Chapter 13 Ethan
ETHAN
She looks guilty.
That is the first thing I notice. She is standing with her back against the concrete wall, clutching her water glass like a weapon. Her chest is rising and falling rapidly.
And that dress.
“Turn around,” I say.
“What?” Her voice is thin.
“Turn around,” I repeat. “Let me see the dress.”
She hesitates, then slowly turns in a circle.
The front is modest. The back is a sin.
It dips so low that I can see the dimples above her ass. It exposes the delicate ridge of her spine. It’s the most erotic thing I have ever seen, because it’s hidden.
It’s a secret kept for the people she lets walk behind her.
Like Asher.
“Did he touch you?” I ask. My voice is rougher than I intended.
Tessa turns back to face me. Her eyes spark with defiance. “That’s none of your business, Mr. Branson.”
“It’s my business when you’re doing it on company property during a company event.”
“We are in a stairwell,” she snaps. “And he was comforting me because your beta launch party is a shark tank.”
“I told you it was a shark tank.” I step closer. “I told you to be prepared.”
“I was prepared! I handled the reporter. I handled the investors. I have been smiling and shaking hands for three hours while you skulked in the corner nursing a drink.”
“I wasn’t skulking. I was observing.”
“Observing what? Me?”
“Yes,” I admit. “You.”
I trap her in plac. I place my hands on the wall on either side of her head, caging her.
“I saw Owen with you at the bar,” I say low. “I saw him whisper in your ear. I saw the way you blushed.”
“Owen is… friendly.”
“Owen is a predator who thinks he’s a puppy,” I correct. “And Asher? I saw you follow him. I saw you slip into the dark right after he did.”
“Asher is my friend.”
“Asher is a man,” I growl. “And he wants you. They both want you.”
“And you don’t?” She challenges me.
She tilts her head back. Her lips are parted. Her eyes are dilated.
I stop breathing.
“I told you,” I rasp. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“From who? Them?”
“From us,” I say. “From the mess we make.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be protected,” she whispers. She reaches out, her hand resting on the lapel of my jacket. Her fingers burn through the fabric. “Maybe I want to be in the mess.”
I stare at her.
She slept with Owen. I know it. Owen didn’t say it, but the smug look on his face all week confirmed it. And tonight, she almost let Asher kiss her in a stairwell.
She’s working her way through us. She’s a contagion.
And God help me, I want to be infected.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Tessa,” I warn her.
“I’m not playing,” she says. “I’m just trying to find where I fit.”
“You don’t fit here,” I say, pushing off the wall. “Go back to the party. Go find Owen. He’s the fun one, right?”
“Ethan—”
“Go,” I order. “Before I do something we can’t undo.”
She stares at me for a heartbeat, her expression hurt. Then she pushes past me and runs up the stairs.
I watch her go. I watch the sway of her hips in that damned black dress.
I pull out my phone. I open the group chat.
Ethan: Meeting. My office. Midnight.
It’s time to end this.
We are trapped in a six-by-six steel box, and I am willing the elevator to move faster.
I stand at the front, staring at the digital numbers ticking upward. 20… 21… 22…
Behind me, I can hear them breathing. Owen is shifting his weight from foot to foot, a restless energy radiating off him. Asher is perfectly still, silent as a ghost.
And Tessa.
I can smell her jasmine perfume over the stale office air. It taunts me.
The doors slide open with a cheerful ding that sounds entirely inappropriate for the mood.
“My office,” I bark, stepping out into the darkened lobby of Mosaic.
“Ethan,” Owen starts, his voice weary. “It’s midnight. We’ve been drinking. Maybe we should do this in the morning.”
“My office,” I repeat, not breaking stride. “Now.”
I walk past the empty reception desk, past the rows of silent computers, and throw open the door to my glass-walled office. I don’t turn on the overhead lights. The city glow from the floor-to-ceiling windows is enough.
I toss my jacket onto a chair and loosen my tie. It feels like a noose.
Owen and Asher walk in. Tessa follows slowly, hugging her arms around herself. That damned backless dress is a shadow against her skin. She looks exhausted. She looks scared.
Good. She should be scared.
We are playing with fire, and I seem to be the only one who realizes the building is burning down.
“Sit.”
Owen sighs and drops into a chair, sprawling his legs out. Asher leans against the glass wall, crossing his arms.
Tessa stands near the door, gripping the back of a leather chair tight.
“What is this, Ethan?” Her voice is steady, but I hear the tremor underneath. “A performance review?”
“It’s a damage assessment,” I say, pacing the length of the room. “Tonight was a disaster.”
“The beta launch was a success,” Owen argues. “The download numbers are triple our projections. The influencers are posting. The hashtag is trending.”
“I’m not talking about the metrics,” I snap. “I’m talking about the security breach standing in this room.”
