Exposed (Ethan Frost 3)

“Come back to bed,” he says, taking my hand and tugging me toward the bed in the center of the room.

“I don’t want to have sex right now, Ethan.”

“I know that, Chloe.” He puts the same stress on my name that I put on his. “But I don’t want to have this discussion with you in defensive mode halfway across the room. I want to be able to hold you while we talk this out.”

“Is that what we’re going to do?” I ask as I finally allow him to pull me back to bed. “Talk this out?”

“Ask me anything.”

“Anything?” I ask skeptically.

“Anything.”

“And you’ll answer me truthfully.”

“I promised you when we got married that I wouldn’t lie to you again. I meant it.”

“Yeah, but that was before I found out about Nico Valducci, the Las Vegas mobster. Las Vegas,” I repeat, stressing the words. “Where we just happen to be right this very second.”

“If you heard me on the phone, you know you found out about my meeting with Valducci at the same time I did.”

“Who set up the meeting? Who were you even talking to?”

“Sebastian.”

“Sebastian Caine? Your best friend?”

“Yes.”

“He’s in bed with the Vegas mob?”

“God, no.” Ethan’s laugh is harsh and anything but amused. “His father is. Seba

stian’s trying to cut the mob out of the Atlantis once and for all.”

The sick feeling is back in my stomach and this time it’s worse than ever. The thoughts that have been floating nebulously around my brain from the moment I found out who Valducci was finally coalesce into one clear question. “Is that why we’re here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is that why you brought me to Vegas? To meet with Nico Valducci and find a way to use him against Brandon?”

“Brandon?”

“Don’t!” Despite my best efforts, I all but scream it at him. “Don’t lie to me. When I Googled them, I saw a picture of Brandon and your stepfather with Valducci.”

“Really?” Ethan asks, suddenly a million times more intense than he was. “Where? Because I haven’t even seen that picture.”

Suddenly, he’s reaching for his phone and I’m turning cold, so cold.

“Fuck.” I stare at him incredulously. “This whole thing really is all about Brandon.”

I’m not sure what it is, but there must be something in my tone that tips Ethan off as to how serious this really is. Because he drops his phone like it burned him, and then he’s reaching for me, trying to pull me close.

But I won’t let him. Not now, when it feels like my whole world is shattering around my feet. “You brought me to Vegas because you wanted to chase down a lead about your brother.”

He looks at me like I’m insane. “I brought you to Vegas to marry you. I brought you here because I didn’t want to wait one more second to make you my wife. You have to know that, Chloe.”

“Do I? Do I really? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like we came to Vegas to further your agenda against your brother. An agenda I thought we had decided you weren’t going to pursue anymore. I have to be honest, Ethan, from where I’m standing, it looks like marrying me was just a way to keep me quiet and happy and ignorant while you and Sebastian worked behind the scenes to bring Brandon down.”