“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Callen asked. “Haven’t you been through enough shit to know better?” he asked his brother.
While he wanted to be calm, he’d seen Elizabeth run through the ringer plenty. He’d seen her battered, broken, and her heart bruised—all at the hands of this man.
Enough was enough.
“Callen,” he began.
He shut him down. That one action said it all.
“What were you thinking?”
Ethan watched as Ivan scurried off—or was it race for cover? He wasn’t quite sure.
“Is she okay?” he asked, needing to know that first. Elizabeth was his priority.
“Well, gee, she came home alone in a cab with Bonnie out there, so that should tell you everything you need to know about her state of mind. In one moment, she could have been taken. We could have lost our wife. Our kids could have lost their mother.”
He wanted to be sick.
“I’m sorry. I really screwed this up.”
Callen crossed his arms across his chest. It was quite possible that sorry wouldn’t cut it this time.
His chances were just about up—with her, and with him. Callen would side with his wife on this mess if his brother had, indeed, had an affair and lied about it.
“Cal.”
Nothing.
Clearly, Ethan was destined to be public enemy number one.
“That slut of yours told Elizabeth that you slept together. She walked up to our wife, in a public place, and dropped that bomb on her.”
It irritated him that everyone assumed that he had anything to do with Marlee Whittaker, other than a work relationship. It also pissed him off that she was referred to as ‘his’.
Elizabeth was his.
She was definitely not in the same category, and she never would be.
Ethan loved his wife.
“Jesus. I know what she did at the event! I confronted Marlee after the fact, and then I rushed home.”
Ethan was waiting for Callen to leave a mark on the other side of his face. His hands were balled, and he looked like he was ready to throw control to the wind.
Could he blame him?
No.
Had he been in his position, he would do the same damn thing to anyone who hurt his wife like this.
“One last time, Ethan. Did you sleep with her?” Callen asked.
“NO!”
“Are you sure that’s the answer you want to go with, considering the evening’s events? You’re the big advocate of no lies, remember?”
His face flushed.
Ethan closed his eyes, began counting, and practiced the control he’d learned recently. There was no way he was going to lose his temper, snap out, and damage their life any more than he already had.
Enough was enough.
Finally, he focused on his brother.
“Callen, why would I lie about this? I didn’t touch that woman. She’s a snake, and she’d trying to stir the pot to get Elizabeth out of the picture.”
“Well, it’s working. She’s ready to leave, Ethan. You know she doesn’t stick around if someone cheats on her. Look at Tony Morel. She dumped him. Then look at Chris. Their relationship barely survived. You really can’t stay if you did the deed. You will be booted out of all of our lives.”
That hurt.
But Ethan got it.
He turned his head to stare up at one of the windows where his wife might be.
He loved her.
God!
He couldn’t lose her, especially since he didn’t have sex with anyone else.
The second Ethan turned his face, Callen suddenly realized something. “Why is there a handprint on your face. Who hit you?” he asked.
He laughed sardonically.
“Well, that would be my parting gift from Marlee. She hit me when I called her out in front of all of our peers. I held nothing back as I told them she was a hussy who moved on me. I embarrassed her in front of who’s who in DC. I buried her career for what she did to our wife!”
Callen stared at him.
“Really?”
“Yes. I’m sure it’ll be on the news. Needless to say, she won’t be starting on Elizabeth again. I’m going to make sure she’s out of our hair. The minute she struck me, she signed her resignation papers.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
“Swear,” he said. “On your kids’ lives, swear that you didn’t cheat on our wife.”
“Callen,” he offered, his eyes filling with tears. “I didn’t do it,” he vowed. “Four hours after our fight, I knew I’d made a mistake with telling her to leave. I’ve been trying to get her back for weeks. Why would I have an affair? Marlee Whittaker is not even my type!”
“She’s a leggy redhead…”
“I don’t like blonds or redheads. I love a feisty, raven-haired hellion. I love my wife. I love her more than anything! I’ll take a goddammed polygraph if that’s what it takes!”
It might come to that.
Callen wanted to believe him, but this wasn’t about him and Ethan. This was about Ethan and Elizabeth, and whether she was done with it all.
Their family and team teetered on the tip of a pin. One wrong move by his brother, and it was over.
They were over.
“Then you had better head upstairs. She’s with Chris, and it’s not me you have to convince.”
Yeah, he was aware.
Elizabeth held his fate in her palm, and honestly, he didn’t deserve her anymore.
Not after all of this.
It was like she was watching everything from the outside of her body. Here was some pathetic weepy woman, and it was irritating as hell.
Only she couldn’t stop it.
Elizabeth couldn’t keep the tears from coming. It was as if she was trapped in a vicious game. It was like a tug-o-war between what she wanted to believe and what she knew.
Ethan loved her.
Didn’t he?
At that moment, she wasn’t sure.
Love meant not hurting the person you’d made vows to, but that didn’t seem to be the case now.
Where was he?
If he loved her so much, and what that horrible woman said wasn’t true, where was her husband?
