“Uh, I’m pretty sure it says taken,” Tori tells me with an eye roll. “Not to mention I-have-more-money-than-you-and-if-you-touch-her-I’ll-wipe-you-off-the-face-of-the-earth.”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“Actually, that’s exactly the vibe I was going for.” Ethan’s grinning widely, blue eyes sparkling and his cheeks creasing in that way they do when he’s deeply amused by something. “Nice job articulating it, Tori.”
“Yes, well, I am fluent in caveman speak. Which is good for you—think of how many misunderstandings it saves.”
I watch in openmouthed shock as Ethan nods like she’s making sense instead of just babbling nonsense. “Another good point.”
“I’m just full of them today.” She takes another bite of her apple.
“Not to break up the mutual admiration society you two have going on right now, but less than a week ago weren’t you the one telling me how much you had always hated Ethan?”
“I was. But that was before.”
“Before what?”
“Before he brought me apples, obviously.”
“Really? That’s your price? Apples?”
Tori shrugs. “I never said I wasn’t cheap.”
She says it like it’s a joke, but the words hang there between us anyway. Though Tori never talks about her family except in very superficial terms, I’ve gleaned enough in the last three years to know she means what she just said more than she’ll ever let on—which makes me crazy because there’s a lot more to my best friend than she lets people see. A lot more to her than she’s willing to acknowledge even to herself.
I want to say something to her about it, but I know from bitter experience that she won’t take kindly to me “not being able to take a joke.” So I bite my lip to force myself not to say anything, and risk a quick glance at Ethan. He’s looking between Tori and me speculatively and I know that he’s picked up on the undercurrent of angst that she’s throwing out. Or maybe he’s just picking up on how similar the two of us are on the inside. Our outsides don’t match, but our souls have recognized each other from the very beginning.
Ethan quirks a brow at me, but I just shake my head. Now’s not the time to get into it—Tori would never forgive me if I blindsided her in front of him. Hell, she probably wouldn’t forgive me if I sat down with her on my own and tried to have a heart-to-heart. But adding Ethan, or anyone else, in the mix is a surefire recipe for disaster.
I try to let it go, but I must look more upset than I think because suddenly Ethan’s hands are around my waist, tugging at the belly chain to ground me even as his fingers rub soothing circles into the sensitive skin of my lower back.
It works. His touch settles me like nothing else ever has. But it also reminds me of what started this whole conversation to begin with. “Ethan, you can’t give me a forty thousand dollar piece of jewelry,” I tell him, both exasperated and overwhelmed.
“Too late. I already did.”
“Yes, but—”
“Chloe.” He pulls me toward him, drops a slow, lingering kiss on my mouth. “Why are we arguing here?”
“We’re arguing because of the exorbitant amount of money you spent on my belly chain.”
“Yes, but, why? It’s already a done deal—I’ve already bought it, you’re already wearing it. And as we’ve already established, you’re not taking it off, so it seems pointless to argue. Besides—and I don’t normally bring this up because I know how you feel about it, but—I’ve got money, Chloe. Forty grand isn’t going to put me in the poorhouse.” He leans over and whispers the rest in my ear. “And even if it did, it would be absolutely worth it just for the chance to see you stretched across my bed wearing nothing but this.”
He kisses me then, soft and sweet and perfect. I melt before I can stop myself, not forgetting about my angst over the belly chain but tabling it because I can tell from the determined set of Ethan’s jaw that this is one fight I’m not going to win. And though my insecurities are shouting at me not to take the stupid chain, I know that the meaning my past is trying to attach to it—the idea that Ethan is buying and paying for me—is in my head, not reality.
He might be Brandon’s brother, but he’s nothing like him. Ethan does these things for me because he wants to, not because he expects something in return. I know that, can feel it every time he holds me, every time his lips brush over my hair, my skin, the spot directly over my heart.
