Harlequin Desire June 2021--Box Set 1 of 2

by Katherine Garbera

  Despite her spinning thoughts, Sienna must’ve dozed because the next thing she knew the car wasn’t moving. Blinking to clear the fog from her brain, she lifted her head off the passenger window and spied the curved double steps leading to the front door of Grady’s estate.

  Covering a yawn, she turned her head toward Ethan. “Sorry.” The word died on her lips as she noticed his expression. “What’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong?” he snarled, gaze slashing her way. He gripped the steering wheel with one hand and pointed his phone at her with the other. “Your sister. That’s what.”

  Sienna’s heart sank. Had Teagan succeeded in accomplishing her goal? Was she going to be the next CEO of Watts Shipping?

  “What did she do?” Sienna whispered.

  “As if you don’t know.”

  “It’s Teagan,” she muttered. “There are any number of things she could get up to.”

  “She told my parents that I went to Savannah to meet with Carolina.”

  “Oh, no.”

  “Don’t act so shocked,” he said in disgust. “You knew she knew.”

  “I—”

  Breath hissing through her teeth in dismay, Sienna closed her eyes and tried to think. What could she say to defuse the situation without lying to him? She’d suspected that Teagan wouldn’t keep the information to herself. Why hadn’t she warned Ethan that her sister knew all about Carolina and Gates Multimedia? Because she loved her sister and was falling for Ethan. Trying to keep both of them happy when they were competing for the same job was doomed to fail.

  “I heard you on the phone with her,” Ethan continued. “You were telling her all about my birth mother and Gates Multimedia.”

  “I didn’t tell her anything.” Her lungs worked as if she was running full out. She couldn’t seem to gather enough breath to make her case. “She already knew.”

  “You expect me to believe that?” His sarcastic tone lashed at her. “Only you and Paul knew and he didn’t blab to her.”

  The fact that Teagan had known the real reason for their trip to Savannah demonstrated her sister had found others besides Sienna to do her bidding. Who besides her and Paul could’ve spilled the beans?

  “I swear she knew.” This was her chance to set him straight, to declare herself a victim of Teagan’s actions, to fight for...what? Every kiss. Every touch. Every murmured endearment between them. It had all been amazing, but what was between them was destined to end even before this conversation. “I’d never do that to you.”

  I care about...you.

  More than any other man she’d ever known. The reality of it struck her hard.

  “And I’m just supposed to believe you?” He scoffed.

  “It’s true.”

  “You don’t seriously think I’m going to take your word for it.” His icy manner was a shock to her system. “Especially not after your sister asked you to convince me to leave Watts Shipping and go to work for Gates Multimedia.”

  Sienna appreciated that he had every right to be irritated with Teagan’s scheming. And by keeping quiet about her sister’s plans, Sienna had in effect sided with Teagan. The secret had become harder and harder to maintain as her feelings for Ethan had developed. How long before she would’ve confessed the truth? And at what cost to both her relationship with Teagan and her budding romance with Ethan?

  “Would that be so terrible?” Sienna hated that he was right to doubt her. “It’s a fantastic opportunity.”

  “And it benefits your sister.”

  “It benefits you both. You told me how you’d been feeling like an outsider lately. That you weren’t sure how or if you fit with the Wattses anymore. I thought that meeting Carolina and seeing how happy she was to have you in her life was exactly what you’d been missing. Her suggestion that you take over the company is just icing on the cake.”

  For a long time he stared at her in silence. “I turned down my mother’s offer to run Gates Multimedia.”

  His declaration set off a bomb of anxiety inside her. “Being welcomed by your family. Becoming CEO of Gates Multimedia. Isn’t this exactly what you hoped for? Or am I wrong?”

  “That’s what I let you think.”

  With the revelation that he’d overheard her talking to Teagan, a dramatic shift had occurred in the way he was behaving toward her. Or had it? That’s what I let you think. Had he been lying to her all this time? Disarming her with his irresistible smiles and seducing her to keep her off-balance? Sienna flushed with humiliation. Had she really been duped so easily? Had he been laughing at her this whole time? Flattering the unattractive sister until she believed he could truly want her?

  “What you let me think?” she echoed, wishing that she’d heard him wrong. “Why?”

  “I knew what Teagan was up to from the start.”

  Sienna’s stomach dropped to her toes.

  She decided to play dumb for the moment. “What Teagan is up to?”

  “Your sister wants to run Watts Shipping.”

  Since lying would only get her into more trouble, Sienna gave a reluctant nod. “Teagan is one of the most ambitious people I know. And once she gets something into her head—”

  “Never mind that I have ten years of experience and she knows nothing about shipping.”

  Sienna made a helpless gesture. “Her determination to take over Watts Shipping has nothing to do with your qualifications.”

  “Then what is it exactly?” Ethan demanded.

  “You have to understand where she’s coming from. She thinks that she deserves to run the company because...” Sienna gulped, horrified at having to explain her sister’s reasoning. “Because she’s related by blood and you’re—”

  “Adopted.” Beneath Ethan’s bleak tone lurked more pain than he’d ever let her see before and Sienna’s stomach wrenched.