All she knew was she was dying inside, and that Chris was trying to calm her down as she puked up champagne, food, and pain.
“Shhhh, it’s okay,” he said, grabbing a wet towel to cool off the back of her neck.
He hated seeing her like this.
“Honey,” he said, trying to get her to relax. Only, she shook her head as she rinsed her mouth out from the position on her knees.
“I can’t. I just can’t.”
He got it.
Instead of trying to talk to her about it, Chris did what always worked best for them. He pulled her into his body and held her on the bathroom floor. She rested between his legs, against his chest.
It was very reminiscent of what she’d done for him the day before when he’d needed her.
Chris held her, saying nothing. When she was ready, she’d say something. His duty was to her, and their relationship.
Gently, he stroked her back. “It’s going to be okay,” he promised. “I’m here. Callen is here.”
She didn’t know if that would be enough.
“He lied to me, Christopher.”
It was time to play devil’s advocate for a man he really wasn’t liking all that much.
Still…
They worked on the premise of innocent until proven guilty. He had to give him a shot.
“Did he actually lie to you? Do you know that for sure, honey?”
She wasn’t sure.
Then again…
“She told me about his tattoos.”
Okay, that was pretty damning since Ethan kept them covered all the time at work. In the middle of summer, he’d still be wearing long sleeves. When he was in a suit, you couldn’t see them.
Ever.
&
nbsp; “Maybe…”
She shook her head again.
“Don’t defend him.”
He shut up.
Yeah, this was looking bad.
He hated seeing her like this.
“What do I do?”
Chris knew why she was asking him. For one, he’d cheated on her. For a couple years after the incident, they weren’t as close as they’d once been, and for good reason.
He’d betrayed her.
Now she was living that same nightmare all over again. Chris had brought a woman back to his brownstone, only to find Elizabeth and all of their friends there.
He’d embarrassed her.
He’d humiliated her.
He’d had some woman’s hand in his pants.
Now, Ethan had basically done the same thing to her, only the woman who had done the deed was ballsy enough to come at a wounded wife.
This sucked.
“Why do men cheat on me?” she asked, as the tears dripped onto his shirt. Elizabeth didn’t get why they’d continually hurt her.
“Honey.”
“What’s wrong with me? What is it about me that every man I ever dated has carelessly broken my heart? First, two of my high school boyfriends, then you, and now Ethan. What is it about me?”
He stopped her. “It’s not you. It was us. You have to stop carrying this blame. I cheated because I was insecure. It had nothing to do with you, honey. It was because I was afraid and angry.”
She sobbed into his shirt.
“Shhhh, I have you. As for the boys in high school, they didn’t know what they were losing. They gave up something so amazing that they lost one hell of a woman. Callen has never cheated on you, and he never would.”
He had a point.
She cuddled into his body.
“I’m sorry,” she said, when she saw the smear of makeup across his polo.
Chris pulled the hairpins out of her hair, helping her to relax. “Cry all over me. I don’t mind. It’s only a shirt. Remember that time when we were just starting to date, and I’d had a horrible day at the morgue?”
She nodded. “You showed up on my door step, and you were a mess.”
“You didn’t worry that I was going to get you dirty. You held me, you loved me, and you made me see that I was going to be okay.”
“Am I going to be okay?”
“Yes. You’re the strongest woman I have ever met. You make the rest pale in comparison.”
She sniffled.
Elizabeth calmed down a little as Chris held her in his arms. It reminded her of their ten years together. It reminded her that she wasn’t alone.
“Do you think he did it?” she finally asked.
She was also asking because this man wouldn’t lie to her.
He wasn’t sure.
Still, he wouldn’t dare say that to her.
“If he did, you only have two choices. You can forgive him if he’s worth it, or you can walk.”
She was scared.
“And if he didn’t,” Chris began, “You owe him an apology,” he stated. “We all do.”
She looked up at him. “What?”
“Look at this whole mess. Clearly, we have no faith in him. We immediately assume the worst. What if he’s suffering too? What if he didn’t do the deed, but we, the seekers of justice, have branded him guilty?”
She didn’t want to feel bad for him, but she did. That one little detail slipped her mind.
What if Chris was right?
“I’m afraid.”
Yeah, he got that.
It was time for another story—a flashback—of sorts.
“Remember when we were a couple, and I had to go in front of that jury to testify?”
She nodded.
“You told me that I needed to sit there, listen, and not judge until I had all the facts. They were going to try and trip me up, and you told me to…”
“Stay calm,” she added.
“Yes, and this isn’t Elizabeth calm. This is freak-out central. You’re better than this, and you know it.”
Elizabeth knew this was her come to Jesus talk from her best friend.
“I get it.”
“Do you?” he asked. “You ran out of there while Bonnie could have been watching. You pissed her off, and then you strolled home in a cab. That was one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen you do, and you’re not a dumb person. You let this tie you up in knots, and it could have been your body on my morgue table. What then?”
She listened.
