Page 49 of Emma's Element

“Men would constantly approach her. Proposition her. Flirt with her. Each with the thought that she’d be an easy lay. That man you saw the boys drag out of the hotel was just one of many. Most would take the hint that she wasn’t interested quickly and move on. But some . . .” she let that thought trail off, shaking her head.

“The guys tried to protect her as much as possible,” Jolene continued. “But they couldn’t be with her day and night. God, Marcus! There were even men on rescues that tried hitting on her. It was disgusting.”

“Was she . . .” He couldn’t finish the thought, but he had to know. “Was she assaulted?” If she had been hurt, he wouldn’t stop until he hunted down the person responsible.Fuck.Had she been in that apartment when it was trashed? Had she been attacked . . . raped?

“No, thank God.” Marcus released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “The ones who wouldn’t take no for an answer, the boys were nearby and took care of them. She handled the rest. Even still, it was months before we realized what she was dealing with.”

“Why? Why was it even happening at all?”

“The best we could figure is that the idiots thought she would be easy since she’d been photographed with you. And since you left her so quickly, they probably figured she was no more than Marcus Rayne’s whore. No idea why they thought that.”

Marcus’ heart plummeted. He stood, needing to move. He paced angrily, running his hands through his hair. How could this have happened? He left her so that itwouldn’thappen. And it only made things worse. So much worse.

“What happened with her apartment?” he asked softly.

“Like I said, she’d been growing more distant from us. Especially since we got back from the awards ceremony. We thought she was heartbroken or that she missed you. She never told any of us what had happened between you two that night, but she got worse as time went on. She stopped hanging out with the group. She went to work and went home. And wouldn’t tell any of us what was wrong.

“It was worse than a broken heart,” she continued. “She’d been getting letters from your fans. Since the moment you left. Most all of them had been sent to Nighthawk, thanking her for her work. Most were nice letters, wishing her happiness and stuff like that. Others were filled with hate.”

“Oh fuck,” he groaned.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “One, in particular, sent emails and snail mail letters to her home address. How they found that, we still don’t know. They were filled with pictures and hate. Emma said they started with pictures the paparazzi had taken with hateful messages scrawled across them. After they left, the pictures changed. Someone had been following her, taking pictures. The grocery store, here at the bar, wherever she went, someone took a picture of her. They’d email it with descriptions of how they would murder her at the precise moment the picture had been taken. Whoever was sending them fancied herself as the Titan’s sidekick and kept blaming Emma for something. It was all her fault; she ruined everything; Emma took everything. The person claimed to be at the top, and Emma destroyed it all, turned you against her. Emma would block the emails, but they’d open a new account and send more.”

“Titania,” he whispered. “That’s who the letters were from, wasn’t it?”

“You know this person?”

“I knowofher. She’s been familiar to my people for around five months. Always on the verge of being a full-on stalker. She’d never crossed the line before. Like you said, she thought of herself as a superhero sidekick and called herself Titania. I had no idea she’d turn her insanity on Emma. I thought I’d isolated her from all that. Fuck, how could I have been so wrong.” He closed his eyes, shoving his hands through his hair, frustration causing acid to build in his gut. He swallowed it down and continued pacing, rubbing a fist into his chest, trying in vain to ease the ache. He’d left to spare her from all of this shit, and it didn’t make a bit of difference. “Why didn’t she tell anyone?”

Jolene shook her head sadly. “You know her . . . she’s a fighter. Strong. Independent. She was going to handle it all herself. She wanted to protect you from more drama.”

“But I don’t see most of the letters. My agent’s office handles it. I get reports about the crazies occasionally. And the authorities are always made aware of any threats.”

“Emma’s too brave and stubborn for her own good,” mused Jolene. “And she didn’t have anyone to shield her from those letters like you do,” she accused. Marcus’s shame intensified. He should have planned for this. He should have realized this would happen and put measures into effect to protect her.

“The fierce warrior. Strong. That’s for damn sure. Why didn’t she just ignore them? Why did she continue to open them?”

“She had started to ignore them but then said she wanted to be aware. She needed to know if the threats were going to escalate. It was her way of controlling the situation, I guess.”

“She still should have told someone. Deputy McClintock. Someone.”

“She didn’t think there was anything they could do. It was just letters.”

“Until it wasn’t.”

Jolene nodded sadly. “She broke in when they were out on a SAR mission,” Jolene continued. “The destruction was . . . personal. She knew just where to hurt Emma most. She smashed Emma’s father’s watch. Took her parents’ wedding rings. Ruined the picture of her as a baby with her parents. The rest of the destruction she could have handled but those items . . . those were special. Even the épée you gave her didn’t escape damage.”

Marcus ran a hand through his hair. “How did she know?” he murmured. How did Titania know exactly what items would hurt Emma? It didn’t make sense. Why would she go after Emma when she blamed him for everything that went wrong in her life, whatever that was. Aside from those first few pictures, there had been nothing linking him to Emma. So why was this person fixated on her?

“We wondered that too. Graham and the guys searched Emma’s apartment. They found cameras and listening devices.”

“Shit,” he bellowed, sending a fist into Jolene’s desk. He didn’t feel the pain as he placed both fists on the desk, hunched his shoulders, and dropped his head. His shame consumed him. The information Jolene was giving him was getting worse, and he had done nothing to stop it. He owed Emma more than an apology, but he was unsure how he’d be able to face her.

Jolene stood and went to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You should know, even after all that has happened to her, she never blamed you. I’m sorry to say I would have, but she never did. She knew the blame lay with this Titania and all the other idiots who bothered her, not you.”

“I blame myself,” he confessed.

“She thought you’d feel that way. Which is why she refused to contact you.” Emma, ever the stubborn warrior. Trying to protect him even though he’d failed to protect her. He was surprised she’d even talked to him at the awards ceremony. He needed to see her. Now.

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