All Chapters of TAMING THE BILLIONAIRE; My Brother's Best Friend : Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

258 Chapters

MORNING HANGOVER

Ethan's pov I woke up, and the first thing I was aware of wasn't the headache.It was warmth.Something heavy and constant against my back, an arm—firm, warm, alive—draped over my stomach.I blinked, half-asleep, struggling to comprehend the unfamiliar ceiling above me. It wasn't mine. Neither was the carpet beneath me. My brain cycled through possibilities like a crashing computer frantically booting up again—hotel? office? dream?—until it all fell into place at once.Aaron's penthouse.The project.The drinks.The kiss.I sat up too fast and regretted it immediately. Pain burned through my head like a sledgehammer. I groaned and collapsed back onto the floor, clutching my head. Something clattered beside me—a glass, maybe—and rolled across the floor.Aaron stirred behind me, saying something indistinguishable. His voice was still rough with sleep, low and threatening in the quiet morning light."Ethan?"Panic. "What time is it?" I groped for my phone like a blind man, scraping my h

DESPERATE TIMES

Amanda's povI needed to win this competition.Not hoped for—necessary.Eight months of filing promotion petitions, of honing reports no one read, of going to meetings where my ideas somehow became someone else's. Eight months of working late, not taking to mind when others shushed me that I was desperate for attention, desperate for acceptance by the boss.They weren't wrong. I was desperate.When Aaron warner first hired me, I told myself it was a stepping stone—a way to get noticed working for one of the city's greatest marketing geniuses. But somewhere along the line, between the middle-of-the-night phone calls, the brief smiles, and that ridiculous, heady charm of his, I started wanting more than to be noticed. I wanted him to see me.Instead, he saw Ethan.Ethan—who’d walked in out of nowhere with that soft voice and that boyish face, who had the audacity to speak to Aaron like an equal. Ethan, who somehow got invited to every private meeting, who got assigned every big project,

COPYCAT

Ethan's POVThe waiting room seemed to shut in on me with every ticking second. My heart was stuck somewhere between my throat and stomach, and deep breathing couldn't possibly ease the pressure. The board members sat in the conference room behind the thick glass doors, deciding the fate. The presentation had gone by so fast I could barely remember half of what I'd said other than the way Aaron's eyes locked onto me when I walked in. Cold. Controlled. Impassive.He had this power to make me feel seen and unseen simultaneously."Ethan Banks," a voice said. My head snapped up. Cheryl stood in the doorway, tablet held tight in her hand, her face tense. "Can you come in for a minute?"The second I stepped inside, the mood shifted. Amanda Sterling stood off to the side, smiling properly. She appeared to be already in on the secret and I wasn't. My heart rate accelerated."The results are in," Cheryl said without fuss. "Amanda wins first place."My stomach dropped. "Wait, what?" I tried to

NOT ENOUGH

Aaron's POVThere wasn't any damn way Ethan cheated.The mere consideration made my jaw close so hard it hurt. Ethan might be stupid sometimes—too naive, too forgiving—but he was not a thief, and he was not a liar. I knew that.But as I sat there seething at the printed reports and the two nearly identical slide decks before me, I couldn't help but admit the unpalatable truth: they were the same. Every single slide. Every single graph. Every single damn slogan.The only difference was that Ethan's looked. better. More polished. More streamlined. More him.I slumped back in my seat, thumb and forefinger against my temple. "Shit," I muttered to myself. "Where in the world did he get that idea from?"That was the problem. I didn't know it. He'd shown me drafts, yeah, but I hadn't seen the start. He'd slotted half of it together at midnight, and I'd been distracted working on my own feelings not to pay close enough attention.No way—no. No, for the love of. Ethan would not do that.I slam

REDEMPTION LOST

Aaron's POVI could barely focus all day.Everything anyone ever said to me just sort of became white noise. The only thing I could tune in, was Ethan's voice earlier—the gentle, cruel snap in it when he said, "You needed proof after everything?"That face. God, that face.It was worse than anything I could have ever imagined. It was like giving a child candy, watching him smile, then you take it away before he even gets a taste of it.Had he unconsciously started to trust me again? Had he, in that heart of his, started believing that I was going to change—that I was worthy of forgiveness—and did I just fucking break that with my silence?I ran a hand through my hair, the nape of my neck aching with annoyance. I couldn't remember when my chest had felt so constricted. Ethan didn't say much to me for the remainder of the day—not that he had said much previously—but now there was this chill. This reserve. A kind of coldness. Not angry. Not loud. Just quiet. Distant.It scared the hell o

