“Excuse me, Sir.” Ethan’s personal assistant’s voice came over the intercom. “I know you don’t wish to be disturbed, but the reception just called up saying there’s someone who’s insisting on a meeting with you. She’s causing a scene, Sir. Should we call security?”
Ethan looked up from the plans spread out on the work desk and scowled at the phone.
“I pay you to handle such matters, Laura” He snapped at the invisible personal assistant, his voice the quality of a frosty winter’s air. “If there is a woman there, then go the hell down and sort it out.”
Her contrite voice came over the phone.
“I’m sorry sir.” The line went dead and Ethan looked round the room at the small group gathered round the desk.
His eyes met Peter’s, and the former secretary, now senior vice president, nodded and slipped from the room.
Ethan returned his attention to the plans and addressed the group of engineers.
“Right. We have to speed up work on the center if we want to meet the six month deadline. Mendez, how is the framework coming?”
He listened while his chief engineer brought him up to speed on the work, though a part of his mind pondered on the identity of the woman creating a scene downstairs. He had a sneaking suspicion of who she might be.
After all, he had been expecting something of the sort for a week now. His lips curled in a self satisfied smile, as he imagined the uproar his scheme had caused.
He briefly considered the thought that she had come begging but dismissed it. Erin Gosling would rather cut off her right arm, maybe a leg too, before she did anything so demeaning.
No. Ethan decided with another smile, she was here to yell at him, denounce him as son of a bitch and threaten him with legal action. That would be the Erin Gosling he knew.
The door opened and Peter came back in, moving to stand beside his boss.
“She insists on seeing you,” he murmured for Ethan’s ears only. “Says she won’t leave until she has spoken with you.”
Ethan smiled. How so like her, he thought.
Aloud, he said. “Where is she now?”
“I brought her up. She’s waiting in Laura’s office.”
“Offer her some iced tea and tell her I’ll see her when I can.”
Peter nodded and slipped out again and Ethan turned his attention back to the meeting.
Ethan dismissed his staff an hour later, then asked Laura to send Erin in. He took his seat, an impressive leather swivel designed in tandem with the massive desk to intimidate and leaned back, waiting.
A minute later the door opened, admitting Laura and the woman who had wreaked havoc on his relationship.
He watched, with an inscrutable expression as she matched towards his desk, his eyes sweeping over the tailored blue suit with its short skirt, that showed off long shapely legs and curves that had probably turned many heads; and up to the face that had been the object of vengeful thoughts many a time.
Right now, those brown eyes were glaring at him, mouth set in a furious line.
“You!” she snarled, her eyes flashing brown fury. “I knew you were behind this. How dare you -”
“That will be all, Laura.” Ethan cut in, dismissing his assistant who watched the scene in wide eyed fascination. She flushed and hurried out, shutting the door behind her, while Erin looked even more furious at being so rudely interrupted.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” Ethan asked, his voice hard and cold. He deliberately let his gaze run over her from head to toe, his look insulting and he had the satisfaction of seeing her bristle at the rudeness of the action. “It has been a while, Ms. Gosling.”
Erin slammed the palms of her hand down on the table, shaking with the force of her fury.
“You bastard!” she hissed at him, leaning close to look him in the eye. “You filthy good for nothing asshole! What the hell do you think you’re playing at?”
“I will advise you to watch how you hurl those insults, Erin,” his voice was still devoid of any emotion whatsoever and that obviously irritated her more, if the snarl she let loose was any indication. “This is my office, my property and I do not take kindly to verbal insults.”
“Who are you to tell me what to do?” she raged, balling her fists. “If you think for one fucking minute that I or my family are going to sit back and watch you take away our hard earned source of income, then you have another think coming, Ethan Lachlan. I don’t care who the hell you are, but you will lay off my family or -”
“Or what?” He cut in, his tone silky and calm, though to Erin, he looked like a predator about to devour his prey.
“I will fight you with everything I’ve got.” she shouted at him. “Your silly scheme will never work. For god’s sake, this is the most childish display of retribution I have ever seen. Are you mad? Is that it? Is that why you’re trying to hurt my family?”
