“They clearly don’t,” Gideon said. “Why are you here?”
“Landon’s on the phone with his little British princess. Mom and Dad are making up after another fight. You’re the only other person here, and I’m tired of walking around this house with a shadow.”
Gideon had noticed she slammed his door shut.
“It’s for your own protection.”
“No, it’s for their protection. Even Mom thinks it’ll be a good idea to marry me off when I’m eighteen. Ugh, I hate our parents.”
“That’s pretty strong words.”
“So, you want me to curse and add a few more.”
“There’s a lot of hatred inside you right now. It’s not healthy.”
“You know what’s not healthy, pretending to not be in love with a woman you clearly are. Emma deserves to know the truth.”
Gideon sat on the edge of the bed. He’d never considered himself close to Tamsin. Out of all of his brothers, he was the only one that wasn’t always screaming at others to treat her like a girl, like a baby. The youngest of the family she may be, but Tamsin had a fire inside her everyone refused to see.
“Emma’s wanting to leave.”
“The city?”
“Yes, all of it behind,” he said.
There was a short pause. He expected a catty response.
“Can you do that?” she asked instead.
“I guess so. Emma doesn’t have any connections here. Her family is all but dead. I know we can make it work for her to disappear. Change her name. She didn’t make any enemies; her name did.”
“So … running away, changing your name, and starting afresh, that’s even possi
ble?” Tamsin asked.
“Of course it is. No one would know who you were. I can see the benefit of it.” He’d never wanted to be away from this life, but he wanted Emma more. This life was dangerous. They dealt with life and death every single day. Most of the time, it was death. There was always a chance someone would try to betray them.
“I never really thought of it like that, you know, getting away. Will you let her go?”
“That, I can’t tell you.”
“You’d be selfish enough to keep her here where she doesn’t want to be?”
“She doesn’t know I’m in love with her yet. That could change everything.” He pulled on his jacket. “So, out you go. I’m sure you’ve got some homework to do.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good luck with your date. I like Emma. She’s a good woman.”
He winked at her, and Tamsin left the bedroom.
Whistling to himself, he didn’t bother to say bye to his parents. For the time being he was at home because his apartment was being redecorated, but that wouldn’t last forever.
Climbing into his car, he made his way across town to Emma’s apartment, which she shared with her brothers. The moment he parked, he was pissed off. He didn’t have time to get out of his car before Emma had opened the door. He’d spotted her waiting on her apartment steps. Anything could have happened.
Now he was pissed.
“Why didn’t you wait for me inside your apartment?” he asked.
“Why would I do that? My brothers are inside.”