Chapter 46
46
C ate snuck into the kitchen the next afternoon to get some coffee.
At lunchtime, which Ethan had insisted she come out of her office to eat with him, he’d told her no more coffee until she finished her bottle of water. But she needed coffee. It was essential for life.
And why he had such an obsession with her drinking more water, she had no idea.
As she stepped into the kitchen, she came to a stop.
Shit.
This was a bad idea.
She’d managed to avoid running into Samantha all day. Even though she’d heard her yelling from Rhodes’ room late last night. And Ethan had told her that Rhodes slept on the couch last night.
She’d feel bad . . . if it wasn’t all Samantha’s fault.
And I’m not going to apologize for something that isn’t my fault. My butt is still stinging from last night’s punishment.
Still, she’d rather not interact with the woman right now. Rhodes was in his office with Kevin. Ethan had gone to the airport to pick up a new bodyguard that Ink was sending out. They’d only found one local guy who’d been able to come on full time. So Ink was temporarily sending a guy called Butch until they could get someone else local to help carry the load.
She wasn’t sure where Seth was exactly, although she imagined he was near Rhodes or outside. The bikers were no longer around now, apparently they all had jobs to get to.
Cate nearly took the cowardly route and stepped back out of the kitchen, but then she saw that Samantha was looming over poor Polly, who had her head lowered, her shoulders slumped in defeat.
And she couldn’t leave her like that.
“For fuck’s sake, Polly! Are you an idiot? Why can’t you get anything right, you fool!” Samantha snarled.
What. The. Hell?
What a bitch!
Memories rushed at Cate. All those times when her aunt and uncle called her names, yelled at her, dragged her around . . . they all flashed through her mind.
Polly was one of the sweetest people she’d ever met. Sure, she hadn’t interacted with her much. Cate wasn’t good with social situations and Polly seemed to be painfully shy, which meant neither of them was willing to take the first step.
Still, that didn’t mean that Cate would stand by and listen to Samantha abuse her. Pushing away her fear, she stepped forward.
“Samantha!” she said sharply. “You can’t talk to Polly like that.”
Samantha whirled.
Whoa.
Cate had never seen her look anything but perfect. Not even when she first got out of bed in the morning. Usually, she didn’t have a hair out of place and her makeup was expertly applied.
But this morning, there was smudged mascara under her eyes and her hair was messy. There was even a stain on the top she was wearing.
This didn’t seem good.
“You . . . this is all your fault!” Samantha told her.
Cate watched her in concern. “Samantha, you don’t seem well.”
“Not well? What the fuck would you know, you idiot savant.”
Um. What? Why was she calling her that?
Polly walked over toward Samantha. “Um, Samantha, maybe we should book you in for a facial or a massage.”
“I don’t want a facial or massage, you stupid, ugly idiot!”
Samantha’s voice was growing louder, and Cate’s tummy tightened.
She needed to get away from her.
No.
No, she needed to help Polly. That was more important than her fear.
“Get out,” Cate said in a harsh voice. That was it. She was done. She was not putting up with Samantha anymore. “You need to leave. Right now. You’re not welcome here anymore.”
“Excuse me.” Samantha glared at her. “I’m not going anywhere. This was supposed to be my house. Rhodes was going to be my husband. And the only person who should be going anywhere is you! As soon as I had his ring, I’d have kicked you out. Always hanging around, getting in the way, ruining everything with your needy patheticness.”
Was patheticness even a word?
“It’s all your fault that everything has gone wrong! Are you happy now?”
“Why would I be happy?” Cate asked, completely confused.
She wondered if she should run and get Rhodes. His office was sound-proof, so she doubted he could hear them.
Samantha’s yelling was hard for her to take, but she was managing.
Just.
“Because you finally got what you wanted. Your brother all to yourself. He wants me out! Now, you can carry on with your weird relationship. It’s disgusting how much he dotes on you. It’s sick. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is something going on between the two of you.”
“You’ve completely lost your mind.”
“I have not! It’s you! It’s you!” Samantha screeched.
Oh God.
Samantha’s voice was piercing. Cate trembled as the other woman stepped toward her. Then Samantha’s hand flew back and she slapped her.
The sharp pain shocked her. Tears filled her eyes as her cheek throbbed. Cate reached up to put her hands over her ears. Her breath came in sharp pants.
“Samantha, stop!” Polly cried.
Samantha grabbed Cate’s wrists and tugged her hard.
Pain shot up her arms.
“It’s all your fault!” she yelled.
Cate sobbed. Samantha’s face morphed into her aunt’s. She could hear the older woman yelling at her.
You’re a waste of space!
Look at me when I’m talking to you!
Stupid idiot!
“Get your fucking hands off her!” a deep voice roared.
The noise was too much. She couldn’t cope.
Then Samantha was removed from her eyesight just before Cate was picked up and held against Ethan’s chest. She breathed him in.
“You’re all right. Everything is fine. No one is going to hurt you.”
His words soothed her, pushing back the panic. The rest of the world faded away as he took her into her bedroom.
“Polly, go and tell Rhodes what happened!” Ethan ordered.
“All right,” Polly replied.
“Nooo! This isn’t fair!” Samantha screeched.
Cate shook in Ethan’s arms.
“It’s all right, baby. It’s okay.”
Ethan walked out of the room as he heard a door slam, then Rhodes speaking urgently.
“No,” she said faintly as he moved into her bedroom and toward the closet. “I’m all right.”
“Baby, you’re shaking. I fucking can’t stand it. I knew I shouldn’t have left you.”
It was only a quick trip to the airport, so she should have been fine. But she hadn’t realized that Samantha was home. She was supposed to be out most of the day with the local bodyguard they’d hired.
