Page 103 of Ramsey & Emerson

I let go of her hand as she asked, “What are those?”

“Flowers.”

She shot me a look that would have leveled a lesser man. “I can see that. Who are they from?”

“I don’t know,” I answered truthfully with no proof. “Julia accepted the delivery, and so I thought that I’d let you do the honors.”

I watched as Emerson set her briefcase down on her chair before reaching for the little envelope nestled safely between the array of flowers. She didn’t say a word as she opened it, pulling out the cardstock that’d been inside, but then again, she didn’t have to say anything. Like I’d said, I already knew who the flowers were from.

“They’re an apology,” she finally said as she set the card and envelope down next to the vase.

“I’m sure they are,” I drawled out, my anger barely contained.

Emerson looked over at me. “Ramsey-”

“An apology for what?” I asked, cutting her off.

She let out a long sigh, and I could tell that she was doing her best to control her temper as well. “I spoke with Adrian earlier today, letting him know how I feel about the kind of recognition I received at the charity event Friday,” she answered. “I explained how I prefer for the attention to remain focused on the reason why we were all there.”

“And how did he take that?”

“He said that he understood and never looked at it from that point of view before,” she replied evenly, her silver eyes daring me, waiting for me to unleash my temper. “According to the card, the flowers are an apology.”

“What else did Adrian have to say?” I asked, my voice clipped in a silent warning.

“Ramsey-”

“Answer me!” I roared.

“We talked about you,” she finally admitted. “I told him that I didn’t appreciate whatever he’d said about me Friday night, and that I wanted to be clear about where I stood with my marriage.”

I walked over to my wife, and she didn’t stop me when I reached up, then wrapped my hand around her neck, my thumb running back and forth against her jaw. “And what did he say to that?”

It was all there in her eyes, but I was going to make her say it. “He didn’t deny or admit anything,” she answered. “He just said that no man deserved my kind of loyalty, and that…that he never pegged Ramsey Reed as a man that needed his wife to defend him.”

I pushed Emerson up against her desk. “And what did you say?”

“I told him that I wasn’t defending you,” she said before licking her lips. “I told him that I was trying to save him from you.”

My eyes bore into hers as I said, “You failed, baby. If that’s what you were trying to do, then you fucking failed.”

“Ramsey-”

“I’m going to fucking massacre the sonofabitch, and I’m warning you now not to stand in my way, Emerson,” I hissed down at her.

“Be careful who you threaten, Reed,” she shot back. “Don’t forget, I’m not scared of you.”

As I stared down at my defiant wife, Liam’s words came flying back, and it really was possible that Emerson had been able to forgive me because she really wasn’t scared of me. She also didn’t care what people thought of her, what people said about her, or about status, money, and power, though she had all three of those in spades now.

Whenever I thought about that morning, all I thought about was how I had humiliated her in front of everyone. However, when I thought about how she had walked down that hallway with her head up, then had undressed in front of everyone, walking out of Windsor like we’d all been beneath her, maybe I hadn’t humiliated her at all. After all, if I’d had, how would she have been able to return? How would she have been able to go back to Windsor and rule the school the way that she’d had if I had ‘humiliated’ her?

“No, I don’t suppose you are,” I conceded. “I don’t suppose that you’ve ever been.”

“I’d also never stand in your way,” she added. “And fuck you for even suggesting that I’d choose another man over you, even if you’re wrong.”

I squeezed on her neck, and she winced when I applied too much pressure on her hickey. “But I’m not wrong,” I pointed out. “Tell me that he’s not interested in you, I dare you.”

“I already told you, he didn’t deny it, but he also didn’t admit it,” she repeated.

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