Lilac: An Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

It sounded like fireworks or a car backfiring.

I almost went back to sleep with an annoyed exhale until I remembered we lived too deep in the woods. Whatever made that sound had been too loud and too close.

“What was that?” Houston asked. He’d woken up too.

“I don’t know,” I answered with a tired shake of my head. My eyes were still closed.

“Then how about you both go back to sleep before you wake Braxton?” Loren grumbled in my neck as he hugged me tighter from behind. I could feel his morning wood, but sex was the last thing on my mind.

If Loren was awake, that means he’d heard it too.

Houston and I weren’t imagining things.

My eyes drifted open for the first time to see if Braxton was awake and wondering the same thing.

The spot where she’d slept between Houston and me was empty.

“She’s not here,” I said more to myself than to them as my heart began to race.

Having noticed, too, Houston was already up, grabbing his phone, and heading for the door. “Get the fuck up,” he barked at us both.

I threw Loren’s arm from around my waist, got up, and snatched a pair of pants—I didn’t care whose—from the floor as I went. Loren was right behind me, though he’d settled for the sheet wrapped around his waist.

Houston was already coming out of the bathroom when we stepped into the hall. For the first time, I cursed the size of this house. There was no sound now to tell us where to look next, and there were too many options to choose from.

“Braxton!” I shouted when I couldn’t think clearly enough to figure out where she would go. Our exhaustion had made it too hard to sense before, but now we were all too painfully aware.

Something was wrong.

Why was Braxton even up this early?

As soon as my mind formed the question, I remembered.

Today was Houston’s birthday.

She’d wanted to bake a cake.

My limbs were getting heavier, too heavy, as we raced down the stairs. I was nothing more than a block of ice by the time we reached the ground floor. Or maybe I was trapped inside of one.

Maybe she hadn’t left yet.

We rushed into the kitchen to check there first and came to a dead halt. The last person we expected to see was sitting on the island, swinging her short legs while she waited.

“Baby!” she squealed when our eyes connected.

I closed mine a second later.

How the hell was she here?

We didn’t buy this place until long after she’d disappeared. Emily wouldn’t know where to find us, much less how to get inside the gates. She’d need the code or the device, which she had neither.

“What the fuck kind of fatal attraction, soap opera, Days of our Lives bullshit are you on?” Loren snapped. “I don’t even want to know how you found us or why you’re here. Just get the hell out.”

My eyes opened when I heard what sounded like Emily’s feet hitting the ground. She was thinner than I remembered, and where there had once been mischief in her eyes, there was now only malice.

“You chased me for years,” she pointed out while ignoring Loren. “Now that I’m here, you want me to go? Sorry, I don’t think so.”

“Where’s his kid?” Houston asked her. “Since you’re well aware that’s who he was looking for.”

Emily glowered at him before turning to me. “You’re still letting them speak for you, I see.”

“What do you want?” I demanded, speaking up for the first time. I still hadn’t recovered from seeing Emily and finding her in our house.

Where the hell was Braxton?

“I want to give us another chance,” she answered as she kept coming closer, “and I know you do too. I know you still love me.”

Loren snorted.

“It’s too late for that, Em. I—we—we’re divorced.”

“Why do you think she’s here?” Loren mused out loud. “She knows that already.” The asshole couldn’t mind his business for two goddamn minutes.

“Yeah, but so what?” Emily challenged. “He still loves me.”

To fuck with Loren, she reached up and wrapped her thin arms around my neck. I saw my best friend stiffen out of the corner of my eye. I knew if I didn’t push her away soon, he’d fling her ass across the room.

It wouldn’t just be for Braxton, though.

It’d be for him too.

Loren was jealous of Emily then, despite his claims, and he was still jealous of her now.

I removed her arms from around my neck and took a step back. “Leave,” I told her. “And don’t come back unless it’s with my kid.”

“If there even is a kid,” Loren couldn’t help adding.

I gave him a look to shut the fuck up already. I could handle Emily all on my own. Loren made sure to sigh as loud as he could before closing his goddamn mouth. Finally.

