"Emily," he breathed out, wrapping his arms around me. "God, what happened to you? I've been climbing the walls here."
"I'm sorry." Tears were spilling out everywhere now, even though I tried hard to push them away. "I'm sorry," I choked out again. "I'm so glad you're okay. You're really okay." I looked at him through my teary, blurred vision.
"Emily, what's going on? What happened to you?" I was pressed against him, holding him tight, but he pried me away and held me at arm’s length. "God, Emily, what happened to you?" he asked again, clearly shocked by my appearance.
"I'm fine. I'm just glad you're okay."
"You're not making any sense. Why wouldn't I be okay? You have to start talking to me. You have to tell me what's going on?"
Wiping away my tears, I pulled myself together. I knew I had only a few minutes to explain everything and then we had to get out of here. Jake could already be on his way or even worse, he could already be here, waiting for us outside.
"When you took the call at the restaurant, I got a phone call." I paused, hesitating. I wasn't sure where to even start explaining. Taking his hand, I led him to the couch and sat down.
"Reed, there are so many things I haven't told you… about my past, why I came to New York. You just have to trust me and listen because we don't have much time."
"Don't have much time? What the hell is going on, Emily?" He jumped off the couch and began to pace the living room, back and forth, while running his hands through his hair.
"Do you trust me?" I asked.
"What kind of question is that? Of course I trust you."
"Then please sit down. I'll try to explain it to you."
He sat down beside me again.
"I was in a relationship before I came to New York, with a man named Jake Terrell. It was a pretty bad one. I had a friend that helped me get away from him. He gave me money. He gave me a new last name. He put me on a bus and told me to start a new life. I came here and for the past few months, I've been trying to live a normal life and forget about my old one. But he's found me. He's here. He was at the restaurant tonight. He's been watching me and watching you. He—" I paused, trying to compose myself. "Earlier at the restaurant, he told me he would kill you if I didn't leave with him." The last few words that came out of my mouth were nothing more than a mumble. "Then, after he had me, he had me think that he killed you anyway. I thought you were dead, Reed. I thought he killed you because of me."
My emotions began to spiral out of control. My head fell into my hands as I waited for Reed to say something.
"Hey," he finally said, wrapping his arms around me. "Emily, you're shaking."
"I'm just so glad you're okay," I said softly.
"I'm fine. You’re fine. You're here now. I've got you."
I shook my head. "I've been so stupid."
"Why didn't you tell me before? I could've helped you. I could've kept you safe."
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to forget about him. I thought it was dangerous for you. I was stupid.”
He squeezed me tighter. "It's all going to be okay. Let me call Robbins. I'll have him come back over. I've had him out looking for you. I came back here to wait for you, hoping you'd come back. Don't worry. We'll get Peters and Warren and a few more men and then we'll call the police. It's all going to be okay."
He was trying so hard to be optimistic, but he didn't know what Jake was capable of. Jake would stop at nothing now. He wouldn't stop until I was dead.
"It's not okay," I said. "It will never be okay." I looked up at him. "You don't understand. He will never stop. He will always be out there. I got away from him once, but now he's just going to be even angrier. He'll kill me now for sure, and you and Lexi and everyone else I care about. I know it. He'll never stop until I'm dead. We have to get out of here. We have to call Lexi. We have to warn her about him." I couldn’t stop my rambling.
He pulled away from me and held my shoulders, forcing me to face him. "Listen to me, Emily. He won't hurt you again. I won't let him. I promise."
I took in a big breath and blew it out shakily. More than anything, I wanted to believe that. I wanted to believe I was safe, that Reed was safe, but right now, I knew this wasn't a time for thinking those happy thoughts. It wasn't a time for tears either. I knew Jake was still out there and I had to get Reed out of here. I had to call Lexi and warn her.
"We have to get out of here." I stood up, the fear giving me the energy I needed. "He's been watching us the past few days. He'll come here looking for us. We have to get out of here," I repeated, my voice pleading. To Reed, I probably sounded like a crazy person. He may have even thought I was overreacting, but I was ready to get down on my knees and beg him if I needed to. I just wanted him as far away from Jake as possible.
"Hey, hey, calm down. We'll go… If that's what you need right now, then we'll go."
"Okay." I nodded, exhaling another trembling breath.
We were walking toward the elevators when Reed's phone rang, making me jump. He squeezed me tighter against him and answered.
"I have her, Robbins. She's here with me." He paused and a wave of pain crossed his face as he looked down at me. "Really?" He was silent for a long moment. "We're going to need to get out of town. I'm going to need to borrow your car. Okay, we'll be down soon."
He hung up, glanced down at me, and swallowed hard. "Robbins went by your place. He said it was a wreck, like there was quite a struggle." His thumb lightly grazed my cheek. "We really should get you checked out. You could be hurt."
Tear stung my eyes. "I'm fine. I just want to get out of here."
He frowned. "Whatever you need."
We entered the lobby on the main floor, where Robbins was standing at the front door, waiting for us. Samuel eyed us warily but didn't ask any questions.
We approached Robbins and he handed Reed a set of keys.
"Thank you. I'll call you once we get somewhere and explain everything," Reed said, grabbing my hand.
Robbins scanned my face before he quickly turned away. In that moment, Robbins reminded me of Mike. They didn't resemble one another in their appearance, but I thought it was more of the kindness in their eyes. Mike had the kindest, sweetest eyes, and thanks to me, he was gone. My eyes closed and I tried to erase the image of him lying dead with a bullet in his back.
"Let's go." Reed's words finally caused the image to dissolve.
Taking Robbins’s car was about as good of a plan as we could get. The headlights on his silver SUV lit up the dim parking garage. I felt a little safer when we were inside, but still the feeling that Jake was out there, lurking, never left me.
We pulled out of the garage and into the dark alley behind the building. I didn’t know where we were going, but as long as we were leaving the city, away from Jake, I didn't care. Before I could even remind him, Reed was already on the phone with Peters and Warren. Reed gave them an address for a place in Long Island. I wasn't sure where it was, but I trusted it was safe. He asked that Lexi and Brandon be brought there and that he would explain everything when they arrived.
"How are you feeling?" Reed asked when he put the phone back down, his voice cautious as he looked over at me.
I turned to him, finally feeling a little relief knowing that we got away and both of us were still alive—and that Lexi and Brandon would soon be safe, too. There were so many nights I woke up from nightmares that Jake had found me and killed me slowly. Tonight, I’d fought back and won, but I knew if I ever gave him another chance, I might not be so lucky.
"Better now." I nodded.
"Do you want to talk about what happened back at your apartment? You don't have to if you're not ready."
"I'll tell you everything when we get settled, okay? I just need a few minutes."
He nodded and grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight.