Reunited in Love

Chapter Twenty-Eight

ETHAN SWUNG HIS CLUB and smacked the ball harder than was prudent. It shot away like a missile, disappearing somewhere off to the left.

“I thought you were going to work on your swing,” Alex said.

“I am.” He whacked another small white ball. This one went right.

“You might make a decent switch-hitter if you tried baseball.”

Ethan glared at his friend. “You have some advice to offer, or are you just going to stand there?”

“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to come out here.” Alex studied his friend. “Surprised the hell out of me. You don’t even like golf.”

“Everyone in business likes golf, so I’m working on it.”

“To talk business. Nobody actually plays.”

Ethan straightened. “I don’t want to talk.”

“Okay with me.” Alex stepped up to the tee, placed a ball on it and swung his club with control and finesse.

Ethan glared at the beautifully straight arc his friend’s ball made. It made him want to tie his own club into a pretzel. Coming to the golf course had been a mistake. He should’ve raided his wet bar. After all, it was well-stocked with whiskey and the Merlot he’d bought for Kerri.

Kerri, who didn’t want him near her family. Kerri, who’d rather expose herself to the pain that that a*shole Barron Sterling would bring, instead of letting Ethan face her grandfather for her.

How could she not see that he’d fight dragons, slay them barehanded for her?

“F*ck this.” Ethan hurled his club away. It went end-over-end into some trees.

“You all right?” Alex asked.

“No! Kerri left to see her family. Her grandfather, to be specific.”

“That’s good, right?” When Ethan continued to glower, Alex added, “Guess not.”

“He’s an a*shole.”

Alex nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, I know all about in-laws. Natalie’s family isn’t all that great either, especially her mother, but since the wedding she’s made some effort to be nicer.”

Most likely to ingratiate herself with her wealthy and influential son-in-law, Ethan thought. The woman tried too hard, but at least she made an attempt. Barron Sterling probably just didn’t give a damn.

“So where’s her family?” Alex asked.

“Here. The almighty Barron Sterling came out to Virginia, sent men to collect her, the whole nine yards.”

“Whoa!” Alex raised a hand. “Wait. Did you just say Barron Sterling?”

“You didn’t know?”

He shook his head. “I had no idea. Natalie never said.”

Ethan laughed dryly.

Kerri never talked about them because the memories hurt too much. So why hadn’t she wanted him along as a buffer? She’d said she wanted to protect him from Barron’s rage. Ethan didn’t give a damn about that old man’s feelings. He didn’t give a damn whether he got on Barron’s shit list. Sterling was already number one on Ethan’s.

Alex swore. “Wonder why.”

“She doesn’t get along with her family. They’re the main reason why she left the States. She hasn’t seen them in years.”

“Then why does Barron want to see her all of a sudden?”

“No idea. Apparently that’s classified.”

“If her family is all a*sholes, shouldn’t you be there? It’s going to be her versus Barron. I met him once, and he’s no pushover. A hard son of a bitch to negotiate with.”

Ethan picked up another club and smacked another ball. This one hit a tree trunk and ricocheted off into a pond. “She went alone, to ‘protect’ me.”

Alex choked. “What?”

“I told her if she went alone it was over.”

“Shit. And she still went?”

“Yep.” Ethan should’ve gone to a kick-boxing gym. Blood would be so much more satisfying than hitting tiny immobile balls that couldn’t fight back.

He glared at his surroundings—the pristine greens, gleaming clubs and expensively dressed men and women. God, he hated the sight of everything. If he’d been thinking straight, he wouldn’t be there, but Kerri had destroyed every rational part of his mind.

“Have you considered the possibility that maybe she cares about you too much to let you take on her grandfather?” Alex asked cautiously.

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “That doesn’t change the fact. She should’ve trusted me to take care of both of us.”

“A woman who moved halfway around the world to avoid her family—and built a new life for herself in Asia—is probably pretty self-sufficient. Not to mention used to being on her own. She’s not like you with your big, close family.”

