Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 132097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
He’s never coming back to salvage anything.
The sooner I get used to it, the better.
24
ALL I AM (ETHAN)
“So you are alive,” Margot says.
I blink at her, trying to erase sleep from my brain.
When I heard a knock on the door in the middle of the night, I didn’t think too hard about who it might be.
A lost hiker or just the wind knocking an overgrown branch against the side of the cabin.
No one knows I’m here.
My nosy damn sister certainly shouldn’t.
Now, I’m glaring at her and she’s staring right back, her blonde hair up in a messy bun, and her hands on her hips.
Her power pose, and it means I’m in for one hell of a lecture.
My jaw clenches. I don’t unblock the doorway.
“Margot, it’s two in the morning. What the hell do you want?”
“Oh, nothing. I just got tired of waiting for you to crawl out of your little hidey hole.” Her smile is all knives. “Plus, you never texted back, so somebody had to do a wellness check. Better me than the cops, right? Can I come in?”
“For fuck’s sake—how did you find me?” I mutter, opening the door just enough so she can brush past me.
She sniffs loudly as she looks around.
As cabins go, it’s nice enough, but I’ve been camped out here long enough to make a mess with cheap instant noodle cups overflowing the trash and beer cans everywhere. A shameful row of empty bottles of whiskey line the kitchen counter.
I meant to straighten up about ten times, but it isn’t easy once you’ve reverted back to pissy seventeen-year-old. I’m sure I deserve her judgmental death glare.
“I don’t want you here,” I growl. “There’s a reason I didn’t text you.”
“I know. You have a packed schedule, moping.” She sighs. “But holy shit, Ethan. Look at this place!”
“If it offends you, leave.”
She raises a brow. “Nice try, Brother. But no. You need a full-on intervention, even if you don’t want one. Especially if you don’t want one.” She sniffs again. “Jesus, what is that smell? Please tell me you’ve been letting Ares out?”
“Fuck you. He gets more walks than he’s had in years. It’s not like I’m doing anything else besides taking the dog out hiking.” Snarling, I stride past her to rip a window open, almost breaking its old crank. “Better?”
“Not yet. Ethan, how could you?” Her tone shifts from standoffish to sad. “I’m your sister. Did you really think I’d love you less because we have different dads?”
Aw, shit. Here we go.
Ten seconds into this and I’m already sick of it.
I fold my arms and glower.
“You first. How did you find me?”
“Um, like it was hard.” She throws herself on the sofa with a huff. “I mean, I figured you wouldn’t go too far. It took one call to find out you haven’t taken the jet anywhere. Then I asked around. Didn’t take long to find the three places around here that still have summer vacancies. I asked if any of them gave up a long-term rental to a grouch who probably offered them ten times their summer rate to clear their schedules for him.”
“Smart,” I say dryly.
“Yeah, that’s Portland. Everybody’s nice and they like to talk—everybody with one exception, I mean.”
Sighing roughly, I scratch my neck and stalk away, throwing myself into the armchair. My head is fucking pounding.
“Remind me why I let you in again?”
“You didn’t have a choice, dearest brother,” she says in that same hard voice. “And because no matter what, I’m your sister and you love me. And I couldn’t stand cutting you loose to drink yourself to death.”
“I’m not—what the fuck ever.”
She leans forward, her elbows on her knees.
“Look, now that I know you’re not dead, I’m not going to give you crap for scaring us half to death or going AWOL with the company or any of that.”
“How kind,” I bite off.
“I’m here because it’s serious business—and I do mean business.” She holds my gaze. “Blackthorn Holdings is being sued by Cooper Daley.”
“What the fuck?” I’m back on my feet, rubbing grit from my eyes. “Tell me you’re kidding. That goddamned rat, I knew I should’ve—”
“Nope.” She reaches into her tote bag and pulls out a manila folder. But before I can take it, she jerks it out of reach. “Nuh-uh. Before you take this, you have to agree that you’re not going ostrich-man again. No more burying your head in the sand.”
“Let me read it,” I growl. “Fucking Daley isn’t going to get away with anything.”
Satisfied, she passes the folder over, just as Ares wanders into the room with a yawn, drawn by her voice.
When he sees her, his thick tail wags furiously, and she falls to her knees beside him.
“Hi, big guy!” she coos. “It was so mean of Ethan to keep you away from everyone who loves you, wasn’t it?”