Jax arches a brow, and Jill joins us, dressed in a female pirate costume. “Bad joke,” Savage says. “I’ll tie Jill up.”
“I might even let you, Savage. If you didn’t act like I was a bitch all the time.” She rotates and starts walking way.
“But you are a bitch!” he calls after her.
Jax and I laugh and fade into the party of at least a hundred kids, handing out prizes, candies, and playing games. I had almost forgotten Brody was coming, until I rounded a corner to seek out more candy for a group of kids and he steps in front of me. “Emma,” he greets.
My heart lurches. “Hi, Brody.” I eye his skeleton costume. “I like it. Does it glow?”
“No. I’m not that exciting.”
I lower my voice conspiratorially. “Neither is your brother who basically wore a suit.”
“I’m sorry.”
I blink. “What?”
“For what I did to you. My brother loves you. I see that when he looks at you.”
My heart swells with his words and this surprising turn of events. “I love him, too.”
“I love him,” he whispers. The whisper gets me.
“I have something special I want to show you and Jax tonight, after the kids leave.” I grab his arm. “Will you stay?”
“I damn sure don’t want to go home.”
“Well, then don’t. Grab some candy and hand it out.”
He gives a short nod and walks into one of the candy rooms. Jax steps to my side. “Everything okay?”
“Yes.” I turn to face him. “I have something for both of you. I asked him to stay until after the kids leave.”
His brow furrows. “Now I’m curious.”
I kiss him. “Well, my very sexy Superman, you’ll know soon enough.” Now, I rotate away from Jax and go in search of kids who need treats. And maybe one of those donuts because God, what have I done?
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Jax
The party is a huge success, and Emma is as charming as ever. The kids love her. The parents love her. Even Jill seems to be coming around. I’d say the same about Brody, but as Emma and I see out the final family, he’s nowhere to be found. “No luck finding Brody?” Emma asks when the doors are sealed.
“No. I’ve looked high and low.”
“It must have been too much for him,” she says, brushing her fingers over my jaw. “Maybe you can show him the new addition I made to the castle.” She laces her fingers with mine. “After I show you.”
“Now, I’m curious again. An addition to the castle?
“Yes,” she says primly. “An addition to the castle. Come with me.”
“Night, you two,” Jill calls out as we walk away.”
“Night,” Emma calls back.
“You two are getting along,” I say, rather shocked at how far we’ve come.
“She loves Halloween. Says it’s her most favorite holiday ever.”
I chuckle at that. “Is it a holiday?”
“Don’t tell Jill otherwise,” she says, leading me to one of the tower stairwells. “She might quit.”
I don’t catch on to where we’re going until she turns us left. That’s when I stop dead. “Emma? Where are we going?”
She steps in front of me. “Yes, we’re going there.” By there, she means the room where Hunter fell to his death. “But,” she adds, “I promise you. It’s for a very special reason.”
“I don’t like that room.”
She softens her voice. “Please?”
I rub a rough hand through my hair and take off the damn glasses, shoving them in my pocket. “Quickly. Then let’s go home and get naked. I’ll feel better after.”
“Every girl wants to get naked with Superman, so you’re on.” She turns and drags me with her.
We enter that damnable room, rain splattering outside that hellish ledge that took Hunter from me and almost took Emma. “Now what?”
She points to a jeweled cross with Hunter’s name on it. Holy hell, every emotion I’ve ever owned punches me in the chest. I close the space between me and it and read: King of the North. You will never be forgotten.
“Fuck,” I whisper, tearing up.
Emma steps between me and it and wraps her arms around me. “I upset you. I’m sorry, I—”
I cup her head. “No. It’s—perfect. I love you, baby.”
“I did it.”
At Brody’s voice, Emma and I turn to find him in the doorway. “You did what?” I ask, a cold sensation sliding down my spine.
He moves toward me, and Emma steps aside, the two of us, brother to brother, standing toe-to-toe. “I needed Emma out of here. I almost hurt her. I was afraid I’d hurt her again.”
“You’re telling me that you fucking had her kidnapped?”
“I didn’t want to hurt her.”
I lose my shit. I grab him and walk backward until I’ve shoved him hard against the wall. “She was naked when she woke up.”
“Jax!” Emma screams. “Jax, please. Just let him go. He’s being honest. He set me free. That’s all that matters.”
“Get back, Emma,” I growl when she grabs my arm, my gaze burning into my brother. “The people I hired said her ex was some pedophile, and she’d think it was him. I just—I just didn’t want to hurt her, and I was so angry at her. At that family. Hunter—they took Hunter.”