Her Sister's Fiancé - Book #1

Chapter 17

"Trust me, you'll be grateful for my intervention in the end." Ethan gritted his teeth at his father's voice and clamped his mouth shut, refusing to deign the words worthy of a reply. "This will prove to be a momentous day in your life." Lord Brodi ignored his son's sullen silence, reaching up to straighten Ethan's cravat. "Don't look so downcast; everything's going to be perfect."

Resisting the rage that welled within him, Ethan jerked away from his father's hands. He felt angry and hurt and. . .completely helpless. He had never been close to his father, but this event would prove to destroy what relationship they had left. Either he vowed to live a life of misery today, or he doomed Lavinia to his father's crass gossip. There was no way out without injuring someone.

"Hurry and finish," his father casually settled into a chair. "It's almost time." Ethan's frown deepened.

What if—

"Don't." His father's voice jerked him away from that strain of thought. "I know you may be reconsidering now, may be thinking that I won't really go through with my threats, but I am in earnest. Believe me. I don't say things simply for the pleasure of hearing my own voice. If you cross me, I will make your life a living hell and hers, too. All in all, it's in your best interest to go through with this in a civilized fashion."

"No, father," Ethan turned to look at the cold man, the endearing term falling from his lips like the harsh clatter of a dagger. "It was never about my interests, never. It's in your best interest that I go through with this. The fact that you have to try to blackmail me into doing what you want shows that you don't care. You never did. I was simply a means to an end from the start. Just like mother and everyone else you chance to meet. So don't you tell me that you're looking out for me, because we both know it's a lie, and you were never good at the whole deceit thing."

Without waiting for a response, Ethan crossed the room and stepped out of the door. He paused for a moment in the hall to collect his feelings before descending the stairs in quick, decisive steps. There was somewhere he had to go, and it wasn't the church.

Somehow he knew that she was there. Ignoring the inbred caution to worry about dirtying his fine clothes, he had ridden as fast as he could toward the meadow where he knew she often sat to read. The sky was dark and ominous with the threat of rain, but he didn't care. He had to see her one last time.

Pulling to a halt when he reached the green carpet or grass, his eyes searched the area for any sign of her, but she was nowhere in sight. He'd been wrong after all. After the brief moment of exhilarated determination, he felt cold and empty inside. What had made him think she'd be out here on a day like this? It was her sister's wedding, after all.

"Ethan?" Whirling, he caught sight of her gaunt and pale figure seated at the base of an enormous tree. She was leaning forward, her brows drawn together as though she thought her brain might be playing some kind of trick on her.

Dropping his reigns, he walked over to her with quick, sure steps. He didn't know what he was going to do; this was new, uncharted territory, but he was loving every minute of the unexplainable feelings coursing through his body. That was how it felt when he was with her. She was familiar and yet new every time he met her. He could be himself in her presence, and when her large eyes were looking up at him, he could play the part of a lover with ease.

She got to her feet as he drew closer. Her lips parted slightly, and her eyes were widened slightly. Before he fully realized what he was doing, he had taken her in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. He hadn't known how much he needed to feel her presence until that moment, and the raw hunger, which he had so pointedly shoved away from him many times, pushed out of hiding now.