Being Emerald by Sylvia Ryan Read Free Book Online

revealed he and Laila were in more danger than he’d originally thought.
    The encounter lasted about two minutes. All in all, pretty funny. Almost humorous enough to change his murderous mood. Almost.
    Laila still hadn’t contacted him. He strode to his front picture window as he’d been doing every couple of minutes during the past two hours, and tapped his earbud. “Time.” He set his jaw. It was after five.
    The stark silence did nothing to calm his simmering anger.
    At seven thirty, Laila strolled through his front door and into his kitchen. Eyes sparkling, she smiled at him.
    The wild storm brewing inside couldn’t be tempered by her smile. As he walked toward her, she caught his expression and the joy radiating from her faltered. He stopped directly in front of her and crossed his arms. Now that she was there, safe, he wasn’t sure how to start his imminent meltdown. “Where have you been?”
    Her eyebrows lifted, and she cocked her head. “I was at my doctor’s office.”
    His guts clenched. “Why? What happened?”
    “Nothing happened.”
    “Then why did you need a doctor?”
    “I didn’t need a doctor. I just—” She rolled her eyes. “I’m turning twenty six in a few days. My implant was due to be replaced.” She gestured to her arm, twisted it and showed the stitches. “I wanted to wait until I was an Emerald before I went so I wouldn’t be forced to get a new one.”
    “Oh.” Big news, and unexpected. He pinned her to the edge of the counter, caged her with his arms.
    She looked up at him. “What?” she asked softly. She pouted as if she hadn’t started their first day of training lying to him and putting herself in mortal danger. Her deceitful innocence enraged him.
    “You stupid little girl.” He knew the choice of words he’d just growled at her should have been tempered, but his indulgence wouldn’t keep her alive. “From now on, you will not—” He’d escalated from soft spoken to a yell within the span of a handful of words. Taking in another slow breath, he continued in a more reasonable tone. “You will not go anywhere near Morgan again.”
    Her mouth fell open and brows bunched. Cascades of rapid-fire expressions were barely exposed through the mask she put in place. “How do you know where I was?” She attempted to push one of his arms away.
    Once he’d made clear he could keep her there as long as he liked, he raised it.
    She stepped to the side and began to back away from him. Cautious deliberation reflected in her eyes.
    “You have to be fucking crazy, planting a bug in Morgan’s office.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    With every one of his steps forward, she took one back.
    “Please, Rock. Don’t turn me in.”
    “Why shouldn’t I?”
    She stood there, shaking her head, obviously searching for the right words.
    He only became more enraged at her inability to defend herself. “How does it feel to be caught, Laila?”
    Her face paled.
    “Tell me!” he yelled. “Tell me what it’s like knowing you’re dead already!”
    She backed into a corner, panic widening her wild eyes, and froze when she couldn’t go any farther.
    She was petrified, and he wanted her to be because scarier people than him were out there. “There’s nowhere to run.” He came to a stop only a foot from her, and saw the moment her bravado collapsed.
    She hung her head. “If you have any compassion in you at all, you’ll kill me now,” she whispered, lifting her chin to meet his gaze. Tears ran down her face. “Do it. Just do it.”
    Rock grabbed Laila’s arm.
    She jumped and cried out, but didn’t struggle as he dragged her into the kitchen. The fact she wasn’t fighting to get away from a man she thought was going to kill her indicated how much work lay before them. She’d given up on her life already. He wanted to throw something, but picked her up roughly and set her on the kitchen counter instead.
    “Don’t you ever,” he bellowed, “ever give up on yourself, on your