Page 90 of Ramsey & Emerson

“Which, in my book, makes you a very lucky man,” he repeated.

Done with playing games and no longer caring where we were, I said, “Let me make one thing very clear, Cossacks. I don’t fuck around when it comes to my family, but Iespeciallydon’t fuck around when it comes to my wife. So, if your interest in Emerson is anything other than professional, I’ll have you sticking a gun in your mouth before I’m done with you. Are we clear?”

His head reared back a bit, and I could feel Sally and Scott tensing uncomfortably, but I was beyond giving a fuck. When it came to Emerson, logic didn’t exist. When it came to Emerson, nothing else mattered, so I didn’t care if I was making her friends uncomfortable, or if I’d offended her boss. Even though I knew that Emerson loved me, that didn’t mean that I didn’t still have to work at keeping her. I didn’t take my wife for granted, and if I had to beat Adrian Cossacks within an inch of his life to prove that to him, then I’d gladly do it.

“You didn’t strike me as the jealous type,” he remarked smoothly.

“I’d advise you to never make assumptions when it comes to me and my wife,” I shot back. “Whatever you think you might know about me, you’re wrong. I’m far worse than anything you’ve ever heard about me, Cossacks. Keep that in mind whenever you need to speak to my wife.”

Before he could say anything, Sally said, “I think we should go rescue Emerson from her new fan club. You know how she feels about attention.”

Shooting Cossacks one last look of warning, I turned towards Sally, and her anxiousness was rolling off her in waves. Again, if Emerson wasn’t so damn important to me, I’d feel sorry for her. However, if it was a choice between Sally feeling uncomfortable and anything that had to do with Emerson, I would always pick Emerson.

Not quite done with Adrian Cossacks, I said, “You two go on ahead. I’ll be right behind you.”

Scott being a man, he quickly wrapped his arm around Sally, then escorted her over to where Emerson was holding court, and if Sally had been trying to save Cossacks, she hadn’t done a very good job of it. In fact, there was only one person that could save this sonofabitch, and I wasn’t even too certain of what Emerson’s success rate would be with the way that I was feeling right now.

After turning to face Cossacks fully, I said, “Now that we have a little bit of privacy, is there anything that you’re confused about when it comes to me and my wife?”

His hazel eyes narrowed a bit, and that just made things much more interesting. “It doesn’t say much for your marriage if you’re feeling this threatened by me, Reed.”

“You’re not a threat to me,” I clarified for him. “No one is a threat to what I have with Emerson.”

“Then why keep warning me off her?” he challenged.

“Because I have plans on spending the rest of my life with Emerson and watching our family grow, and I can’t do that if I end up in prison for killing you, which I’ll gladly do if you ever do or say anything that makes my wifeuncomfortable,” I fired back. “And if you think that’s just bravado, you’re in for a big surprise, Cossacks.”

“What about what Emerson wants?”

I took a step back from the man.

His simple question implied that there might already be something going on between him and Emerson, and while I knew that wasn’t true, just the very thought was enough to make me see red. He was talking to me like he knew my wife better than I did after only a few months of working with her, and I was going to make him pay for that implication alone.

“Unlike most husbands, I knowexactlywhat my wife wants and doesn’t want,” I bit out. “And if you knew anything about Emerson, you never would have pushed for this award. She doesn’t like attention, and if you think this little stunt endeared you to her, you’re wrong. She’s standing over there, hating every fucking minute of playing nice for the cameras, and so don’t you ever speak to me about what my wife wants. In fact, do not ever speak to me about my wife ever again, Cossacks.”

Turning from him before I laid him out in front of everyone, I made my way to where Emerson was, and she was going to be done with pictures, no matter what Cordina Priller wanted. While I refused to cause a scene and humiliate Emerson while we were here, that didn’t mean that we didn’t need to talk right fucking now.

As soon as I reached her, I grabbed her arm, then said, “If you will excuse us a moment, I need to speak with my wife.”

Scott and Sally just shared a look as Emerson walked with me, my legs doing their best to keep in time with her steps, not wanting it to look as if I were dragging her away, though that’s exactly what I was doing, and she knew it well enough. Still, I’d never give Adrian Cossacks the satisfaction, so it looked like Emerson and I were just trying to find some privacy.

Now, the FTC party was being held at The Hologram Building, a Port Lucia City event center that housed most events of this size, so the two-story building came with lots of restrooms, a kitchen, some conference rooms, and a few storage rooms. I knew this because RMM used the place for a lot of its employee events, and Emerson had also held plenty of charity dinners and auctions here, independent of CPS, of course.

“Ramsey, where are we going?” she muttered under her breath as I kept dragging her farther past the kitchens.

Not answering her, I kept walking until we came across one of the restrooms located near the back wall of one of the two conference rooms on the first floor. Technically, this part of the building was roped off to the public, but I didn’t give a fuck. As arrogant as it sounded, it was times like this onewhen my last name cleared the way for me to do whatever the fuck I wanted and get away with it.

When I pushed the door open, the restroom was empty, and as soon as Emerson and I cleared the doorway, I locked the door behind us. Yeah, the cameras might have caught us coming in here, but I didn’t care. Security also might come knocking on the door, but they’d back off as soon as I told him who I was, and that was just a fact.

“Ramsey, what the hell is going on?” Emerson asked as she set her plaque on the counter next to us.

I walked up to her, gripped her jaw with my fingers, then fisted her hair in my other hand, pinning her against the counter, forcing her to look up at me. “Tell me you’re mine.”

Her silver gaze widened for a split second, but then she must have recognized the madness in my own eyes because she immediately said, “I’m yours.”

I squeezed her jaw tighter. “Tell me that you’re fucking mine.”

“Ramsey, I’m yours,” she repeated. “I’ve always been yours. I’ll always be yours.”

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