Bought For Love

It hadn’t taken long for me to realize that Patrick wasn’t someone I wanted to be associated with. But he was also someone I hadn’t wanted as an enemy. So I’d done my best to make the split amicable, and every once in a while he reared his ugly mug and tried to lure me back into the game.

“Do you think he knows you’re the one who turned him in?”

I thought about Sullivan’s question for a minute before answering. “No. The FBI completely covered my involvement, and if they hadn’t, I’d be dead.”

I ran a tired hand over my face and cursed the young me who’d been stupid enough to get involved with that motherfucker. “But, he knew I was done with that life; done with him. Which means he must be desperate if he’s going out of his way to track me down.”

“I told him in no uncertain terms to lose my information and stay the fuck away from you,” Sullivan growled. “But I think you’re right. He’s not going to back off until he speaks with you.”

His eyes drifted in the direction of Emma and Kinsley. “I wouldn’t have brought it up here, but this was the first chance I’ve had to tell you and I didn’t want to wait. I wasn’t sure if Emma was aware of your criminal background, and he seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t give a shit what kind of mess he leaves in his wake, as long as he gets what he wants.”

I blew out a long, steady breath before draining my drink. “No, she doesn’t know. I’m going to tell her, I just…I wanted her to get to know me first. To fall for me so that bullshit from my past, no matter how bad it is, won’t scare her away.”

Sullivan clapped his hand on my shoulder and looked me straight in the eye. “No judgment here, Miles. I would have done the same with Kinsley. But I suggest you tell her sooner rather than later, before she finds out from some asshole like Patrick.”

Sullivan’s words haunted me through the rest of the night. They festered inside me, making me determined to claim Emma, to convince her that we belonged together. The moment we stepped into the house, I swept her off her feet and stalked to our bedroom.

I couldn’t keep the edge of desperation out of my touch. The first time I took her, it was hard and possessive. I was making a statement. Telling her without words that she was mine.

Afterwards, I made love to her tenderly, pouring all of my emotion into the act. It had only been a short time since we’d met and married, but I was already falling so deeply in love with her. For my own sanity, I had to believe she was feeling the same, because I’d made the decision to finally tell Emma everything about me and hope that we’d had enough time together for her to look beyond what I’d done in the past and see who I was now.

…

I yawned, and my eyes drifted to my watch, and I grimaced when I noted the time. It was five in the morning. One of the benefits of being the boss was that I could work from pretty much anywhere, but that also meant that I could get lost in my work and forget about the time.

Since bringing Emma home, I rarely left her alone all night. However, I’d been forced to go out a few times to track down Patrick and figure out what his endgame was. I tried not to think about the fact that, while I did need to find him, it was just another excuse to delay my talk with Emma. When I finally found him, I discovered he’d ratted on a few other associates to get a reduced sentence. Our conversation also made it clear that he was fishing for a back door into my new software. When I didn’t give him anything, he’d played at reluctant acceptance, but I knew him better than that. It made me paranoid enough that I’d buried myself in work the last week to shore up the security, adding a level that even my most trusted developers weren’t aware of.

I felt guilty for not spending as much time with Emma as I should’ve been and vowed to make up for it now that I was satisfied with my work on the software.

Yawning, I stood and stretched, feeling the tiredness in every aching muscle. I closed down my computer and made my way to the master bedroom. As quietly as possible, I nudged the door open, trying not to wake Emma.

It was a needless precaution because she wasn’t asleep in our bed. Before I could start searching for her, I heard the sounds of someone getting sick coming from the en suite bathroom. I rushed over and shoved the door open to find Emma on her knees, hugging the toilet bowl as she emptied her stomach.