Shattered Girl (Emmy)

Shattered Girl Chapter 17

As | hurried into the house, | could hear the guys behind me. C*a* out of sight fast. | know trying to go upstairs

was out of the question; with my injuries, they would catchbefore | made it off the staircase. Glancing

around, | spotted a hallway off to my left, leading away from the party. | had never seen this part of the house, so

I ducked into the first room | cto. I had found a sunroom facing the west side of the property, the last rays of

sunlight still shining through the floor-to-telling windows. There were plants everywhere; it looked like someone

had transplanted an entire flower garden into this one room. I loved it, and it would be the perfect place to stay

out of sight. I moved quickly through the room, stopping when | found a sitting area next to a small fountain

bubbling away. It was secluded toward the back of the room, and I would be entirely out of sight of anyone not

doing a complete search of the room. I sank into a cu**ned chair, enjoying the quiet of the

I must have

fallen asleep because when | opened my eyes, | was greeted with a night sky full of t**ng stars. S**it, the guys

were going to be so upset with me. | had been asleep for at least an hour, and they hadn't found me, or they

would have wokenup or at least carriedto my room. Taking a deep breath, | prepared myself to face the

twins. Stepping out into the hallway, | pulled the door closed behindand turned, running right into my

mother. | stood stunned for a minute, not expecting to see her. | began to take a step back, but she grabbed me,

digging her perfectly manicured claws into my arm, makingcringe away from her. "Where have you been,

you **ng onto my arm so tightly that she broke the skin with her nails. | cried out in pain, trying to pull away

from her; when she slapped me, | cried out again, and it only seemed to encourage her because she continued

to hit me. | tried one more tto pull out of her grip, but she let go ofright as | pulled away, causingto

fall to the floor, gasping and grabbing my ribs in pain. She continued to scream at me, raising her foot to kick

me, | curled into a fetal position to protect myself the best | could, covering my head with my arms. The kick

never came, and the hall was suddenly quiet. Risking a look, | moved my arms away from my face to see Patrick

standing in front of my mother, pinning her against the hallway wall by her neck. His face was bright red with

anger, his accent so thick it was almost hard to understand "Listen to me, you worthless cow; if you ever lay

hands on Emmy again, | will see you dead and buried where no one

one will ever find Understand?" Patrick growled, tightening his grip on my mother's throat, Her face slowly began

to change colors, and she was nodding find you. frantically. "I think it's tyou take a vacation; a month in your

yacht traveling around the Caribbean would be a good start. He gave her another hard shake. Don't worry about

telling Clint. I will tell him about your plans. If he has any objections, he can join you." He released my mother so

quickly that she crumpled to the floor, gasping and clutching her throat. | suggest you get packing. My driver will

be here for you in thirty minutes, and you will leave with or without your luggage.

Patricia climbed to her feet unsteadily, shootinga vicious glare, before hurrying down the hallway out of

sight. Ignoring her now that she was leaving, Patrick turned his attention to me.

Emmy, love, are you hurt bad? He knelt beside me, checkingover before helpingto a sitting position. Oh,

love, I'm so sorry | didn't find you sooner." He brushed shair out of my face, a look of guilt on his handsome

face as he spotted the new bruises appearing on my face. Ok, love, I'm going to pick you up and bring you to the

twins." I nodded in agreement, trying to stifle my cry of pain as Patrick liftedin his arms. I'm sorry, love, so

sorry." He whispered toas he cradledclose, hurrying toward the twin's wing of the house. After carefully

navigating the stairs, he opened the door to our living space and carriedthrough, kicking it closed behind

him. The moment the tyrant saw us, they were on their feet, with looks of shock and anger crossing their faces.

Josh hurried to me, carefully takingfrom Patrick Once | was cuddled in his embrace, | lost it and began

sobbing uncontrollably. Josh sat on the couch beside Patrick as Jake hurried int00:0 the kitchen, retuming with a

first aid kit and an ice pack. "Baby girl, what happened?" Josh asked me. | could only cry into his shoulder, so

Patrick answered for me.

Her mother had her down in the sunroom hallway. She had her foot back, ready to kick Emmy, when | grabbed

her by the throat and stopped her by the end of Patrick's explanation, the twins wore matching furious

expressions.

"I want to kill her," My sweet, gentle Jake growled as he sat beside me, placing the ice pack on my ribs and

kissing my forehead. Patrick finished explaining about my mother's sudden out-of-the-country vacation. Patrick

stood, leaning down to take my hand. He toldhe would be right back and needed to make a call. | nodded

understanding, cuddling back into Josh as lake cleanedup.

Chapter 17

A few minutes later, Patrick returned, a smile across his handsface. Clint has decided to join Patricia on an

extended holiday sailing around the Caribbean Islands. They will be gone for the rest of the summer."

| gaped at Patrick. "How did you manage that? 1 asked in awe.

It's all about knowing the right people to talk to love." Patrick smiled atas he joined us on the couch.

"And Patrick knows the right people, baby girl," Josh said with a grin.

When Jake finished cleaningup, Josh food withstill in his arms. Tuning to the guys, he told them he was

going to getsettled comfortably into bed and get spain meds into me. As Josh carriedaway, | called

out goodnight to Jake and Patrick; they both wisheda good night and began setting up the gcouncil; the

sounds of them talking s** to each other faded as Josh closed the door behind us. Settingdown, he helped