Chapter 6 #2
“I don’t.” Ethan took the seat beside her.
“When my parents died, I was the only heir that remained. Everything was left to me, contingent on my finishing school and university. With no one to claim me, I was placed at Kings until graduation, per their will. As you know, I was only eight. So a board of fifteen members were in place to look after all of the business comings and goings. I saw no reason to change that, but I do attend those board meetings once a month. There’s one tonight, so you and Zayne will have the house to yourselves. ”
Still reeling from everything he’d just told her, Chloé blinked up at him.
“You okay, petite fille ?”
“Uh, yes? I’m just trying to process everything you just said.”
“I know it’s a lot.”
“No, I mean, I’ve only shopped in your family’s store most of my life.”
Ethan twirled a lock of her hair around his finger and shrugged. “Small world, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know about that. More like you own a good chunk of it.”
“The world? No.” He chuckled. “Just the biggest corporation in the U.S. And speaking of owning things, I wanted to talk with you about something. I meant it when I said what’s mine is yours and Zayne’s.
I’ve been given more than any one person could ever need, but none of it means a thing without you both.
So when you’re ready, I’d like to put you on the titles to our homes.
” Ethan looked at his watch and then gestured to the door.
“I’m sorry, but I have to get going. Feel free to look around some more. ”
“Are you sure? This is your office. I don’t want to—”
“Chloé? How many times do I have to tell you? What’s mine is yours. I mean that. I don’t have anything to hide.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “I’ll be back soon. I love you.”
She stared at him with eyes full of awe and wonder. Not over everything he’d just told her, but the simple and easy way he’d just said he loved her. She never could’ve imagined that from their first encounter.
“I love you too. Be safe.”
“Always.” He headed to the door, and as he slipped out, Chloé turned back to the photo in her hand.
This confession of his felt like the biggest of all. The trust he was showing unparalleled. Holtson… Holy shit.
“Red? Red, you in here?”
Chloé whirled around as though she’d been caught rifling through the filing cabinets. But when Zayne stepped inside the office, she instantly relaxed.
“What you got there?” He crossed the office and took the picture. “So, he finally told you, huh?”
“That he’s the son in Holt- son ?” A sound of disbelief left her. “Yeah.”
“You sound like me the first time I found out.”
“Gobsmacked?”
“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I was fifteen.”
“Fifteen?”
“Mhmm. Imagine finding out your first crush was one of the richest people in the country.”
“I… I can’t even.”
“Exactly.”
* * *
ZAYNE PLACED THE photo of Edward Holt back on the shelf and took Chloé’s hand.
“Check this out.” He entwined their fingers and tugged her over to the window that overlooked the beautiful magnolia. “Did he show you this photo?”
She shook her head as Zayne picked up the frame on the desk and handed it to her. Chloé took it with such care that it was like he was handing her the finest china. But the second her eyes locked on the image, her breath caught and her hand flew to her mouth.
He understood the reaction, because he’d had the exact same one when he first saw the photo of Ethan’s parents—especially his father.
“Oh my God.” She glanced up at him, and Zayne nodded.
“Wild, isn’t it?”
Her eyes fell back to the moment that had been caught so perfectly in time, just outside this window, in front of the lake.
Ethan stood between his parents, his father had his arm wrapped around his wife, and they each had a hand on their little boy’s shoulders.
Zayne remembered the first time he’d seen that photo and how confused he’d been by the way it made him feel so…
sad. A deep sadness not only for the little boy in the photo but for himself.
He’d never known a love like that, something so pure, something so freely given, and seeing it firsthand had made him realize what he didn’t have. What neither of them had anymore.
“The resemblance is uncanny.” She drew her fingers across Ethan’s father’s cheek. “It must be so hard,” she whispered. “Always looking at—”
“A ghost?”
She nodded, her eyes glistening. “That’s so sad.”
“It is. It’s something he struggles with a lot. Can I give you some advice?”
“Please.”
“Wait for him.”
Chloé frowned, and Zayne reached out to smooth his thumb across the creases of her brow.
“I know you’re probably trying to remember what happened to his parents right now. That you must’ve heard it somewhere along the way, with their being so famous. But let him tell you. It’s his story, and now you’re a part of that. Don’t read someone else’s version.”
Chloé looked back to the family she held in her hands. “Is that what you did?”
“Yeah. I was pushy and impatient. I rushed him.”
“You were fifteen.”
