Dare Me Tonight (The Knight Brothers 3)

“I want her but I feel protective of her at the same time. She’s strong despite being dealt a shitty hand in life and I don’t mean just her asshole father.”

Sebastian, remaining silent, raised an eyebrow.

“Childhood leukemia. She didn’t even think she could get pregnant. And then she passed out on me and my heart just about fell to my feet. After I got over the fact that this wasn’t an overdose like Mandy, all I wanted to do was bundle her up and keep her safe, but she was barely talking to me at this point. Next thing I know, Ian’s taking a swing at me for knocking up his sister.”

Wincing, Sebastian asked, “Did you hit him back?”

Ethan chuckled. “Hell no. If he’d gotten Sierra pregnant, I’d have belted him, too. I gave him one shot. Then he threw me out.”

“And you just left her?” Sebastian’s mouth opened wide, his jaw hanging in shock.

“Not exactly.” Ethan shrugged. “We talked but I didn’t tell her I was leaving. One of her sisters saw me go and asked what my plans were, so I’m sure Sienna knows.”

With a groan, Sebastian sat back down on the sofa and kicked his feet up on the table. “Man, you know how to get in deep. So what’s next? I know you’re not blowing this deal, so once you lay out the situation for Ian, what are you doing about the baby? Is there a wedding in the future?”

For all the times Ethan had been the parent to his siblings, he’d never been on the receiving end quite like this.

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see the disappointment in Sebastian’s gaze when he told him the rest. “Sienna said she didn’t expect anything from me.” And that had hurt badly.

“Okay then. Child support only it is.”

“Fuck no!” Ethan said, offended his brother would think that little of him. “I’m not abandoning the baby or the mother of my child.”

“Well, is that all she is to you? You said she makes you feel, but what do you want from her?”

Ethan pulled at his hair before turning on his brother. “Fuck you, Dr. Freud. Are you finished pounding me with questions?”

“Just trying to get you to see all the angles,” his brother said too helpfully.

If Ethan wasn’t mistaken, Sebastian was enjoying Ethan’s unraveling. He forced himself to look deep inside himself and think about the fair question.

“I want her. I want her in my life. And I want to see where this thing between us can go.” Because she brought him joy where he’d had none. She made him smile. She made him want to step up and be the guy who she admired, not the asshole who asked her to stay hidden. “And not because she’s pregnant with my child.”

Sebastian placed his hands behind his head and leaned back against the sofa, a gleam in his eye. “Then I guess you have your work cut out for you, don’t you?”

“No fucking kidding,” Ethan muttered to himself, his mind already whirling with ideas about what he could do to romance Sienna and convince her she meant more to him than he’d shown her so far.

Not the way he’d expected his life to go. Then again, very little in the last couple of years had been what he’d anticipated. With some due diligence and planning, just maybe he could turn things around and make them work out for a change.

* * *

Monday morning, Ethan walked into the stadium like he had every right to be there and headed directly to Ian’s office. He arrived early because he knew the other man did the same, and if at all possible, he wanted to avoid Sienna witnessing another confrontation between him and her brother. He even got there before Ian’s secretary, which enabled him to take the other man by surprise.

He knocked once and walked into Ian’s office, coming to a stop when Ian rose from his desk.

“I didn’t think I’d get rid of you that easily,” Ian muttered.

“No. I went home for the weekend to get my head on straight and give you time to cool off.”

“And if I haven’t?” Ian folded his arms across his chest, defiant and still pissed off.

“Ask me if I give a shit,” Ethan muttered. “Look, I respect you both as a businessman and as Sienna’s brother, but the fact is, what goes on between her and me has nothing to do with you.”

The other man frowned. “She paid me a visit Friday night and said pretty much the same thing. Then my wife laid into me when Sienna left and I’m lucky I didn’t sleep on the couch.”

As much as Ethan didn’t like the idea of Sienna getting worked up confronting Ian, he appreciated the fact that she went to bat for him. For them. Not that she knew there was a them yet, but that would come.