Page 41 of Redemption's Inferno

“Odd.” Chains glanced at Emilie, who looked worried.

“Just wanted her to know there was someone I don’t trust asking after her but I sent him on his way.”

“Why do you care about Emilie?” Chains demanded. “You obviously don’t—”

“She’ll tell you why!” Cuddy chuckled. “Cheers, mate.” He disconnected and Chains stared at Emilie. “What’s he talking about?”

“Apparently, our good friend Warren set up that little scenario where Cuddy went too far.”

“Set it up how?” Chains’ eyes narrowed dangerously.

“You were meant to save me. Cuddy didn’t push the envelope until you arrived, because that’s what Warren asked him to do.”

“Bloody hell.” He grunted. “That matchmaking old fool is going to be the death of me!”

She was thinking about something else, though. “Why is someone looking for me?”

“I’d like to know too,” he admitted.

“Should we take a quick trip to London?” she asked. “Hit the BDSM clubs and see if we run into anyone else looking for me?”

“We might do that.” Their eyes met.

“Don’t worry,” she said softly. “I trust you to take care of me.”

He smiled, wrapping his arms around her. Damn if she wasn’t right; he not only wanted to take care of her, he would enjoy it too.

* * *

The next day they headed back to London. Chains had booked a hotel room even though Warren had offered them his guest room again. He and Emilie had never truly been alone together, and though they’d agreed to a trial relationship, they hadn’t had sex again. The night they’d returned from Stonehenge, Emilie had fallen asleep in the car and hadn’t even woken when he’d carried her upstairs. The next night they’d gone to see a play at a local theater with his mother and Nate and wound up staying out until very late, with Emilie falling asleep on him again. Then a water pipe burst just before they’d gone to bed the following night, keeping Chains and Nate up until all hours trying to keep the house from flooding until they could get a plumber. It seemed like a comedy of errors was keeping them apart, and he was determined to change that tonight. That was his plan anyway; not that any of his plans seemed to be coming to fruition lately.

“At some point I’m going to have to see a doctor,” Emilie said on the drive. “I should be taking prenatal vitamins already, and I don’t know how to get them here.”

“I can get them for you,” he said, reaching over to squeeze her hand.

“Chains…”

“Yeah?” He glanced over at her.

“This thing with us, it might not be a good idea.” She chewed her lower lip. “I think it’s going to be weird for you, with me being pregnant. I’m going to get fat—”

“You’re going to grow a child,” he corrected mildly. “I don’t see pregnant women as fat. There’s a difference.”

“Sex is going to fall by the wayside,” she projected. “Not right away, but although I was alone the last time, I definitely didn’t feel like it towards the end.”

“Because you were alone,” he reasoned. “If you’d been with Viggo, and things had been good between you, I’m sure that would have changed. Even though I assume all pregnant women have bad days, unless there’s a medical issue, I can’t believe none of them have sex.”

She smiled. “No, I know for a fact Becca and Dante have sex—a lot. But they’re so deeply in love…” She sighed.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said softly. “I know it’s a difficult subject, but right now the only person who knows there’s a baby is me, and I would never tell.”

She shook her head. “No. I couldn’t do that—this child was conceived on purpose, with love. Not romantic love, but the love of friendship and family.”

“All right, but then you’re going to have to think about what happens if the Browns want to reopen the case. When it’s all said and done, you didn’t commit a crime by leaving him there, but there could be all kinds of legalities, including them suing you.”

“If the autopsy revealed nothing could have saved him, what would suing me do?”

“Make grieving parents feel better.”

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