Chapter 35

But Jesse sank into the Jacuzzi’s hot water, still firmly in Gideon’s arms, and allowed the chance to slip by. 8

Emma opened the door onto a silent suite, her excited greeting dying on her lips. None of the living room lights were on. She had been running late, sure, but she didn’t think she’d been that late. The sun had only set half an hour earlier, tops. Gideon and Jesse wouldn’t have gone out without her…would they?

Dropping her bags by the door, she ventured two steps into the penthouse before a wall of emotion smothered her. Pain, and euphoria, and guilt, and more pain, and…

Emma stopped, gasping against the shock. Her walls came slamming up as she squeezed her eyes against the assault, shoving away the heated scarlet strands before they wound around her throat and choked her. The hand that reached for the back of a nearby chair shook, and she had to take several gulping breaths before her body started to cooperate again.

When she opened her eyes, the room was still dark.