For a long time after Ethan said that, I just stared at him in silence. I didn't know what to say or how to act, and my mouth was completely ajar as I desperately tried to figure out what to say. Ethan couldn't meet my gaze after that. He stood up and walked away from me, and I didn't miss the tears in his eyes. He looked like he was completely broken, like he needed someone to pull him back from the edge of the darkness. Except I didn't know if I would be able to do that. I never thought I would have to face something like this. I never thought I would sit across from my boyfriend and hear him tell me that he was a murderer. It was one of those surreal moments that hit you like a truck, and you just didn't know how to process it. What was I supposed to say? How exactly was I supposed to process something like this? Should I just brush it off and tell him that it didn't matter? Should I talk about it until we got to the root of the problem and figured a way out of this mess? Everyt
I woke up to the sound of birds chirping outside the window. It was almost midday, from how bright the sun was and the warmth in the air. I sat up and stretched lazily, glad that we were having some sunlight at last. I really wanted to go on a hike, and I didn’t want to waste a perfect opportunity like this. Ethan was already out of bed, and I wasn’t surprised. The man never stayed in bed longer than was necessary, and I’d never gotten a chance to wake up before him. I needed to check that off my bucket list, so I could lie awake beside him and watch how handsome he looked while he slept. Almost immediately, I remembered the conversation we’d had yesterday before he’d carried me upstairs and made love to me until we both passed out from exhaustion. As soon as I remembered it, I pushed it to the back of my mind. I wasn’t going to dwell on it at all. I wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend, being happy and enjoying each other’s company instead of dwelling over something like th
I hated to say it, but I despised Rosa. I knew I was supposed to be nice to her, and I truly wanted to make her feel safe around us, especially if Ethan was right and her husband was an asshole. But it was so hard to put a smile on my face and continue to act like everything was fine when I could tell that she was attracted to my man. I wasn’t being paranoid. It was very obvious, and you could see it in the way she kept clinging onto him, groping his arm and laughing flirtatiously. I was forced to trail behind them like some sort of unpaid bodyguard, and every time Ethan tried to draw me into the conversation, she would immediately shut me out and bring his attention back to her. “Do you know I spent a month in Greece? It was such a beautiful country. I would lie around on the beach all day long and sunbath with only a bikini on.”“I spent a year in Russia actually. But it was so cold, and I swear my nipples could cut glass by the time I left.”“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stop thin
Getting to the summit was easy enough. Getting back down, however, was an entirely different story. By the time Ethan and I got back down to the cabin, we were both exhausted and sweating profusely. Walking down at an incline was so much harder than walking up. And my ankles were screaming by then. "Poor baby," Ethan said, lifting me up in his arms and carrying me across the threshold of the cabin. "You seem so tired.""Thank you," I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck. "You're the sweetest boyfriend ever.""I'll need you to put that down in writing," he said. "So I can hold it against you any time you want to yell at me for something."I rolled my eyes as he took me all the way to the main bedroom, where he set me down in front of the bathroom. "As much as I would love to get in with you," he said, "it's getting kind of late. So I should probably use the second bathroom so I can go get some food before sundown. What do you think?"That made me a little bit sad, since I want
ETHANIt took a while before Liv finally calmed down and fell asleep in the living room. I sat beside her the entire time, stroking her hair and telling her the most random stories until her breathing changed and she calmed down enough to sleep off. That was when I went back outside to the truck and grabbed my phone. I called Richard Jones while sitting in the car, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel and trying to keep my rage in check. It was all I could do to not start banging my fist against the steering, and when he answered the call, it took a monumental effort to not scream at him. “Hello, Ethan,” he said. “How’s the trip going? I thought you weren’t going to be on your phone the entire time?”“Cut the bullshit, Richard,” I snapped. “Where the fuck is Marcus?”“Seriously?” he asked after a brief moment of silence. “May I ask why you want to know where he is?”“That’s none of your concern,” I said through gritted teeth. I just need to know where he is.”“Well, according t
MARCUSOne thing I'd come to accept was that every time Richard Jones called, it was never about something good. The last thing I needed was for him to disturb me on a random Saturday evening while I was trying to enjoy a Laker's game. I'd just finished having sex with Emily, and afterwards I'd taken a shower and eaten my dinner. This was not the time for him to be calling me."What the fuck do you want?" I asked as soon as I answered the call. "Is that really how you want to answer a call from an old friend?" he asked calmly. "I thought the animosity was behind us already."“Just tell me what the fuck you want, Richard,” I snapped. “I don’t have time for this shit. I’m watching a game.”“Really?” he asked. “Mind if I join you?”As soon as he said that, the intercom buzzed. I knew it was him, but I half hoped that it would just be someone else. At that point, I wouldn’t have minded if it was Ethan showing up. “I’m sure you don’t mind, right?” he said over the phone. “I just want to
