Page 69 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

“You’re safe,” I whispered to her. “Safe, honey.”

She nodded and then snuggled deeper against us both, clinging so hard to my hand I could feel her nails digging into my palm, but I didn’t care. Whatever she needed to feel safe she’d get.

After a few long minutes, Rhodes released the hug huddle. “I need to see Alana,” he rumbled.

The ravaged, gritty tone he used made me instantly nervous.

“I’ve got Em,” I said. Emily burrowed against me, her arms fully wrapped around my body as she put her ear to my chest and looked out at the chaos surrounding us.

I watched as Rhodes approached Christophe and Alana.

Was he going to be angry that they were kidnapped on her watch? They did leave their guards in the car, which was the exact opposite of what we’d all agreed to.

Worry buzzed at my temples as I held my breath.

“Alana…” Rhodes started.

She turned his way, tears falling down her pretty cheeks. I’d never seen her cry before. As expected, she was a beautiful crier.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured, her body language stiff and strung so tight I thought she might snap in half.

He reached for her arm and pulled her against his chest. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he chanted and ducked his head. Then my big man broke down in the arms of a woman he loved like his very own sister. Alana wrapped one arm around his shoulders, the other cupped to the back of his head.

“It’s okay. We’re okay. Everyone is okay,” she repeated.

Christophe lifted his uninjured arm and clapped Rhodes on the back in what could only be seen as solidarity.

I watched as Rhodes nodded but clung to the woman’s embrace. “Thank you for keeping my baby safe. I don’t know what I would have done if I’d lost either of you,” he admitted.

She eased back and cupped his cheeks. “Nonsense. You were always going to find us,mon chéri. I had no doubt. It was only a matter of time after Emily’s smart thinking.”

“That was your idea?” I asked Emily, and everyone looked at her.

She nodded excitedly. “At first, I was so scared that I passed out.”

“What?” Rhodes barked.

Emily waved her hand. “I was fine, Daddy. Auntie made sure of it. Then I remembered that even though they took our phones, I had my Apple watch on. So I told them I needed to use the restroom before the scary boss guy got there and we texted you from the watch!”

“That was so very brave of you,” Rhodes praised, letting Alana go and coming back to stand before his daughter. “So brave, Emily.”

She smiled so wide her cheeks turned pink. “I saved the day, huh?”

“You certainly did!” He hugged her again. “Now, let’s get out of here.”

“We have to go to the hospital. Apparently, Christo felt it prudent to leave in the middle of getting his arm stitched,” Alana glared at her husband.

Christophe smirked. “Nothing was keeping me from seeing you immediately.”

“Your health and well-being matter just as much as mine,mon coeur,” she scolded.

“If the situations were reversed, you’d wait to be stitched before meeting your husband who’d been abducted right before your very eyes?”

“Hmmmmmm,” she hummed noncommittally.

“That is what I thought,mon amour.” He took her hand and kept her close. “Why don’t you three go on ahead to the house, and we’ll be there soon.”

Alana and Emily were both unharmed. Still, even though Emily seemed fine, I knew we’d need to work through this terrifying experience. And I’d be there to help her with processing everything. The one thing I was good at was dealing with trauma.

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