Page 34 of The Game

She huddled into me, still shuddering but also listening as well.

“I told you that I plan to marry Emmeline. No one else knows that, not even her. Do you know why I gave you that information? Because as my firstborn, I need your input and for you to be alongside me on every adventure I take. Your sister, too, but she’d be along for the ride regardless of the destination.”

Maisie snorted. “Petra is already deciding what kind of bridesmaid’s dress she wants. Not that I told her,” she hastily added.

“I know. There’s another reason I told you. You are so like me, it’s like looking in a mirror sometimes. We make decisions fast. We need to be in control. I needed you to know that Emmeline isn’t a casual girlfriend. She’s going to be part of our family, and I knew that the first second I saw her. In no way does that mean she displaces you.”

I tapped up her chin so I could see her eyes. “How often have I cancelled plans for you to come stay at mine?”

“Never,” she admitted.

“Right? Not once. Not when I was sick or injured. Not when I was furious at that fight getting called off a year ago which threw out all my plans. Not even now, when I’m at the start of a brand-new relationship which is when most people hole up and hide away for months. I needed you to know my girlfriend and for her to love the two most important people in my life.”

Maisie pushed away from me and stood, her expression shifting to ashamed. “Shit.”

“Nah, don’t do that. Your feelings are real.”

“I just… It was so hard with the baby at home. Mum was a wreck. She yelled a lot and cried all the time.”

I grabbed her into our familiar side hug and scrubbed my knuckles over her damp hair as if she hadn’t been curled up in my lap like a baby thirty seconds ago. “It won’t be like that. Change isn’t always bad. Emmeline is badass. She’s a freaking surgeon, so she’s worth looking up to.”

Maisie turned a toe in the mat. “Yeah. It’s weird but cool that she cuts people up for a living while you bash them up. You two could be a real evil duo if you wanted.”

My smile grew. “If she agrees to be mine, she’ll be your stepmother, and that’s just one more person who’s going to love you and be there for you. Just like your stepdad. And you should cut your ma some slack. Babies are hard. I should know. Let me tell you about the time you peed and vomited on me simultaneously while I was changing your nappy at two in the morning.”

She shoved me. “Dad! I’d rather try the kinetic chain again.”

I slid another glance at the big clock on the wall then at my phone. “Yeah, but?—”

Maisie popped up and threw her fist in a textbook move. She aligned her muscles and joints, positioned her body just as I’d shown her, and connected sweetly.

With my temple.

Too perfectly. The next thing I knew was my face hitting the mat and everything turning hazy.

Right as a scream came from outside.

Chapter 17

Emmeline

Shaking, I inched closer to the back exit of the gym. If I could make it there and throw open the door, another shout might alert someone inside.

The man prowled after me. “You shouldn’t have let him claim you, Emmeline. You made the wrong choice. You were supposed to be mine.”

What?“Who are you?”

It was the wrong thing to say. He lunged for me.

I screamed and twisted to run, but the tall heels I’d worn to the Christmas meal snagged on the ground, and I fell. Gravel cut into my knee. I scrambled to stand.

A hand gripped my shoulder. “You fucking bitch. After that time we shared together and you don’t even recognise me? I’ll make you remember.”

He hauled me up, the effort dislodging his black mask and revealing his face.

Oh God.

I did know him. He was the man who’d tried to claim me in the game. The one I’d been terrified of, and who Malachi had beat to the floor. Even now, the stains of bruises still decorated his cheekbones and the sockets of his reddened eyes.

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