Ava Gray
After we left the aquarium and dropped Zoie off, Ethan came back to stay at the house.
I had yet to say anything to him about what happened with Trenton.
The more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.
Although I was comfortable in his arms, I literally could not sleep.
He even asked me if there was anything wrong, and I lied.
I didn’t want to, but at the same time, I wasn’t ready to talk about it.
When I finally did close my eyes to rest, that shit played out in my sleep, causing me to jump up in a cold sweat.
“Aye, bae. You okay?” He sat up.
My heart raced as I took slow, deep breaths to get it to slow down a bit.
“Ava.” He hooked my chin. “What’s wrong?”
I wiped the tears that were about to fall.
“I’m resigning from my position and I’m going to move in with my sister.” I blurted.
I had Ethan’s full attention as he reached over to turn on the bedside lamp.
“What’s wrong? What happened?”
“I want to tell you, but I don’t want you to get yourself in trouble.” I began to cry.
“Hold up, don’t cry. Amore, talk to me.” He grabbed my shoulders, making me turn to completely face him.
I held my breath for a moment because I knew once I said what I had to say, shit was going to blow up.
“The other night, I went to drop some folders off to Trenton at his house. I think he was drinking and doing some other shit that had him off his rocker, but—”
“But what?” He cut me off.
I could hear it in his voice that he was about to blow a fuse.
“He, um… he tried to force me—”
“Force you to do what?” he abruptly hopped out of bed.
“Wait! Ethan, please get back in bed,” I begged.
“He tried to force you to do what?” he asked again.
I sat quietly.
“To have sex with him,” I shamefully whispered.
“What? Why are you just now telling me? I knew something was bothering you, but I didn’t think it was some shit like this.”
His face began to change colors, and so did his eyes.
“Wait, what are you doing?” I jumped up to stop him from putting his shoes on.
“I’ma go talk to him,” he nonchalantly said.
“No, wait.” I grabbed his arm. “Ethan, it’s three in the morning. Please calm down and just wait until the sun comes up, at least. I don’t want you going out and doing something you’ll get in trouble for.”
“I’m not worried about any of that.”
“Ethan, I’m serious.” I grabbed him again.
The color of his eyes made me nervous. The pulse in his temple was jumping, which told me his heart rate was up with anticipation.
I knew, either way, he was going to address the situation, but I didn’t want him to handle it while angry though.
Been there, done that, and it got me nowhere but in a jail cell.
“Promise me you’ll wait.” I pleaded with my eyes.
He didn’t say anything, but after having a stare down for a good fifteen seconds, he nodded his head.
“He put his hands on you, Amore. What the hell do I need to wait for?”
“Because I’m asking you to. He’s a public figure and so are you. If something happens to him, and your name is attached, it won’t turn out well.”
I prayed silently that he’d see things my way. He paced the room, deep in thought, while I stood nervously twiddling my damn fingers.
“Alright, I’ll wait until I’m calm enough,” he agreed.
I didn’t know I was holding my breath until my brain signaled me to exhale.
I approached him and wrapped my arms around his waist, and pressed my forehead into his chest. His arms held me close as I listened to the beat of his heart.
It was still beating fast, but the longer we stood in place, the more it slowed down.
I guided him back to the bed, so we could lie down and go back to sleep.
It was bright and early when Ethan woke me up to breakfast in bed.
I was still tired because I barely slept.
I needed a pick-me-up, and no, I’m not referring to sex.
Starbucks was calling my name, and that would be the first stop once we left the house.
We dropped Savannah off at my parents’ because Ethan said we were going straight to the office to address the situation.
I was a ball of nerves because I didn’t know how everything was going to play out.
Trenton’s mouth was reckless, but he had no bite to back it up.
However, I knew Ethan was the total opposite.
He was all bark and bite. Hand in hand, we walked through the building and then went up the elevator.
Stephanie said Trenton was in a meeting, but Ethan wasn’t trying to hear any of that.
He power-walked his ass to the conference room, damn near dragging me behind him.
Stephanie was on our heels as she made faces and kept mouthing, ‘what’s going on?
’ I could only shrug because I didn’t want to reply aloud.
In my mind, I thought Ethan was going to just call him outside to have a private talk.
“Uh, excuse me, we’re in the middle of a very important meeting. You can’t barge in—”
Trenton’s words were cut short once Ethan approached him and connected his fist to Trenton’s jaw.
Repeatedly, he delivered blow after blow as everyone else stood in shock.
Gwen yelled and tried to pull Ethan off her son, but she didn’t have enough strength to help.
She cried for Charles to step in, but he threw his hands up, letting her know he wasn’t trying to get involved.
“Muthafucka, if you ever put your hands on her again, I’ll fuckin’ kill you.” Ethan pointed in my direction.
His tone was calm as ever. He had me shook to see him behave that way, but I was turned on too. Trenton lay out on the floor, bleeding and groaning in pain while Gwen kneeled beside him, trying to get him up.
“You might want to get his coke head ass some help. If I find out he ever tries to force himself on her again, you’ll be burying him beside your dead husband.”
The gasp that came from Gwen’s mouth indicated how shocked she was by his words.
“You’re going to let him come in here and behave this way? Call the cops!” she screamed at Charles.
“Yeah, go ahead and call the cops.” Ethan chuckled. “And as of today, Ava no longer works for this company.”
After straightening himself up, he casually walked back over to me as if nothing happened.
“You better talk to him.” He pointed at Charles and then led the way out.
When we got back in the car, neither of us said a word. I replayed the fight in my head, and the look on Trenton’s face caused me to burst out laughing.
“What’s funny?” Ethan’s handsome self slipped me a curious glance.
“Did you see his face after that first punch?” I continued to laugh.
Ethan shook his head and chuckled.
As he started the car, I leaned over to wrap my arms around his neck.
“Thank you for looking out for me.” I kissed his cheek.
“Ain’t nothing to it.” He kissed me back.
I sat back in my seat and stared out of the window.
“I need to find another job asap.” I sighed.
“You already have a job. I told you I’d pay you to sit with my mom. I don’t want you worrying about employment, Amore. I got you. Besides, now would be a good time to start making plans to get your catering business back running.” He gripped my thigh.
“You think so?”
Lately, I had been questioning myself about rebranding and if I was truly ready to do so. To jump back in the loop, I would literally be starting from ground zero again.
“Yeah, I fully support that idea. You’re great at what you do and it makes you happy. Right?”
“Yeah, it does.” I nodded.
“Well I suggest you get to planning.” He kissed the back of my hand.