He chuckled and leaned forward. “Sit down, Erin.”
The command took her by surprise, shocking her enough that she complied without thinking about it. He leaned back and formed a steeple with the tips of his fingers while his eyes bored into hers.
“Good,” he said when she was seated. “Now listen carefully, because I will not repeat myself. Five years ago, you called me an opportunist and manipulated things to go your way. Now I will strip you of every inch of dignity you possess, everything you hold dear until you come begging for mercy. Buying those shares was the first step, Erin, I have barely begun my quest to completely humiliate and make you regret ever uttering those words.”
Ethan paused and watched her reaction. She had gone completely white and looked as though a gust of wind would knock her over.
Good. He thought, reaching into the top drawer of his desk and pulling out an iphone. He slid it across the table and she stared at it in confusion.
“Keep that with you. I will be in contact soon. Good day, Ms. Gosling.”
She just kept staring at him till color flooded back to her face. She rose with a snarl, picking the phone and hurling it at his head. Ethan ducked just in time and the device hit the wall behind him, breaking into two.
“If you think you can blackmail me or succeed in your ridiculous plan, then you are less the man I think you are,” she glared at him in disdain, while shaking with fury. “If you do anything to harm my family, then I will personally murder you. Stay away from me.”
She turned and stalked out of his office, slamming the door with enough force to crack a window.
“I think we should put off the wedding.”Erin paused mid-stride and turned to stare at Nicky. “What?”Nicky shifted from her perch on the sofa and met her cousin’s gaze.“I think we should put off the wedding,” she repeated in hushed tones, face scrunched in worry. “With your dad in the hospital and this thing with Ethan -”“No!” Erin’s voice was firm as she crossed the room to the sofa where her cousin sat.She grasped Nicky’s shoulders and gave her a firm shake, determination glinting in her eyes. “The wedding will go on as planned. If we put it off, you can be damned sure that bastard will think he has won and I’ll be damned before I let that happen.”That was the last thing Erin wanted. For Ethan Lachlan to think that he had succeeded in throwing the family into a panic. Her jaw set as she recalled the scene at his office yesterday and once more her blood boiled at the memory of that arrogant bastard throwing those words at her. She let go of Nicky and returned to the French doors
The inside of the limo was silent except for the sound of the traffic filtering through the windows.Ethan studied the woman sitting across from him staring through the tinted window. He noted the tense shoulders and the worry in those green eyes, the same ones that had once enchanted him beyond reasonable thought.That is, until she had shown herself for the shallow woman she really was, by breaking their relationship simply on a whim.Nicky’s sleek bob framed a face that hadn’t changed much in the past five years, except for a certain self assured maturity in her features. Ethan allowed his gaze to travel down the flattering green blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, the short, black skirt that showed off her legs to advantage.His eyes came to rest on her hands, clasped primly on her laps, showing off a nice looking, diamond engagement ring - simple yet undoubtedly worth a small fortune. The engagement to Ryan Silverton, of the New York Silvertons, and heir to a large for
"What the hell did you think you were doing getting into that car with him?" Erin demanded, the minute Nicky finally picked up her call.She could hear the sounds of passing traffic in the background, and wondered just where they where."I wanted to talk to Ethan, what do you think?" Nicky replied, her tone snappy and strained and Erin wondered what had happened to rile her normally cool cousin."We agreed you should stay away from him." Erin forced the irritation from her voice, keeping it mellow. Nicky was obviously in a bad mood, no need to annoy her with demands."You said I shouldn't talk to him," Nicky emphasized the 'you' with a tinge of resentment. "I only agreed because you were obviously upset about your dad. But I couldn't just sit back and let you fight my battles for me. I had to do something."What was with the anger at her? Erin pinched the bridge of her nose, as concern for her cousin flooded her."Are you okay, Nicks? Did that bastard do something to upset you?"See,
