His Revenge (Power Play #1)

Chapter 29

Ethan jerked upright, heart racing as his brain struggled to catch up with the rest of him. beside him, Erin stirred and murmured something in her sleep and he felt his pulse begin to steady as he turned to regard the sleeping woman beside him. It hadn’t been a dream…thank God! She was here…in his bed…in the flesh. He felt like bursting into the Hallelujah chorus – he was that excited.

Careful not to wake Erin, he leaned down, gently brushing aside the hair that clung to her face and pressed a kiss on her bare shoulders before easing out of bed. The sound that had woken him came again, and he cursed under his breath. Who the hell could be at his door at…he grabbed his phone to peer at the illuminated display and swore….Jesus! Ten am? He’d never woken up this late…though to be fair, he’d never spent the entire night and most of the morning making love to the most incredible woman in the fucking state.

He grabbed his pants, putting in on in quick sparse moves, then stalked to the door and yanked it open.

“You’d better have a damn good reason to be here.” He levelled a withering glare at his friend.

Looking impeccable in a suit, Marcus raised an eyebrow as his eyes travelled over Ethan, taking in his rumpled state.

 “Well at least you’re still alive.” he quipped, picking up his briefcase and striding past Ethan into the room. “I was beginning to think you’d killed yourself in shame, especially after committing financial suicide.” He stopped abruptly as he took in the clothes that were littered on the floor of the living room, the used glasses and dishes from last night’s dinner. “Oh man! Now it makes sense.”

“Fuck off Marc.” Ethan tried to sound threatening, but he was still on a high from being with Erin. Instead he found himself grinning like an idiot as he moved past his friend to begin picking up the clothes. “And keep your voice down for fuck’s sake, Erin’s sleeping.”

 “Ah hell! She’s still here?” Wide-eyed, Marcus glanced in the direction of the bedroom his voice dropping to a hushed whisper. “So all that bullshit you pulled with the shares was just so you could get into her pants? That’s sick man, I thought you had more guts than that.”

“You should stop talking now before I hurt you.” Ethan snarled, his temper shooting to boiling point as he took a threatening step in Marcus’ direction. “And if you ever utter one disparaging word about the woman I love, then you can consider our friendship over.”

Looking contrite, Marcus held up both hands in a gesture of apology. “Shit, I had no idea…look, I’m happy for you ET and believe me I respect Erin way too much to say anything bad about her…but this in love shit…you sure about this? I don’t want to see you screwed up again.”

“I’m sure and I am not going to discuss my love life with you dude. You’re the king of dysfunctional relationships. Ethan gave Marc a pointed stare and resumed clearing up. “So, what brings you here?”

Marcus moved to the table and began piling dirty plates. “The media’s got a hold of the news, and they’re going ape shit with happiness.” He informed his friend, taking the dishes to kitchen and dumping them in the sink. “The investors are calling for your balls on a platter and there’s even speculation that you’ve gone and lost your ‘mental faculties’ as one of your staff quaintly put it. We’ve been trying to do damage control, but the fact that the said CEO hasn’t been available for comment isn’t doing any favors. So after trying to call a lot of fucking times, I decided to see if you were still alive.”

“Is it that bad?” Erin’s voice broke into the conversation and both men whirled around to see her standing in the kitchen doorway, wearing one of Ethan’s shirts and a worried frown, the material almost seeming to swallow her up.