A/N: Thank you for all the support for this story! It means so much and I love seeing how emotionally invested/fangirly so many of you are. :') I think you guys will like this chapter, especially, for reasons which will become evident very soon. That's all I'm saying.... enjoy! 

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Kidnap My Heart

Chapter 35: Will

I woke up to Emma’s groaning, and no, not the sensual kind. It was the frustrated kind. I probably had morning wood again, and since I was still holding her…

“Will, scoot over,” she groaned. “You’re jabbing me in the stomach.”

“Five more minutes,” I mumbled, unwilling to let her go just yet.

“Will, seriously, this is not okay. You’re awake and can move over now.”

“What happened to all of the nice things you were saying yesterday?” I asked without bothering to open my eyes or move an inch.

“Admitting my feelings for you does not correlate to being okay with this.”

I finally opened my eyes and gave her an amused look, although the grogginess that enveloped me might have overcome the amusement in my eyes. “Not yet.”

That comment landed me a spot on the floor. I shouldn’t have been surprised. I’d been pushing my limits since she got here.

“Hey, not yet could mean tomorrow or it could mean a year from now,” I said in my defense, sitting up from my new spot on the floor.

“You see yourself with me a year from now?” she asked. She sounded surprised.

I let out a nervous laugh that sounded more strangled than anything. “Well, yeah. Do you, uh, not want me to see myself with you a year from now?”

She was about to reply, but the slamming of the front door downstairs cut her off. Her cheeks lost their previous color. “I think your dad’s home.”

My face probably mirrored hers, I was thinking. “Shit. I need to get changed.”

“You need to get changed? I’m half exposed. Where did you put my clothes?”

I wouldn’t call count wearing a tank top and shorts—however short the shorts may have been—as being half exposed, but whatever. “They’re in the bottom drawer.”

She jumped up and rushed over, and we were both so busy trying to change in a matter of seconds that we didn’t even think to try to creep on each other.

I had just shoved my jeans on and was about to zip them up when my dad burst into the room shouting, “Where is she?”

He stopped abruptly when he saw me and then Emma. I buttoned my pants and glanced over at her to make sure she wasn’t actually being overexposed. I nearly sighed in relief. She’d finished changing into a pair of jeans. Thank God. I didn’t want anyone seeing her like that, especially not my dad.

My dad shook his head in disbelief. “I knew I shouldn’t have left you here with her. I leave for one day, and you take her upstairs to fuck her?”

The speed at which the anger coursed through my veins surprised me; my fists clenched at my sides. “Don’t. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Don’t say that in front of her.”

“Why? You don’t want to hurt the delicate little rich girl’s feelings? She’s not used to being treated like a piece of trash like the rest of us?”

“Don’t fucking say that in front of her,” I snapped. “It’s not like that. This conversation is between you and me. We can talk downstairs.”

“If you’re so insistent on sharing everything with her, including your room and your bed, then we can talk right here,” he said. “Unless her feelings are so sensitive that she can’t stand to hear someone say one bad thing about her.”

He turned to look her pointedly, and I followed his gaze. Emma’s jaw was set into a tight line and she chuckled bitterly. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I think you’ve mistaken me for someone who gives a damn about what you have to say about me.”

My dad shook his head. “Look at you. I can see the anger just seeping out of your pores. Don’t try to tell me you’re still standing here because you don’t give a damn.”

“Oh, I doubt you can see my pores or anything that might seep out of them. The exfoliating treatments my daddy pays for keep my pores looking microscopic,” she answered with a sarcastically sweet smile. Rage—always the smartass.  

As she—and I—had expected, just the mere mention of her dad’s money and the way Emma spent it made my dad nearly spit with anger. I didn’t know why money was such a big deal to him. I understood that he wanted to save our dying family business, but this went farther than that. This bordered on obsession. Without my mom to keep him grounded, he was a mess. Emma’s shopping list shouldn’t have been any of his concern, but it was.

My dad took a step closer, and I instinctively put myself between him and Emma. The day I let him set a hand on her in front of me was the day hell froze over.

He didn’t even notice I’d moved, though. He just said, “If you think you’re anything but a piece of ass to Will, you’re wrong. As soon as he’s bored, he’ll throw you right back down to that cellar—if I don’t do it first.”

The sarcastic look on her face faded and she shook her head slowly.

I was about to protest when my dad cut me off and went on. “Did you think he took you out of there out of the kindness of his heart? No, he took you out of there for the exact thing you just gave him.”

