She tried to be strong. She tried to stand her ground. She tried to be the fierce woman her sisters would have been.
She failed miserably.
As he turned toward her, a menacing glare wrinkling his face, she stepped back.
She wasn’t built to be strong.
Not like her sisters.
Not like him.
“I had a little chat with your boyfriend. Jackson, I believe his name is. He mentioned that he’d be stopping by to see you.”
She gasped. “You believed him?”
What did he think of her? How could he possibly think she’d want to be with any other man besides him?
“I didn’t expect much from you, Simplicity, but I certainly didn’t expect you to take their side over mine.”
“Whose side did I take?”
“My parents.”
His words began to slur.
“I didn’t take their side. But forgive me if I believe that people love you. Forgive me if I see the good in others where you cast them aside as evil.”
“Forgive me for being bitter that my billionaire father couldn’t spare the dimes to ransom me.”
“Ethan, do you really think that’s true?” Simplicity had never felt such sadness in her life. “You’re so blind to the people who care for you. You don’t even ask before assuming the worst. Your parents put millions into trying to get you back. Why don’t you ask them rather than blaming them for every bad thing that ever happened to you?”
“Yes, I’m so off track. You know it, don’t you, Simplicity? By the way, I found your check. Don’t worry, I kept it safe for you. Wouldn’t want you to miss out on your hard-earned pay. I’m surprised you were willing to scrape the bottom of the barrel to make the money, but I guess you aren’t exactly the career type. Still, I’d have thought that fucking me would have been a worse way to make money than cleaning the toilets at your sister’s place. I guess my mother made it worth your while.”
She grabbed the sides of her burning cheeks, shocked and mortified at his words.
Of course he judged her.
Of course he believed his mother had bribed her.
Of course his first impulse was to believe the very worst of her.
It’s what he had done all along. It’s what he would always, always do.
She had no more words for him. No defense. No ability to speak, anyway.
She stared at him for several beats of time. Let him see the pain in her eyes. Let him wonder for the rest of his life if he had found someone who would love him for all his flaws. Let him always remember that he had driven the stake into her heart and left her dying on the floor.
She was done.
He had made sure of it.
As gracefully and with as much dignity as she could fake, she retrieved her sweater and slipped back into her boots. She didn’t even bother to dress herself before walking into the cold night.
As she expected, he didn’t try to stop her.
And she didn’t shed a single tear.
Chapter Seventeen
Ethan covered his head with his pillow in a useless attempt to drown out the noise of the mewling cat outside.
When the damned thing started banging against the storm door, filling the otherwise silent house with his desperate rattling, Ethan gave up on the hope of sleeping off his hangover.
The cat didn’t even act ashamed when Ethan whipped the door open and growled at him.
The furry thing sauntered in as if he owned the place and fully expected a butler to greet him. He rubbed himself against Ethan’s legs.
“She’s not here.”
The cat glared up at Ethan.
“Yeah, I’m disgusted with myself, too.”
Ethan prepared a dish of meatballs for the cat.
“I don’t know how you can stand to eat this early in the morning. Guess it helps if you didn’t spend the night obliterating your liver.”
The cat meowed and resumed eating.
“I get it. I annoy me, too.”
When the cat finished licking the bowl clean, he waved his tail as he wandered room to room.
“I told you—she’s not here.”
The damned cat jumped into the window and stared at the driveway. Ethan scratched his head and filled a glass of water, hoping to ward away the brewing headache.
A loud knock had the cat bolting to the door and meowing.
Ethan’s heart froze. Simplicity?
He tried to come up with words to say. He owed her an apology. He owed her a truck full of apologies. He owed her his damned heart on a silver platter.
But she had betrayed him. While lost in the peace and calm she brought to his life, he couldn’t forget that simple fact.
She had betrayed him.
In the cruelest way.
Still, maybe it wouldn’t hurt for him to not be a total ass for once in his life. Maybe they could end this thing in a civil fashion. If she could find it in her heart to come to his door again—after all the shit he had put her through—maybe he could engage in an actual conversation.
Maybe she had a good reason for doing what she did. His mother could be persuasive when she wanted to be.
Giving up on the notion that he could bring his blood pressure down to a level that wouldn’t cause him to stroke out, he opened the door.
He had expected to see Simplicity.
Instead, he saw the devil.
“Ethan.”
“Mother.”
“Let me in. It’s freezing out here.”
“I’m sure your car is plenty warm. I see you have your driver keeping it running for you.”
She scowled at the disdain in his voice.
“You know I don’t drive.”
“I take that to mean you haven’t found a way to keep yourself sober over the years.”
Her eyes filled with manipulative tears. He wasn’t about to fall for it.
“How can you be so cruel? Do you have any idea what I went through to have you? I still bear the scars.”
He rolled his eyes, then winced at the pain.
“What can I help you with? If you’re looking for your new pal, she’s not here.”
The look of confusion on his mother’s face could have won her an Emmy.
