Page 32 of Redemption's Inferno

“It wasn’t your fault, love.” Chains instantly leaned over to wrap his arms around her trembling body. Again. It was getting to be a habit but he hadn’t even hesitated.

“It’s a disease that hits young men and women under 30,” Nate continued. “It’s some sort of thickening of the muscles in the heart and sometimes it just comes on suddenly—no warning, no symptoms, just instant death. From what it said in the report, he would have died even if it had happened in a hospital. They closed the case because it was obvious whomever had been with him had panicked and ran, thinking they might have been in trouble, but that’s not the case. This wasn’t your fault, Emilie.”

Big, fat tears rolled down her cheeks and she hung her head, shoulders heaving as she sobbed. Chains pulled her close and her tears soaked into his shirt as her fingers gripped his biceps.

“If you’re still determined to turn yourself in,” Nate said after a moment. “I can help you with that, but I have a suggestion that might suit your needs better.”

Emilie took the tissues Chains proffered and blew her nose, wiping her face and finally looking up. “Sorry, I guess that was a long time coming.”

“All right, love?” Chains leaned over and pressed a light kiss on her cheek, keeping his arm around her as she tried to compose herself.

“Yes, thank you.” She gave him a grateful look, squeezing his knee under the table and smiling at him.

“Adam’s parents still live up in Ashbourne, not too far from here. If you’d like me to call a colleague over there, I could probably arrange to have you talk with them. Perhaps that would give you the relief you seek without having to go through the police. Leaving a dead body behind…could be a mess of paperwork, but at this point, I can’t imagine getting more than some sort of community service or probation.”

“His parents live nearby? Here?” She stared at him.

“If you’d like, I can make some calls, see if I can arrange a meeting.” He paused, cocking his head. “There’s nothing you could have done. Terrible tragedy, but those types of things happen and you were young and scared. There’s no point in going to the police. They’ll be forced to reopen the case and—” He held out a file folder. “The autopsy report is here. He died in less than a minute. Apparently, no one knew he had this condition, so he was a walking time bomb. Let it go, Emilie.”

“I want to talk to his parents,” she said, clearing her throat. “Tell them what I’ve done. If they want me to turn myself in, I will. If they don’t, if they’re comfortable with the story of what happened, I’ll let it go.”

Nate nodded. “All right then. I’ll make the call tomorrow.”

“That means we can’t leave just yet,” Chains reminded her.

“I know.” She nodded. “It’s okay. At least now I know what happened.” She stood up and looked at Dolores. “Please excuse me for a few minutes—I need to gather my thoughts.”

“Take your time, dear.” Dolores nodded.

“Call down if you need me, yeah?” Chains met her gaze, hoping the look in his eyes told her he was there for her. He had no idea what she was feeling right now, but if the intensity he felt was even half of what she felt, she had to be overwhelmed.

“Thanks.” She squeezed his hand and disappeared up the stairs.

“Go after her,” Dolores murmured once she was gone. “She needs you, no matter what she says.”

Chains arched a brow. “You’ve got us for at least one more day,” he replied. “Give the matchmaking a break and let her have a good cry in private. I’ll go check on her once she’s got it out of her system. She needs to be alone right now.”

Nate nodded. “I think he’s right on this one, love. Give her a few moments to process everything. If she’s been carrying around guilt all this time, she’ll want time to herself.”

* * *

When Chains checked on her a couple of hours later, Emilie was asleep on the bed, curled in a fetal position, her phone in her hand. Gently prying it from her fingers, he could see she’d been talking with her twin, Sebastian. It was in Swedish, and his grasp of the language was minimal, but he was glad she’d reached out to him.

He put her phone on the nightstand and was about to tiptoe out again when he heard a whisper in the darkened room. “Stay with me. Please.”

“Whatever you need, love.” He slid onto the bed and pulled her close, letting her snuggle against him.

“Touch me. Will you…touch me? Not…sex… I just need to feel alive. I’m so…cold on the inside.”

“I can do that, yeah.” He ran one hand up her forearm and across her shoulders, slowly but with enough pressure to let her know he was there. He used his thumb to trace along the line of her jaw, back in the other direction and then along the sensitive spots behind her ear. With his other hand, he moved under her shirt and splayed his fingers on her back, moving from the base of her spine up over her bra strap and towards her shoulders. Hesitantly, he dipped back to her bra strap and deftly unhooked it, letting the two sides come apart so he could move up and down her back uninhibited. A little sigh escaped her and he used both hands to stroke her skin, touching everything exposed; her back, her arms, her neck and face, and finally her legs. Keeping his touch firmer than a romantic caress, but gentle enough to be soothing, he continued to move from top to bottom, until he was positive he was going to explode if he didn’t kiss her. He couldn’t though. Not tonight. If she wanted him, she had to come to him. She was emotional and vulnerable; it would be twenty kinds of wrong if he enticed her at a time like this.

“Oh!” Her whimper of distress when he pulled away nearly made him groan aloud.

“Baby, I can’t keep touching you without…” He put his big hands on either side of her face, looking down into eyes that sparkled blue even with nothing but moonlight to illuminate them. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen and I’m only human, Em.”

“Kiss me,” she whispered, meeting his gaze with a look that could only be described as longing. “I need you.”

He swallowed, bending his head to brush his lips across hers, letting them linger for barely a heartbeat before moving away slightly. “What, exactly, do you need, love?”

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