“You’re wrong,” I snapped. I didn’t know why it had taken me so long to stop his bitter rant. Emma knew I liked her, but she didn’t know just how much. I didn’t want to scare her off, but her thinking I was just using her was worse than her knowing I was in love with her. I was the cat onesie, not her. “I didn’t take her out of there to sleep with her. I took her out of there because I love her.”

A wave of silence passed through the room following my exclamation.

“What?” My dad looked absolutely appalled.

I nervously glanced over at Emma. Her face was a mix of shock and—what? I couldn’t really tell. All I could focus on was the shock. Oh, damn it. I knew it. It was too soon. I was freaking her out. ‘Falling for you’ and ‘I love you’ were two different things. I’d crossed a line.

“Leave the room and let us talk,” my dad said. He was talking to Emma, but he didn’t even bother looking at her. He was staring a hole into my head.

She looked torn but eventually she looked at me apologetically and said, “I’ll let you guys talk about this. I’ll be downstairs, Will.”

She all but ran out of the room, leaving me alone with my nightmare of a father. There was a brief silence until my dad broke through it. “Now that you don’t feel the need to save face in front of this girl, do you want to tell me what the hell is happening here?”

“I wasn’t trying to save face. I mean it, Dad. I love her.”

He shook his head incredulously. “You’ve got to be kidding me. You don’t kidnap the daughter of a billionaire and then fall in love with her. Girls like Emma van der Bilt are gold-diggers. She’ll go with her highest bidder. Her best offer. You won’t be it.”

“Maybe.” Even I had to admit that there was always that possibility. Just because she wanted the cat onesie didn’t mean she’d choose it. But she had chosen it; she’d said so herself. She had to have meant it. “But it’s too late. It’s not like pushing her away now will make this go away.”

“You’re an idiot,” he said in a low voice.

Emma’s words replayed in my mind. Money marries money. Rich girls don’t marry poor boys. Maybe that was true. But then what she’d said last night replayed in my mind, replacing the pessimistic view I had. She’d said she would choose me over the billionaire, and I believed her.

“I know. But I’m the kind of idiot Mom would’ve wanted me to be.” My mom hadn’t experienced any of my serial-dating, but I knew she wouldn’t have approved. She’d talked to me about all of this when I was a kid. She’d talked to Eric about it, too. He was the one who really took it to heart, but I apparently hadn’t fallen too far behind. I was just a little late to the show.

“I know girls may seem gross and annoying right now, but in a few years, that will change,” she had said. I had just turned nine years old at the time, and I had made the mistake of asking my mom a question during one of her romance movies.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Girls suck.”

She laughed. “When you hit your teens, you’ll start looking at girls differently. You’ll want to start dating, and you’ll be the one laughing when you remember how much you hated girls.”

I just looked at her like she was crazy.

She pushed my hair out of my face. “You’re going to be a real hit with the girls. I can see it now. And one day, you’re going to find the right girl and fall in love. You might fall in and out of love a few times, but when you find the real thing, you’ll know. That’s the thing about true love. It hits you, and there’s no denying it. Like in this movie. You won’t think it’s gross. You’ll think it’s beautiful.” 

“Mom,” I complained. I mean, I was nine. I didn’t want to hear this.

She just laughed and continued, stroking my hair as she held me against her. “And when you find her, you’ll ask her to marry you, and you guys will have the most beautiful wedding our little church has ever seen. And I’ll be the loudest, most embarrassing one there. I might even cry.”

“Mom,” I repeated, but I was laughing, too.

“She’ll become a part of the family, and I already know she’ll be like a daughter to me. You’re my son. You’ll have good taste.” She squeezed me and I beamed, letting out a kiddish, completely unmanly giggle. “And then you’ll have your own kids, and you’ll visit every weekend, and you’ll live happily ever after.”

“Like you and Dad?”

“Like me and your dad,” she agreed.

So much for their happily ever after. A lot had changed in twelve years.

My dad’s face lost every bit of color it had. “Your mom wouldn’t have wanted this. You met Emma through this kidnapping. Your mom wouldn’t approve.”

Then he had to know she wouldn’t have wanted him to do this—any of this. Any of the things he’d done since she died.

“She wouldn’t have approved of the means, but she would’ve approved of the end result. It’s all the same. I found love just like she wanted me to.”

