Page 28 of Forbidden Captor

“Relax,” Karen said. “Of course, you should know something about Emma. She’s been hiding something from you.”

“Don’t you dare talk badly about her!” My mind scrambled to figure out what this woman knew about Emma.

“I wouldn’t talk to the person you need to convince like that,” Karen said.

“What exactly am I convincing you of?”

“Why, if you’re worth Braden Reed’s trust. Weren’t you listening? I already told you, she’s safe. Now, how do you plan to convince Braden Reed that you were doing him a favor by taking this girl?”

“She wasn’t safe over there,” I said. It was the truest thing I could think of, and every good lie was coated in the truth. “Just look what happened with the Kings.”

Karen thought about it, then calmly sat down. “And she’s safe here?”

“You told me she was,” I said, smiling at the fact that I caught Karen in her own words.

Karen shrugged. “Touché. I’m going to call Braden right now, and let him know you’re on your way. She’ll be safe here.”

“Without me?”

Karen shot me a nasty smile and I immediately wished I hadn’t said anything.

“So it’s true. You slept with her, and now you’re all googly eyed over her.” Karen snickered. “You had one job and instead of doing it…well…” She shook her head, laughing harder.

I almost lost my cool, but something told me that if I hurt this woman, the Reeds would stop at nothing to get revenge. I took a moment to breathe, hoping that Karen wouldn’t say anything to stoke the flames of my anger. Luckily, she called Braden instead. I could only imagine what was being said on the other line.

“Yes, I’m here with him.” She didn’t say anything for a while; Reed must have been giving her instructions. He was always meticulous in his details, and I suspected that he already had everything ready to get me back to the States.

“Yes, sir,” she was saying. I stood in front of her, but she ignored my calls for attention.

Reed was a known talker, but I wasn’t going to let him just boss me around. Even if everything was at stake, Emma’s safety, my relationship with the Reed mafia, and who knew what else, I knew that Braden would respect what I had to say. I snatched the phone from Karen’s hands.

“Wait a minute!” Karen tried to grab the phone back, but I held it tightly and turned away.

“Who’s going to protect her?” I asked. On the other side of the line was Braden, breathing heavily. He was pissed.

“Why, Karen, of course,” said Braden.

“No.”

“‘No?’” he echoed, clearly angered that I would challenge him. “I’m the boss. You have no say in this, you already took her out to the middle of nowhere.”

“Middle of nowhere? She loves it here,” I said. I had thought a lot about Emma in the past month, and I had just begun to understand her—she felt like a bird in a cage. I wasn’t going to let anyone treat her that way. If Karen was watching her, or anyone associated with the Reeds for that matter, Emma would be seriously constricted. “You need to understand something,” I said. “I will not let you hold her hostage. And I have someone to keep an eye on her.”

“Who?” Braden demanded.

To her credit, Karen had let us have this conversation on her phone, and she accepted my action as that of a man seeking his own terms.At least she has some respect…

Still holding her phone, I sighed, then shook my head. “Karen leaves.” I pointed at Karen, whose arms were folded in mock indignation. Neither one of us wanted a fight, and for me, it was a tell that I still held some bargaining power with Braden Reed.

“No.” Braden’s voice was hard, and I didn’t have much of a choice.

I looked at Karen. “I have Aaron to watch over you and Emma. If he tells me you so much as laid a finger on her…”

“Easy,” Braden said. “I’m willing to work with that. You want the girl to be free to do as she pleases. She has the entire country to herself, and we’ll keep a close eye.”

“Fine.” I handed the phone back to Karen. She put it to her ear, and Braden said a few things before she hung up.

Karen walked away towards the door. She turned back to me before she left. “There’s still the matter of the Kings. I’ll let you discuss the rest with Emma when she gets back.”

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