Chapter 2 #2
“Who says? By what criteria do we decide—”
“By mine.” His voice was adamant. “For now, we stay on high alert. Holly will just have to cope, even if she gets lonely. She’s still traumatized enough that being told to stay home where it’s safe is just fine by her.”
“That’s what I’m worried about,” I argued. “It’s not good psychologically for her to huddle down. I know this from personal experience. She has to face her fears head on.”
“She can face her fears when it’s safe for her to face them. And this conversation is over.”
I put my fork down, breathing down my frustration.
I understood his desire to protect his nine-year-old niece, Holly, after that horrific shit-show that came down three months ago.
He, Holly and I had all been captured and threatened with unspeakable things.
So I totally got it. But things couldn’t go on like this.
Holly was isolated and alone, and what was worse, she was starting to get comfortable with her shrinking comfort zone.
That was dangerous. For her health, for her future, for her soul.
“Sorry,” Ethan said, his voice guarded. “Didn’t mean to snap.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re her uncle. I’m just her uncle’s girlfriend.”
“You’re a hell of a lot more than that, after saving her life.” Ethan said. “Speaking of which. We’ve been together for months now. Isn’t it time you officially became Holly’s aunt? For real?”
I gave him a bemused look. “I was told you were this fancy-pants strategist, Mr. Billionaire CEO. And yet, you seem to think it’s a good idea to propose marriage to a ballbreaker like me in the middle of an argument?”
“Come on, Kat. In my own defense, I’m never very far from an argument, where you’re concerned. We’ve either just wrapped one up, are having one in real-time, or we’re seeing the next one on the horizon. So I’ll just say things when they come to me. I’m not one to deny myself when I want something.”
“I had noticed that about you,” I said.
“Yeah? So? Shall we set a date? Choose a honeymoon destination?”
I shook my head. “You know where I stand,” I said. “As long as the Petruzzis are breathing down my neck, I don’t feel free to do anything like that.”
Ethan nodded at the mention of the mobsters who had been after me since I was fourteen years old.
“I understand,” Ethan said, his voice silky.
“So if I put our lives on hold while I deal with bad guys, it’s wrong, bad, and fearful.
But if you let the Petruzzis dictate every last aspect of your life, that’s just life as usual. ”
“If you don’t want to have another argument, now would be a really smart time to change the subject,” I said crisply.
Ethan nodded. “Yes, you’re right. And I have a subject change at the ready. I have to leave for a few days. Shouldn’t be more than a week, at the outside.”
“Leave?” I asked, alarmed in spite of myself. “What the hell? To go where?”
“New York City, mostly. Business stuff. It’s been in the works for a long time. I just have to go there for a few days and put the final pieces into place.”
“You never said anything about it.”
“That’s because I just found out that now’s the time.”
“A whole week?” I was horrified that I couldn’t keep the tone of hurt accusation out of my voice.
It had been a crazy time, with all the danger we had been through, and he had totally spoiled me, with his constant, vigilant presence.
Ethan was a bulwark against all the bad shit out in the world.
I felt better with him at my side. More grounded, safer, happier, safer. Sexually fulfilled.
“I’ll call you all the time,” he said. “You’ll be surrounded by my Unredeemables. Safe and protected. Guarded at all times.”
“But what about you?” I demanded. “They won’t be guarding you if they’re busy guarding me! You’re the one with the keys to the kingdom, buddy. You’re the one with all the info about SmokeScreen in your head.”
“I’ll take the Drakes with me,” he said. “Everyone else who’s not on Freya and Jed and Holly will be on you, twenty-four seven.”
“I don’t want you to go,” I blurted out.
“My guys will keep you safe,” he said gently. “They know that you’re my whole life. My reason to exist.”
I snorted, even though I secretly loved it when he spouted sappy stuff like that. “Postpone it until after I do the tournaments, and let me go with you,” I suggested. “That way the army guarding us doesn’t get split in half.”
“It can’t wait,” he said regretfully. “This thing is time sensitive. You have to be there for your girls. They’ve been working hard for those tournaments.”
I had the distinct sense that I was being smoothly, expertly managed, and I disliked it. “You should have told me before,” I said. “So I could have wrapped my head around it. It takes time, to get used to the thought of having you gone.”
His smile made my heart thud. “I swear, it’s just a few days, Kat. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“When do you leave?”
“Right now, actually,” he said. “I just have to change my clothes and head to the airport with the Drakes. My bag’s already in the car.”
I was horrified. “And you’re just telling me now, knowing I can’t leave because of the tournaments? You’re up to something, dude. Something sneaky. I don’t like it.”
He shook his head. “I hate to leave you, for any length of time, for any reason.” He held out his arms. “Kiss me goodbye?”
I wanted to grab the guy and cling like a vine, but that would be undignified. I had to be tough and get all up in his face. God, I was such a basket case.
“You know, Ethan,” I said. “For the next time you try to pull this shit on me? Keep in mind. This kinky, bird-in-a-gilded-cage setup, with the luxury digs and the army of bodyguards? That only works if I’m getting regularly laid.
I mean, really expertly nailed, mornings, evenings, occasional nooners, and frequent early morning delights, too.
The only way I can deal with this level of cognitive dissonance is to be constantly sexually satiated. Do I make myself clear?”
“As crystal,” he said, grinning. “When I get back I will be ready to serve.”
“You better be,” I warned. “You are an essential part of that scenario.”
He held out his arms again. “I’ll race back the second I’m done.” I could hear the passionate sincerity in his voice. “Kiss me goodbye?”
I hesitated. “A kiss? That’s all I get, to fill my tank? One measly kiss?”
His eyebrows climbed. “You want more? Now? Already?”
“You’re leaving for a whole week. As such, I expect to be epically dicked down by the great and powerful Ethan Masters. Until I can barely move.”
“I won’t be able to move, either! How am I supposed to travel like that?”
“Your problem, not mine,” I said airily. “To the bedroom, big guy. Get ready.”
“But I have to get to the plane,” he protested.
I laughed at him. “Well. One of the many awesome things I’ve observed about being vastly rich and having a private plane is that they never take off without you.”
“You do have a point,” he admitted, as I towed him back toward the bedroom.