Page 78 of Redemption's Inferno

“Did you know what was going on when you went to meet her?”

“No. I met her at my apartment and since I didn’t know exactly what her involvement was, I wasn’t as prepared as I should have been. She hit me over the head and when I woke up I was tied up in some abandoned warehouse.”

“When was this?”

“Mid-January.”

“She had you over a month.” Her vision blurred as tears filled her eyes, thinking about what he’d endured.

“Don’t cry, love. I’m okay and it’s over. I’d have happily died to save you.”

“Don’t say that!” she whispered harshly.

“Easy, sweetheart.” He squeezed her hand. “We have a lot more to talk about, but how about we table it until we get home? For a couple of days, let’s just enjoy that beautiful new boy of ours and try to do a bit of healing…because when I’m better, there will be unfinished business to attend to.”

She sighed. “Do you know who betrayed you at MI6?”

He sighed. “Yeah.”

“It was Warren,” she guessed. There was no one else; he was the only one it could have been and the sadness in his eyes told her she was right.

“Not today,” he said after a slight hesitation, squeezing her hand. “The only thing I want to think about today is you—how much I love you, how grateful I am you love me too, and…how many days until I can make that beautiful body mine again.”

She smiled wanly. “Probably four or five weeks, darling.”

He shrugged. “It’s all right—we have the rest of our lives for that.”

* * *

Three days later they went home. As the limousine Dante had hired for them pulled up to the house, Emilie let out a little sigh of frustration. Cars filled the driveway and lined the street. There were at least a million blue balloons tied to the mailbox and a huge “Welcome Home, James Sebastian” banner across the front of the porch.

“This is probably Jamie’s doing,” she said. “He’s so excited.”

“Shouldn’t he be?” Chains asked, stepping out of the limo and reaching out his good arm to help her. His right arm was in a sling to keep his shoulder somewhat immobilized, but he was feeling pretty good otherwise. He’d been malnourished and dehydrated, but he’d had broken ribs dozens of times before so it barely fazed him and the gunshot wound was already healing well.

She reached down to unbuckle the baby from the car seat as the driver got their bag for them. “Yes, he should be, but I was hoping for a relaxing first day home.”

“In this family?” Chains snorted. “Not hardly.”

“We have to buy a place of our own,” she said.

“We have time.” He brushed his lips across hers and she stared into his handsome face. The black eye was now an odd greenish-yellow color and his nose was still slightly swollen from how many times he’d been hit. There was a cut on his lip that was scabbed over and a bruise on his neck she hadn’t asked about. Yet he was still the sexiest man she’d ever known. His steel-gray eyes met hers curiously and she reached up to run her fingers through his now clean and cut dirty-blond hair. Dante had sent a barber to the hospital and he’d buzzed it short to get rid of all the broken pieces from both the dreadlocks and the roughshod way Franny had cut it. There was a little length on top, though, and it stuck up slightly, giving him a tough but modern look.

“Are you coming in or do ya plan to spend all afternoon gazin’ into each other’s eyes?” Dolores demanded, throwing open the front door and putting her hands on her hips.

“Mum!” Chains’ eyes widened and he gripped Emilie’s hand to pull her along with him as he moved to hug his mother.

“Surprise!” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

“How did you—”

“That sweet young man—Dante—said you needed me and sent us tickets!” She leaned over to stage whisper, “First class! Treated me like royalty, they did!”

He chuckled. “I’m glad to see you.”

“My beautiful boy.” She touched his face. “And those dreadful dread things are gone! So handsome again!” She turned to Emilie. “But not as handsome as this little one!” She peered into the blanket the baby was swaddled in. “Congratulations, Emilie.”

“Thank you.” Emilie hugged her and they went into the house. A loud cheer went up and Emilie froze, blinking in surprise at all the people in the room. Her mother and Ken, Karl and Kate, their entire circle of friends from the Sidewinders and Club Inferno, and even a handful of people she didn’t know.

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