“Last time you were here,” I said, “you told me she was dangerous.”
“We’ve learned a few things.”
“What do you want to talk to her about, Richard?”
“That’s really not your business.”
Fuck that. Emma was my business. “Yet you came to me,” I said. “That sure as fuck sounds like it’s my business.”
“First, we want to be sure she’s alive. She’s fallen off the radar—the grid—we haven’t been able to find her. There’s been nothing since the night she arrived. It’s been over a month. My gut tells me that she is being hidden or” —he shook his head— “she didn’t make it out of New Orleans alive.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photograph. “Look at her, Everett. This is who we’re discussing.”
She’s fucking stunning.
“She’s a lovely woman.”
Michelson stared a little longer at Emma’s picture than I appreciated. He looked up with only his gray eyes. “She looks like her mother.”
“You’re certain this woman is Jezebel North’s daughter?”
He stared down at the picture for a few more seconds and exhaled. “I’m worried about the girl. I’m afraid of who’s using her. It’s a dangerous game and it seems the generations of Ramseses and Boudreaux sharing power disappeared nearly eight years ago—still within the seventh year.”
“Isaiah didn’t have an heir to make a claim.”
Richard shook his head. “This needs to stop now or it will be out of my hands, and I can’t promise what will happen.”
Emma
Istared at Rett in shock. His emotions were unreadable. The ring in my hand was heavy, a filigree platinum band with a giant oval diamond. I still couldn’t believe what he’d just said.
“I need to marry you now. Tonight?”
Rett nodded. “I called in a few favors. The judge will be here in half an hour.”
My head spun with this newfound urgency as I walked to the window in my suite that looked out on the courtyard. Though it was daylight, now that I’d seen it in the lights, I couldn’t look down without seeing the Ramses family crest.
“Talk to me.”
I spun back toward him. “Hell, Rett, I don’t know what to say. I suppose somewhere in my head I’d imagined a man on his knee professing his love and extolling the reasons why we were meant to be husband and wife.” I tossed the ring in the air, just inches above my palm and then closed my fingers around it. “Having a dead woman’s ring handed to me, being told that I was getting married in the next hour, and to be ready has honestly paled.”
“It’s a family heirloom. Some people find those sentimental.”
I looked down at the ring. Though it was large for my taste, it was beautiful. “It was your grandmother’s?”
“Yes, fuck, Emma. I’ll make it up to you.” Rett snatched the ring from my hand and fell to one knee. “Marry me.”
My eyes closed as I turned away. My change of scenery didn’t last long as my shoulders were seized, I was spun back toward Everett Ramses, and my eyes opened. “Maybe the third time will be the charm.”
Rett ran his hand down his face. “This isn’t about professing love. We both agreed to that from the beginning. I’m not a man capable of love. I gave that up when I took over this city. Love and what I do, what I’ve done, don’t make good bedfellows.”
There was a flicker of pain in his dark gaze.
“If I could love,” he went on, “I would try with you, for you. Emotions aren’t what matter at the end of the day. What matters is fulfilling fate’s destiny. You, Emma, were created for this, for me, for us, and for New Orleans. There are some things I haven’t mentioned, but the end result is that before we can make our deal public, before I can introduce you to the world, you may need to answer some questions, legal questions.”
Rett was right about our agreement. I’d given my heart at too young of an age to a boy who left it shattered before leaving me in my time of need. The remaining shreds were all I had. I held on to them tight to keep my heart beating. I didn’t have enough to share.
Inhaling, I lifted my chin. “Fine, love is off the table. Your reasoning for this new dire schedule is that I’m wanted for questioning? How is that possible? Who knows I’m here? Questioning about what?” A thought occurred to me. “It’s you.” My eyes opened wide. “You’re concerned that I’ve learned too much about you and if we’re married I can’t testify against you. What is going on, Rett?”
Cupping my cheeks, he pulled my lips to his. Firm and strong, they stole my questions, my argument, and my protest. When Rett pulled back, we were nose to nose. “This was always our deal. You agreed to marry me.”