“Can we talk in private?” Emily requested.

“It’s been five years. You had the chance to talk and work things out, but you chose to run away. I’m not interested in what you have to say anymore. Not unless it’s about my kid.” I searched her eyes. “Where is he?” Or her. I didn’t care as long as I got to be in their life. I didn’t want to miss another day.

“Jericho,” she said while letting the tear she’d drummed up teeter on her lower lash before rolling down her cheek. I was immune to them now, but she didn’t know that, so I let her play her little mind games. “It was very hard when I left. I was scared of what you might do if the baby wasn’t yours. I didn’t want to lose you, so I…”

“You what,” I snapped. I could barely hear my voice or thoughts over the roaring in my head.

“I didn’t have it.” She shifted on her feet as she looked everywhere but at me. “I-I got an abortion.”

“Then tell me,” I started as I backed her into the island behind her. I could feel my control slip to the point of no return. It was her body, so it was her decision, but I was pissed as hell that she let me chase her all that time for no reason at all. I stopped wanting Emily the second I found out she cheated. My only reason to stay had been my kid. “Why the fuck are you are here?”

“Because I lo—”

“You used me!” I exploded before she could finish. I didn’t want to hear those words from her. It only reminded me that I was still waiting to hear them from Braxton. I knew she felt it, but she wasn’t done making us sorry. I once told her if she wanted our respect she’d have to make us listen. She was literally taking my advice to heart. “You preyed on my weaknesses to get what you wanted, and then you threw me away when I got a damn clue. How the hell is that love?”

“Is that what they told you?” she snapped, referring to Houston and Loren.

I chuckled as I looked off. After five years of hunting her down, it was amazing how little I gave a shit now. All I wanted was to get Emily out of my sight so that I could find Braxton.

I didn’t care.

I just…I didn’t give a damn.

None of it mattered anymore.

Emily didn’t matter anymore.

There was no baby, which would have been my only tie to her. I was equally relieved and disappointed. I didn’t know how to feel about not being a father, after all. I just knew that as far as Emily was concerned…I was free.

I wanted to find Braxton and celebrate. Maybe put a baby in her instead.

Yeah…

I liked that idea so much more.

“Thanks for stopping by, Emily. Let me show you the door.” I turned away to do just that.

“Show me the—wait…are you kidding me?” she screeched, forcing me to face her again. “That’s it? You’re kicking me out?”

“Yup,” Houston and Loren said at the same time. “See ya.”

She curled her lip at them. I couldn’t believe I once thought she was beautiful. She was attractive still, but I wasn’t attracted. Honestly, I didn’t understand how she ever got my dick hard in the first place.

My ex-wife was evil as fuck.

“Jericho—”

“Not interested,” I cut her off.

“Well, I’m not leaving.”

I sighed and looked at my friends, dismissing Emily altogether. I didn’t even care enough to force her out. “Have either of you tried calling Braxton?”

I knew she must have been at Laine’s by now, but Emily being here had me paranoid and on edge. We never did figure out the noise that woke us or how Emily had found us or even gotten through the gate.

Wordlessly, Houston lifted his phone. He’d been the only one smart enough to grab his.

I started to pace as he dialed Braxton. Emily didn’t say a word, and surprisingly, neither did Loren. I was still walking back and forth when my gaze caught the damage on the wall near the entrance.

Was that a hole?

Just as I headed toward it to inspect it closer, the sound of a phone ringing filled the room.

It sounded like Braxton’s.

“What the fuck?” Loren barked.

Turning to face them, I found Emily holding Loren at gunpoint while waving Braxton’s phone in the air.

“As I was saying,” she taunted, “I’m not going anywhere.”

The look Loren gave me told me he was more annoyed at the inconvenience than afraid for his life. “I told you not to marry her.”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” Emily screamed. “This is all your fault! You ruined everything!” She walked up to him with a vicious smile. “So how about I kill you first? You can join your little slut and rest in pieces.”

The irritation left’s Loren’s face until there was nothing left.

Only the sheet of ice that seemed to cover the room.