  Overcome by regret at the misery she was causing him, Sienna sank her nails into her palms and soldiered on. “She has her reasons for thinking that way.”

  “I’m sure.”

  Sienna found herself in the exact position she’d been dreading, caught between her familial loyalty to Teagan and her new and shockingly fierce feelings for Ethan. Now, faced with his anger and criticism, she stumbled and fell into the familiar habit of making excuses for Teagan.

  “Our father refused to let her run the family company and she believes it’s because she’s adopted.” Sienna rushed through the explanation, hoping that Ethan’s own experiences would allow him to understand what Teagan was going through. Of all the things she had shared with Ethan, she’d avoided discussing her sister’s insecurities with him. “That’s not the reason though. Aiden might not be the best choice to take over, but he’s firstborn and a son. My father is quite traditional that way. He wouldn’t have let me run the company if I wanted to either.”

  Ethan looked utterly unmoved by her explanation. “You always stick up for her, don’t you?”

  “She’s my sister.”

  “Yes,” he mused, his disapproval plain. “So what’s your plan now that you know that I’m not going to leave Watts Shipping?”

  “I don’t think Teagan will succeed in taking Watts Shipping away from you.”

  “Are you willing to help make sure that’s the case?”

  Sienna shifted her gaze and stared miserably out the windshield. For the last three days she’d been the happiest woman alive. While it seemed unfair that her relationship with Ethan had to implode like this, she should’ve expected that standing with one foot on the boat and the other on the dock would be treacherous.

  “Please don’t ask me to get in the middle of this.”

  “But you’re already there. Whose side are you on, Sienna? Will you keep quiet that I know what she’s up to? Or are you going to continue doing her bidding?”

  “Her bidding?” Sienna echoed, bile rising in h
er throat. Suddenly, she was thrown back to high school and all the times her sister had used her in some meticulously plotted scheme. Those days, she hadn’t been strong enough to resist or outthink her sister. “What exactly is it you think I’ve done?”

  “It’s pretty obvious.”

  “Not to me.” She scanned his expression while her thoughts raced frantically. “I’ll admit that I knew that she was determined to be the next CEO, but I never said or did anything to you or any of your family to help her.”

  Ethan looked completely unmoved. “Of course you’d deny it—”

  “It’s the truth,” Sienna interrupted, frustration boiling up in her. Seeing his doubt, she continued, “Okay, fine. Maybe I had very selfish motives for encouraging you to accept your mother’s offer. I’d hoped if you became the CEO of Gates Multimedia and Teagan ran Watts Shipping then both of you could be happy.” And her heart wouldn’t be torn in two. “But now I’m starting to see that neither of you gives a damn about being happy. You both just want to win.”

  “We want to win?” Ethan snorted derisively. “That’s hilarious coming from someone who has done the things you have.”

  “What things?”

  “I know that you’ve overinflated the value of a painting to increase your commission and that you’ve hired someone to bid on something at auction to drive up the price your client will receive.”

  Sienna recoiled from the accusation, her insides turning to ice. Was someone deliberately feeding him lies or had he twisted events from her past to substantiate that he was right to mistrust her? Fumbling with the handle, Sienna managed to open the door, but before she could exit the car, Ethan’s long fingers wrapped around her wrist. His grip was firm, a hair’s breadth from painful.

  “If you believe all these terrible things about me,” she panted, desperate to escape him before the tears blurring her vision turned into full-on sobbing, “then why didn’t you confront me about this sooner?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to know I was onto you and your sister.”

  She thought about the long hours she’d spent in his arms. The sex had been fierce and hungry. With their time together shrinking, she believed he’d been equally distressed that they’d soon be parting. Instead, the whole time they’d been intimate, he’d viewed her with such contempt.

  Before despair immobilized her, she pushed away such thoughts. “You found out how?”

  “That’s not important.”

  “It is important because if you had Paul investigate me then you’d know that’s not who I am.”

  Ethan’s expression hardened to granite. “It was someone anonymous.”

  “So, some unnamed source spews vile lies about me and you just believe it?” Her voice grew screechy as her throat closed up. “After everything... I just... I can’t...”

  What the hell was happening? Frantic to escape, she yanked against his grip. Her despair was reaching a fever pitch when he set her free so suddenly that she practically tumbled out of the car. Without a backward glance, she raced up the entry stairs, not caring that she’d left her laptop and her suitcase behind.

  ELEVEN

  Ethan entered the two-story, L-shaped house where he and Paul had grown up. Passing beneath the elegant arch that led into the formal parlor, he stepped straight into hell.

  Usually walking into the home was like being enveloped in a comforting hug. Not today. His parents’ penetrating stares sent a bone-deep chill through him before he’d taken more than three steps into the room.

  They must’ve known he was on his way because his mother sat in a straight-back chair rather than her favorite spot on the sofa, her spine ramrod straight. His father stood just behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder. Their position was a clear warning that they’d allied against him.

  “I’m sorry,” Ethan began, rushing forward with an apology even as his feet stopped moving.

