Always Devoted by Karen Rose Smith

couldn't keep facing Emma—"
    A chill ran up Linc's spine—a different kind of chill than he'd experienced thinking about what might have happened to Paige.  He didn't have Gillian's skills but he suspected something about this whole scenario was going to hurt Emma deeply.
    "Start at the beginning."
    Levine took another drag on his cigarette.  His hand shook as he laid it on the table, the ember glowing in the dim light.
    "You met Paige on Branches ," Linc prompted.
    Levine could obviously hear in Linc's sure tone no reason to deny it.  "Yes."
    "You were both interested in the same kind of music and the new band Commuter X.  Emma knew Paige's password for Branches .  It was easy to get into her page.  Not so easy to go through hundreds of posts to find you.  But it wasn't rocket science either."
    Linc let the dusky night, the hush broken by revelers at a nearby table, weigh down on Levine.
    "I liked Paige," he finally admitted.
    "And she liked you."
    "Yes, she did," he said with a sigh.
    Linc got the distinct impression it wasn't easy for Levine to get dates.  Either he was too introverted in everyday life or just lacked social skills.  Either way, Branches had made it easier to hook up.
    "So you took your friendship offline."
    "We had some long phone conversations.  I was under the impression the cops found my number in her phone records."
    "But you told them...?"
    "I told them it didn't work out.  People meet online.  But when they go offline, they usually don't actually connect."
    "So then what?"
    "Paige confided in me with what was going on with her."
    "And just what was going on with her?"
    Linc almost felt sorry for the guy when he looked positively defeated and started stammering and explaining it all.
    #
    When Linc returned to his hotel suite, he found his bedroom empty.  No surprise there.  Emma had returned to her room.  That made a statement.
    But he had to speak with her.  He had to tell her what he'd discovered.  He had a feeling she was going to hate him afterward.  He wasn't sure the best way to handle this.  Tell her everything he found out?  Or lead her to the answers and let fate take its course.
    After glancing at Emma's room, Linc went to the wet bar in the living room and checked out the bottles standing there.  He poured himself two fingers of the best scotch.  He downed it quickly, letting it burn away misgivings and regrets.  Confusion remained...and turmoil...and vivid memories of his body joined to Emma's.  The unsettling certainty assaulted him that he was perched on the precipice of change, not exactly knowing what that change was going to entail.
    Emma's door was slightly ajar.  He guessed she'd left it that way so she could confront him when he returned.
    With the trip and the stress, the highs and lows of what they'd done must have exhausted her.  She was sound asleep.  She didn't even stir when he rapped on the door.
    The overhead hall light sent some light into the depths of the room...enough that he could see her sleeping on her side, her hands tucked under her chin, her hair sweeping across her pillow.  He could just let her sleep until morning, but he guessed she'd resent him for acting as if what he'd learned hadn't meant that much...that she hadn't meant that much.
    He crossed to the side of the bed where she lay sleeping and switched on the bedside lamp.  "Emma?"
    His voice must have done it.  She came instantly awake.  After she levered herself up on her elbow, she punched her pillow behind her.  Sitting against the headboard, she practically pulled the sheet up to her chin.  She felt as if she had to cover herself now?
    His heart sank as he thought about the destruction he was about to rain down on her.  On them both.  Because what he had to say would forever affect her relationship with her sister.
    "I have news."  He sat on the edge of the bed and gazed into her big brown eyes that carried fear and worry in their depths.
    "Paige is alive and