His Revenge (Power Play #1)

Chapter 16

Tossing his friend a towel, Marcus leaned against the machine and studied Ethan intently, noting the tensed shoulders, and the anger smoldering in his eyes. “How long have you been down here?”

Ethan stepped off the machine, his breath only slightly hitched from the exertion. Dabbing at his face with the towel, he glanced at the watch strapped on his wrist and shrugged. It was seven a.m. “Maybe three hours….give or take.”

“You’re going to kill yourself one of these days.” Marcus admonished with a shake of his head. “Three hours on the treadmill ET? Are you insane?”

“Fuck off Marc. I don’t need you mothering me.” Ethan growled, his anger threatening to boil to the surface. He snatched up a water bottle from the nearby bench. “And I didn’t spend the entire three hours on the damn machine.”

“You have got to stop obsessing over this chick man.” Marcus ignored the earlier insult, watching as Ethan sat down on the bench and began untying his sneakers. “It’s not healthy.”

Ethan shot another glare at Marcus. “What part of that earlier sentence did you not hear?”

“The last time you were this fucked up was when the other blonde one dumped you. Now you’re letting yourself get involved with another Gosling chick and look where you are now – in a gym, riding out your frustration on a poor defenseless machine instead of focusing on work.”

"I don't want to hear this Marc." Ethan stood up, still glaring daggers in his direction.

Marcus sighed, shaking his head. "I know and I can't believe I'm saying any of this to you. Not after the "Great Screw-up. I mean, I told you Nicky was bad for you and I was right. Now, I'm telling you Erin is just as bad."

"I'm not emotionally involved with Erin." Ethan replied, chin thrust out. "It's just..."

"Revenge." Marcus cut in. "I'm aware of that. See, this is why you should have gone with my plan in the first place. There'd have been none of this emotional nonsense to begin with."

Ethan struggled to hold back a wry grin. "The Screw and Lose?"

"Exactly!" Marcus laughed, the sound echoing around the empty gym. "No strings, no baggage, just 'wham bam eff you ma'am' sex."

Ethan chuckled and stood, draping the towel around his shoulders. He scooped up his gym bag and headed towards the door "You’re an ass.”

“No, I merely speak the truth. Wanna tell me what happened with the Gosling chick this time?”

Ethan's expression changed, amusement replaced once more by a cold distant look. "No."

Marcus held up both hands in surrender. "Fine, suit yourself.”

*****

“Are you sure you’re strong enough to do this dad?” Erin leaned across the seat to place a hand on her father’s own resting on the table. Her brown eyes were filled with concern as she took in the slightly pale pallor of his cheeks and worried that he was finding this meeting stressful.

Harold waved away her concern with a quick smile, his attention focused on the sheaf of papers spread in front of him. “I’m fine Erin, stop worrying.”

She returned the smile and leaned back, pulling her own stack of papers closer. Still, she kept an eye on him, ready to spring to his aid. It had been a week since he’d left the hospital and this was the first time he’d gone back to work, insisting she organize an emergency meeting with Ethan Lachlan.

She’d thrown herself into the task, grateful to have something to take her mind off Ethan and the fiasco in his penthouse. To her relief, she'd dealt with his personal assistant, who'd informed her in a crisp professional tone that Ethan was out of town, but would be present for the meeting.