Ethan nibbles at my lower lip and my arms go around his neck in an effort to pull him closer. Then his tongue is licking over my lips, sweeping inside to tangle with my own, and—
“Ugh, God! Get a room! Or, better yet, your room is like fifteen feet in that direction!” Tori squawks, pointing down the hallway. “Find it!”
“Good idea.” I start to pull Ethan toward my bedroom. “You might want to turn some music on in here. Or an action movie. You know, because—”
One of the throw pillows off the sofa hits me square in the back. “Nobody likes a show-off, Chloe!”
“Oh, I don’t know. Ethan has never—”
A loud, authoritative knock sounds at the door, interrupting my teasing.
“You expecting anyone?” I ask Tori as I switch direction and head for the door.
“No.”
That’s all Ethan needs to hear before he’s stepping in front of me. “Let me get it.”
“Why?” I try to bump him aside with my hip, but he’s not budging. “It’s probably just one of the neighbors stopping by to talk to Tori. Happens all the time.”
“Well, then they can meet me and then talk to Tori. Surely they’re curious about your new boyfriend.”
“I just moved in. They’re not curious about any—”
“What he actually means is he’s such a hot commodity that it could be the press on the other side of the door, in which case, he doesn’t want you to have to deal with it.”
Ethan shoots Tori an approving look. “Exactly.”
“Come on, Chloe.” She pats the spot next to her on the couch as the knock sounds again. “Let’s watch the show.”
I roll my eyes but I cross to her as Ethan unchains the door. “How exactly are you so good at knowing what he’s thinking?” I demand.
“I told you, caveman speak.”
Ethan chooses that moment to open the door and before I can even see who it is, a fist flashes over the threshold and nails my boyfriend right in the nose.
“Huh,” Tori says right before she takes another bite of her apple. “Even for one fluent in caveman speak, I didn’t see that coming.”
Chapter Thirteen
“What the hell!” Ethan staggers under the force of the punch, but he doesn’t go down. Instead, he grabs the guy on the other side of the door and drags him inside by the neck, shoving his head down and bending him in half as he does.
I brace myself for it to be Brandon here, at my apartment—who else would just punch Ethan like that—but in the end I couldn’t be more wrong. Because it’s not his brother in the middle of our foyer, bent over at the waist and swearing like a sailor.
It’s mine.
“Miles!” I demand, leaping off the couch. “What are you doing here? Let him go, Ethan!”
“He’s the one who sucker punched me.” Ethan wipes a trickle of blood away from his nose. “How am I the one getting yelled at?”
“Believe me, I’ll yell at him, too. After I figure out what he’s doing here. But let him go, please.”
He releases my brother reluctantly, but I can tell by the way he’s holding his body that he’s ready for another attack. I know Miles, though—he’s an inventor not a fighter and unless things have changed drastically in the three years since I came to San Diego for school, that punch was pretty much all he has in him. I’m shocked my absentminded, nerdy brother had even that much, to be honest.
“Miles! What were you thinking—”
To my surprise and horror, he launches himself at Ethan a second time. And this time, Ethan shoves back,
sending my brother sprawling onto the floor forcefully enough that he cracks his head on the hardwood.
“Stop it!” I’m yelling now as I get between the two of them. “Come on, Miles, please. What is wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me?” Miles climbs back to his feet. “I’m trying to defend you against this bastard. Do you even know who he is?”
“He’s my boyfriend. Of course I know who he is.”
“No! That’s why I’ve been trying to call you for the last three weeks! If you’d return my damn phone calls every once in a while, I wouldn’t have had to fly all the way out here to talk to you. Ethan Frost is Brandon Jacobs’s—”
“Brother. Yes, I know who he is.”
It’s Miles’s turn to gape. “You knew?” I don’t think he could look more shocked if I pulled out a gun and shot someone. “And you’re with him anyway?” A moment of silence, then, “Are you crazy? Or is this just another attempt to punish yourself?”
