Emily's white knuckles grip the steering wheel as we cruise through the deserted pre-dawn streets. Our silence filling the car more completely than any conversation could. Morning light bleeds across the horizon in watercolor smears of pink and gold, but all I can focus on is the hollow pit in my stomach growing wider with each passing mile.
"You're awfully quiet today," Emily says, her voice shattering the silence like glass breaking. She glances at me, those blue eyes flicking from the road to my face and back again. "Rough shift?"
I stare out the window, watching the city scroll by in a blur of concrete and neon. How do I even begin to answer that? Yeah, your daughter made me fuck her in the Quick Mart stockroom last night and threatened to ruin my life again. Just another regular day.
"Just tired," I mumble.
Emily's perfume fills the car, something expensive and floral that probably costs more than I make in a day. It used to comfort me, that scent. Now it just reminds me of what I stand to lose if Holly follows through on her threats.
"I thought maybe..." Emily trails off, her fingers drumming against the leather steering wheel. "You seemed upset when I picked you up. Did something happen at work?"
My mind flashes to Holly's face, to her cold smile as she adjusted her glasses after using me. To Jimmy's concerned expression when he realized what was happening. To the strange rocks Jenny gave me that are still sitting in my pocket, heavy as my guilt.
"No," I say, the word sticking in my throat. "Nothing happened."
Emily's hands shift on the steering wheel. I notice a slight tremor in her fingers that wasn't there moments ago. Her eyes dart to me again, lingering longer this time, searching my face with growing unease.
"Danny?" Her voice quivers slightly, softer than before. "Are you mad at me?"
My heart shatters at the thought of Emily believing I'm upset with her when Holly is the source of my misery. The idea that she might interpret my trauma as rejection is unbearable.
"No, Emily, not at all," I say quickly, reaching across the console to take her hand. "You're perfect. I'm sorry if I seemed distant."
Her fingers intertwine with mine, warm and familiar. The simple contact anchors me, reminding me of everything pure and good that still exists in my life despite Holly's best efforts to corrupt it all.
"I'm just having a hard time adjusting to everything," I admit, staring at our interlaced fingers. The words feel inadequate, barely scratching the surface of the chaos swirling inside me.
Emily's frown deepens, lines appearing between her perfectly shaped eyebrows. Her grip on my hand tightens almost painfully. "Because I'm an escort?" she asks, her voice small and vulnerable in a way that makes my chest ache. "Does that make me unlov…"
"Emily, stop," I cut her off, turning in my seat to face her fully. "I don't care that you sleep with other men. It doesn't bother me." I take a deep breath, searching for words that might make her understand. "Or maybe sometimes it does, in some primal way I can't control, but my love for you shines so bright that it completely drowns out any negative feelings."
Her eyes widen slightly, glistening with unshed tears as she keeps them fixed on the road ahead. The car slows as we approach a red light.
"You mean that?" she whispers.
"With every fiber of my being," I tell her, reaching up to brush a strand of silver hair from her face. "What you do for work is just that, work. It has nothing to do with us, with what we have."
The light turns green, but Emily doesn't immediately accelerate. Instead, she turns to look at me, her blue eyes searching mine with an intensity that steals my breath.
"I don't deserve you," she says finally, her voice thick with emotion.
I laugh, the sound hollow and bitter even to my own ears. "Trust me, I'm the one who doesn't deserve you."
If she only knew what I've done, what I'm still doing with her daughter. The thought makes bile rise in my throat, but I swallow it down. This isn't the time or place for confessions that would destroy everything.
Emily accelerates as the light changes, a comfortable silence settling between us. She seems lost in thought for a moment before clearing her throat.
"I was looking up places where you could get your GED, if you wanted."
I turn to look at her, genuinely surprised. "You were?"
"Of course." Her brow furrows slightly as she glances at me. "Why wouldn't I?"
"No, it's just…" I struggle to articulate what this means to me. "No one's ever really helped me out like that before."
Emily reaches across the console and takes my hand again, her fingers gently rubbing mine. There's something almost desperate in her touch, like she needs this connection as much as I do.
"Danny, I want to take care of you," she says softly, her voice thick with emotion. "I love the purpose it gives me."
The rawness in her words catches me off guard. It's not just about helping me, she needs to do this, needs to be needed. The realization makes my chest tighten with a confusing mix of emotions.
"You don't have to worry about me," I tell her, shrugging slightly. "I'm used to doing things on my own."
Emily's hands tighten on the steering wheel suddenly, her knuckles going whiter. "No," she says sharply, an unexpected anger flashing across her face. She takes a deep breath, visibly composing herself before continuing in a more measured tone.
"I mean, isn't it normal for partners to want to help one another?"
The vulnerability in her question makes my throat constrict. I've been so focused on my own problems that I haven't considered how my independence might feel like rejection to her.
"Oh, of course," I say quickly. "I want to help you, too."
Her expression softens immediately, a smile spreading across her face that makes her look years younger. "You already are, baby," she says, reaching over to squeeze my thigh. "Just by being with me."
We turn onto her street. Emily slows the car as we approach her driveway.
"I wasn't kidding yesterday," she continues, her voice taking on that hopeful tone I've come to recognize. "I really think you should just quit your job and maybe just spend all your time with me. You know?"
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, staring out the window as her words hang between us. The idea of being completely dependent on anyone makes my skin crawl, even as another part of me finds it tempting.
"I can't do that," I say finally, my voice coming out softer than intended. "It just... it feels wrong."
Emily's foot hits the brake harder than necessary as we pull into her driveway. The car jerks to a stop, and she turns to face me fully, her expression suddenly intense.
"Who cares how it feels?" she asks, her voice taking on an edge I rarely hear. "Feelings are unreliable. What matters is what works."
"But then I'd have nothing of my own," I protest, trying to make her understand. "No independence, no…"
"You'll have me," Emily interrupts, her eyes going cold in a way that makes my breath catch. It's the same calculating look Holly gets when she threatens me with the video, but on Emily, it's different, somehow more intimidating yet impossibly attractive. Her beauty sharpens when she's like this, all soft edges hardening into something dangerous and magnetic.
She leans closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Am I not enough for you, Danny?"
Her question hits me like a physical blow, but not in the way she probably expects. The intensity in her eyes, that possessive edge in her voice, it awakens something primal inside me. My heart pounds against my ribs as heat floods my body, pooling low in my stomach.
Her possessiveness ignites something inside me I didn't know existed. The way she claims me with just her words sends electricity racing through my veins. I've never seen this side of Emily before, but I find it intoxicating.
The second she puts the car in park, I'm on her. My hands cup her face as I crash my lips against hers, swallowing her gasp of surprise. For a split second, she freezes, those cold, calculating eyes widening in shock. Then she melts against me, her initial surprise dissolving into pure ecstasy.
Her fingers tangle in my hair, pulling me closer as she kisses me back with a hunger that matches my own. I taste her lipstick, feel the softness of her lips, breathe in her expensive perfume that fills the car around us. It's desperate and messy and perfect.
When we finally break apart, we're both breathing hard. Her lipstick is smeared, and I probably have it all over my face too, but I don't care.
"You're more than enough, Emily," I whisper, my voice rough with emotion. "God, you're everything. I love you."
Her face transforms, that dangerous edge softening into something warm and radiant. The smile that spreads across her face is like a sunrise breaking through storm clouds.
"I love you too, Danny," she whispers back, her thumb tracing my bottom lip. "So much it scares me sometimes."