A Sophisticated Seduction

She's Not There When I Need Her

Excerpt:

"I don't want you to always be there," I said, staring at her. "But I want you to be there sometimes without work cutting in."

"I'm sorry," she said suddenly in a shaky voice. Through parted lips, she breathed. Her chest heaved. "I'm so sorry. I'm such a...fuck up." She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands. "Emma, I'm possibly the worst girlfriend anyone could ever have. Ever," she croaked.

"No, you're not," I said, tears filling my eyes.

"Yes."

"No," I inched closer.

xx

"But it's all so childish," Chad noted, lighting the gas lamps one by one and placing them around the house. The yellow light bounced around the walls and made me feel somewhat better. "Threatening your family?"

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," Regina held me closer, our empty plates resting on the small table, "no harm will come to your parents. I'll see to it."

"How?" I stared up at her, still a bit frightened. "What will you do?"

"Just leave it to me and Mally." She pressed a kiss onto my forehead, caressing my hair. "Mally's husband is the Chief of Police in New York. He has a way of making things happen and as much as she sets out to threaten me, I have a tankful of mother's weaknesses."

"The karma box?" Chad turned to her and raised his eyebrows.

"Yes."

I frowned. "Karma box?"

"She has this hidden stash, stuff in soft copy to bring down Dazzle if it comes to that," Chad explained. "Mom's been forehead deep inside their shitty operations for years and can shut anything down easily."

"I have a few tricks in my hat to play if she wants to threaten the two of you. Her affairs with several men have never remained hidden by me. The deals she signed for Dazzle just from sleeping with various people."

"Yeah but blackmail is the last resort," I said calmly. "Like you said, let's not stoop to her level and behave wildly."

"Emma, this has nothing to do with lowering our self respect," Regina said in her husky voice, "this has to do with her threatening you boldly. And I will not stand for it."

"To be honest," I sighed, "no one can really find my parents, you know."

"How so?" Chad sat on a single cushioned green chair and reached for his plate of lasagna.

"My dad's a cop and some years back, he locked up a man from a drug cartel. One thing led to the other and we had our lives threatened. So what happened is this, and I can't tell you much because my family comes first and what not. But they don't actually live in Storybrooke. They moved a long time ago and we still put our address as Storybrooke, Maine."

I didn't want Regina to think she wasn't my family or Chad but the thing is, I really treasured my parents and didn't want anyone to know of our scheme.

"I respect your privacy," Regina said softly, "but if it comes to a point where your life is threatened, Emma, I will have to know more."

I nodded. "Sure."

"Because I don't want your parents or you to get hurt, understood?"

"Yeah," I curled up my feet under me and moved closer to her. "I think Chad would give in easily if someone tortures him with a feather, so I don't want to say more right now."