The silence stretched until Emma’s nerves were raw. He didn’t take his eyes from Dana’s face. “I believe I have something of yours. My people are very good at tracing electronic equipment.” He pulled a small plastic bag from his pocket. The microchip could clearly be seen. He tossed it toward Dana contemptuously, deliberately just out of reach, so the damning evidence fell at her feet for everyone to see.
Dana went stiff, her face very white and set, but she didn’t speak, anger flaring in her eyes. Jake set Susan very gently behind him and stalked across the kitchen floor, moving in that silent, fluid way of his, roped muscles shifting powerfully, his eyes never leaving the woman’s face. He inhaled, as if scenting her.
“You even smell like a traitor. You and your friend will be escorted off my property now. Don’t ever make the mistake of coming back.”
It was Harold Givens who bent down to pick up the microchip. Dana snapped her fingers. “Susan. Come with us now. This is an unsuitable place for you, not with this man and his little slut flaunting their bastard children to the world. My God, look at the hickeys all over her neck, like she’s some whore.”
Emma gasped, terrified of what Jake might do. Her hand crept up toward her neck, but Jake caught her wrist without looking at her and pulled her hand down to her side, holding it there. A long silence stretched, everyone’s nerve endings taut.
Jake’s smile was slow, humorless, utterly frightening, his white teeth gleaming, and he never took his eyes from his prey. “Susan will stay here. The senator will send your things to you. I doubt you’ll be able to get a job anywhere unless it’s with the Trents or Bannaconnis, who you obviously work for.”
“I’ll have you charged with kidnapping.”
“Drake, remove this disgusting excuse of a human being from my sight immediately.” Jake turned his back on the couple in dismissal, took Emma’s elbow and waved Susan ahead of him, guiding them from the room.
Behind them, Dana sputtered, “Get your hands off me.” “I don’t much care how we do this, sweetheart,” Drake said. “As far as I’m concerned, you’re garbage to be thrown out. I don’t have to be nice.”
Dana shrieked again. There was the sound of a scuffle. Harold grunted in pain. The door slammed and the sounds faded.
“Are you all right, Susan?” Jake asked.
Susan nodded. “But she’ll tell my father lies. She always does.”
Jake picked up the phone. “Not this time. Do you need a tutor? I can have one here in an hour.”
She shook her head. “I know more about calculus than that man ever did. He’s Dana’s friend, but my father believes everything she says.”
“Your father will listen to me,” Jake assured, his voice certain. “Go riding with Emma and have fun. Don’t worry about any of this. People like that try to make everyone around them feel small and useless. You’re not. You’re smarter than they are. And you’re stronger, too strong to ever let someone like that make you feel bad about yourself.”
“I’m a little afraid of her,” Susan admitted.
“She wanted you to be afraid. That way you would never go to your father because you didn’t want to know if he’d believe you or not. She destroyed your trust in him, that’s what people like her do. There’s no reason. I’ll deal with her. Go change into your riding clothes.” He reached out and caught Emma’s wrist, preventing her from leaving the room while Susan headed for the door. “Susan.” He stopped her, waited until she turned back toward him. “If you’re ever put in a position you’re uncomfortable with again—any situation, including when you go on a date—you call me. I’ll give you my private number, which you won’t give out to anyone at all. Understood?”
Susan’s smile blossomed across her face. “Understood.”
Jake waited until Susan’s footsteps had faded down the hall and her door had closed before he swung Emma around in front of him and cupped her chin. His mouth was gentle, tender even, when he brushed his lips over hers. “Did she hurt you?”
“Calling me a slut? Or calling the kids bastards?”
“The children have a father. Me. My last name is on their birth certificates. And not just a slut—you’re my slut. Let’s remember the difference, Emma.” He kissed her again, a teasing smile on his face. “You’re my everything, so screw her.”
“She didn’t hurt me, Jake,” Emma said, knowing it was true. “Do you think Senator Hindman will believe you? I think Dana will try to cause trouble for you—for Susan—maybe even for all of us.”
“Don’t you worry about that traitor,” Jake said, his voice so low it terrified her. “She’ll find out what it’s like to lose everything and live on the streets, servicing anyone who can buy her for a nickel.”
“Jake.”
“She fucking called you a whore, Emma. She called my children bastards. She tried to spy on us. But worst of all, she abused her position of power over a sixteen-year-old kid. I’m going to take her down.”
He kissed her again and she tasted his anger. He tasted wild, primitive and all male. She opened her mouth to try to soothe him, but he rained kisses all over her face.
“I’m more furious that I couldn’t protect you from someone like her in our own house.”
“What do you think she was after, planting the microchip?”
“I think my enemies want one or both of our children. I’ve locked down the house and you’re a complete mystery to them. They needed a way to collect information.”
Emma frowned up at him. “Do you think Senator Hindman is involved?”