“The good news is I got him to talk, but the bad news is, you’re not going to like what he told me. You should know that something did happen in St. Lucia, whether you remember it or not. The two of you didn’t just fall asleep in the same bed, you were intimate that night you got trashed. I’m almost a hundred percent sure you didn’t fuck each other, but he did touch you and I’m pretty sure some kind of orgasm inducing activity was involved.”
I wait for Emily to freak out, but she’s calm and poised and strangely, doesn’t react at all so I keep going.
“I can also promise you that he has no intention of ever publishing his sister’s book. He just wanted to be your hero, and it was kinda sorta sweet the way he wanted to protect you from Louis. He’s a bit confused about who the real villain is, but in his defense, he only has his sister’s accounts and narrations and her horrible death to go by. He wanted to believe that Louis was this horrible guy that cheated and sexually abused her and you. He wanted someone other than himself to hate for failing to save Isabella. I tried to explain to him how great my friend-in-law actually is without hurting him too much. I did my best to enlighten him as to how much Louis loves you and the kids, and the kind of love you guys share. I think he was starting to understand.”
I hope she knows I had really done it for her. My intentions were honorable; I wanted to help them.
“Then Louis came and brought that video you told me about. We were going to watch it together, and everything would make sense and be okay. I was hoping that footage would make him understand that Louis isn’t a monster and that Isabella died because she was mentally unwell, and no one is to blame. However, before we got a chance to watch it and allay his worries, things started escalating fast between us. He was making me feel things that I had no right feeling and I think he felt them, too.”
I tell Emily how Liam and I came close to having sex and how Jeffery appeared and the shit show that ensued. I know I left out just how intimate Liam and I really got but she doesn’t need a detailed account of that. I’m sure I gave her enough information to make her poor head spin. We’re both quiet and I think I’m just waiting for her to finally run away, too. I’ve said it all. Emily needs to say something and give me a freaking clue as to how she feels about me being with Liam.
“Okay, now you need to promise to not be mad at me,” she says, and I nod. “I heard almost everything. Well, Louis heard everything first. This whole place is under video and audio surveillance on all three floors. He wasn’t trying to snoop or spy or intrude in any creepy way, but Louis was worried and when he told me about you being here alone with Will, and Jeffery coming back to see you, I was too! Don’t worry, he didn’t watch any footage, but he heard everything. He told me about all the conversations you and Will—or Liam—had since this morning.
“After Louis came to give you the video, Miguel, the manager, informed him that Jeffery was coming up to see you. He knew you were with Will, so he decided to tell me what was going on and intervene to make sure nobody got hurt. I was going to let you know we were here but then Louis talked me into letting you guys work things out for yourselves first, knowing we’d be outside in case you needed our help. I’m sorry,” she says and as mad as I probably should be, knowing that she and her husband have been eavesdropping on Liam and me, I’m not! Those two love me enough to worry about my wellbeing. Louis and Emily Bruel stopped their lives to make sure I was okay. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
I hug her and say, “‘Endless Love’ by Diana Ross and Lionel Richie.”
“Ditto and ‘Always On My Mind’ by Willie Nelson.”
“Emily Marcus Bruel, you are and will always be my first love. ‘We Belong’ by Pat Benatar.”