Page 39 of Emma's Element

Emma’s dark eyes flared with annoyance. Marcus fought to stifle the grin that wanted to pull at his lips. Jim was underestimating Emma and was in for a world of hurt.

“Jim.” His reply was cool as he moved to stand in front of Emma. From the corner of his eye he saw some of the Nighthawks had arrived and, having sensed the animosity between the two men, moved closer to them as well. Marcus smiled inwardly; instinctively, he knew the Nighthawks would have his back.

“I was just having a nice chat with your lovely lady here,” Jim said smoothly.

“You were trying, but not succeeding,” Emma muttered, adding an eye roll. Finch snickered behind his left shoulder.

“Still up to your old ways? Who are you sponging off of this time, Jim?” Marcus sneered.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you are talking about!” he retorted. His chin rested on Emma’s shoulder as he used her as some perverse type of shield. Emma tilted her head as far away from him as she could, a shudder of revulsion shaking her body.

Just then, a gorgeous young and very wealthy-looking woman called out from down the hall, “James! Are you ready to go?”

“Be right there, Darling,” he called back.

Marcus looked from the woman to Jim. “Ah, I see. You have a new mark. Does she know you’re an ex-con? How much have you siphoned off of her accounts already?” Understanding flashed through Emma’s eyes. He’d told her all about the so-called “friend” who embezzled millions from his charities.

“I’m a different man now,” he drawled.

“Sure,you are,” Marcus replied doubtfully.

“James!” The woman called again.

“Well, as much as I’m enjoying this little interlude, I must say my goodbyes. It was a pleasure chatting with you, Lovely,” Jim said. The idiot leaned closer to whisper loudly in Emma’s ear. “You ever get tired of this pansy-ass, you look me up,” he drawled, running a finger down her cheek again then boldly sliding his other hand down, skimming the side of her breast until he reached her hip. As Jim stepped back, his hand disappeared behind her.

Emma’s eyes went wide with shock, and she reacted swiftly. She grabbed the offending hand, turned around, and twisted. Jim cried out in pain. Then she brought her knee up, hard, against his crotch, sending him to his knees where he writhed in agony as he held his privates with one hand since she still had his other in a twist.

The woman who was calling for Jim cried out and ran to his side. “How dare you!” she screamed at Emma. “We’ll sue you for assault.”

Emma crouched behind Jim; his wrist gripped in her hand with his arm twisted behind his back. “Go right ahead. I’ll sue right back for sexual assault. This piece of filth grabbed my ass.” Enraged, Marcus took a step closer to Jim, intending to beat the crap out of him. Emma put a hand out, blocking his advance. By this time, all of the Nighthawk family had arrived and were circling her and the offensive man groaning on the floor. They’d created an effective blockade from the public, for which Marcus was thankful.

The woman crooned over James. “You should stop and take a closer look at who that man really is,” Emma was saying to her.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” She dug in her designer purse for her phone. “I’m calling the police.”

“You do that. I’m sure they’ll be very interested to know who this ex-con is currently swindling.”

The woman looked back at her in shock. “He didn’t tell you, did he?” Emma asked, twisting Jim’s hand just a little farther. She softened her voice before asking, “What’s your name?”

“Juliet,” she answered, her voice wobbled, losing its outraged tone.

“Juliet, I guarantee you this man is not your Romeo. This sack of pig poop has already spent time in prison for embezzling millions from charities. Stealing people’s hard-earned donations. Donations that were supposed to help others. And this man took it for himself. Then squandered it all on drugs and God knows what else. And I just bet he hasn’t changed his ways one bit. He’s probably been siphoning money out of your accounts since day one.”

“Don’t listen to her, Darling. She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” He broke off in a wince when Emma twisted his arm farther behind his back.

The woman paled. “Oh God,” she whispered. “My accountant called me the other day and said he urgently needed to talk to me.” The woman pulled out her phone and punched in a number. James made a move to get to his feet. Emma yanked on his arm, knocking him down again, and Marcus fought hard to hide his grin. She was giving Jim no quarter. The Nighthawks closed ranks more, cutting off any escape route.

Juliet ended her call, pale and shaken. Marcus’s heart went out to her. Someone in the hotel lobby had called the police upon seeing the commotion. “I want this man arrested,” Juliet cried out to them. “He’s stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from me.” Emma let go of Jim and backed away closer to Marcus as the police closed in. They hauled him to his feet. After another twenty minutes of getting everybody’s stories, they led him out to their police cruisers. Juliet followed behind, screeching the entire way down the hall.

Emma stiffened, and red raced up her chest to her face as her eyes darted around at the crowd that had gathered. Did she feel ashamed? Even though the Nighthawks had been an effective shield, someone had probably recognized Marcus and had filmed the whole debacle on their cell phone. It would be all over the news in less than an hour and viral on social media in minutes. And he didn’t care one iota.

Emma turned to him, not quite able to meet his eyes. “Fudge, Marcus,” she started. “I’m sorry.”

He grabbed her up and spun her around, laughing. “That was the most brilliant thing I’ve ever seen,” he declared, setting her back on her feet. He placed his palms against both her cheeks and stared down at her, blatant adoration swelling in his chest, taking his breath away. “My fierce warrior. You amaze me.”

“Hello, Emma. Still a cock tease, I see,” a petite woman sneered. Emma’s entire body stiffened under his hands. But it was her next words and Emma’s reaction to them that completely baffled him. “And now you’re adding celebrities to your list of conquests. How quaint.”

Before his eyes, Emma completely closed in on herself. Her shoulders drooped before she dropped her hands to her sides and stepped back from him. With her head bowed, she turned to face the adversarial woman.

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