Chapter Six #3
“I do. That’s fine. Just point me in the direction of his storage area. I have the codes, and don’t need help.”
The man escorted him.
“Are ya staying here, Sir?” he asked.
Ethan knew that no one was aware they owned the castle, and he didn’t want to let on he was heading there.
“No, I’m heading to the UK to meet the rest of my family. I had to work for the FBI,” he said, showing him his badge. “I’m a doctor there,” he stated, misrepresenting himself and risking his job in the process. “I have meetings in London tomorrow.”
Thank God Elizabeth was his boss.
Sort of.
Luckily, the man didn’t question it—which he should have, since it was all a bunch of bullshit, and he’d never been here to Scotland before.
At the locker, Ethan put in the code, and opened the door.
Inside, he had a few choices. There was a limo, a sports car, and a bike.
He knew for a fact there were supposed to be two bikes, so he knew what Elizabeth had likely used to get to the castle.
At the castle, there were vehicles for Michael and Graham.
So, he took the car.
“Thank you,” Ethan said, tipping the man with the cash he’d hijacked from the house. He hoped Elizabeth had some, or he was going to have to use his cards. At that point, they would be onto him, and the last thing he wanted was for them to find him.
Ivan would be all over that like tan on Native.
Getting into the vehicle, he pulled it out of the garage, and the man closed the door behind him.
“Safe travels,” he said, waving at him.
Ethan had scribbled directions down on a piece of paper, since he absolutely couldn’t use his phone to navigate or the vehicle.
There was no doubt Ivan would be suspicious. Now, he had to hope that this car wasn’t LoJacked either or that Ivan wouldn’t think about looking in Scotland.
Hopefully, Raphael had done his part to disable the security on it.
Driving up along the roadway, he took the incline that went right through the town, and toward the mountains. Halfway up, he passed a sedan and thought nothing of it.
Had he, he would have realized that coming down the mountain was his wife.
He was about to miss her.
Oof.
For the rest of the drive, he nervously worked out what he was going to say to his wife, in hopes of convincing her to talk to him and not tell him to leave.
Oh, and he sounded like an idiot, rehearsing his apology for dropping her heart.
As he saw the castle looming up ahead, Blackhawk knew it was now or never.
It was time.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t avoid this, and it didn’t take him long to get to the gate.
As he got out, he headed toward the box and put in the code that Blackhawk security used when coming and going there with Callen.
It overrode whatever Graham and Michael used on the gate. Slowly, it opened, and Ethan wished he was showing up there for a more joyful reunion instead of him eating crow.
Or was that raven since this was Ravensmire?
It was now or never.
If there was a higher power, it wouldn’t make him lose this part of his life for being an idiot.
Heading inside, the drive up to the front was beautiful. Ethan could understand why his brother loved this place the minute he saw it. There were pillars with Ravens on them, and they were nestled among the trees.
This place looked like a location from one of his movies, and he wasn’t shocked he’d bought it.
Ethan would have too.
Seeing the garage, he also had the code for that, and he pulled Callen’s car inside and parked.
There was a truck in there, some equipment for plowing snow, and a motorcycle. It appeared that his wife had definitely come here to roost.
That made him giddy.
Getting out, he slung his bag over his shoulder and found the alarm on, so he punched in the override code. All of their security used that same code so they’d know who was accessing a location.
Again, fingers were crossed that Winn managed to override the codes.
Once inside, he called out, but no one was answering. So, he started looking around.
In the kitchen, he admired the place. The countertops were white granite, with sparkles of black veins running through them. The cabinets went to the ceiling, and the mudroom was functional with pairs of boots inside the door.
The energy here was welcoming. It wasn’t like he was surprised. Callen and Chris loved a grand structure—look at the gold baron’s mansion.
Moving down the hallway, he kept calling for his wife.
“Lyzee? Are you here?”
But there was no answer.
Then again, he wasn’t one hundred percent sure if she was there that she’d answer him. He’d really not earned that kind of welcome.
Deep down, he fully expected to be turned away, and his big sign would be the opposite happening. Ethan knew he needed to make amends in the best way possible.
To be there for her.
As his voice echoed off of the walls, he kept taking it all in to see more of this place.
Yes, he’d seen some of the rooms from photos his brother shared, as they were renovating without Elizabeth knowing, but they didn’t do the place justice.