My first instinct is to jump down his throat, to tell him to mind his own business. But even though it’s been three years since I last saw him, he came out here to warn me because he was worried about me. Though I don’t want it to, that counts for something in the running tally I’m keeping in my head between my family and me.
Before I can say anything, though, Ethan jumps in. “Chloe, are you going to introduce me or am I just supposed to guess who this clown is?” His voice is low and his eyes are narrowed dangerously. That’s when it hits me that he’s flying blind here. He has no idea who Miles is, other than the guy who punched him in the face and who it appears is trying to break us up. No wonder he looks murderous.
“I’m sorry, Ethan. This is Miles Pierce. My brother.”
“Don’t apologize to this guy, Chloe. He’s scum.”
“Stop it, Miles!”
“What do you want me to say, Chloe? That I’m happy to find you here, with him? After everything his family has put you through?”
“His family,” I say angrily. “Not him.”
“Does it really matter?” my brother sneers. “When they’re that rich, they’re all the same.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Ethan demands quietly. “You, of all people, don’t get to come in here and get Chloe all upset.”
“I’m the one getting Chloe upset?”
Ethan steps in front of me, arms crossed over his chest and an implacable look that I’ve only ever seen on his face during business meetings. “That’s what it looks like to me.”
“Screw you, Frost. What are you doing fucking around with my sister anyway? She’s definitely not your usual type.”
His voice implies that I’m not hot enough—not exactly a shock considering my own thoughts on the matter—but for the first time, Ethan loses it. He puts a hand on my brother’s shoulder and squeezes hard enough to have Miles wincing. “This is Chloe’s apartment and you’re Chloe’s brother, so I’m not going to tell you to leave. But you need to watch what you say or when you finally do leave, it’s going to be in pieces.”
“God, you really are a barbarian, aren’t you? It must be nice to have so much money that nobody gives a shit how you act.”
“And here I was just thinking the same about you. All money, no conscience. Why the hell else would you be coming in here and trying to kick your sister while she’s down?” Ethan’s face is totally deadpan, but his barb slams home.
Miles blanches, stutters over his tongue and his feet, even if he is standing still.
“All right, that’s it!” I tell them. “Miles, you need to settle down—”
“I need to settle down? You’re the one sleeping with the enemy. After everything his brother did to you, after everything his parents did, why would you hook up with him? If you needed money that badly, you know you could have come to me. I’ve wanted to help—”
“Don’t talk to her like that,” Ethan growls. His jaw is working at the implication, his hands clenching into fists and I know he wants to lash out. Hell, he has every right to … After everything my brother has said and done in the last five minutes I pretty much figure it’s a miracle that he’s still able to stand, let alone talk. Ethan wouldn’t take this from anyone else and I know the only thing keeping my brother in one piece right now is the fact that Ethan doesn’t want to upset me any more.
But it’s a tenuous protection, one that I can see is wearing thin. Especially when Ethan seems to think that Miles is ignoring his warning. “Seriously, Chloe. Getting that internship isn’t worth this. Law school—”
I see the moment Ethan snaps. He steps forward, reaches for my brother again, but before he can so much as grab on to him, Tori’s voice rings through the apartment. “Get out!”
All three of us turn to stare at her incredulously. Her face is white with fury, and she’s pushed herself off the couch. The green hair and halter top she’s wearing should ruin the intimidation factor, but she’s shaking with so much suppressed fury that she makes quite an impact. “Get the hell out!”
“Tori,” I say, appreciating the support but wanting desperately to diffuse the situation. “He’s just—”
“Calling you a whore,” she finishes flatly. “He’s standing in the middle of our apartment and calling you a whore. I won’t have it.”
“That’s not what he meant—”
“Oh, I don’t know. Your brother’s a smart guy,” Ethan tells me. “I think he knows exactly what he’s saying.”
