I didn't sleep much last night. I had thought that once I finally had Emma in the same bed as me again, I would sleep like a baby, but that wasn't the case. Callan liked the room dark as fuck, but after staring at the blackness for hours, my sight grew used to the lack of light. I'd laid and worried for our girl. I kept checking on her throughout the night, making sure she was alright, but even in her sleep, her face was marred by a frown.
Callan seemed like he was finally getting some sleep though. I knew he'd struggled with it these past weeks. It probably helped that Emma had found her way onto his chest sometime during the night.
The clock on the nightstand showed that it was only five AM, but I knew I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. My mind just wouldn't stop turning and twisting and wondering and thinking. For weeks, Emma had been terrified, yet we were oblivious to it all—hell, we'd been more worried about us and how we were going to get her back instead of focusing on her wellbeing. Were there signs we had missed? Was there something else we could've done to prevent this, or help her in some way? And the anger. The anger was boiling beneath my skin. I wanted to find the fucker who tormented Emma, and I didn't give a shit if he made it out alive after we were through with him. My rage blinded me and made me throw away my values and morals.
Careful, so I didn't wake them, I got off the bed and dressed quickly before sneaking out. The lights in the hallway blinded me for a second, making me squint as I walked towards the kitchen.
This early in the morning, the apartment should be quiet still—should being the operative word. I could hear cabinets in the kitchen open and close and water running by the sink. Gideon was making coffee when I shuffled into the kitchen, yawning the entire way. Of course, Gideon was awake at this ungodly hour. I didn't know how he did it day after day. I was feeling completely wrecked while he was...definitely not perky, but at least he looked awake.
"Good morning," I mumbled, walking over to the island on heavy feet and practically fell down onto the bar seat. "Mind making me a cup?" I usually preferred tea, but I needed something stronger if I wanted to keep my eyes open.
"Make your own damn cup," Gideon said back in that grumpy way of his. I didn't even get a 'good morning'. Rude.
"Pretty please with sugar on top?"
He didn't even dignify that with an answer. He wouldn't have hesitated to make a cup for Emma—
"The cup is for Emma. She didn't feel like getting out of bed just yet," I lied. Drastic times called for drastic measures. I did not want to move from this seat. My body was too tired for that shit.
"She can have mine," he said, handing me the white cup once it was ready. I bit back a grin. And the Oscars go to...
"Pass me the sugar?" I asked, wrinkling my nose at the bitter black coffee. I could never understand how someone would enjoy this disgusting beverage.
"She drinks it black," he said in a way that made it sound like I was in the wrong for not knowing that. I did know that though, but the cup wasn't for her.
"Well, she craved something sweet. She's on her period."
His eyes narrowed. "The coffee's for you, isn't it?"
"What gave it away?"
"Her period was two weeks ago."
Damn it, of course he would've known that. He didn't need to go rubbing it in my face that he'd slept with her. Okay, I knew that wasn't what he was doing, but it didn't matter, I was still jealous of that fact.
"So...the sugar?"
The sigh he let out told me I'd won. "It's too early for this shit," he mumbled, but passed me the sugar.
"Thanks." I grinned and dumped a decent amount of it into my cup. Gideon made a grimace of disgust as he watched the sweetness drowning out the bitterness.
"So, no luck with the security cameras yesterday?" I asked as he started making himself a new cup.
He shook his head. "I'll get the camera footage today from the other side of the street and see if we can identify him from when he either entered or exited the building."
"Smart, maybe he didn't consider those." I sighed at the entire situation and the thoughts of what Emma had gone through. She must've been absolutely terrified. "Fucking hell man, I just can't wrap my head around it. Someone's stalking our girl and we knew nothing about it."
"She hid it from us."
"No." I shook my head. "We let her hide it from us. We had noticed something was off about her, and yet we did nothing about it. We should've done something." Those were some of the thoughts that had plagued me throughout the night.
"Like what?" Gideon grabbed his own newly filled coffee cup and took a seat at the island. His casual movements were contradictory to his angry expression.
"Protected her. Given her a sense of security and safety. If we had known, then maybe we would've already found the guy."
"If we'd known, but we didn't. And sure, we did sense there was something bothering Emma, but we thought it was because of us. And if she didn't say anything to us, how could we have known?"
I blinked, and then blinked again, shocked and slightly surprised by his words. Gideon had never been the one to see sense, let alone talk sense. He'd much rather beat sense into others. So when he opened his mouth and stuff like this came out, it practically left me speechless.
"You're right. I just... I hate thinking about all the things we could've done."
"Then think about all the things we can do instead, going forward. Emma won't have to deal with this asshole alone anymore."
