Strange. In spite of everything, I still miss him.
I wonder what he’s doing now.
Chapter Twenty
Ethan
“What are you doing?” Asher asks as he barges into my office.
I don’t answer because I’m busy emptying the Scotch in my glass down my throat.
Asher grabs the bottle from my desk. “Everyone is on the sixth floor, celebrating the fact that the Odermatt acquisition is final and official, and here you are sulking.”
I set my glass down.
“Who’s to say I’m not celebrating?”
Asher looks at the empty glass disapprovingly. “Since when do you drink in your office?”
“Like I said, I’m celebrating. Now give me back that bottle.”
Asher doesn’t. Instead, he puts it down on the coffee table, the same one where I put down the brown envelope containing that baby contract when I last spoke to Stella. The same one where I tore it to pieces after she left.
I frown.
“You’re celebrating by yourself?” Asher asks me.
“Why not?” I pick up my glass and get out from behind my desk. “I’m the one who got Odermatt to sign, aren’t I?”
“With Ryker’s help,” Asher reminds me. “And mine.”
I reach the table and grab the bottle. “Then celebrate with me.”
“No.” Asher takes the bottle from me once more. “Enough of this.”
“I’ve only had one glass,” I protest.
He takes the glass from me as well. He places both it and the bottle on the shelf behind him.
“I don’t mean just the Scotch.”
I give him a puzzled look. “What do you mean, then?”
“Ever since Stella left, you’ve been locked up in your office whenever you’re here in the building.”
“Because I have more work to do now that I don’t have a reliable assistant.”
I haven’t found a replacement for Stella yet.
“And Dad says you’ve been drinking every night.”
“I don’t care what he says.”
Not anymore.
“I heard you shouted at Olivia, too. Have you forgotten that she’s always had your back?”
I haven’t. I didn’t mean to shout at her. I was just… stressed.
“What?” I ask Asher. “Did she come crying to you? I bet you comforted her.”
Asher’s jaw clenches. “What happened to you?”
“Just the usual shit,” I answer bitterly as I sit on the couch.
“This isn’t you.” Asher stands in front of me. “If you want something, you go after it, remember? If you want Stella back, just go after her and bring her back.”
I have thought about that. Several times, in fact. But each time, I remember how much I’ve hurt her and I end up convincing myself that she’s better off without me.
I shake my head. “Some things you just have to let go.”
“But you’re not letting it go, are you? You’re just acting like a pathetic fool.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “What did you say?”
He grins. “You know what? If you’re not going after Stella, maybe I will. Maybe I’ll try comforting her.”
My temper spikes. Blood rushes to my head. I get off the couch and the next thing I know my fist is flying towards Asher. It hits his nose.
I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.
But I didn’t expect him to hit me back, which he does. His knuckles ram into my cheek and I take a step backwards. I taste blood.
What the fuck?
I try to punch Asher again but he dodges. I grab his shirt and pin him against the wall. Then I raise my fist.
Even with his bleeding nose, Asher glares. “Go ahead. Do it.”
Suddenly, the door opens.
“What on earth?”
Ryker steps between Asher and me. He pushes me away and glances at Asher’s nose.
“What the hell are the two of you doing?”
“Having our own party,” Asher answers as he wipes his nose.
I wipe the blood trickling from the corner of my mouth and swallow the rest. I draw a deep breath.
Gradually, my temper subsides. As it does, my mind clears. I realize the stupidity of what I’ve just done and I slap my forehead.
“Fuck.”
“Fuck is right,” Ryker says. Then he sighs. “Seriously, what are the two of you doing?”
“I just came up to check on him and found him drinking alone.” Asher points to the bottle of Scotch.
Ryker gives me a look of dismay. “What?”
“Then I told him he should just go after Stella because we all know she’s the reason why he’s acting like this, and well… you saw what happened next. Or part of it.”
I sit on the couch and let out a sigh of my own.
“I can’t go after Stella.”
Enough with the denial and the drinking. It’s not making anything better. Maybe talking to my brothers finally will.
“Why not?” Asher asks.
“Because I was the one who sent her packing. I hurt her. I’ve been hurting her all this time.”
“I thought she was the one who dumped you,” Ryker says.
“Well, technically, yes, but I was the one who…”
I stop as I realize something. I give Ryker a questioning look.
“How do you know she was the one who ended things between us? Did she tell you?”