

“Just for you, sweetheart.” He smiled. “Just for you.”

“I wish I could be mad at you.” She sighed. “But I’m sitting in the co-pilot seat of your private Lear jet. This isn’t a place to get angry.”

He laughed.

The plane touched down in a small airfield in Beverly, outside of Boston. Emmy looked around outside the plane, remembering the area entirely too well. Victor leaned into the cockpit. “Oh, so you grew up near Salem. Well. That explains a lot, you little witch.”

“Ha, ha, very funny,” Emmy said, unbuckling herself. She suddenly paled badly and Nathaniel thought she was going to throw up. He put a hand out for her, but she stopped him. “I grew up in Woburn, in the trailer park there. I think they closed it down and sold the land. Now they live in Littleton.”

“Are you going to be okay, Emmy?” Nathaniel asked.

“I haven’t seen him since I was sixteen.” She chose her words carefully. “I was a completely different person back then. Completely different. I just hope for all I’ve learned, I can keep my cool and my head.”

“I think the plan is ingenious.” Victor folded his arms, pleased with himself.

Nathaniel looked at his phone. “They’re scheduled to be here in about ten minutes.” He looked at Emmy. “You’re really okay with this?”

“No,” she said. “But I want to see my mother and sister.”

“What could go wrong?” Victor walked into the passenger cabin. Emmy and Nathaniel followed him. “We take up all his time with sports and bars with our added benefit of getting plastered for a cause, and you get to hang out with your mother and sister. I see nothing wrong with this.”

Emmy stared at him. “You just need to promise me you aren’t going to slam any more gin and tonic.”

“As long as no one tries to blow me up.” He laughed.

Nathaniel saw the black limo pulled into the airport and headed right for the plane. “They’re early.” Nathaniel pointed. “Crank the door open, Vic.”

Victor walked over to the door and Nathaniel looked at Emmy sitting there. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“It’s only a week,” she assured him, not looking the least bit certain.

“You do not have to be brave about this, Em.” Nathaniel put his arm around her.

“I don’t know any other way to be.” He watched a rush of sadness across Emmy’s face. “I want to see my mom. When I talked to her on the phone, she was a mess that she hadn’t been able to come out and see me when I was in the hospital. She needs this as much as I do. No matter what, she’s my mom.”

Nathaniel stood up and offered his hand. “Let’s do this.”

Emmy put her hand in his and he helped her to her feet. She took a deep breath and they walked to the door. Nathaniel still hadn’t gotten the whole story about this son-of-a-bitch, and he was actually very nervous about her being around him. He wanted to know what he was agreeing to. But Emmy just insisted she wasn’t ready to tell the whole story yet.

The driver pulled the car to a stop at the bottom of the stairs, then got out and walked around to open the back door. The first person out was a younger version of Emmy—auburn hair and hazel eyes, long legs, she hadn’t really gotten used to yet, and a body on the verge of being a woman’s. Nathaniel was floored at how much the two looked alike.

Emmy ran down the stairs and grabbed the girl in a hug. After a surprised “oof,” the young woman embraced her. “Mimi!” she cawed.

“Ally!” Emmy cawed back, smiling. “You grew up, what the hell?! Didn’t I tell you to stop that?”

“Sorry, sis.” She giggled. “I tried. But high school is a different ball game.”

“Ain’t that the truth.” Victor sighed.

Before Emmy could introduce Allison, Nathaniel watched her mother emerge from the limo. Mousy brown-auburn hair, and light hazel nearly blue eyes, Alyssa Greene was a woman who tried to make herself as unseen as possible. She was coiled in on herself and was slightly hunched over. It was the poise and appearance of a woman who was under the thumb and constant threat of another.

Emmy walked over and hugged her mother fiercely. “Mom.”

“Oh, Emmy,” she said, throwing her arms around her daughter. “Are you alright, sweetheart? I am so sorry I couldn’t be there. I wanted to so much...”

“It’s okay, Mom, really,” she spoke to her with reassurance in her voice. She looked back at Nathaniel and Victor just behind him. “I had two ridiculously attentive nursemaids who wouldn’t let even the smallest detail go unattended.”

“Wanna move?” snapped a voice from inside the limo.

Well. That was the wrong way to make a first impression.  

Emmy moved Alyssa out of the way and stepped back. A moment later, Emmy’s step-father emerged from the limo, looking every ounce the wife-beating, alcohol-abusing, system-playing lying son-of-a-bitch Nathaniel imagined him to be. His shirt was wrinkled, his pants faded, his shoes too shiny for them to ever have been worn to anything but a funeral or a wedding. His hair was dark, nearly black and shot with gray at the temples. Icy cold and shocking blue, his eyes were completely devoid of anything that resembled humanity. He had a five o’clock shadow, which was impressive at just ten in the morning.

“Oh shit,” Victor whispered. “That’s him? That’s who we have to play nicely with all week?”

“Yup,” Nathaniel said without emotion.

“Damn if he don’t just smell like a backwoods redneck,” Victor drawled.

“Yup,” Nathaniel said again.

“Well, Emerson,” the step-father sneered, “looks like you got yourself a fancy pants-boyfriend here, limos and airplanes.”

“Hello, Sean.” Nathaniel could hear the control straining in her voice.

“Don’t I get a hug?” he asked.

Nathaniel heard Victor hiss in his ear, like a cat when it was threatened. “If I had claws, that tone alone would have sent me to attack mode.”

“No, Sean, you don’t,” she spoke quietly, her tone tight and nearly cruel.

“Well, I can see you’ve forgotten everything we taught you.” He tilted his head up and looked down his nose at Emmy.

Nathaniel paused and looked at Victor. “I didn’t like the sound of that.”

“Nope,” Victor agreed. He pushed Nathaniel forward a bit. “Go break the tension.”

Nathaniel walked down the stairs and right over to where Emmy and Alyssa were standing. “Mrs. Greene.” He held out his hand. “I’m Nathaniel.”

Alyssa looked up at him and smiled. She took his hand and turned it very quickly into a hug. “Thank you, Nathaniel. Thank you for taking care of her. I worry constantly about her out there alone.”

“Oh, she’s not alone, Mrs. Greene.” He smiled. “She’s got plenty of friends.”

“Well, she’s still my little girl, and I worry about her all the time,” Alyssa said.

Emmy motioned Allison over. “This is my little sister, Allison. Ally, this is my boyfriend, Nathaniel.”

Allison shook his hand. “Nice to meet you, sir.”

“You’d better call me Nathaniel, squirt.” He walked over to Sean and stuck his hand out. “Mr. Greene, nice to meet you.”