“Are you kidding me?” Miles looks at me, completely exasperated. “I’m the bad guy here? He’s the one sleeping with an intern, the one whose family bought off a rape victim—”
“And you’re the one who sold out his baby sister for start-up capital, so excuse me if it disgusts me to watch you try to take the moral high ground here.” Ethan is all but vibrating with rage at this point. From the moment he found out about my family forcing me to take money for my silence, it’s been eating away at him. Now that my brother is here, making a total ass of himself, is it any wonder Ethan is more than ready to take him apart?
“Chloe.” Tori whispers my name, and I turn to see her staring at me with wide and stricken eyes.
Shit. I never told her about the rape, never told her anything but the most basic stuff about my past. I wanted to reinvent myself when I got to San Diego and that included leaving all of this stuff back in Boston, where it belonged. Now it’s out in the open and she’s looking at me like I’m a victim, like I’m hurt and defenseless and weak.
It’s that knowledge that sends me over the edge. I’ve dealt with everything else—learning about Ethan’s connection to Brandon, finding my way back to him after I found out, my brother acting like an absolute bastard—but knowing that my secret will never be a secret again just about brings me to my knees. Because this is my life, these are the choices that I’ve made. I’ve already had my ability to choose taken away from me twice over very important things. I’ll be damned if I stand by and let it happen again.
“That’s it. I’m done,” I tell them, walking over to the door and sliding my shoes on. “Come on, Ethan. I’ll walk you to your car.”
He just looks at me, brow cocked in silent inquiry.
“Obviously, I’m going to have to deal with my idiot of a brother. And since he can’t be civil, it looks like I’m going to have to do it alone.”
For a moment, I think Ethan is going to argue. Leaving me to face anything alone—unpleasant or otherwise—isn’t his typical modus operandi. But he must read something in my face because in the end, he just nods.
We don’t speak until we’re in the elevator, and then Ethan says, “I’ve got to be honest. I’m having a hard time with this one, Chloe. Leaving you with him isn’t easy for me.”
“I know.” I lean into him, rest my head on his chest. “And I appreciate you letting me handle it.”
“Yeah.”
“You don’t have to look so grim. Miles won’t hurt me.”
“Seeing as how he gave me a bloody nose with
that sucker punch of his, you’ll excuse me if I don’t have your same confidence in the matter.”
“Is your nose okay?” I ask, poking at it a little. “It doesn’t look swollen or anything.”
Ethan snorts. “That’s because you’re used to seeing it messed up from the fight with Brandon. You forget what it looks like when I haven’t been punched in the face.”
“That’s a good point,” I tell him, stretching up and pressing a soft kiss to his poor nose—which isn’t swollen but is definitely starting to bruise—before we exit the elevator.
“I’m full of good points.” He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me into his side as we walk through the courtyard to the street where he parked his car. “Including the fact that Miles seems pretty volatile. I know you think he wants to help you—and maybe he does—but he’s a loose cannon. He doesn’t have control of his temper.”
“That’s just because you were there. He feels guilty because of the money my parents took and how they used it to finance his inventions.”
“He should feel guilty.”
“It isn’t his fault my father’s a con man who always has his eye on the next game. Or that my mother’s so weak that she’ll do whatever her husband tells her to.”
“Maybe not. But he could have gotten a job at a reputable corporation that would help protect his patents instead of robbing him blind. He didn’t have to let his parents use blood money to make his way in the world.” He’s talking through gritted teeth, his voice low and deep and vicious. Looking into his blue eyes and the way they’re heated from within, I can’t help thinking that it’s a miracle he didn’t do more damage to Miles once he found out who he was. He looks at least as angry as he did that morning two and a half weeks ago when he was talking to Brandon in his driveway.
All I can say is that between his brother and mine, it should be one hell of a family reunion.
“Miles isn’t like you,” I say after giving Ethan a minute to reassert his iron control on himself. “He isn’t strong enough to forge his own path. He’s way too locked inside his own head, way too caught up in the ideas he has, to worry about anything as practical as running a company or buying groceries. Besides, my parents didn’t give him a choice. They just did it—”