“If you make me do your autopsy, it will be the last one I ever do. I can’t lose you, Elizabeth. Your husbands can’t lose you, and all of the kids need you. Bethe doesn’t have a mother. You’re the closest thing she’ll ever have. You’re not thinking straight, and you need to snap out of it—if not for you, for everyone else.”
She sat up and wiped her eyes.
Only Chris would see that this was what she needed. The pity party had to end.
She had to get back in control.
“I know you’re hurt, but suck it up. You’re Elizabeth freaking Blackhawk, and you chase killers. Are you really going to be broken by some skank who wants your man?”
It worked.
She was hurt, but the tears were done.
“Do you think he’d do it?” she asked honestly needing his advice.
“No, but you must.”
“I do.”
“Why?” he asked, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. Chris didn’t get it.
“Look at me. I’m old, I’m a mom, and I’m…”
“What?” he asked.
“I’m not the woman he married. I’m a mess.”
“I happen to love that woman,” said Ethan from the doorway.
He’d been listening to Chris snap her out of her funk, and he appreciated it.
“I don’t want Elizabeth LaRue from a decade ago. I want this one. I don’t want the woman who dated Chris Leonard. That wasn’t my time with her. This is. I want the woman who has laugh wrinkles and a busted up shoulder. I want the woman with that scar across her body from giving birth. That’s sexy to me. Marlee Whittaker doesn’t have the one thing you do, Elizabeth.”
“What?” she asked.
“My heart.”
Chris took this as his sign to bail. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then patted her on the leg. “You got this. Innocent until proven guilty,” he whispered.
As he was leaving, Ethan stopped him.
“Thank you. Thank you for not turning her against me when it would have been simple. Thank you for being the only one who took my side, even when I treated you poorly those weeks ago. It means everything to me.”
Chris patted him on the shoulder.
“I wouldn’t ever do that because I want her to be happy. That happiness wasn’t with me, Ethan. It’s with you and Callen. I know how you feel. Everyone thinks I want to jump her. I don’t. I want these moments where I’m trusted.”
He got it.
Chris turned to look at Elizabeth. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow. If you need me, you know where I’ll be sleeping.”
“Chris?”
He stopped. “Yes?”
“I love you, Newton. Those ten years…they mattered. They got me to this moment. I would never change them for anything.”
He smiled at her. “When I say it was my pleasure, Lyzee, it absolutely was. Goodnight.”
He was gone and Ethan closed the door. His wife was sitting on the floor in a pricey dress, and she looked as miserable as he felt.
He felt awful for breaking her.
She never deserved it.
Never.
This was all on him, and he was going to fix it.
“Can we talk?” he asked.
She shrugged and slid over on the floor to make room for him beside her.
Ethan unbuttoned and removed his tux jacket before placing it over her shoulders. While it wasn’t chilly in the room, she looked lost and he wanted to comfort her.
> “Thank you.”
He sat.
“I didn’t sleep with her, Elizabeth. I wouldn’t do that to you, or myself. I value my life and you more than that. I won’t give myself less than I deserve, and that’s only you.”
It was time to do this.
She had to work through it all and find the truth, or they were never going to heal.
Never.
“She said she saw your tattoos. How?”
Ethan knew there was one way to solve this, so he pulled out his phone. Then he made a call to Liam, his security guy, leaving it on speaker.
“Hey, boss! It’s late are you okay?”
“I’m just checking in, Liam. We’re all good.” Well, that was a huge lie. They were anything but good, but he was working on fixing that. “How’s they family doing, Liam?” he asked, killing two birds with one stone.
“Wyler and Maeve are tucked in, the boys are bunked in one room, and the girls in Elizabeth’s old room. Two of my guys are upstairs patrolling, and one is outside by the back door. I’m on the front porch.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem, sir. We’re all locked down.”
That was the only good thing coming out of the whole night.
“One last thing, Liam. I need your help.”
“Sure thing, boss. Shoot.”
“Remember that day I was in a really shitty mood a couple weeks ago?”
He laughed. “Sir, it was one, big, perpetual shitty mood—if I recall.”
Yeah, he was aware.
“It was the day I decided to use the gym in the middle of the morning between meetings.”
Elizabeth listened, but she didn’t know where this was heading. Still, she gave him a chance.
“Oh, okay, I remember. What about it?”
“Can you tell my wife what happened?” he asked. “She’s on the line too.”
“Hey! Mrs. Blackhawk. I hope you’re feeling well.”
“I am, Liam, thank you.”
“About the day?” Ethan urged.
“That was a weird ass day. The boss was running, and this redhead came in. I was there with him because he wasn’t in a good place.”
She listened.
“The woman got on the treadmill beside him and the boss looked uncomfortable.”
“Then what happened?” she asked out of curiosity.
“She dumped, well, she said accidentally, her big bottle of water all over the boss. He pulled off his t-shirt and walked away from her.”
Revenge has Come (An FBI/Romance Thriller Book 19) Page 38
