“I can’t walk away, Elijah. I’m trapped. Not because I’m afraid you’ll kill me, but because I don’t feel anything anymore. Not when I kill. If I choose to be a decent man, I have to decide on some morality, and Siena Arnotto is my morality. She’s a good person. She deserves a life. I’m going to do whatever I can to keep her that way.”

“Then you’re in. I’ll explain in the plane on the way home. Joshua, call Pete now. Tell him his niece is alive but needs medical care immediately, that you’ll meet him outside the gates. Don’t let him onto the property until everything is fixed and bodies have disappeared. I’m leaving Joaquin and Evan with you. Eli needs to get home to Catarina, but the others will stay a few days until we can bring in a crew from Borneo.”

Joshua nodded, and Elijah glanced at his watch. If they left now, they could get back in time for dinner. He’d have his woman before that. And then again after. His cock was already hard, hungry, needy. Thinking about Siena and her sweet, talented mouth didn’t help him at all. When he tried to stop thinking about her mouth, his cock jerked hard, urgently, reminding him how it felt to be inside her, that tight clasp of scorching-hot silk, fisting him.

He groaned softly and concentrated on walking out of there without making a fool of himself.

19

“I really, really hate bed rest,” Emma admitted. “Jake hovers. He’s always watching over me, but now it’s a million times worse. I can’t move my little finger without him glaring at me. And it’s really just a precaution.”

Catarina put her bare feet up on the leather ottoman and leaned back in the plush golden brown leather chair. “Jake is not as bad as Eli. I think, if he could get away with it, Eli would tie me to him.”

Emma laughed. “Could he get away with it, Cat?” she teased.

Catarina joined in the laughter and winked at Siena. “Probably. Okay. Yeah. Absolutely he could.” Eli could, and she meant it.

“How do you do it? Handle it? The bossy?” Siena asked.

Emma fluffed her pillow and lay her head back down. “The rest of it is worth it. The things they do for us every single day make the bossy worthwhile. I wouldn’t trade Jake for anything. He’s so thoughtful. I don’t ask for anything. I don’t have to. He just provides me with it. Sometimes he’s so off-the-charts sweet I don’t know how to handle it. Jake makes me feel beautiful and loved. He makes me know I’m important to him. The most important person in his life. He gives me that every single day.”