“She wasn’t supposed to fucking be here or I’d never have left you,” Ethan muttered as though he’d been reading her mind.
“I’m . . . I’m okay.”
He sat with her on the bed, holding her tight as she trembled and tried to bring herself under control.
Maybe she should go into the closet.
There was a knock on her bedroom door.
Ethan got up and walked over with her still in his arms.
“Hey,” a strange voice said as the door opened. “Rhodes is talking to that bitch. He dragged her outside, but she’s lost her mind. The quiet girl told him what happened and he’s livid. Seth is out there with them and that other guy, Kevin, is trying to get them to be quiet, probably because she’s got a screech on her that will reach the neighbors.”
“Just stick close by.”
“Sure thing. Your girl okay?”
Cate tensed. She knew that she should turn around and greet the man standing there. It should embarrass her to be held like a child against Ethan’s chest in front of him. But she just couldn’t move.
“Thanks, Butch. She’ll be okay soon. Is Polly okay?”
“I’m gonna check on her now. You want to call the cops?”
“I’ll talk to Cate about that.”
The police?
She heard the door shut before Ethan walked back over to the bed and sat with her on his lap. Then he drew her back so he could stare down at her face.
“That fucking bitch. Did she slap you?”
She raised her hand to where her cheek felt warm and tender. “Yes. But it’s not that bad.”
“I’m going to get you an ice pack.” He attempted to stand but she whimpered, holding on tight.
“No, please don’t leave me.”
“I’ll be right back, baby.”
“No. There’s a first aid kit in my bathroom. It has one of those ice packs that you activate by snapping. Can’t we get that?”
“Okay.” He carried her into the bathroom with him and got the dry ice pack. He also checked her wrists before kissing them both gently.
“I’m going to kill that bitch,” he said darkly.
She stared up at him in shock. He sounded . . . he sounded murderous.
“You sound like you really mean that.”
“Baby, I do.”
Wow.
“Are you sure you don’t want the closet?” he asked.
She did. But she also didn’t want to move off his lap. Did he have to go and deal with all of this?
But she didn’t want him to leave her.
“All right, baby. It’s okay. Daddy has you.” Standing, he carried to the closet and walked inside.
She whimpered, wrapping herself tight around him. “Don’t let go.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” Somehow, he managed to sit on the cushion without letting go of her. Then he drew her blanket over her.
She felt so . . . so needy.
“I keep ending up in here.” She bit back her apology, but she couldn’t help but feel high-maintenance.
“And that’s a problem? Because I don’t see it as one. You know you need a safe place when the world gets to be too much. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
There wasn’t?
This had been her safe place for years . . . but she got the feeling that her safe place was becoming less a place and more a person.
Him.
Cate buried her face into his neck as he grabbed her pacifier, popping it into her mouth.
There was a knock on the closet door about fifteen minutes later, which made her jump. She’d been close to falling asleep, which was weird. She guessed it was the adrenaline drop.
Suddenly, she noticed how much her cheek was throbbing, and so were her wrists.
Ethan tensed.
“It will be Rhodes,” she whispered after taking her pacifier out.
“Who is it?” he called out.
“Me. Is Cate okay?” Rhodes asked frantically.
“I’m fine,” she said. “I’m coming out.”
“You sure, baby? We can stay in here longer,” Ethan told her.
“I want to check on Rhodes.”
Ethan helped her stand before he stood and grabbed her hand. He held onto her hand tight as he led her out of the closet.
Rhodes’ gaze ran over her. She moved to him and Ethan let her go so she could wrap her arms around him.
“I’m so sorry, honey,” Rhodes told her. “She’s mad because I told her last night that I wanted her out of here by tonight. I thought she was going to be out all day getting things set up to move into a hotel. If I’d known she was back, I wouldn’t have gone into my office with Kevin. Are you all right? Please tell me you’re okay.”
Rhodes leaned back and stared down at her.
“I’m all good.”
His gaze narrowed in on her cheek. “Polly said she slapped you. Fucking hell. There’s a red mark on your cheek. And she grabbed your wrists? Are they all right?”
“I promise, I’m fine.”
“We’re pressing charges,” Rhodes said. “She can’t get away with this.”
“Where . . . where is she?” she asked instead of answering him.
Cate wasn’t sure it was a good idea to press charges.
“She’s in my bedroom. I told her to pack a bag and get out. Then I’ll have someone get all her stuff and deliver it back to her place.”
“What about the stalker?”
“Cate, you don’t need to worry about her. She’s not your problem,” Rhodes told her.
No.
However, while she might not like the woman, she didn’t want her to die.
“And she can take the local bodyguard we hired,” Rhodes told her. “Go to a hotel. I’ve offered to pay for it all.”
“That’s nicer than I’d be,” Ethan grumbled.
“It’s still my fault that she’s in danger.”
“It’s also your fault that you brought that bitch into your home around your sister,” Ethan said.
Rhodes flinched as though he’d been hit.
“Ethan!” she said.
“No, that’s fair.” Rhodes ran his hand over his face. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you, Cate.”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“I’m going to go and make sure that she’s leaving. I’ll let you all know when the coast is clear.”
Shoulders slumped, he stood and left the room. Ethan gathered Cate close.
“It’s not Rhodes’ fault. You shouldn’t blame him.”
“He’s supposed to protect you. Therefore, he is at fault. And I don’t like that woman getting off scot-free. We should press charges.”
“I just want her gone. If I press charges, it means I have to keep thinking about what happened. And I just want to forget.”
“She’ll still have to pay. I’ll find a way.”