The office was…gorgeous.
Running his hands over the desk, the cool mahogany called to the doctor in him. He’d love nothing more than to work in here by the fire, with his wife perched on the corner of the desk like she used to.
God.
He missed those days.
Along the way, they’d gotten so busy, and he’d realized just how much he’d neglected their relationship.
Their marriage.
Their partnership.
No wonder it was fracturing at the seams. He’d not dedicated enough time to her.
Yes, he fostered his relationships, but he’d neglected the one that mattered the most out of the assumption it was the strongest one, but that wasn’t the case.
The bottom line was that he forgot that she had been his new beginning.
Hopefully, she’d not be his end.
Heading down the hallway, he admired the furniture, the tapestries, and it entertained him that they owned a castle.
This was ridiculous, but very on par to Callen’s life.
Of course, Jackson James and Christopher Leonard saw a vision here.
What he did know was his kids were going to be ecstatic coming here.
What kid got this kind of adventure?
He couldn’t wait to see it happen. Between his boys and the girls that reminded him of their mother, it was going to be fun to see them enjoy this place.
The kid in him wanted to enjoy it too. It wasn’t like everyone could call a castle home.
It was like a dream.
Or a coma.
All he could hope was that none of them woke up from this.
In the library, it felt very much like a Chris and Callen thing, too. His brother loved books, and there was no doubt that he’d had every one he’d ever read put here.
In fact, some looked familiar.
As he got closer, his heart skipped in his chest when he saw that there was a whole section of Gene’s books. They were the ones he’d put in storage after the man left him behind, and then moved to the brownstone that they’d given Gene in case he wanted out of the family.
But here they were, transported from DC to this side of the world.
That Callen thought to give them this…
To include them…
He was a good man, and Ethan was lucky to have him in his life. As of late, he seemed to be the ONLY one not carrying his weight in the relationship.
And that hurt.
What he knew was he had to do better.
If they were going to survive, he needed to make sure everything changed so they had a stronger foundation to build upon as a family.
On top of that, Ethan knew going forward he needed to be more present for his spouses.
They’d been carrying the weight while he faltered after Javier Hughes and David Neives. Now, he’d make sure he helped carry it.
Heading past the dining room with the ridiculously large table, he followed the stone hallway, and it opened up into the main entrance of the castle. There were stairs that went up, and he knew they went to additional rooms for guests.
Callen specifically wanted family and security in the tower, and visitors over here. What caught his attention wasn’t the detail.
It was the painting over the fireplace.
As soon as he saw it, it stole his breath.
Holy shit.
It was his wife.
Moving closer, he stared up at it, and her riotous hair was fanned out in a breeze, as she stood before Ravensmire wearing all black.
The details…
They made his heart skip.
She was definitely the lady of the castle. Callen and Chris wanted this to be their love letter to her, and they’d done a damn good job.
It broke his heart that when they asked if he wanted in on this, he’d laughed and said no.
He’d not wanted to upset her, but now, he was seeing that he’d not wanted to be bothered.
That laziness of not wanting to carry any more had been his downfall.
It excluded him from something magical and magnificent.
What he thought would be silly, or end badly, hadn’t. It was a gorgeous sentiment that he’d missed out on.
And that was on him.
Hopefully, all of them would forgive him for his lack of being part of their world—even for this moment.
He’d been too busy fostering his relationship with Gene, and repairing that to want to take this journey with them, and for that, he was so goddamn sorry.
This was special, and his arrogance and chilliness had cost him a part in this.
Oh, he had more people to make amends to, that was for damn sure.
Heading back toward the kitchen, he found the stairs to the tower, and headed upstairs.
When he found the Master’s Suite, he opened the door. Inside, the room smelled like his wife’s shampoo and bodywash, and there was no doubt she had been here.
“Lyzee?” he called.
And once more, no one answered.
Picking up the T-shirt on the bed, he brought it to his nose. It was a man’s shirt, and not his, but it smelled like her. There was that lash of jealousy that rarely showed up anymore.
Only, the idea of his wife wearing someone else’s clothing…
He didn’t like it.
Not.
At.
All.
Oh, he knew it was likely Michael or Graham’s, since she’d left home without anything but the clothing on her back, but still…