When I marched her into my room like a caveman and swooped us both under the covers, she succumbed to a drunken fit of giggles. But soon her laughing subsided, replaced by contented sighs, and then the deep, even breaths that come with peaceful sleep.
I watch her now. A pink tinge from long days spent in the sun kisses her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. Dark eyelashes rest against her skin. They remind me of a doll my mother once had, which Oma has held on to till this day.
Julia’s lips part slightly, her breath escaping gently between them.
It’s her hands, though. Her fingers grip the fabric of my T-shirt when every other part of her body has slipped into relaxation. They curl into the fabric, squeezing me, pulling me closer, as though begging me to stay.
The guilt of making her subconsciously second-guess my loyalty or my desire to be anywhere but with her hits me hard. It makes every joint in my body throb with pain.
I’ve spent years telling myself I’d never fall in love because it would hurt too much to lose that person. What I didn’t realize is that the ultimate pain would be the thought of not having her at all.
I slip my hand over her back, tugging her closer, needing her nearer. Her leg hitches over my hip, one hand slowly releasing my shirt as it slips up my chest, my throat, and around the back of my neck, as though she trusts me to carry her through this.
And I’m not sure I deserve that trust, but I know without a shadow of a doubt in my mind that I will work myself to death to be worthy.
For her, there’s literally nothing I wouldn’t do. It’s a shocking realization, especially for someone who’s toed the line of selfishness for so many years.
I stare at her doll-like face, realizing that she’s changed me profoundly, deeply. She’s captured my heart and altered my entire mindset. She’s left an indelible mark on my soul, brought back to life a part of me that I didn’t even realize had died on a snowy back road on Christmas Day twenty-two years ago.
I never lost my ability to love, but I lost my desire to seek it out.
Until she found me.
A soft, contented sigh spills from her lips, and I’m taken back to that night on the cruise ship.
I’d sat awake watching her, counting her breaths, praying to a God I’ve never believed in for her to take one more. I’d stayed back, kept a respectable distance. I didn’t know her then. Not like I do now.
Back then, I sat at the foot of the bed. Now I can’t get close enough to satisfy my need to be near her.
“Emmett,” she murmurs, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck. “Don’t go.”
I don’t think she’s aware of what she’s saying, or why, but I kiss the tip of her nose and burrow close. “There’s nowhere else for me to be.”
With her in my arms, I allow myself to rest and relax for the first time in days.
And when the sound of my phone ringing wakes us, we’re still clinging to each other, in a warm, tangled mess of limbs.
Julia groans, one hand reaching for her forehead as she rolls onto her back. “This was not the way to ease myself back into alcohol.”
I chuckle, kissing the top of her hand. “Let me grab this. Then I’ll make you some food. Get you back on your feet.”
I reach over her to swipe my phone off the bedside table. The contract lawyer’s name flashing across my screen has me pushing up to sitting, going from dopey to alert in one fell swoop.
I lean against the bed frame and pull Julia into my lap before answering the phone with a gruff “Hello?”
The man’s nasally voice comes through the line. “Emmett, Maxwell here. You got a minute?” he says, getting straight to business.
Much like on our first call, he doesn’t mess around with niceties. The man comes off more like a walking, talking computer than anything else, which for my purposes suits me just fine.
“Yep, what do you got?” I say, glancing down as Julia peeks up at me out of one eye, then winces as though opening her lids causes her pain.
“Listen, I’m going to keep it simple for you,” he continues. “Your contract is pretty much unenforceable at this point.”
I blink, at a loss for what to say next. Though based on the way Julia’s head shoots up, I can tell that his voice has filtered down to her as well.
“Are you sure?”
“Based on the screenshots and text messages that you’ve sent me, yes. I don’t know if you want me to explain it in detail over the phone, but that camera in your house is truly the pièce de résistance.”
My eyes flash toward the door. “And what about having to pay back anything for quitting?”
“Unlikely. I’ve sent your letter of resignation just to cover our bases. But I suspect that when they see what a legal nightmare this executive is, they’ll pay out the contract and give you anything you want just to keep you from dragging them through the courts.”
Relief floods me at the prospect of getting out of this relatively unscathed. Paid and free of Richard fucking Wadsworth.
“Anything I want?”
“Contractual sort of things. Not a Lamborghini.”
I almost laugh. Maxwell might be one of the most literal people I’ve ever interacted with.
“A letter of recommendation from the studio for the location manager?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem.”
Against my better judgment, my thoughts turn to Evelyn. I don’t like the woman. But I hate the way she’s been used and abused by Dick Wad even more. “What about a guaranteed audition for future shows for one of the contestants?”
“That might be a reach.”
“What if Richard has been fucking her while promising it would help her get future roles?”
“Jesus Christ.” Maxwell sounds genuinely disgusted.
“I know.”
“Proof?”
“I saw them?”
I hear the lawyer hum from the other end of the line. “Would she corroborate your story in writing?”
“I don’t know. Evelyn and I are not exactly on great terms.”
“Leave it with me. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Appreciate it, Maxwell.”
“Yup. I’d also like to get proof of the camera’s existence myself, go over the contract with you in person, and possibly bring a technician out. Just to prove that the camera is functional, which means that until I can get there tomorrow, I need you to guard it with your life and make sure no one gets a chance to tamper with it or take it down. Going to make the trip to you tomorrow.”
“Okay, well, I’m here now, and I’ve covered the lens. The doors are locked but I don’t trust Richard not to try something if I leave.”
I swear I can hear Maxwell nodding through the phone. “Good. Well, don’t leave then. I’ll be there in the morning.”
With that, he hangs up on me and leaves me staring at my phone screen, and Julia doing the same.
“Am I still drunk, or did you actually just find a way out of this fucking shit show with a paycheck in hand?”
I hug her close and press a disbelieving kiss against her messy curls.
“Both, Jules. I think it’s both.”
OceanofPDF.com
OceanofPDF.com
CHAPTER 46
Julia
Theo
You okay? Emmett came looking for you yesterday.
Theo
He seemed genuinely distraught, and I just wanted to check in. Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought? I might have overstepped the other night.
Julia
ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?
Emmett treats me like porcelain. He holds me in bed, and his hands never leave me, even as we make our way to the kitchen.
