“You’re meant to be miserable,” he scolded as her mouth moved to his. “You’re not meant to tease. You know how I am with the teasing. You know how weak I am around you. One little look and I’ll need to fuck you.”

“I can’t help myself with you.”

“You should. Because if you do that in front of your grandmother, she’s going to be traumatized by the end of the night, and you can’t hold me responsible for my actions.”

She laughed. “You can make any shit situation bearable, you know that?”

He’d have smiled if his heart wasn’t tightening in his chest so much. He kissed her tenderly instead. He felt damn good that he had the ability to make her feel better. Emma pulled away from him just as Gerry parked along the side of the street in front of her grandmother’s house. They stepped out, and she quickly swept her hair behind her ears and ironed out her top with the palm of her hands.

The front porch light was on, and by the time they reached it, Emma had migrated a few steps away from him. He frowned at the distance she’d put between them and reached his hand out to her.

“Don’t,” he whispered to her. “We do this together.”

She didn’t realize she’d done it.

“Sorry,” she whispered ruefully, taking his hand.

He pulled her back to his side, and then he rang the doorbell. He felt her tense when the door opened not a moment later. Her grandmother stood before them, and if she hadn’t that bitter look on her face, he would have thought she was the most adorable old lady he’d ever seen with that white hair all up in a bun and cheeks that were rosy red against pale wrinkled skin.

“Come in,” she simply said, opening the door all the way, her dark eyes of hatred moving to his.

Borden didn’t react to the look – if anything, it amused him. Before he stepped in, he casually looked over his shoulder at Gerry who was still sitting in his car, and then at the other two cars that had followed and parked nearby.

His security was covered, though he would have preferred it if Graeme and Hawke were among them.

Turning back, he smiled coolly at the old lady and stepped into her home. Darlene looked between them as they walked inside. Her face was grim, but she forced a smile in place when Emma glanced at her. The moment she turned away, Darlene was assessing him, and he was ignoring every second of her deep calculated stare. She took in his casual pants and long sleeved grey shirt. His growing beard made him look harder, more intimidating, and as a result, she appeared agitated.

“Please do remove your shoes, Mr Borden,” she suddenly ordered in a hard tone.

Borden blinked once at the demand. For a fleeting moment he could see where Emma got her shitty tone from. This frail thing didn’t care how intimidated she felt. It was like staring at Emma sixty years into the future.

But it wasn’t Emma who was ordering him around, therefore he wasn’t feeling so tolerant about it. He clenched his teeth and reminded himself he was doing this for her. He managed a nod at Darlene. She turned away and headed into the kitchen, taking Emma’s hand with her in the process. Emma glanced worriedly over her shoulder before she disappeared, and he faked a smile. It dropped the second she rounded the corner. On a small sigh, Borden bent down and removed his shoes, laying them neatly against the cracked yellow wall beside the door. Then he followed after them.

“Please keep an open mind,” he heard Emma say quietly. “Please, Granny.”

“Why do you think he’s here, Emma?” Darlene responded. “It’s because I am.”

He waited a few seconds more, until the silence filled the space again, and then he stepped in.

Emma

Dinner was awkward.

Granny’s eyes were pinned to Borden, and as a result, I was shaking endlessly. I couldn’t even hold my fork and eat my goddamn pasta without the metal clanging against the dish.

I’d never done this before. Never brought a man home, I mean. And it was made worse that I was bringing a man home that my granny already spent years absolutely loathing. It was all such a disaster, and I was already staring at the clock on the wall, waiting for time to pass so we could get the hell out of here. So far we were a measly fifteen minutes down and two bites in.

I was waiting for Borden to say something pleasant like, “You have a very lovely home” to get the ball rolling. But Borden wasn’t like that, so it never happened, and besides, Granny would never have bought that dribble.

I glanced at Borden across the table from me. He was digging into his pasta without a care in the world, and when he caught my eye he winked. The nerves inside of me settled some more, and I smiled at him. He hated pasta, and he was devouring it like it was crack to an addict. I loved him for it.

“You’re not hungry?” Granny asked, looking at my full plate.

“I am,” I answered. “Just… I dined with Blythe in the afternoon and all.”

“You need to eat, Emma. None of that salad garbage either. Proper food, or has that also changed?”

I caught her glance at Borden, and that look of disapproval followed. What the hell was she blaming him for now?

I swallowed a sigh. “I am eating,” I assured her.

More disapproval.

More painfully awkward silence.

And Borden…just smirked on by.

I forced a few bites down and another three and half minutes ticked by. This is fucking agony.

“So how is work?” Granny finally said, breaking the tension in the air as she feigned interest.

“It’s good,” I replied simply.

“When you said you two work together, did that mean in the same environment?”

“Yes.”

“So you see each other regularly?”

“Every day.”

She nodded stiffly. “I see.”

Then she turned to Borden, and already my heart climbed to my throat, because she had on that wise up, child look, and I knew an interrogation was about to ensue.

Three, two, one…

“Emma worked at a diner for a couple years. I worked as a waitress all my life too, but I was fortunate to be working in a better establishment than hers. I wasn’t very fond of her boss. He was cruel. She doesn’t like to admit it, but I know she was unhappy there, and she tried very hard to find other work. She was stuck there and she made do. I admired her for that. Not many people I know would have stuck it out for so long on their own under the same circumstances.”