Third Chance Read Free Page A

whimper. He’d been watching her in the privacy of her home, seeing every intimate thing she did…maybe recording it. A sob caught in her throat, but before she could let it loose, Justan was hugging her and leading her awkwardly out the door.
    “Come on, Emma, nothing you can do here right now. Let’s you home.”
    Emma’s breath hitched and she stuttered out, “I am home.”
    Walter came out as they left the apartment, but Justan shook his head. “I’ll be back in forty-five minutes or so. Gotta get Emma somewhere she can feel safe. I need you to keep everyone out of there until the police arrive. Make sure you check their ID.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “Someone trashed her place last night.”
    Her friend hesitated, then nodded. “I take it the officer that was here at four am wasn’t really a cop?”
    “No.”
    “Fuck. Emma, you call me if you need anything. You’ve got my number.”
    Emma stiffened, the desire to call her parents flooding her. “I need my phone.”
    “Where is it?”
    “I was charging it, so it should be on the counter by my refrigerator. I’m OCD about making sure my phone works. It’s important. I need to talk to my Mom, my Dad.”
    Even to herself she sounded as if she were hovering on the edges of a nervous breakdown, so she wasn’t surprised that Justan was treating her like glass right now. “Use my phone or Ryan’s. I don’t want you in there again. Not just ’cause I hate to see a woman cry, but because you might inadvertently mess up something. If he touched your phone, he may have left some prints.”
    She bit her quivering lip and nodded, not fighting Justan as he led her back to his truck and drove her to Ryan’s place with soft jazz playing from the speakers.
     

Chapter Two
     
    The floodlights illuminated the brick walkway leading up to his house and Ryan leaned up against Justan’s truck, the trip from the hospital having tired him out. His shoulder throbbed and his whole body ached, but those physical discomforts were secondary to his concern for Emma. The fear in her voice earlier, and the fact that he couldn’t help her, had brought him close to ripping out his IVs and taking a cab to her place. Thankfully, he was ready to be discharged so the second his signature was on the release papers and he had his scripts in hand, he’d called Justan and had him pick him up.
    Since his clothing had been ruined by all the blood, he wore some yellow fundraiser t-shirt for the children’s ward at the hospital he’d stayed at, along with a pair of sweatpants and some flip-flops.
    Justan came around the side of the truck and nodded to the black Range Rover parked next to the house. “Company?”
    “Yeah, Moira came over to stay with Emma until I got home.”
    The way Justan’s eyes widened was hard to miss, and Ryan had to struggle to contain a laugh at the slightly stunned look on his friend’s face. It was no secret between them that Justan was keeping an eye on Moira, and that he got crazy territorial over her. The endless parade of male submissives in and out of her home made Justan grit his teeth, but so far he hadn’t made a move on the stunning redhead. Ryan thought his friend should just make his interest known and be done with it, but Justan said he had a plan.
    Evidently that plan didn’t include Moira seeing him now.
    Unable to resist, Ryan put on a pained expression. “Hey, man, my shoulder hurts like a bitch. Can you help me inside?”
    Justan rolled his eyes, but moved to Ryan’s good side and propped him up as they made their way up to the house. Before they’d gotten to the steps the exterior light turned on, bathing the porch in warm, golden glow. A moment later the front door opened and both men sucked in a quick, hard breath. How could they not when presented with such beauty?
    It wasn’t that the women were wearing leather and latex, but rather that they both wore satiny, long robes with a tasteful amount of lace at the sleeves.