Page 66 of Emma's Element

Marcus glared down into a set of eyes similar to his own, in color only. Everything else in Harrison’s eyes spoke of the rot that lived inside him. He thought back to the first time he’d met his father’s intense gaze head-on and refused to back down.

He’d been in middle school and had experienced a huge growth spurt, bringing him dead even with Harrison’s height. Drunk as usual, Harrison stormed through the door, intending to terrorize his family again, especially Marcus’s mother. Harrison got a perverse joy out of frightening her. He loved to see her cowed.

But something in him that day refused to stand by and watch his father abuse his mother any longer. He’d witnessed his father’s rages numerous times; he’d known the signs. Observing Harrison berate his mother with clenched fists, his top lip lifted in a sneer, his eyes narrowed, triggered his protective instincts. Before he could take one step, Marcus was out of his chair, standing between his mother and his monster.

Harrison had been momentarily shocked before ordering him out of the way. Marcus had stood firm, staring down into eyes that matched his own but were glazed with alcohol and depravity. That was the moment he’d seen his father for what he truly was, a drunken deadbeat with a bad temper. Not the undefeatable monster he’d always viewed him to be.

That was also the moment he saw a glimmer of resigned defeat in Harrison’s eyes. He foresaw the end to his tyranny in his son’s steadfast devotion to defeating the brute they’d endured for far too long. He’d taken a few brutal blows that night before his father had passed out from the exertion, but he never regretted his actions.

Marcus had spent the next year in the weight room at school, bulking up, becoming stronger, knowing that someday he would need to vanquish the monster forever. Harrison had left before that year was up and never returned.

“So, Harry, what’s your game here?” sneered Marcus, using the nickname his father hated. “How did you find us?”

“Oh, Honey. That was the easy part,” a feminine voice stated. Time slowed as Colleen entered the room to stand next to Harrison and propped her elbow on his shoulder.

Chapter twenty-three

Marcusstoodstoicallyassomeone produced a roll of duct tape to secure his hands behind his back, glaring daggers at Colleen as she kissed his father on his cheek. Shit, the hits just kept coming. Millions of thoughts tumbled through his head, and he could hardly make sense of what his eyes were broadcasting to him. His father, his brother, and his former publicist all working together. For what nefarious scheme he had yet to discover.

“Oh, good,” Emma quipped. “This group needed an evil bitch. Now the trifecta of bad guys is complete.” Even in the midst of danger, Emma was magnificent. Her caustic words helping to clear his befuddled brain.

“Emma, meet my former publicist, Colleen Pike.”

“Yup, I figured that’s who it was.”

“Shut up, you little bitch,” Colleen barked, then placed her hand over the gun Harrison was holding. “Let me hold the gun on her. I’ve been dying for some retribution. Please, baby, let me do it.” Her begging tone turned into a whine grating on his already frazzled nerves.

“Jesus, you’re insane. I should have listened to my instincts and never hired you to begin with.” Marcus hadn’t actually wanted to hire her, sensing something wasn’t quite right with her. But his agent talked him into it, singing her praises. He wouldn’t doubt his instincts again.

A sudden thought occurred to him that he should have realized ages ago. She’d always known where to find him. Every time he’d tried to escape on his own, she’d somehow known. The paparazzi had always found him. She’d made a ton of money off of always having a bead on his location.

Then Charlie and his minions had found him the day before in the middle of the woods. And the remoteness of this cabin should have kept them hidden, but Harrison and crew drove right up the driveway as if they knew exactly where they were going.

“Shit. You’ve been tracking me somehow, haven’t you, Colleen.”

She beamed at him, proud of her duplicity. “Of course. It’s easy to do if you know the right apps to use. I just had to gain access to your phone to download the hidden app and, voilà, instant locator. That app was the best investment I ever made. Oh, and thanks for letting me borrow your phone on occasion, Honey. It was very helpful.”

Marcus cursed, wanting to throttle his former publicist. How could he have been so blind to her treachery? It had been right there in front of him all this time, and he’d never seen it. All those ambushes by the paparazzi, and he’d been too stupid to figure it out. Shaking his head, he wondered how he’d ever be able to trust anyone ever again after all this.

Putting that thought aside, he asked the one question that he most wanted an answer to amid all the deception. “So, how long have you all been working together?”

“Ooh, I bet I can answer that,” Emma stated.

“By all means,” he indicated. There was a brief moment of doubt that flashed through his mind. Could Emma be working with them as well? Is that how she knows the answer? As soon as those thoughts entered his brain, he squelched them, feeling shame for that momentary niggle of doubt. No, there wasn’t a rapacious bone in Emma’s body. She had proven she would protect and shield him no matter the cost to her.

“As you know, I’ve been tracing the accounts that have been so generous to Colleen’s cause of abject depravity.” His lips twitched. Fuck, this woman. How could he not love her? And how could he ever doubt her? “You recall I’ve been having trouble with the one account that was hiding behind dozens of shell companies. I wasn’t getting anywhere with it. It was very frustrating. But then I discovered something.” She met Marcus’s gaze, guilt marring her features. “Don’t be mad, Marcus.”

He felt his heart pound against his rib cage as his earlier doubts flared, but again, he knew she’d never betray him. Instead, he snorted. “Of all the people in this room, you are the last one I’d ever be mad at.”

“Maddie gave me the files.”

Of all the things that raced through his mind that she would have to confess to him about, that was the last thing he expected her to say. “Fuck, she shouldn’t have done that. I asked her to keep you out of it.” He’d discovered some financial discrepancies in his charity accounts. He’d asked for Maddie’s help after discovering she was working on her forensic accounting certification. After what Jim had done to his charities, he wasn’t taking any chances that someone else was ripping him off.

“I know, but she got stuck. She needed my . . . expertise.”

“You mean your brilliant hacking skills.” She blushed, which he found remarkable under the circumstances.

“Right, anyway, I kept running into a certain company in Colleen’s accounts. And then I saw the same company name was siphoning money out of your charity organizations. Nothing I was coming across was on the up and up.”

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