"So, you're going on a date with a guy you met less than three hours ago?"Erin peeked out the huge walk in closet where she was busy hunting for her shoes and peered at the woman perched on her bed, legs, encased in designer jeans, tucked beneath her lithe frame."Is something wrong with that?" Erin asked, adjusting the towel wrapped turban style around her head. "It's just dinner, Kim, not like I'm gearing up for a night of wild sex."Kim shrugged slim shoulders and bit into a chip, chewing for a moment before she replied."Not wrong for me. But it's so completely out of character for you. I mean, you're always so cautious and over analyze every single thing. For heaven's sake, it takes you a good fifteen minutes to decide on what flavor of ice cream you want. Now you're going out with a total stranger on a whim.""I do not analyze everything," Erin huffed, indignant. "I simply like to make sure I'm making good decisions. And Todd's not a total stranger. He's my dad's surgeon and we
Imogen Holland sauntered towards Ethan, stunning in a short, red dress that hugged her body and drew the eye of every red blooded male (and female) in the restaurant to an impressive cleavage and shapely ass.Fully aware of the effect she had on men, she gave Ethan a smile that brimmed with confidence in her body and sex appeal.Under the combined force of that body and smile, Ethan mentally revised his earlier plans for the evening. He let his gaze sweep boldly over Imogen, frank male appreciation glittering in his eyes, lips curved in a devilish smile."Wow!" He drawled out the word, rising from his spot by the bar, where he'd spent a half hour waiting and approached her, not missing the way her body instinctively arched towards him, as if offering him a taste of heaven right there and then."Hey handsome," Imogen's voice was soft, filled with sultry promise. Her own gaze raked over him, lips curving in approval at the pale blue dress shirt tucked in to black chinos, a tailored, bla
Erin stared at her untouched plate, mind still very much on the scene in the hallway.Ethan's scent - a warm earthy fragrance - still permeated her nostrils, making every breath impossible to take without inhaling the very essence of him that brought to mind hot steamy nights and writhing bodies atop silk sheets.She frowned and stabbed at a piece of food with her fork, wishing it was Ethan Lachlan's head. He was the enemy and she was not supposed to be having lustful thoughts about a man who had brought nothing but misery her way.Erin lifted her eyes and risked another glance at the object of her thoughts. Ethan seemed unaffected by their earlier encounter.If anything, the bastard looked to be having a good time, flirting shamelessly with his stunning date who was hanging on his every word and flirting right back. Did the poor woman have any inkling of how deadly and vindictive Ethan was? She guessed not.Unconsciously, her fingers tightened over her fork, jealous at how much a goo
A wave of anger surged through Ethan as he stared at the annoying minx. In all his thirty-four years, and numerous encounters with women of every kind, he had never met a woman who could get his temper burning as quickly as Erin.Even more exasperating was how little control he had over his body when it came to her.For fuck's sake, he'd been with women far lovelier and certainly better behaved, but none of them had eroded his self control or ignited his desire the way Erin did. He was supposed to despise her, bring about her complete and utter humiliation and yet, here he was, offering to give her a lift and having to watch her throw his offer back in his face.Foolish woman.A valet handed him his car keys, and Ethan took it without taking his eyes off her.Even acting like a spoiled little brat, she still looked utterly stunning and his groin responded accordingly, much to his disgust. He gritted his teeth and moved closer, each step slow and intimidating and he had the satisfactio
The persistent buzz of the phone finally pulled Erin from sleep. Raising her head from the pillow, she squinted at the morning sunlight pouring through the windows, and winced when the motion set off a pounding headache."Hell."Erin groaned, the inside of her mouth the consistency of cotton wool. How many glasses of wine had she drank last night? She searched her memory but came up blank. Her brain was probably still asleep.The phone rang again, the sound extraordinarily loud and painful. Erin winced and groped for the offending object."What?" She snapped into the receiver."Have you seen the paper this morning?" Nicky went straight to the point. Something in her cousin's tone made Erin frown."No," Erin pulled herself up, careful not to jolt her head too much. "I just woke up. What's in it?"Nicky paused for a moment, and Erin could feel waves of disapproval even through the phone."It's not something easily explained over the phone," she said slowly, "You should see it for yourse