LAST MINUTE DISTRACTION

Ethan's POVThe days went on as usual—ordinary, predictable, and in the same manner dull that wore the fringes of my patience. With the exception of this time, however. Something was off. Something subtle, but acute enough to feel. Ever since that night in the garage, I sensed it—a silence of quiet between me and Aaron, a guarded space that neither spoke of but both went along with.He moved around me differently now. And perhaps I did too.I wouldn't talk about it. I wouldn't even think about it.He'd kissed me the last time we'd seen each other six years before. He'd kissed me in that elevator, and then—suddenly—a marriage proposal. I wouldn't let myself get suckered again, not now. Not after all of that with the project, when he'd just stood there questioning me like I'd steal somebody else's. He'd seen me work on it, for Pete's sake. He knew.Aaron Warner didn't love me. He didn't even believe in me. And the sooner I remembered that, the better.My phone started vibrating in my

PROOF OF JEALOUSY

Aaron's PovI'd read through all my permissions on my table—twice. Maybe three times. I wasn't reading anymore; my eyes were just running over the words as my head spun. The paper in front of me could have been blank. Nothing was clicking.I knew better. For Christ's sake, I did know better. I just let myself get riled up over him again—fool that I was. Some tenderfoot who couldn't draw a damn line."Goddamn it," I muttered, swiveling back in my chair and rubbing my palms against my face.I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't know why I did what I'd done.That kiss.That absurd, intoxicated, unforgettable kiss.I shouldn't have. I was wrong. All professionalism lines, all boundaries I had set for myself—it all disintegrated the moment his lips touched mine. The same manner in which it had happened six years earlier, in an elevator. The same goddamn way. I had been a sex-starved teenager to him, and I hated it. I hated that he could do this to me, the kind I'd promised that I would

OVER MY DEAD BODY

Ethan's POVI took another bite of chicken wrap as Riley went on another tale, about an ambassador and a dog that wouldn't shake hands with him. It was absurd, yet somehow amusing enough to make me chuckle.He was nice in that too-bubbly kind of way—smart, maybe too talkative—but harmless. His energy filled the room and, for the first time in days, my head wasn't spinning with Aaron Warner. My chest didn't hurt with lingering heartache and unsaid words for the first time in days.Riley made another joke, and I nearly choked on my drink. "You're crazy," I laughed.He smiled, taking a sip of his juice. "You've been holding your head like it's gonna explode. You need tea. Or a massage. I'm a fantastic masseuse—ask literally anyone."He said, jiggling his eyebrows.I laughed harder, groaning. "You're unbelievable.""At least I'm fun."He wasn't telling a lie. I did not care that half the things he said bored me—I needed this distraction. Anything to keep me away from Aaron. From that kiss.

A PETTY GAME

Aaron's POVThe man stood up.That was mistake number one."Something wrong?" he asked, strained voice, fake calm. He was faking not giving a damn, but I saw the flicker of tension in his jaw, the way his fingers wrapped around the edge of the table. Riley, or whatever his last name is, was mistaken for being possessive. Charming.Ethan was already between us, one hand half-up like that and what was already burning inside me might be chilled. "Guys, stop, please. You're making a scene."Too late.Riley stared at me like I was some intruder. "You can't just slide up next to him like that, man. We were having a conversation."I released a small laugh—low, piercing. "A conversation? That's what you call it?"He scowled. "Yeah. A conversation. May I?" Oh, I minded.Every molecule in my body was vibrating, outraged, possessive. Who the devil did he think he was, speaking to me that way? As if I were interrupting a date, when the reality was—he was having lunch with my husband.Ethan was t

TAKE MY BREATH AWAY

Ethan's POVI stormed out of the restaurant, my heart pounding so hard in my chest it drowned out everything else. The cold outside slapped me across the face—sharp and cold, but not nearly cold enough to cut through the fog in my brain.Something was wrong with Aaron. Why couldn't he—No. I couldn't even bring myself to say it.I brushed hair from my face and took deep breaths. I wanted to scream. Maybe punch a wall. Or curl up into a hole where I didn't have to endure his volatile temper.Because this was not new. It was him.Memories came flooding back regardless of what I wanted—years ago, but no less vivid. I'd only just turned seventeen. There was this boy at school—I don't even remember his name now—who'd given me this small but thoughtful birthday gift. We were in the school hall, both of us giggling, his arm around my shoulders in a way that was possibly a little too close. Then the door had creaked open.Aaron was standing there.I didn't remember what he told me. I didn't r

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