I heard the rustle of denim, and the gentle caress as Ethan’s finger pushed back strands of hair. “I’m sorry, sis. Fuck, I’m sorry for everything.”
“Sir, is there anything else?”
“No. That’s all, Carter. I’ll stay here. In case she needs me,” Ethan replied.
“Very good.” The door opened and closed again.
Leather creaked, and there was a thump on the floor like shoes were being dropped onto it.
Then nothing as I drifted off to sleep.
Macayla
I woke to the door clicking open and footsteps entering the bedroom. The leather chair I’d seen my brother dozing in groaned as he stood up.
I didn’t bother turning over to see who it was, and kept my eyes closed, not wanting to face reality yet. Not yet.
I needed to face it for Jackson, and I’d done it before. I’d pulled myself from the depths of despair when Jackson had been taken away. I climbed back up and breathed again, and that’s what I would do now.
Just not yet.
“You made it.” Ethan’s voice was low and raspy from sleep. “I didn’t think you’d have clearance in this snow.”
“I didn’t.” Footsteps approached the bed, and the faint, exotic smell of men’s cologne wafted over me. It was familiar, but I couldn’t place where I’d smelled it before.
“Thanks for this,” Ethan said.
There was no response, or none that was verbal.
“He’ll come for her,” he drawled.
“Why do you think I brought her here. It’s the only place he won’t come.”
“Never underestimate what a man will do for the woman he loves. And he’s a dangerous man.”
Ethan snorted. “Love? More of an obsession. Eleven years he fuckin’ watched her on her birthday. What the fuck is that? I told him. I warned him to stay away from her, and he didn’t.”
“Would you?”
I didn’t hear Ethan’s response, or maybe there wasn’t one.
Love? Obsession? I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn’t want to think about it. Not now. Not when I felt so weak and vulnerable, and ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
“You know the truth, North. We’ve been friends a long time. He’s dangerous. Merciless, but it wasn’t him who did that to her,” the voice said.
My hand curled into the sheets.
“Yeah,” Ethan replied. “Fuck. I lost it.”
Their voices lowered so I couldn’t hear them, and I didn’t want to. I just wanted to be alone.
There was a rustle of fabric and footsteps, then something heavy was laid on top of me, and hands tucking it in around me. Soft lips touched the top of my head. “Get some rest, sis.”
I waited until I heard the door click closed before I let the first tears fall.
It was dark when I woke again. I probably would’ve stayed in bed if I didn’t have to pee so bad. I crawled out of the bed and peered around the opulent room, glad to see the chair in the corner was empty, and there was no sign of Ethan.
There was a hand-carved dresser on the opposite side of the bed that matched the walnut bedframe and nightstands. There was a tapestry of a black horse on the wall behind the bed, and heavy velvet curtains on the two windows.