“Where are you? I can kill him for you if you want.”
Emmalyn grinned and texted back.“I’m good. Let him live. I like him all panicked trying to figure out how to fix something he can’t fix.”
“Finally! I’ve been waiting hours to hear from you! Everybody is out looking for you,”Analise responded immediately.
“Oh, no. Not Mom and Dad, and Kaid and everybody?”
“No, they figure you’re teaching him a lesson. But Barron and Brandt and they have Kiernan and Shawn and Ronan out trying to find you. You do know Kaid and Brandt have us on high-alert, don’t you? It’s a little more worrying when one of us is unaccounted for. So, it might be helpful if you let everybody know you’re okay. And don’t do that shit again.”
“Sorry. I’m fine. I’ll call Mom and Dad and they can tell whoever they want. But I refuse to speak to Barron or Brandt.”
“Brandt’s our Alpha, you kind of have to.”
“Brandt is on my asshole list at the moment. If he makes me too mad, I’ll go back to Atlanta. He can Alpha all he freaking wants, if I don’t want to be Alphaed by him, I’ll find somewhere else to live. Thinking about it anyway.”
“You don’t really want to do that.”
“I don’t know what I want. But I certainly don’t want to be here with either of them.”
“What about building your house across from mine?”
“I’d like to. But if I have to live with Barron and by Brandt’s rules, at the moment I don’t see either happening.”
“I know you’re hurting, but I really think what you heard was taken out of context. Did you listen long enough to hear the entire conversation?”
“Nope. I was angry. If I didn’t go when I did, it would have been a whole thing. And I didn’t want a whole thing. I just wanted to leave. I didn’t want to have to look at Barron. I was that angry.”
“No, you were that hurt.”
“Same thing. I trusted him. He lied.”
“Maybe he didn’t. At least not the way you think he did.”
“Doesn’t matter, ‘Lise. I trusted him, he broke it.”
“I think you misunderstood.”
“Good. Glad to hear it. Don’t care right now. I know what I heard.”
“Yeah, but you don’t know what you didn’t hear.”
“I’m not up for this right now.”
“Okay. We’ll talk about it later.”
“I doubt it, but I’ll be in touch.”
“Where are you?”
“Not telling, because I don’t want them over here. But I’m safe. Not too far away.”
“Havoc won’t tell, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking. Guy code and all…”
“Okay. He might, but not if I don’t tell him. And I won’t tell him. Want me to come hang out?”
Emmalyn thought about it for a moment, then decided against it. Thing was, she wasn’t as angry as she pretended to be. She was hurt. And she preferred to nurse her hurts alone. She took pride in her strength, and didn’t like anyone to see her hurting.“No, thank you. I’m okay. Going to find something to eat and then I’m going back to sleep.”