Sunlight slowly crept into the room, and I slowly opened my eyes to find Ethan still sleeping beside me, his chest rising and falling slowly. I turned to my side, taking in the peaceful sight of him sleeping and wondering how he could look so handsome even while asleep. It was almost as if his features were softer while he slept, and his sharp jawline was more relaxed while his eyelids fluttered slightly.I briefly wondered what he was dreaming of, and the thought of him dreaming about me brought a smile to my face. I couldn't help but smile as I stared at him. He was so perfect, even in his sleep. I loved the way his hair looked slightly scruffy and disheveled, and the way his lips curled up ever so slightly, as if he was dreaming about something funny. I wanted to rub our heads together so I could get a peek into his head, where I would find the perfect man I’d been looking for my entire life.As I stared at him, my heart swelled with an indescribable emotion. I loved this man so f
By the time we finished having breakfast, the sun had already broken through the trees, and it was starting to feel like early spring. I stood in the kitchen doorway with my arms crossed and eyes squinting into the light as I stared outside at the lake. It was a beautiful day, my stomach was full, I’d had the most amazing quickie just this morning, and life couldn’t have been more perfect. "We should do something today," I said.Ethan looked up halfway through drying the dishes, and he gave me a questioning look. "Like what?"“I don’t know,” I replied. “Something fun. We can go fishing. Or spend the day painting.”“Painting?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah,” I replied. “It would be such a shame if we allowed this day to go to waste. I brought some canvases and some art supplies. I thought it might be fun.""Babe, I can barely draw a stick figure without it looking like a crime scene,” he said. “Trust me, if you look at anything I tried to paint, you’ll instantly decide to brea
Ever since I got to my offices, I couldn’t stop staring at the digital clock on my desk. I checked it again for the thousandth time, feeling a sliver of nervousness as I saw that it was still 10:42 AM.Nate will be here in eighteen minutes.I folded my hands together to stop them from shaking. I wasn’t afraid of him, but I felt like a rubber band which was stretched to its limit. I'd set up the meeting myself, because I needed to be done with this shit once and for all. I needed to clear my head, and I couldn’t continue like this after what happened yesterday while he got to go scotfree. He had no right to do what he did, and I had to make sure he understood that. But right now, with the silence of my office pressing down on me, I couldn't stop the way my pulse quickened at the thought of facing him again, or the thought of having to bring up the issue. I kept thinking about what I would say, how I would say it, and what to do if he didn’t take this seriously. In my moments of horro
For a moment, I stared at Richard like he'd grown a second head. We sat there in silence, staring at each other as I tried to wrap my head around what he'd just said. Surely it had to be a lie. Because how on earth could he be serious right now?"You're quiet," he said. "I just... I don't know what to say," I whispered, shaking my head. "This is unbelievable.""I know how it sounds," he said quietly. "And I wish it wasn't true, but it is."No matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around what I'd just heard, it just didn't make any sense. How could he be their father? And after all these years? It just didn't seem possible. "So you're telling me you're Ethan and Marcus's father?" I asked.""Biologically, yes," he said. "But in every official sense, Michael Reynard was their father.""How is that even possible?" I asked. Richard sighed as he leaned forward, and he seemed so old and tired as he raked his fingers through hos hair, in much the same way that Ethan used to. "It started
For a long time after I left the office, I still couldn’t believe what happened. Even as I sat down at our new dining table and silently poked at my steak, it did nothing to stop the wave of nausea that was raging in my stomach. Ethan was talking beside me, but I was barely paying him any attention. He was saying something about knocking down the wall between the pantry and the laundry room, but all I could do was smile and nod when he looked up. All I could think about was Nate’s hand and his voice. I kept thinking about the way he looked at me like I was a piece of meat he owned, and that made me want to cry when I remembered it. I had replayed the scene over and over again on the drive home, trying to decide what was the right thing to do. Should I tell Ethan about it, knowing that he was going to lose his mind over it? Or should I talk to Joanna and tell her I couldn’t work with Nate again? A million other thoughts floated around in my head, but I just couldn’t figure out what
