ChapterFourteen
Greer knew he should either bang on Emery’s door and try to explain why he shot her brother or call Papa and beg him for help. He couldn’t bring himself to do either. Instead, he sat on the couch in a stupor for a while, praying for some insight and help. Praying Emery would come back out and talk to him. Praying Emery could someday forgive him.
Forgive him? That would never happen. He pictured the mixture of horror, anger, and revulsion in her beautiful brown eyes directed at him after she’d shoved herself off his lap. It made him want to vomit.
She’d told him she loved him, and then he’d told her the truth. She would never forgive him. What did he expect? He’d done it. He’d shot and killed her only brother.
How had he been stupid enough to think she could forgive him and to let himself fall in love with her? No mortal man could resist an angel like Emery thrust into his life, and especially not an inexperienced man like him. Like Papa said, he hadn’t really dated since Belinda. What did he know about love and relationships besides what he read in books or watched his family members experience?
He stood and walked to Emery’s door. He didn’t know what he should or could say, but he had to try. It might be smarter to let her rest and see if he had a clearer head in the morning, but he couldn’t stand to leave things as they were.
He heard movement inside the room. That encouraged him. At least she hadn’t crawled out the window or locked herself in the bathroom.
“Emery?” he called through the door.
No answer. No movement. Complete stonewall.
He knocked on the door again. “Emery?”
No way was he going to pick open the lock. Not now.
He thought he heard a sniffle from inside the room. She was crying? Who could blame her? She’d so sweetly told him, “I love you, Greer Delta. I cherish you. I treasure you. I adore you. I revere you. Isavoryou.”
Ah, Emery. He wanted to proclaim every one of those terms back to her, but now was not the time for that. Maybe someday.
He shook his head. Probably not in this lifetime.
“I’m sorry about your brother’s death,” he said to the door. “You have no idea how sorry.” He drew in a breath and he had no clue if she was listening, but he started spewing words like he’d never done in his life. “Your brother and two of his friends were hired to go after … something my family is protecting. They attacked my brother Thor and his girlfriend Shelly to find out the location of the secret, but Thor overpowered them and they got arrested.”
He paused and thought he could hear her breath. At least she wasn’t yelling at him or running away.
“One of the guy’s mom posted bail. Shortly after, the three of them kidnapped my cousin Alivia and her boyfriend to force her to take them to the secret. They escaped after a day and a half, ran, and found shelter in an old cabin. My cousin Colt, my uncle Joseph, and I were one of the groups searching for them.”
He took a breath and could’ve sworn he could hear her panting gasps on the other side of the door. He prayed she was listening, but he didn’t know if his explanation would help anything.
“We heard gunshots. Lots of gunshots. We raced that direction and found Travis and his friends shooting up the front of the cabin with some serious firepower.”
A gasp. She was there, and she was listening.
“We started shooting at them as we approached and everything went insane. Uncle Joseph shot Flynn Wright and killed him. Colt and I tackled Colby Newman and Travis disappeared.”
Would she call him a liar? Tell him she hated him? Only silence sounded from the bedroom. Had she walked away so she wouldn’t hear this? He continued anyway.
“Colt told me to go, so I ran for the cabin. As I reached the window, I heard your brother say, ‘It’s time to die,’ and then he pointed his gun at Alivia and Klein. I reacted instinctively to protect them. I shot him.”
“No!” Emery screamed. “No, no, no!”
Greer heard something being dragged across the floor, and then the door flung open. Emery stood there, breathing hard. Her dark curls were wild around her face and her eyes were red-rimmed. The skin around her mouth was slightly red and her lips were swollen. She was so beautiful it hurt to look at her.
“No!” she yelled, pointing a finger at him but backing up as if afraid he’d reach for her. “You’re a liar and a murderer. My brother would never take a bribe like a mercenary, kidnap people, and then try to kill them in cold blood. He was a soldier. He loved and served our country and he was on a special ops mission. Your family is deluded; you think you’re protecting some stupid secret for your country but you’re on the wrong side, Greer Delta!”
Greer blinked at her. Did she really believe that? Or was she just spewing angry words? ”I’m sorry, Emery. Whoever the Voice is … he’s after the secret. He used and manipulated your brother, and now he’s trying to use and manipulate you.”
She stared him down, or rather up. “So my brother’s a stupid dupe who went AWOL from the Navy and let some jerk control him and then became a kidnapping, murderous villain for money?”
Greer shrugged. All he knew of Travis Reeder was he had gone AWOL, had taken a million dollars with the promise of five million more to find the secret, and he’d resorted to kidnapping and attempted murder not just with Alivia and Klein but also with Greer’s brother Thor and his now-fiancée Shelly. What could he say? The only good thing he knew about Travis Reeder was currently glaring at him.
“My brother was a good man, and you killed him,” she said in a low, trembling voice. “I hate you, Greer Delta.” Those beautiful brown eyes of hers were cold and angry. The way she looked at him hurt as much as her words. “I loathe you, I abhor you, I despise you, I detest you, I’m revolted by you … Ugh!” She threw her hands in the air. “I can’t think of any more words. Just stay away from me.”
She slammed the door again.
Greer’s heart felt like it had been ripped in two. He’d tried to explain, and she’d refused to listen. What else could he do? Would she calm down in the morning? Did it even matter? Even if she came to believe what her brother was capable of, how could she possibly love Greer knowing he’d killed her flesh and blood?
Over the past nine days he’d let himself push the insurmountable obstacle between them away as they’d grown close. He’d fallen in love with the irresistible Emery Reeder. It had been idiotic of him. Papa was right. Papa should’ve taken Emery away from Greer as soon as she’d appeared, questioned her, and sent her back to Mesquite. It would’ve avoided so much heartache for both of them.
Rubbing at the tightness in his forehead, Greer slowly made his way across the great room, through his bedroom, and into his bathroom. He started the shower, hoping the hot water would soothe his aching head, shoulders, and heart.
Who was he kidding? Nothing could soothe his heart. Emery despised him, and nobody could blame her. Least of all him.