Who the hell was this guy, because it definitely wasn't our Gideon. Fuck, Emma really had done a number on him. Sure, he'd been slightly protective over me and Callan, but to see him wanting to take care of someone else to this extent, it was heartwarming and something I'd only hoped to see one day.
Taking a sip of the coffee, I coughed, cringing at the taste of something too sweet, with a tang of bitterness that no amount sugar could erase. This was absolutely awful. I chugged the rest of it, desperate for the caffeine, but not wanting to torture myself unnecessarily long. Unfortunately, the taste lingered on my tastebuds.
"What about her phone?" I asked, moving from my seat to find some orange juice, or something that could replace aftertaste of coffee. "You mentioned something about spyware, how did you come to that conclusion?"
"My paren— Elaine and George had it downloaded on my phone without my knowledge. I didn't find out until after their death."
I paused by the fridge; my hand tightened around the handle as my jaw clenched. It wasn't often that Gideon talked about his parents, but when he did, I was always overrun by anger and anguish at the thought of his past. I didn't know a lot about what actually went down the day they died, but I do know Gideon had a hand in it, and I hated that. I mean, they deserved it, without a doubt, but Gideon shouldn't have to carry the burden of it all. I guess it was just one more thing his parents forced him to bear.
"What did they use it for?" I didn't know if it was right for me to ask. Gideon... well, he didn't do well with questions that had anything to do with them, but if it could give me any insight as to that this fucker had done with Emma, then I needed to know.
"The usual controlling shit. Tracking me. Seeing where I went, who I talked to and whatever phone activity they could glean information about me from." His voice was hard and unwavering, but it didn't hold the typical anger it often had. It just sounded apathetic, like he was removed from it all.
Letting out a harsh sigh, I let go of the fridge and went back to my seat. His admission had left a bad taste in my mouth that wouldn't go away no matter how much orange juice I drank.
"Man, I'm so—"
"If you're going to say you're sorry for something you had no hand in, I might just beat your ass," he grumbled.
"Yeah, no, I was definitely not going to say that." I backtracked. "Did they ever delete things from your phone, remotely? Is that even possible?"
He shook his head. "They didn't, but that isn't to say it's not possible. If someone knows what they're doing, then it could be achieved. I'll get someone to run an analysis on hers and see if they can pick up on any spyware or programs that shouldn't be there."
I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling agitated and in need of doing something, preferably hurting the asshole. "Fuck man, this is insane. This whole situation is crazy. Why our girl?" With four million women living in New York City, why did he have to set his sight on her? It was a foolish question though, and one I already suspected I knew the answer for. It was the same reason why Emma managed to steal our attention, and our breath the second we'd laid eyes on her. She radiated femininity, sensuality, genuineness. She was sex and sin, and sweet and naïve; a mix that was too tempting to resist. And it seemed we weren't the only one who'd noticed it.
"We'll find him," Gideon swore. His eyes darkened with the promise of pain to whoever had tormented our girl.
"We will," I agreed, knowing we would stop at nothing until we had him in our clutches. And when we got him, we would make sure he'd regret ever setting his eyes upon Emma.
As we settled into a cold and heavy sort of silence, I contemplated on all the ways I would hurt him, and it shocked me how much I took pleasure in the thought of beating this guy until he choked on his own damn blood. I was the least violent one in our group, but it seemed even I would resort to the anger in my veins when it came to Emma.
When the clock turned seven, and the sun began rising outside, I chanced the trip home to gather up all the stuff I would need for the foreseeable future and hoped Emma wouldn't wake up while I was gone. I knew she would have both Callan and Gideon there with her, but I wanted her to know I was there for her too.
On my way back, I swung by her place, having grabbed her apartment keys before I left. Maybe it was a breach of privacy, for me to let myself in and pack all her stuff, but at the moment I couldn't find it in me to care. All I cared about was keeping her safe, and she'd already established that she wasn't safe in her own apartment. Not surprising, given the poor state of this building and the lack of proper security.
The cameras and sensors Callan had told me about was situated perfectly, making me weirdly proud of her handywork, but then I thought of why she had needed them, and the proud feeling turned to anger once more.
Going through her apartment, I found multiple bags and a suitcase, I started packing all of her clothes, from dresses and pants to underwear. After that was done, and the bags and suitcase were filled, I found a few boxes and used them to pack the rest of her stuff, everything that could be sentimental to her; including the pictures hanging over her desk which I carefully placed in one of the boxes. Lastly, I found the manila envelope Emma had mentioned that contained the notes the fucker had left her and put it on top of the photos.
Her place looked deserted by the time I was finished, and while I knew how much this place meant for her—with its run-down state and all—I was also relieved that she would be with us.
We were getting her back, and not just for the time being. I would see to it. As would Callan and Gideon. Now that we had her within our grasp again, we wouldn't let her go. Not a second time.