He shook his head and rubbed his hand over his face. Whenever the subject of my mom came up, he lost his will to talk or even fight. He still wasn’t over her. I had a feeling he would never be over her. She was the love of his life, the light of his eyes, and she was gone. He was never the same after that.

“She was an idealist. It was sweet, but… it’s not life. It’s not real. What makes you think this is the start of your fairy tale ending? Does she love you?”

I didn’t know what to say at first. “I don’t know. She hasn’t said it, but I think she’s getting there. She’s falling for me.”

Talking about this with him felt weird. We’d lost the hostility and the bitter, sarcastic words. In its place was the closest we would ever get to a heart-to-heart.

Something hit him just then. A sparkle hit his eye and he looked up at me slowly. “Is it enough to make it in the long run?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. Why?”

A crazy, sort of excited look made its way onto his face. “If there’s one thing that’s better than getting a ransom from a billionaire, it’s marrying his daughter.”

I looked at him. “Dad—”

“It’s perfect. You could get inside her father’s company. You’re studying business and economics in college. You know how it works by now. You only have one semester left once you go back, and then you’ll need a job. Who better to help you find one than your girlfriend, or fiancée maybe? You’d have an immediate spot at the top just for being his son-in-law. You’d have Emma, and she’s a human credit card.”

“Dad, I’m not interested in Rage’s money,” I said incredulously. “I’m interested in her. This has nothing to do with her money.”

“You don’t have to be interested in her money. I have enough interest for both of us. I’ll figure something out. Just focus on making her fall in love with you. Make her choose you. Have you slept with her yet?”

“What the hell?” I muttered. “No. That’s what I was trying to tell you when you barged in and started insulting her.”

“Good. Time it right. That will seal the deal.”

“Stop it,” I snapped. “You’re turning this into a business deal. It’s not.”

He didn’t answer. He seemed too lost in thought to answer. When he did speak, he just said, “Don’t worry about it. Just go downstairs.”

I paused. “She can stay with me then?” That was all I was preoccupied with. I’d deal with his crazy ideas later. I just wanted to make sure he was going to leave her alone. I knew having his seal of approval was better than outright defying him.

“Well, she’s not going to fall in love with you in that cell.”

***

Emma

I basically ran out of the room and down the stairs when I was given the chance. Charles didn’t have to tell me twice. But this time, I wasn’t running out of Will’s life. I was just temporarily escaping the situation and giving them room to talk.

I needed to wrap my mind around it before we talked. He’d said he loved me twice. Once when he thought I was asleep, once in front of his dad. I thought I could ignore it the first time and pretend it never happened, just in case it really had been a dream, but that was no longer possible. Saying it in front of Charles just cemented it into reality. Unless Will was a bigger womanizer than I thought and was just trying to play his cards right—which I couldn’t bring myself to believe—he wasn’t lying. He actually loved me. If he found out about my plan... I didn’t want to hurt him. He didn’t deserve this.

I shoved these thoughts aside when I got downstairs and saw Taylor. She looked the same as when I’d left her. She was fine. Charles hadn’t done anything to her or made good on his threats. The relief that surged through me was overwhelming.

I ran over to Taylor and threw my arms around her, squeezing her tightly. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you,” I said. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” she cried. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you had to come back because of me. I didn’t think Eric’s dad would do that to you.”

I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it.” I was starting to think this was worth it for reasons other than Taylor’s safety—although that was still at the top of the list—which was crazy, right? But if I hadn’t come back, none of what had happened with Will would have taken place, and that would have been a shame. “What matters is that we’re both okay.” And so confused.

“You have a lot to tell me, Emmy,” she said. “I have no idea what’s going on. Eric’s dad wouldn’t tell us anything, and then he freaked out when you weren’t downstairs and Will wasn’t downstairs, either.”

“I know.” I sighed. “I’ll tell you everything later. It’s a long story.” A story I didn’t really want Eric to witness. I mean, I guess it wouldn’t have really mattered, but this was best friend talk. It was private. Then again, Will was probably going to turn around and tell Eric everything.

Taylor let go of me and turned around, looking at Eric pointedly. He raised his hands up defensively. “I can take a hint. I know when I’m not wanted. I’ll go get our stuff from my dad’s car.”

He walked out of the house and headed towards the car, and Taylor whirled back around to face me. “Now we can talk. Spill.”

