Page 63 of Desire

Emma’s father raised his eyebrows, clearly considering the offer. Her mother looked at Dante gratefully, her eyes filled with hope and relief. “That would be great. It’s all so overwhelming.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“Excuse me, are you the Hartley family?”

Emma spun to see a nurse in colorful scrubs hovering nearby, clipboard in hand. Mom and Dad straightened up, desperate hope warring with dread on their faces.

“Yes, we’re Joey’s parents,” Dad said. “Can we see him? Is he all right?”

The nurse smiled gently. “He’s stable and resting comfortably. The sedative is wearing off, so he’s a bit groggy, but lucid. He’s been asking for his girlfriend.”

Emma stiffened in disbelief. She moved quickly, placing herself between Kiki and the door to Joey’s room. “I think it would be best if my parents went in first,” she said, her voice firm. Kiki nodded reluctantly, and Emma’s parents gave Kiki a grateful look before disappearing into the room.

Emma’s hands curled into fists at her sides. Every instinct screamed at her to tear into Kiki, to make her pay for the pain she’d caused. But she wrestled the urge into submission. Revenge could wait. Joey’s well-being came first.

Now alone with Kiki, Emma’s anger flared anew. “Are you planning to upload footage of Joey onto your Instagram channel and humiliate him too?” she demanded, the words dripping with venom.

Kiki’s eyes widened in shock as she shook her head vehemently. “No, of course not,” she stammered, her hands twisting nervously in front of her.

As Emma’s body tensed, ready to unleash another verbal onslaught, Dante placed a calming hand on her arm—but she wasn’t having it. She shook off his touch and he raised an eyebrow at her, a silent warning. For a moment, she hesitated, the familiar feeling of impending punishment stirring within her. But then she remembered: they weren’t a couple anymore. In a surge of defiance, she shoved Kiki against the wall, her eyes blazing.

“Enough.” Dante caught Emma’s elbow in a firm grip. She tried to wrench free, but he held fast, pinning her with a quelling look. “This isn’t the time or place.”

For a moment, hurt flashed across Emma’s expressive face, quickly replaced by embarrassed defiance. “Fine. I’ll deal with her later.”

“No, you won’t.” Dante gentled his hold, thumb stroking the delicate skin of her inner wrist. “Breathe, Queen Mab. Focus on what matters most right now—your family.”

Emma sagged into him, anger bleeding out on a ragged exhale. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just when I think about what she did to me, what she could do to Joey...” She shook her head. “I want to wring her scrawny neck.”

“I know I’ve given you no reason to believe me,” Kiki stammered, raising a hand to ward off any further violence, “but I’d never post anything like that.” Her voice trembled, and she met Dante’s disbelief with a bowed head. “I actually like Joey.”

Emma sighed, her anger momentarily abated, and nodded. “Joey isn’t normally like that,” she explained, her words cutting through the oppressive silence like a sharpened blade. “He’s sick and needs help, but he was too stubborn to get it.”

“Here.” Kiki offered her phone to Emma, desperation lacing her tone. “Check it and see. I don’t have any pictures or video of him.”

Emma snatched the device, thumb swiping through gallery folders with grim purpose. “She’s telling the truth. There’s nothing here about Joey.” After several tense minutes, she looked up.

“I just deleted all the videos you had of me. And I removed them from our social media accounts.”

“Fine, whatever.” Kiki waved a dismissive hand. “Just...do what you need to do.”

“Whatever I need to do?” Emma tilted her head and then pointed the camera at Kiki.

“What are you doing? I look like hell,” Kiki shrieked.

“You’re going to film an apology for posting the roller derby videos and you’re going to be sincere about it.” Emma nodded. “And you’re going to promise to do better.”

Some of the old, familiar Kiki came out then. Her lips curled into a sneer. “That’s not my brand.”

“If you don’t, I’ll tell my parents everything, and make sure Joey knows just how deeply you hurt me.

Kiki’s eyes flicked toward Dante, searching his expression for any hint of leniency. “Will this get me back into Couture?”

“No.”

Kiki scowled at him and then glanced over at the closed door to Joey’s hospital room. She let out a resigned sigh, her shoulders slumping. “Fine, I’ll do it. Look, I know I’ve been a total bitch, but I really do care about Joey. What happened tonight...it scared the crap out of me.”

Empty words from someone who’d made a career out of carefully curated snapshots and hashtags. Emma couldn’t bring herself to completely believe her, not after the callous way she’d treated everyone. But she would try, for Joey’s sake. “He isn’t like this. He’s a good guy, but he’s struggling right now. He needs professional help to work through whatever demons followed him back from his last deployment.”

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