I point a finger at Tessa.
“You were reckless.”
“I wasn’t reckless!” she shoots back, her eyes flashing.
“I was surviving. You spent the entire night icing me out. You treated me like a liability you had to contain! Owen and Asher actually saw me. They treated me like a woman, not an employee you regret hiring. Don’t you dare blame me for responding to that. ”
“I saw Owen corner you near the VIP entrance. I saw him lean in close. I saw you laugh.”
“He was just checking on me.”
“And Asher?” I whirl on my brother. “I saw you lure her into the stairwell. A dark, secluded stairwell. What the hell were you thinking?”
“She followed me,” Asher says calmly. “She needed air. She was overstimulated.”
“She is an employee!” I roar. My voice echoes off the glass walls. “She is Harper’s best friend! We made a rule. Strictly professional. And tonight, you two looked like you were competing for her attention like teenagers.”
“Maybe we were,” Owen says quietly.
The silence stretches, tight enough to snap.
I stare at Owen. He isn’t smiling. He looks serious. Dangerous.
“What did you just say?” I whisper.
“I said maybe we were,” Owen repeats, sitting up straighter. “We’re tired of the rules, Ethan. We’re tired of pretending she’s just an employee. She’s not. She’s…” He glances at Tessa, his expression softening. “She’s part of our lives now.”
“She’s a distraction,” I insist, though my pulse is battering against my sternum. “She is dividing us. Look at us! We’re fighting in my office at midnight because of her.”
“We’re fighting because you are jealous,” Owen counters.
“I am not jealous.”
“You are,” Asher adds from the shadows. “You are exhibiting classic signs of resource guarding.”
“I am not guarding a resource!” I shout. “I am trying to protect this company!”
“Are you?” Owen stands up. “Or are you just mad that she slept with me?”
The words hit me like a physical blow.
Slept with me.
I knew it. Deep down, I knew it. But hearing him say it out loud, confirming the image that has been torturing me all week… it snaps something inside me.
A red haze clouds my vision.
“You slept with him,” I say, turning to Tessa.
She holds my gaze, refusing to blink. She doesn’t deny it. “Yes.”
“And you?” I look at Asher. “Did you touch her too? In the stairwell?”
“I kissed her,” Asher admits. “Last week. Tuesday.”
Tuesday.
The night her car broke down. The night I was at the gym, punching a bag until my knuckles bled, trying to get her out of my head.
While I was suffering, they were taking her.
They broke the pact. They broke the Unit.
“Get out,” I say. My voice is low, trembling with rage.
“Ethan—” Owen starts.
“Get. Out.” I point to the door. “Both of you. Now.”
Owen hesitates. He looks at Tessa. “Tess, come with us. I’ll drive you home.”
“No,” I say. “She stays.”
“I’m not leaving her with you when you’re like this,” Owen says, stepping between us.
“I’m not going to hurt her,” I grit out. “I need to speak to my Brand Lead. Alone. Unless you want me to fire her via email tomorrow morning.”
Owen flinches. He knows I would do it. He knows I am ruthless when I’m cornered.
He looks at Tessa again. “Tess?”
Tessa steps out from behind the chair. She looks pale, but her eyes are fierce.
“It’s okay, Owen,” she says softly. “Go. I can handle him.”
Handle me.
The arrogance. The fire.
Owen hesitates for one more second, then nods. “Call me when you’re done. I’ll come get you.”
“I’ll drive her,” Asher says.
They walk out. The door clicks shut.
We are alone.
The silence vibrates.
I turn to the window, staring out at the city lights. I can’t look at her. If I look at her, I’ll lose the last shred of control I’m clinging to.
“You slept with Owen,” I say to the glass.
“Yes.”
“And you kissed Asher.”
“Yes.”
“And you thought… what?” I spin around to face her. “That you could just work your way through the brothers? That this was some kind of game to you?”
“It’s not a game,” she says, her voice trembling. “It just… happened.”
“Nothing just happens!” I shout, slamming my hand on the black marble desk. “We control the variables! We set the parameters! That is how we survive!”
“People aren’t variables, Ethan!” she yells back. She steps toward me, closing the distance. “We’re messy! We make mistakes! We feel things!”
“I don’t do feelings,” I lie. “I execute strategies.”
“Bullshit,” she spits. “You feel everything. I see it. I see the way you look at me when you think I’m not watching. I felt your heart beating out of your chest in the conference room last week.”
“That was a mistake.”
“Was it?” She steps closer. She’s standing right in front of me now, looking up at me with those defiant hazel eyes. “Then why haven’t you fired me?”
“I should,” I say, my voice low. “I should fire you right now for gross misconduct.”
“Do it,” she challenges. “Fire me. Send me home. Erase me.”
I stare at her.