“I know.” Zayne stepped around her and walked over to the window to stare out at the lake. Then he shut his eyes and remembered the first time he ever stood there…
“ETHAN?” ZAYNE BANGED on Ethan’s dorm room door for the third time in a matter of minutes, his frustration level mounting as he stood in the empty corridor. “I know you’re in there, so stop ignoring me.”
It’d been three days since he’d seen or heard from Ethan, and the teachers told him he’d reported in sick. But whenever Zayne texted or tried to see him, it was radio silence, and this shit was getting old.
He was worried about him. Cared about the jackass. But if he was going to just ghost him, then maybe Zayne shouldn’t even bother. Clearly Ethan didn’t want to see him or talk to him. But the idea that Ethan was lying in bed sick as a dog didn’t sit well with him.
And if he was that sick, then why wasn’t he at the doctor’s or hospital?
Ugh, Zayne couldn’t decide if he was more worried or annoyed at this stage, but one thing he did know—he wasn’t leaving until Ethan opened the damn door.
Bang, bang, bang.
“Go away, Zayne.”
Ah, so he is alive. Just ignoring me.
“No. Not until you open this door and prove you’re not dying.”
“Jesus.” The door was yanked open so hard that Zayne was shocked it didn’t fly off its hinges, but before he could get his bearings, Ethan spat out, “Are you stupid?”
That had his brain refiring. “For giving a shit about you? Probably. Can you not text a person back? Clearly you can walk. So is it only your hands that aren’t working?”
Ethan’s eyes narrowed, and for a second Zayne thought he was going to slam the door shut. Instead, he turned and said, “Go away.”
What the hell was going on here? It had been nearly a year since the two of them had been—well, whatever they were—but not seeing each other daily wasn’t part of it.
Hell, they spent every spare minute together, often in this dorm room, on that bed.
So being told to go away now for no goddamn reason wasn’t going to fly.
“Seriously?” Zayne followed Ethan into his dorm and shut the door behind him. “You think that’s really going to work on me? I followed you around even when you hated me. News flash, I ain’t going anywhere. So tell me what’s wrong with you. Are you really sick?”
Ethan stood with his back to him, his hands in his pockets and his head bent low, and that was when Zayne saw it: the deep breath in…then out.
Ethan looked utterly defeated. A word Zayne would never usually associate with the guy.
“Ethan, what’s going on?”
“Nothing. I don’t feel well, that’s all.”
He was lying, and Zayne knew it. He’d seen Ethan when he was sick. Brought him chicken noodle soup when he’d had the flu back in January.
No, something else was going on here. Something that was causing Ethan to pull away.
“Bullshit.”
When Ethan still didn’t turn, Zayne marched over and walked around him until they were face to face.
“Would you stop lying to me and tell me the fucking truth?”
“I did.” Ethan glared at him. “I want you to go away.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? I just want to be on my own.”
“For days ?” Zayne shook his head, trying to understand, trying to work out why Ethan was suddenly acting this way.
He was his boy.
His Z.
So why was he suddenly acting like Zayne had the fucking plague?
“Did I… Did I do something I shouldn’t have? Say something? I thought we were good. That we…”
Something in his voice must’ve broken through, because finally Ethan looked up.
“You didn’t do anything.” His amber eyes were flat. Darker and colder than Zayne ever remembered seeing them. “I just…” He rubbed a hand over his face. “This is a hard time of the year for me.”
“It’s Halloween. The time of year you can scare the shit out of everyone without getting in trouble. Why would that be—”
That was when it hit him. Ethan’s parents. This had to have something to do with Ethan’s parents. “Ethan, I—”
“No. Don’t do that.”
Zayne frowned. “Do what?”
“Pity me. Everyone else does that all fucking month. They stare and wait for me to lose my shit.”
So that’s why he’s staying away.
“I can’t deal with that from you.”
Zayne slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I don’t pity you.”
“No?”
“No. I’m too pissed off at you. You could’ve just told me what was going on instead of being a jerk.” He thought about that for a second then shrugged. “Actually, it’s you, so being a jerk kind of comes with the territory.”
Ethan’s lips tugged up at the corners. “Well, now I’ve told you. So don’t freak out when I’m gone for a few days.”
“Gone? Gone where?”
“I have to go and do something, and I’m leaving in about half an hour.”
Trying not to be a nosy asshole, Zayne nodded and decided to just leave it there. Ethan had been clear: he didn’t want Zayne prying, so there wasn’t much else he could do.
“Okay. Then I guess I’ll see you when you get back.”