Too bad for her, he had learned to see through people.
“Here. That girl of yours refused to give you this. Don’t shove it away—it was your grandfather’s and I knew you’d want to have it. I left it with her, but the little snot sent it back to me last night.”
His mother shivered and tightened her scarf around her neck.
He opened the envelope and pulled out the photo of his grandfather and grandmother. He had never had the chance to get to know his grandmother, as she had died when he was too young to remember, but his grandfather carried this photo with him everywhere. During times of sadness, Ethan’s grandfather had allowed Ethan to sleep with the photo for comfort, and Ethan had loved that his grandfather trusted him with his most prized possession.
Chills ran down his spine when he noticed something he hadn’t thought of before. In the black and white photo, seated on the ground by their feet, was a furry black and white cat. It looked exactly like Oscar.
“I found the check you gave her.”
“Figures she kept that but sent back this priceless item I asked her to deliver to you. Little bitch.”
His muscles tightened at her words. “Watch what you say about her.” He didn’t try to hold back the threat in his voice.
“I see.” She swallowed dramatically. “You are capable of love. Just not for your own family.”
“I’m about to close the door.”
“No, wait. I’ll keep my opinions to myself. Please may I come in? For one moment? I have one more thing to give you. I didn’t want to trust that girl with this, as it’s irreplaceable.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Remember the old medallion your grandfather used to carry around with him? The one you
loved to hold when you were a young boy? His housekeeper found it and asked for it to be sent to you, but you refused to see me or accept any of my deliveries. Here. It’s yours. So you can remember the love we had in our family.”
She reached out for him. He flinched.
“Ethan, please. This is killing me. I can’t stand being this close to you and not having you accept my love.”
“Your love?” He laughed. “Where was your love when I was a kid? When I needed you to give two shits about me? Hell, I would have settled for one shit, but you couldn’t spare even that.”
“I’ve always loved you! You’re my son!”
“You loved your wine more. And your shopping. Do you think it was good for me to have no rules? No boundaries? No affection? And then to have that husband of yours come in with an iron fist and demand respect that he didn’t dole out? Where were you when I needed someone to stick up for me? How do you think it felt to be a little boy who could never live up to his parent’s expectations? The military was a fucking breeze compared to life with you. So spare me your pathetic pity party. I don’t want to hear it.”
“What did you expect me to do? You think he was hard on you? Try being his wife! Try having to live up to his extravagant ideals, knowing full well he had his other women on the side. Maybe I relied on the wine. So what? You had everything. You had everything! Don’t blame this on me!”
“I needed a mother who would stand up for herself, and for me. But you know what? You’re right. I had everything. And I have everything now. So get the fuck out.”
“Ethan, please. I’ve tried everything to make things up to you. Please.”
She was all out sobbing now, and he was having a harder time dealing with it. She had to leave. Before she broke through and found his hidden stash of sympathy.
“You think bribing a woman to be in a relationship with me so you could have easier access to my life was the right thing to do? Did you even think about what that might do to me? You didn’t think I’ve had enough betrayal in my life?”
“I wanted to donate to her cause. Don’t read more into it than that.”
“You’ve never donated to a cause in your life.”
“Okay, fine. I wanted to bribe her. But she was already in your life when I went to her. And fine—I was jealous. She had you and I wanted just a slice of your life. The chance to earn your love. She didn’t want to talk to me. She refused the money. She only took the check to make me go away.”
Ethan’s mother let out a loud, guttural scream.
“I would do anything to have you in my life, Ethan. I hate living without you. Remember how I begged you not to go to boot camp? I would have done anything to get you out of it. When you were taken, that was the worst time of my entire life. When you came back, I thought we could begin the healing process. But you won’t give me the time of day, and I’m desperate, Ethan. I’m desperate to make you love me. Please, please. Let me be in your life.”
“So you didn’t bribe her before?”
“No, of course not. That girl doesn’t care about money. Can’t you tell that by those ridiculous clothes she wears? She should have jumped at the chance to take what I offered. But no—she’s only focused on that do-gooder stuff she’s involved in. If I were going to bribe someone to seduce you, I would have picked someone more suitable.”
Funny how quickly her tears dried and her sneer returned…
The cat growled and meowed, weaving his way between Ethan’s legs and flicking his tail against them.
The cat brought clarity to Ethan. Might as well have been Simplicity rubbing against him, telling him he was a stupid fool. That he had been so off base he might as well have been on another planet. That he was wrong about everything, especially any negative assumptions he had ever formed about the angel who had entered his life.
“I have to go.”
“But we haven’t…”
“Get yourself together, Mother, and then maybe we can talk.”
He grabbed his keys—and the cat—and brushed past her, ignoring her indignant shriek at his impolite treatment of her.
The cat was right—he had to see Simplicity.
Ethan gestured for his mother’s driver to get out of his way, then backed out of the driveway, stunned at how the sun peeked out over the trees as he drove off his road and onto the path of a better life.