  “We’re very disappointed that you didn’t think you could come to us,” Miles Watts intoned, the deep throb in his voice broadcasting his sadness.

  “I was going to tell you.” Ethan clenched his teeth against the frustration rising in him. The absolute last thing he wanted was to be in his current mess.

  “When exactly?” his father asked.

  “As soon as I got back from Savannah.”

  “Did you give any thought to how difficult it was going to be for your mother and me to hear about this from someone other than you?”

  “Of course. This is the last thing I wanted.” That it had been Teagan who’d spilled the beans thanks to the information provided by Sienna made it all the worse. “Teagan had no business saying anything.”

  “She didn’t appear to realize we hadn’t been told.”

  Ethan gathered breath to dispute that. He knew perfectly well that only this morning Sienna had asked her sister not to say anything. That an hour later Teagan had spilled the beans over brunch to his entire family was one more reason she would never be in charge of Watts Shipping. They didn’t need someone with such poor character at the helm.

  “I wasn’t the one who told Teagan,” Ethan said. “It was Sienna.”

  “Why are you surprised? You brought her sister with you to Savannah,” Miles pointed out. “Surely the two of them discussed why.”

  “I asked her not to say anything to anyone.”

  “So you trusted her with your news,” his mother said, speaking up for the first time. But you didn’t trust us. The implication sliced into Ethan.

  What could he say? His reasons for confiding in Sienna seemed the height of stupidity now that she’d betrayed him. Leaning on her support hadn’t felt risky while they were in Savannah. Their closeness during the trip had even led to him defending her to the anonymous emailer. What an idiotic thing to do.

  “We’ve spent a lot of time together this last week.”

  Something about this seemed to take his mother aback. “I see.”

  “None of this changes the fact that you told a virtual stranger before you shared it with us,” his father added.

  His father labeling Sienna a stranger bothered Ethan more than it should. Granted, strong sexual chemistry didn’t necessarily translate into a relationship, but there’d been moments when he felt they’d made a true connection.

  Too bad it had been one great big lie.

  “Searching for your birth mother was a huge decision,” his mother said. “I don’t understand why you didn’t feel like you could come to us.”

  “I know I should’ve said something...”

  “Did you think we wouldn’t approve?” his father demanded, eyebrows lowering.

  “No.” Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. “Of course not.”

  Lies. Even now, confronted by his parents’ despair, he couldn’t be honest. What was he afraid of? That they’d reject him? Tell him that he was no longer part of their family? The pain that blasted through him indicated that’s exactly what he feared.

  How was that even possible? They’d done nothing except make him feel loved and included. The problem was his. The insecurity fabricated by his mind.

  “Then what?” Miles thundered.

  Constance gripped her husband’s hand as if to rein him in. “What your father is trying to say is that we’re struggling with this big secret you kept from us.”

  “I didn’t want to upset you for no reason if nothing came of the testing.”

  Miles sighed. “It would’ve been nice to know what you were going through.”

  “Maybe we could’ve helped.” Constance was trying to look brave, but her lips quivered with suppressed emotion. “Why don’t you start at the beginning and explain the best you can,” his mother said, loving concern resonating in her voice. “When did you decide to look for your birth mom?”

  “It happened when Lia was pretending to be Ava’s daughter,” Ethan b
egan. “When Grady decided to try the genetic testing service, I started thinking about submitting my DNA, as well. I don’t know that I actually expected to be matched with anyone.”

  Miles grunted. “If that was the case then I’d like to think you could’ve come to us.”

  “I wanted to.” Ethan grimaced. Why hadn’t he taken Paul’s advice and told them right away? “I should’ve.”

  “But you didn’t,” his father pointed out. “And I’m sure you can see how much that worries us.”

  The stark disappointment in his father’s eyes made Ethan feel like a child who’d misbehaved. His parents had never yelled or punished. They’d always explained what he’d done wrong and calmly discussed the consequences for his actions.

  “I never set out to hurt you.”

  “We know that,” his mother said, blinking rapidly.

  “I just needed some time to meet my birth mother and sort out how I was feeling.” Ethan badly wanted to go to his mother and feel her fingers stroke his hair like when he was little and Paul had gone out to play with his friends, leaving Ethan behind. The memory startled him. Ethan hadn’t thought about how it felt to be abandoned by his brother in a long time.

  “How were you feeling?” his mother asked, her voice so low he almost missed it. “What was going on that you couldn’t come to us?”

  Ethan swallowed. He’d been trying to avoid telling his parents the truth. Would they understand that his feelings of being an outsider had nothing to do with them or how they’d raised him?

  “I was restless. Out of sorts.” How could he make them understand? Especially when he wasn’t so sure what was going on himself. “I kept thinking that I didn’t fit in. I don’t look like any of you.”

  “Why does that matter?” his father asked.

  “You are one of us though. A Watts through and through,” his mother put in. “You know that, right?”

  When Ethan remained silent, grappling with how to clarify things, his mother spoke up again.

  “You can’t possibly think that because you are adopted, you aren’t part of this family.”