For Her Honor

Chapter 22

A wide smile took hold of Emma's face and he hugged me lightly, "Oh honey,congratulations! I know this situation is all kinds of messed up but I so happy for you two."

But a small sigh left my lips and I shook my head, "Don't be. It won't work."

Emma's eyes drew together in confusion as she pulled back from our hug. She didn't look exactly disappointed at my words but her emotion was definitely a branched off version of it, "What do you mean?"

I smiled sadly at her as I whispered, "He doesn't think he's good enough for me and he doesn't think he's good enough to protect me. I know that he is and I wish I could show that to him. But no matter what I say, he won't believe me."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, "Men. I tell you, they have a one track mind on nearly everything they do. But I'll let you in on a little secret that I've learned over the years." She leaned closer and whispered,"It's easy to change a man's mind, if you're using the right techniques. If you know what I'm saying. They don't exactly have will powers made of steel, ya know?"

A laughed escaped my lips, at least it would have been a laugh if I still had a voice.But that didn't really matter. I felt the weight on my shoulder's lessen just a little and I hugged Emma again. Toni has always been my sister but now Emma was my sister too and I had no idea what I would do without the two of them.

"Can you drive me back to the house?" I asked Emma, my whispered voice barely audible.

"Don't you want to see Marco?"

I shrugged, "I'll see him later. And honestly, I need some time to think over everything."

Now Emma narrowed her eyes at me, "Would Marco allow me to take you home? Because I can't stay there, I have to come back and be here for Ryder when he deals with Lord Miguel about all of this. Are you sure you don't want to just go back to the room down the hall? I can tell Marco that you're still sleeping if you want."

"No, he'd still come to check on me. I just need to be alone for a while. Besides, aren't Luke and Toni at the house? They can watch over me." I reassured her. And I had to give it to Emma, she was trying to follow Marco's rules. But she didn't know any better. Marco would never allow me to go back to the house even if Toni and Luke were there sleeping. They would have to be awake and in the same room as me, especially since that man was able to find me down here.

Which also didn't make any sense. We destroyed my phone and I haven't gotten a new one.So how was this man able to find me in North Carolina and how the hell was he able to find me on that beach?

"Okay, well if you're sure." Emma smiled and helped me up.

We drove back in a comfortable silence while I watched the scenery fly past us. It had been a full day since I passed out and was once again night. But the nights here were so much soother than the nights in Chicago. The city was always alight with busying cars and scurrying people. Out here,the only thing scurrying were the lightning bugs. It felt relatively good to just take a step back and indulge in the simpler things in life.

We had borrowed Ryder's jeep so we could power through the water which had swallowed the road probably long before I had ever got there. Emma almost walked me inside but I insisted that she get back to Ryder. I could walk inside a house by myself without getting kidnapped.

Although I hadn't considered how painful it would be since I had to restitch my leg once again. When the hell was I going to find the time to heal? Although, I guess I had been asking the same question about Marco since the very first time he got hurt.

Because of me.

And soon images of his crumpled body flashed through my mind. Every time he got hurt, it was because he was protecting me. And yes that was his job but that didn't mean I had to like it. His pain was my fault and soon he would die for me.