Designing Emma (Volume 2): A Friends to Lovers Fashion Romance: Designing Emma, #2

By Clarissa Carlyle

Volume 2 in the Designing Emma A Friends to Lovers Fashion Romance series

Also available as part of the the Desisnging Emma boxed set.

Daniel struggles to understand the sacrifices Emma is willing to make to save her father. He turns his back not only on her, but also on their new company, Delacourt Designs. But with Damion loyally staying by her side, Emma is determined to make a success of her company as she struggles to deal with a broken heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clarissa Carlyle
• Release date: Sep 28, 2015
• ISBN: 9781519911704

Book preview

Making and Breaking Promises

I DON’T UNDERSTAND, Emma said, her eyes wide with bewilderment.

I know it’s a lot to take in, her father replied, his eyes darting over his daughter.

A lot to take in? Anger reddened Emma’s cheeks. She couldn’t believe what her father was saying. It’s more than a lot to take in, Dad! It’s utterly preposterous. Unable to remain in the same proximity as her father, Emma rose to her feet and paced around the vast room, her footsteps echoing off the empty walls.

Sweetheart, if you just let me explain, her father pleaded.

Emma ceased pacing and looked at him. Helpless and defeated, his eyes were black, and he seemed unable to fully lift his head, from pain or shame, she didn’t know. A million years ago, it seemed that their living room had once been the epicenter of their happy family home.

A baby grand piano her mother used to play sat in the corner, and Emma would dance to the happy melodies. Blooms of fresh flowers had filled the house. Lilies had been her mother’s favorite, and the house always smelled of them.

Those scents were gone, replaced with damp and decay. Beneath that was despair.

Explain, then, Emma demanded. She wished for the willpower to just walk away, to tell her father that enough was enough. But the memories of happier times filled her mind, binding her to the house, binding her to her father.

I got in with some bad, bad people, he began. Emma raised an eyebrow and threw him a judgmental look. Don’t look at me like that, her father begged. Your mother always looked at me like that whenever I messed up.

The raw hurt in his voice caught Emma off guard.

I’m in a lot of debt, he continued. And we were about to lose the house. The money I took out of the house with those mortgages... I... I haven’t been able to make a payment in a long time, now the bank is foreclosing. We were about to be homeless.

Emma opened her mouth to speak, but her father interrupted her.

I know, I should have told you, but I didn’t want to worry you. I thought that if I could just get hold of some more money, I could get on top of what I owe. And then one night I’m in a bar, and this smartly dressed guy approached me, saying he knew my troubles and could help.

So you accepted money from a guy in a bar? Emma demanded, shaking her head in disapproval. And that didn’t seem at all fishy? she added, her tone snarky.

Her father ignored the barbed comment and carried on, explaining his predicament.

He seemed legit, he said. He had offices in town. He invited me in for a meeting and said he could sort out my financial issues.

Emma imagined the scenario. Her father, a vulnerable, broken ex-millionaire, and these men in suits circling him like vultures. They found him in a bar when he was doubtless inebriated and unable to think logically. She was already angry with them before they’d even laid a finger on him.

So I accepted the money, paid the bank to stop the foreclosure, and thought nothing more of it. A month later they came to collect.

So that would be today?

Her father didn’t meet her gaze.

Not today, they’ve been here before? Emma felt panic rise within her at the thought of these dangerous men frequently visiting her home. Her chest tightened, restricting her breathing.

Once before, her father explained, his voice low and sorrowful. They were polite if pushy, saying I owed them what was due, with interest.

After a month?

Sebastian nodded. I didn’t think too much of it. They were pushy, sure, but most loan sharks are. Figured I could hold them off for a while until I had access to some more cash or got lucky at the tables.

And then they returned?

And then they returned. Her father sighed.

What happened?

Her father gestured at his face, and Emma winced. She hated thinking of someone mercilessly beating her father. The thought both sickened and infuriated her.

They made threats, threw me around a bit, said I’d run out of time to repay them, and next time I’d pay with my life.

Oh, God. Emma trembled.

And then they offered me a deal.

The marriage thing? It made no sense to Emma. She sat back down beside her father, her initial outrage thawing away.

Out of the blue, the main instigator, the guy I met in the bar, he tells me that they’ll spare my life if I can do something for them. I was desperate and terrified of how far they’d go. I said I’d do anything, give them whatever they wanted.

Emma’s