Page 72 of Redemption's Inferno

“Will someone tell me what’s going on?” Karl asked quietly. “There are police involved and we should know what we’re going to say.”

“Chains has to make that decision,” Emilie whispered. “This goes back to a failed mission with MI6. He left so he could protect me.”

“We were all here to protect you,” Karl mumbled.

“Chains should have come to us,” Viggo agreed. “We would have protected you.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s a macho thing, isn’t it? It’s that whole I’m-a-man-and-I-should-protect-the-little-woman mentality? You know I’m a hardcore dominatrix who can kick your ass, right? Remember our wedding night?!”

Karl nearly choked, turning away, eyes wide with horror she would go into detail about that.

“She went hardcore on you on your wedding night?” Jamie demanded of Viggo, raising his eyebrows. “How come I don’t know this story? How come she never went hardcore on me when the three of us were together?!”

Viggo flushed, swallowing hard. “I wasn’t going to kiss and tell!” he muttered. “You’re my husband now, but she was my wife then and I would never talk about something that intimate. Just as I would never talk about our private moments without your permission!”

“But we had threesomes!” Jamie protested.

“Oh, come on!” Karl groaned.

“So you’re not gonna tell me?” Jamie persisted.

“Only if Em wants to,” Viggo shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road.

Emilie smiled to herself, listening to them bicker, glad she’d diverted them from their self-deprecating tirade. Catching his eye in the rearview mirror, Emilie gave Viggo a barely perceptible wink and he winked back.

“What was that?!” Jamie grunted, feigning annoyance. He wasn’t stupid; he knew what was going on and was willing to play along since this was obviously what Emilie wanted. “Do you two have more sexy secrets you don’t want to share?”

“Of course they do,” Karl shoved his shoulder. “And I don’t want to hear about any of them! If you three want to have pillow talk, do it after you drop me off!”

“Chicken!” Emilie laughed.

“Am not!” he groused, giving her a dirty look. “But you’re my sister—yuck!”

She just laughed more, glad they’d changed subjects and that she’d see Chains in a few minutes, so she could make sure he was okay. He was the toughest man she’d ever known and what he’d endured to protect her made her shudder. They would get through it, though, and once the baby was born, they would start a new life together.

* * *

It was several hours before she could see him, but finally the nurse allowed her into his room, where he was resting on a bed. No one had cleaned him up yet, so she quietly asked for a washcloth and warm water before the nurse left them. Then she walked to the bed and brushed a hand over his forehead. His eyes opened and he smiled.

“Hello, beautiful.”

“Hello, darling.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. “How are you feeling?”

“A’right,” he murmured.

“What did the doctor say?”

“Broken ribs, bumps and bruises, dislocated shoulder—nothing serious.”

“Gunshot?” she asked dryly.

He gave her a tired smile. “They fixed it up.”

“Your dreads,” she said softly, running her fingers through the short, dirty hair.

“It was time,” he said. “Time to do something new.”

“You’re as handsome as ever.” Her eyes sparkled as she looked into his.

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