“You’re hurt,” he said, and the pain in his voice only served to solidify her feelings.

“I’m fine,” she whispered. It wasn’t true, but, “I will be fine,” which she said next, was. “Please, Jason.”

After a long, tense moment, he gave the barest of nods. “I’m not leaving you alone with them.”

“Good. I don’t want you to.”

Busy gaping at their interchange, Jane found her voice again. “How dare you corrupt my daughter, you reprobate. You weren’t good enough for her in college and you’re certainly not good enough for her now.”

Fire shot into Jason’s eyes then and his hands bunched into fists. Emma moved between them. “This is between me and you, Mother. Leave Jason out of it.”

“He’s trying to ruin your life.”

“No, Mother, he’s trying to help me live it. And don’t you dare ever so much as suggest that he’s not good enough for me—or anyone else—again.” Jane opened her mouth, but Emma put her hand up.

“You’ve had your say. Now I’m going to have mine.”

Jane grabbed her purse and was about to walk past Emma, when Walter forced her to remain where she was standing.

It wasn’t an apology for her mother’s behavior, certainly, but it was something. “I know you only want what’s best for me. What parent wouldn’t? And I don’t blame you for that. But has it ever occurred to you that what you think is best and what I actually need are two different things?”

“You don’t know what you need.”

Emma thought about that. “Maybe not. But I’m trying to figure it out. And I need to do it my way.”

Something that might have been admiration flashed in her father’s eyes. Wanting them to understand, still needing at least a little of their approval, she said, “I will always appreciate what you’ve done for me. All you’ve given me. And I don’t want you to think that just because I’m selling the house and moving my business to Napa that I don’t—”

Jane’s face turned puce. “Moving your business to Napa. My God, you really have lost your mind.” She stalked out of the restaurant, leaving the distinct scent of Chanel No. 5 in her wake.

Walter looked extremely uncomfortable, but he remained where he was. “She’s sorry for what she did,”

he said in a quiet voice and Emma nodded, knowing it was her father’s way of apologizing. For

everything.

He cleared his throat. “I don’t know if I approve of what you’re doing.” He looked at Jason and it was clear that he wasn’t just speaking about her house and business. He was talking about whom she loved as well. “But you’re right, Emma. It’s your life.” Letting out a long breath, he said, “I’ll talk to your mother, see if I can bring her around.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” Ignoring Jason’s scowl, she leaned over and gave her father a kiss. “I love you.”

Walter nodded and walked away.

It wasn’t a perfect ending to their confrontation, but she felt like a sliver of an olive branch was laid out for the future.

And as Jason pulled her into his arms in the middle of the restaurant, Emma felt freer and more secure than she ever had before.

Twenty-One

We should leave,” Jason said, reaching for Emma’s wrap without waiting for a reply.

But rather than falling to pieces and crying all the way to his house, Emma’s eyes were bright and dry.

“I’m not in any rush to leave. I want to stay to help your crew clean up. It’s the least I can do to repay them for being so nice to me.”

What the hell? She’d just been through the ringer with her parents—doing a damn good job of telling them where to stick it, no less—and she didn’t want to run and hide? Jason studied Emma carefully. Was she trying to hide her true feelings under a cloak of bravado for his benefit?

“You don’t need to pretend to be strong for me, Emma. I want to take you home. You need me to be there for you.”

It was the craziest thing. He wasn’t feeding Emma a pack of lies about how much he cared because he was trying to get payback. He meant every word.

Not because he wanted to trap her into trusting him.

Not because he had some kind of ulterior motive.

But because he truly wanted to take away her pain.

He cared about her. Loved her. Honestly loved her, inside and out. Past and present.

He’d wanted to kill her mother for slapping Emma, for hurting her. And in that moment, when he’d been about to commit murder in front of dozens of strangers, he’d made a powerful realization: In trying to get payback for the way Emma had betrayed him so many years ago, he wasn’t any better than her parents.

Everyone thought they had their reasons to control Emma, everyone thought they were justified in causing her pain.

Including him.

But they were all wrong.

Kate was the only one who really knew the score. Just as she’d said, Emma deserved to be happy. Truly deserved it.

Jason wanted to give that happiness to her. To start, he’d worship her with his body, make her cry out in pleasure to erase her tears.

Somehow, someday, he’d make things up to her.

Because even if she never found out about how he’d planned to hurt her, he knew. And he hated himself for it.

“Get back into the kitchen,” she said with a soft smile on her lips. “I’ll help Julie bus the tables and when you’re done we can go home.”

The word “home” sounded like “heaven” to Jason. “Are you absolutely certain?”

She nodded. “There have been enough scenes in your restaurant for one week. I want you to take care of your final customers. Go finish the job you do so well.”

Bending down, he began to kiss her possessively, just as he had all week. But he no longer wanted to take her by force. He didn’t want to own her anymore. Softly, so softly, he ended the kiss and she pushed him back toward the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go anywhere. I promise.”

Emma knew exactly why Jason had been acting so protective, why he wanted to bundle her up and carry her back to his house like a knight in shining armor. And she too was surprised that she didn’t want to scream in frustration, didn’t want to cry over the way her mother had behaved.

It was the very opposite, in fact.

She’d never felt this sense of freedom before. It was scary to be living her own life, to be in charge of making her own decisions. But my God, she felt like she could finally breathe.