Chapter Eighteen
“I thought she was with you.”
Ethan studied Reed’s face, wondering if she told the truth.
“She took off last night and I haven’t seen her since. I’ve been busy here today, so I haven’t looked—I assumed she was still with you. Did you guys fight?”
He didn’t respond. He turned away and searched the area for her car. Reed trailed behind him.
“Excuse me, but as her sister, I have to ask you to leave. If you’re fighting and she left, you can wait for her to come to you.”
“This can’t wait.”
Reed grabbed his arm, stopping him from moving toward the parking lot on the side.
“I don’t know what’s up with you two, but Simplicity is not a woman you can toy with. She can’t handle it.”
He lifted her hand off his arm and continued on.
No one would get in the way of his relationship with Simplicity. The decision of whether she could handle him or not would be Simplicity’s to make. No one else’s.
He only hoped she’d hear him out one more time.
“You are ridiculous.” Reed threw her hands in the air. “You need to leave.”
The cat started fidgeting in his arms, growling and meowing in that indignant way of his. Ethan tightened his grip on the cat and increased his pace when he noticed Simplicity’s car parked off the paved area and sandwiched between a small grouping of bare bushes, hidden from view behind a huge snow bank.
He rushed to the car. She wasn’t there. The car was scratched and squeezed in to the small space. He didn’t know how she would have opened the door to get out.
“Oh my god,” Reed muttered behind him.
Ethan didn’t have time to talk things out with her. He searched the ground for tracks and followed them, but they only led as far as the paved lot.
The cat struggled against him, biting Ethan’s hand when he wouldn’t ease up his grip.
“What the—”
He released the cat, and the animal dropped to the ground, then took off running. Screw the thing. Ethan rubbed the broken skin on his hand. No wonder he disliked animals.
He watched the cat race off to the slope that led into the wooded area where the more private cottages were sheltered. The cat stopped before disappearing. Ethan walked toward him. The cat meowed and continued on, pausing every few feet to give Ethan an opportunity to catch up.
Reed followed silently behind him. Ethan could feel the tension, and though he didn’t know what she meant by her statement about Simplicity’s inability to handle being toyed with, he had a sick feeling Reed had reasons for being concerned.
The cat stopped in front of a remote cottage that took them several minutes to hike to. Fresh tracks imprinted the crispy snow in front of the door.
“Is this one rented?”
Reed shook her head. “It’s her favorite one to escape to when she needs time alone.”
Ethan tried the knob, but the door was locked. He knocked. No answer. He banged louder, the feeling of trepidation crawling up his skin.
“I should have known to keep a closer eye on her. I knew her moods were cycling.” Reed covered her mouth with her hands. “She’s been overly ambitious—to the point of being unrealistic. She was incredibly manic last night, baking way too many cookies…”
“Keys?”
“Back in the lobby.”
“This can’t wait.”
Reed nodded her agreement and didn’t put up a fight when Ethan kicked the door open.
Ethan wasn’t sure what he expected to see, but this wasn’t it.
“Oh no,” Reed mutte
red. “Simplicity?”
Simplicity ignored her sister.
Bits of torn paper littered the furniture and the tables, many of them blowing to the floor as the door swung open. The curtains, drawn tight, blocked out all light. The sun shone in from the open doorway, illuminating the naked figure on all fours on the floor.
Simplicity didn’t look up as they entered the cottage. On her knees, she appeared to be scrubbing the floor. Her hair had been tied up in a bun, but long tendrils escaped and gave her a harried look.
She scrubbed fiercely, as if trying to remove deep stains that Ethan couldn’t see.
Ethan removed his sweatshirt and brought it to her. Her eyes, wide and vacant, didn’t seem to see him as he took the scrub brush from her hand and pulled her to his lap. He slipped the sweatshirt over her head and her arms, making soft, hopefully reassuring sounds as he dressed her.
“I need to finish cleaning. The stupid floor isn’t clean enough no matter how much I scrub!”
Ethan tightened his grip on her, similar to the way he had held the cat. Maybe they were spirit animals, after all.
“Your fingers are bleeding, love.” He ripped off the bottom of his t-shirt and wrapped the material around her bleeding knuckles, planting a kiss on top of the material when he was done. “You’ve done enough cleaning. The floor looks great.”
“Not enough. Not enough. Not enough!” She rocked against him, nearly hitting his chin with her urgent movement. “They tried to get you out, Ethan. Your parents. They tried. You should give them a chance to explain.”
“I know, love. You tried to tell me. We’ll talk when you’re feeling better.”
“I’ll take her to the house,” Reed said, reaching for Simplicity.
“No,” Ethan mouthed the directive to Reed over Simplicity’s head. “She needs to go to the hospital.”
Reed shook her head vehemently.
“She won’t go willingly. They screwed her up last time…”
Simplicity babbled under her breath, but her words were nonsense to his ears. Without warning, she began to thrash against him, scratching his arms and banging her head against him as she struggled to get away.
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