And spill I did. I told her everything in a low, hushed voice, glancing around every five seconds to make sure no one was listening to me. I told her about the original plan, how that plan had kind of backfired because Will was perfect and sweet and sexy and gah, the kiss, the second kiss, and the two love confessions. By the time I was done, Taylor was dramatically fanning herself and squealing.

Eric chose this exact moment to walk in with two suitcases and several bags. Instead of taking more than one trip, he’d loaded up. Considering how long he had taken, I figured he’d either had a lot of trouble or he’d decided to give us some more time to talk. He hadn’t given us enough.

“That is so stinking cute,” Taylor exclaimed, grabbing onto my arms excitedly. “Emma, don’t even try to tell me none of this is real because I won’t believe you.”

“Hey, maybe I’m a really good liar,” I said, even though I wasn’t. I was a horrible liar. The only person I could actually lie to was myself, and I wasn’t doing a very good job of that anymore.

She snorted. “Oh, please. I’m your best friend. You can’t fool me. I’ve never heard you talk about a guy like that.  You’ve got it bad.”

After considering her words, I covered my face with my hands and suppressed a groan. The loud crash that followed echoed how I was feeling. I didn’t bother looking up; I figured Eric had just dropped the suitcases and bags. That was what tended to happen when you carried everyone’s luggage in one trip. “I’m screwed.”

“I think it’s your turn to do something to show him you care,” Taylor said, ignoring me. “I’ve got it. You could serenade him! You could sing him a love song. I told Will he should do that for you once to get you to notice him, but then he started singing and I almost started crying because it hurt my ears.” Those words actually made me remove my hands and nearly choke on my saliva, but she just went on like I hadn’t made a noise. “So that didn’t happen. Then he suggested getting a mariachi band and paying them to sing in his place, and Eric started making fun of him, and Will decided not to do that either because where were we going to find sombreros and Spanish men who sing and play instruments?”

Oh, my God… Taylor had been spending way too much time with Eric and Will.

“You are the sole voice of reason besides me here,” Eric said, poking his head between us. “When those two get going, I tend to give up and take a nap.”

“No offense, but I’ve heard you say some pretty sketchy things, too,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “And I still haven’t forgotten that time you sniffed the wall.”

“One time. That was one time.”

“I’m just saying…”

Footsteps on the stairs distracted us, and we all turned our heads to look at the source of the sound. It was Will. His father was nowhere in sight.

“Hey,” I said. My lips curved upwards into a smile of their own volition. Who was I kidding? I did have it bad. Just seeing him made me smile.

He seemed distracted and a little surprised, but he still smiled back. “Hey.”

“Everything okay?”

He let out a loud breath and cocked his head. “I think so. For now, at least.”

“He’s going to let me stay with you?”

“Yeah,” Will said, nodding once as he finished walking down the stairs and made his way over to me. “That won’t be a problem.”

Good. At least that part of the plan was actually working. Everything else, including the supposed motive behind it, was falling apart. Actually, I wasn’t sure the plan had ever been properly formed in the first place. If I was being honest with myself, I had to admit that the plan was just a convenient scapegoat for what I really wanted, and that was Will. Not my freedom, although that would have been nice, too. I wanted Will. I wanted all of him, and that was what he wanted to give me. Why wasn’t I letting him? Why was I holding back?

My thoughts must have been making me appear upset or worried or something because Will closed the distance between us and lightly touched my cheek. “Hey. Don’t worry about him or what he said. He likes to think he knows it all, but he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s wrong about everything.”

I looked up, gazing into his blue eyes and almost forgot what I was about to say. What were we talking about again?

Oh. Right. His douchebag of a dad being wrong.  “I know. We didn’t actually do anything. I trust you.”

He nodded again and pulled me in close, wrapping his strong arms around me. I wasn’t going to lie. I loved it when he held me. He always held me so close to him, like he never wanted to let go. I didn’t want him to.  

“You’ll never have to step foot in that place ever again,” he went on. “Your place is here. Right beside me. With me.”

A small smile crossed my face and I closed my eyes contentedly as I was resting my head against Will’s chest. Just before I did this, I caught sight of Eric. He looked wary. Not unhappy or anything. Just wary. I understood why, but it was no longer justified in my eyes. It was too late for me. I’d already dug a hole I would never be able to climb out of—a hole I didn’t want to climb out of. This feeling—this exhilaratingly blissful feeling I got when I was with Will—was something I’d never encountered, but it was something I was still somehow able to recognize.

I was in love.