Chapter 5 His Greatest Lie

Ethan tackled me through the shattered glass, pinning me flat against the cold kitchen tile as automatic rounds shredded the drywall above us.

Spilled ice and glass dug into my bare back. Ethan drew his gun, firing three blind shots into the smoke while using his massive frame to protect my head. His chest slammed against mine with every rough breath.

"Stay down, Ava," he growled into my ear, his voice tight with raw tension.

An armed guard charged through the broken door, his tactical rifle raised. Before the man could pull the trigger, Ethan reached out with one arm, grabbing the guard's throat in an iron grip. He snapped the man's neck against the marble counter with one hand while holding me flush beneath his heavy hip with the other.

The body collapsed onto the floor with a heavy thud. The guard's fingers twitched once near my foot, then went completely still.

"Are you hit?" Ethan demanded, his dark eyes searching mine while his hand pressed hard against my waist to check for blood.

"No," I choked out, my throat burning from the thick gunpowder smoke drifting through the room. My chest heaved as I stared at the dead man. "Ethan... my brother was standing right under the chandelier. He wasn't a hostage."

"I told you he wasn't," Ethan said, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle twitched.

"He looked right at me," I whispered, my voice breaking as the shock began to settle in. "He watched that laser lock onto my chest and he didn't even move."

"We don't have time for this now," Ethan snapped, grabbing my forearm and pulling me off the cold tile. "We move now or we die here."

Another wave of boots thundered down the hallway outside. Wood splinters rained over us as heavy gunfire chewed through the doorframe. Ethan didn't hesitate. He yanked me behind his back, taking the impact of flying debris himself as he dragged me toward the rear exit.

"He set me up," I gasped, stumbling behind him as we turned down a narrow corridor. "My father's company... the debt... Leo arranged all of it, didn't he?"

Ethan didn't answer. He kicked open a heavy service door, shoving me inside a dark, reinforced hallway before pulling his gun again. He turned his head, his eyes burning into mine.

"Your brother didn't just set you up, Ava," Ethan growled, his hand tightening on his weapon as heavy footsteps rapidly approached the door behind us. "He sold you to the highest bidder six months ago."

He dragged me into an armored elevator, tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of grain before slamming his palm against the panel button. The heavy doors slid shut with a deep metallic thud, locking out the deafening roar of automatic gunfire, but the quiet inside only made my blood scream louder.

The second my feet hit the floor, my emotional composure completely broke.

"You're lying to me!" I screamed, the horrible reality of Leo's betrayal breaking through my restraint and driving me into a frantic panic. "He's my brother! He wouldn't sell me! He wouldn't order those men to shoot me!"

I launched myself directly at Ethan, clawing frantically at his face with both hands. My fingernails dug hard into his cheek and jaw as hot tears blinded my eyes. I didn't care about the elevator, the bullets outside, or my own safety. I just needed to destroy the man standing in front of me who kept tearing my life apart.

Ethan didn't flinch or retreat. In one swift, brutal movement, he caught both of my wrists in an iron grip, pinned my arms above my head, and slammed my back hard against the steel elevator wall.

"Get your hands off me!" I sobbed, twisting wildly against his grip, my chest heaving as I tried to kick his shins.

"Quiet, Ava," he growled, his face inches from mine, his dark eyes burning with dangerous intensity.

Before I could draw another breath, Ethan reached down with his free hand, grabbed the silk front of my dress, and ripped the top straight down, exposing my skin to the cold air. I opened my mouth to scream, but Ethan crushed his lips onto mine in an aggressive, possessive kiss.

He invaded my mouth completely, smothering my protests and driving his weight into me until my knees nearly buckled. The cold, suffocating terror choking my lungs instantly shifted into a wave of raw, uncontrollable desire that flooded my whole body. My hands unfurled against the steel wall, my fingers tangling in his dark hair as my mouth opened under his, surrendering completely to the heat of his touch right as the elevator chime echoed and the doors slid open.

Ethan broke the kiss only long enough to scoop me up into his strong arms, carrying me out of the heavy armored elevator and down the long, dimly lit hallway into his penthouse steel vault room. He tossed me onto the broad central bed, turning instantly to slam the thick steel doors shut tight behind us. The massive locking bolts turned with a heavy metallic thud, sealing us completely inside the dark, quiet, and soundproof chamber.

I scrambled backward until my bare spine hit the cold headboard, clutching the torn, ruined silk of my gown over my exposed chest. My chest heaved in rapid, ragged breaths as I stared at his tall silhouette standing in the shadows. My whole body was shaking uncontrollably, my mind spinning completely out of control from everything that had just happened downstairs.

"Why did you do that?" I demanded, my trembling voice cutting through the heavy, thick silence between us. "Why did you jump in front of that red sniper dot back in the ballroom? Why did you throw yourself over me and use your own heavy body as a shield? If I am nothing more than a corporate trophy you stole to punish my family, why did you risk your own life just to keep me safe?"

Ethan didn't answer me immediately. He moved toward the bed with slow, deliberate steps, his intense dark eyes locked onto mine without blinking. Reaching smoothly inside his tailored suit jacket, he pulled out the thick folded paper of our original ninety day contract that we had both signed weeks ago, stepped slowly closer, and threw it right onto my lap.

Before I could open my mouth to ask what this meant, Ethan reached out and violently tore away the fake top page of the legal agreement. He ripped the paper cleanly down the middle, letting the white scraps flutter down onto the dark sheets around my knees.

I stared down at the underlying document, stamped with the red seal of the International Court of Justice.

Ethan crawled onto the bed over me, his hands sliding up my legs to claim my body completely in the dark.

"That contract wasn't a corporate seizure, Ava," he growled, his thumb pressing into my lower lip until it parted. "It's an international witness protection warrant. The only way to keep you alive was to make the world believe I owned you."