Yes, Masters (Book 2 of Desire's Den)

Chapter 22 - Callan

"Is Emma hurt? Is she okay? What's going on?" I questioned. If anything had happened to Emma...I couldn't bear the thought.

"Emma is fine. Well, not fine, but physically speaking, she's not hurt. I'm not really sure if I should've called you," Kevin confessed. "Emma wouldn't like me going to you guys about this, but...."

Thank fuck she's not hurt. For a moment, I'd envisioned our girl in the hospital or worse. Though, my tense muscles didn't relax.

"But?" I prompted, impatient to find out what the hell he was going on about.

"But I don't know how this should be handled. Emma wants to forget it ever happened, but I want the fucking weasel to pay for what he did to her. I'd beat him up if I could. Frankly, I'm not much of a fighter. You and Mateo didn't see it coming, which was the only reason I managed to get a hit in. I didn't even break your noses. Fuck, you guys actually deserved to get your noses broken, but it's in the past. Water under the bridge and all that. Anyway, what I'm saying is he deserves to feel as scared as Emma felt when he cornered her—"

"What the hell are you talking about? Who cornered Emma?" I cut off his rambling, unable to make sense of shit.

"Oliver," Kevin practically spit out the name.

Oliver? Was that the guy Emma worked with who she had complained about?

"He's been asking her out long before you guys were in the picture, and it seems he didn't take it well when he found out she was with you. He started saying fucked up shit to her and cornered her in the supply closet. You should've seen how she looked when I found her. Her whole body was shaking. She was so scared."

Raging hot anger gripped me, taking my body hostage as I registered what Kevin was telling me. "Did he touch her?" I bit out the words, not wanting to find out the answer because if the answer was yes, he was a dead fucking man.

"No. Emma won't say it, but I think she believed he might've if I hadn't shown up. He did try to screw with her though. He told her she wasn't good enough for you guys and that you would lose interest in her. He called her fat, and a whore, spreading her legs for anyone with money. You know how Emma struggles with insecurities, or at least she struggled a lot with it before she met you." 

Every muscle in my body was strung tight, ready to let out some of the burning need to mess this Oliver guy up. I did know how much Emma had struggled with insecurities, and to have someone speak so ill of her—to attack her weak spots like that, made me beyond mad.

"Oliver's sudden hateful outburst towards her terrified her. I've never seen her like this before. I figured you could...I don't even know what I thought you could do about it. It's just—fuck," Kevin cursed. "He should know not to go near Emma again, and I seriously doubt he'll listen to me."

"I'll take care of it," I didn't hesitate to say. "I'll warn Oliver off Emma, and make sure he heeds it."

He sighed in clear relief. "Good. That's good."

"Do you know where he is now?"

"Maybe. I've often seen him hanging around Cedrick's Bar in Queens at all hours of the day, regardless of whether it was a weekday. He might be there."

"Thanks," I grunted, getting ready to hang up. My hand shook just a little, betraying my violent feelings.

"Of course. And Callan?"

"Yes?"

"Make him pay." The hard tone in Kevin's voice surprised me, but what especially surprised me was his thirst for violence. Maybe it shouldn't have. It was clear he cared about Emma a lot. Hell, he'd gone against men much bigger than him—Mateo and me—to protect his friend. I could definitely appreciate that kind of loyalty and friendship.