I still couldn’t believe that Ethan had bought the mansion just like that. He made it seem like it was a pair of shoes or a painting he liked. It all happened so fast, and I just couldn’t believe it. The first week was entirely chaotic. We spent our evenings shopping for furniture, arguing about the best fabric for the couch and whether a vintage record player was essential or rubbish (I won that round of arguing). I spent most days over at the house, telling the delivery men where to put things, and helping out where I could. Ethan suggested hiring an interior designer to handle everything, but there was something so cozy and comforting about doing it myself that I just wasn’t ready to give up. Besides, it wasn’t difficult at all. But the hardest part came the night Rachel flew back from her trip, and I had to tell her that I was moving out.From the moment she walked into our apartment and dropped her bags at the door, her face fell when she saw the boxes in the living room.There
MARCUSI didn't want to do it initially. He didn't deserve a quick death, after all. But sometimes, when someone pisses you off too much, you just have to take care of things. And when you find out that the bastard who tried to harm the woman you love was only going to a mental institution instead of the jail he deserved, you just have to take care of things yourself. I stood on the balcony and stared down at the city sparkling beneath me while a cold breeze swept past. The sun had already set, but Manhattan was still as loud as ever, with horns blaring down below, people yelling constantly , and the wailing of a siren in the distance. No one would notice me up here, staring down at them and savoring my latest victory. I took a slow sip of my whiskey, letting the warmth roll down the back of my throat as I leaned on the cold steel railing. The evening was perfect, and I couldn’t have been happier after getting the call. Chris was dead, just like I intended. The report said he’d be
From the moment we pulled up in front of the mansion, my mouth fell open and it stayed like that permanently. The house looked like something out of a movie. It was so huge, and my eyes nearly rolled back into my skull as we walked in. There was a grand staircase which swept upward like it belonged in a castle, and sunlight streamed in through the large windows which made everything look so bright and golden."You've got to be kidding me," I whispered, taking in the beauty of the house. "This is actually insane.""Wait til you see the kitchen," Ethan said as he walked up behind me and took my hand in his. "You could set up a football game in it"When we walked into the kitchen, I knew he wasn't exaggerating. There were two kitchen islands which were so far apart that you probably couldn't even smell what someone was cooking from across the kitchen. There were so many shelves and drawers that it looked more like a convenience store than a home kitchen. Every room we walked into fel
Ethan was discharged the very next day, and I took him back to my apartment. Rachel had traveled down to Miami for a conference, so it was just the two of us in the house. After he’d taken a shower and eaten the lunch I prepared, he immediately sat down to call a real estate agent. “Is that really necessary?” I asked as I packed up the plates from the dining table. “Shouldn’t you be getting some rest?”“I’ll rest once we have our new home,” he said. “Buying a house usually takes a very long time to process, and I don’t have the time nor the patience to wait too long. The sooner we get started, the quicker we can be done with this.”I left him to his phone call, while I washed up in the kitchen. I could hear him talking in a sharp tone, using his CEO voice where he made it obvious that things were going to go his way, no matter what. I could have sat down and stared at him for hours when he talked like that, but I had other things to do. Like calling Richard Jones and telling him wha
I'd thought about seeing Marcus face to face again for a very long time now. I'd imagined standing across from him, looking dead into his eyes and showing him that I wasn't afraid of him anymore. I'd thought about how I was going to stand my ground, and not let him see the fear he'd once inflicted upon me. But standing right there in front of him, looking into those malicious eyes that had tormented me for years, I just couldn't do it. My knees began to shake, and I almost buckled to the ground in terror as the world fell away and it was just the two of us.And then he started to walk towards me. It took every bit of strength in me to not turn around and flee. I visibly shrank the closer he got, and a wave of panic washed over me as I realized that I had nowhere to go. If I turned and ran now, then I would be running for the rest of my life. And that was the last thing I wanted. So I stood my ground, stuck out my chin defiantly, and looked him dead in the eye. I took a deep breath
For a while, I just sat there and stared at Nate. I couldn't process the fact that he was here, and as my brain slowly booted up again, I felt Ethan tense beside me. "Nate, what are you doing here?" I asked. "Offering my condolences," he said. "I heard about the accident, and I just knew I had to come here as soon as I returned."He was more tanned than the last time I'd seen him, and his hair was a little bit longer. He looked like he'd come straight from the beach, in his plain white shirt and khaki pants. It was so different from the man in the tailored suit who strutted about like he owned the building. And yet, even now, there was an air of confidence about him as he stood in the middle of the room and stared at us. “Why the long faces?” he asked. “Did someone die?”“What the fuck are you doing here?” Ethan asked, attempting to stand up before I held him down. “I heard you were sick,” Nate said. “Oh, I mean shot. It’s all over the news. I just got back from Paris, so I though