“Where is she? What did you do?” Houston asked her calmly.

I knew he was anything but calm. We were all just biding our time. The problem with Emily was that she was too damn sure she already had the upper hand. Gun or no gun, there were three of us and one of her. She’d turned her back on me, and now we already had her surrounded.

Loren would take that bullet if he had to.

For Braxton.

For us.

I just prayed it didn’t come to that.

“In hell by now, I suppose. I bashed her skull in and left her bleeding.”

I felt my knees buckle at her announcement.

The breath that rushed out of my chest caused me to tremble violently.

What Emily was telling us couldn’t be true. No way Braxton was dead. It wasn’t possible. My heart wouldn’t continue to beat even for a moment after hers stopped. I believed it so much I held on to that irrational hope.

“Sweet ride she was driving too,” Emily continued to taunt. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind that I borrowed it considering she’s dead and all.”

“Emily,” Loren said with a humorless chuckle. He smiled at the ceiling, and I knew he was close to losing it. “Pull that trigger right now, and hope you kill me.”

I knew it wasn’t simply a threat.

He wanted to die.

If Braxton were truly dead, neither of us would live longer than it took to get our revenge.

“You should kill us all,” I told her. She turned to face me like I knew she would. The gun was no longer on Loren. It was pointed at me where it belonged. “If you don’t, there will be nowhere you can run. You thought I was relentless before? I won’t stop, I won’t rest, and I won’t eat until I’ve buried you, bitch.”

“Tell us where she is,” Houston advised her. “Give yourself a head start.”

“I don’t believe you,” she told me while ignoring my friends. “You won’t let them hurt me over her. It’s obvious you love me more.”

I tilted my head to the side. There wasn’t anger in my tone when I spoke. Just genuine bafflement and curiosity. “Why is that?”

“Because you would have never shared me with them. I make you jealous. She doesn’t.”

“Yet he wouldn’t hesitate to push you in front of a train,” Loren deadpanned.

“Not to mention,” Houston added, “I would rather stick my dick in a garbage disposal.”

She switched her aim to Houston, who didn’t flinch, but I did. I didn’t want my friends to be hurt over my mistakes. I might have already lost Braxton. I couldn’t handle losing them too.

“I didn’t love you.” Emily kept her gun trained on Houston as she cut her gaze toward me. “I was in love with filling a void, and you were the only one willing. You used me, but I used you too,” I said, recalling Braxton’s confession about Jacob Fried. I now understood why she wasn’t convinced she was wholly innocent. Emily and I had destroyed each other in vain, searching for what was never there. “I lied, I stole, and I hurt people for you, but it was never enough because I wasn’t enough. There were limits to what I would do for you, and you were too empty to fill my cup.”

Emily’s hand shook when she aimed the gun my way again. I gave Houston and Loren a look not to say another goddamn word. I couldn’t risk them. I wouldn’t.

“And you think Braxton will complete you?” She scoffed with a sardonic laugh.

“She already has.”

That made her smile drop.

I could see the hysteria in her eyes rising even as she fought to retain control. “You gave me limits, but how far are you willing to go for her, Jericho? Are you willing to die?”

She thought she was taunting me, testing me, and putting me in my place. Emily truly didn’t know me anymore.

“Yes.” There was no hesitation. “Tell them where to find her. Let them go, and then pull the trigger.”

I kept my gaze on Emily, but I could see Houston and Loren shift. I knew they were looking at each other and silently forming a plan. Because they hadn’t given in to the inevitable yet—the truth that there was only one way we were getting to Braxton.

One of us would have to go down.

“I cannot believe you,” Emily said as tears, real tears, fell. “I was there for you! She wasn’t! You were supposed to love me.”

“That’s not her fault, Em. It’s mine. I should have waited. Braxton was out there, but I was too busy pretending with you.”

“Pretending? Oh, yeah? Well, she’s dead now, so you can go be with that bitch.”

I wasn’t looking at Emily when she aimed for my heart. I was staring at my friends and memorizing their faces as they rushed to stop Emily before she could pull the trigger.

Too late.