No, she wasn’t. She could never count on anyone to care about her. Her family had pretended she didn’t exist to avoid thinking about the males they’d lost. She’d never had anyone she could depend on. And he hated them for hurting her, for what that horrible pain had done to her and to his relationship with her.

When he’d made his proposition, he’d been clear that it was supposed to be temporary. That had seemed important, given how skittish she was about commitment. Later, even though he’d done everything he could to demonstrate that he wanted more, he’d never actually said the words because he didn’t want to scare her off.

What a tactical mistake. Being wary of commitment didn’t mean a committed relationship wasn’t exactly what she needed. She’d been wary of course; not even her own flesh and blood had stood by her. Natalie had said Kerri wanted her men tall, dark and manageable. And by the last requirement, Kerri had meant men she could dump without leaving herself with permanent emotional scars. She hadn’t wanted to leave herself open to hurt because she expected everyone to ultimately reject her, as her family had.

And he’d basically fulfilled that expectation with his ultimatum.

How could he have been so stupid?

“I need to go,” Ethan said, throwing the club into his bag. “Catch you at the office.”

He had no intention of being manageable. Nor was he going to be temporary. It was about time Kerri understood just how unmanageable and permanent he could be.

*



After she was done talking with Barron, Kerri phoned Natalie. “You home?”

“Yes. What’s up? You all right?” Natalie said.

“Can I come over?” Kerri tried to sound light, but failed. It was difficult when her heart felt bruised… No, worse than bruised. She felt like she’d never be whole again.

“Sure.” Natalie hesitated then said, “I’ll wait.”

Kerri took a cab to Natalie’s penthouse. Barron had offered to lend her Miles, but she didn’t want her grandfather’s spy around.

The second she opened the door, Natalie said, “You okay? You didn’t sound too good on the phone, and you’re so pale.”

“I’m fine.”

“Those ‘bodyguards’ still bothering you?”

“No. They’re gone.” She plopped herself on the couch with a sigh.

Natalie raised an eyebrow. “Barron gave up?”


Kerri shook her head. “I caved. We talked.”

Natalie pressed her lips together, then slowly said, “I hope it was productive.”

“Some of it was, and some of it wasn’t.”

Natalie moved next to Kerri and hugged her.

“I need to ask you to do something for me,” Kerri said.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“Meredith—Ethan’s younger sister—is going to take over The Lloyds Development, but she doesn’t have much managerial experience. It’s her first time in a business environment. I want you to help her.”

“Me? Why not you? You’ve been working for Ethan long enough I’m sure you know everything about the company.”

“He and I had an argument about my meeting Barron, and with his brothers so wary about my connection to Sterling & Wilson, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Crimson suffused Natalie’s cheeks. “Are they accusing you of spying for your family or something?” she said, her voice full of heat.

“No, nothing so melodramatic.” Kerri didn’t want Natalie fighting Ethan’s family over it. “It just makes them uncomfortable—which is totally understandable—and I don’t want a scene.”

“That’s bullshit.”

“I really don’t mind. I was thinking about going to California anyway.” Kerri gave her friend a rueful smile. “But thanks. You did your best.”

Natalie frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You think I didn’t notice how you tried to set me up with Ethan? Food poisoning? Working honeymoon? Come on. You remember the Scallops of Doom that night in Hong Kong? Everyone in the office got sick except you.”

Natalie flushed. “Well…at least Ethan bought it.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he did.”

“It’s so sad to see you go like this. I thought he was crazy about you.”

“Well…it was going to end sooner or later.”

“Kerri…”

“I always thought I’d end up alone. Because, you know, you want your fiancé to meet your family and all, but that just wasn’t possible given my situation. I certainly didn’t think it’d be a good idea to start married life by lying, saying that I’m an orphan or something.” She laughed, the sound brittle even to her own ears. “Guess I’m more traditional than I thought. But now that Barron’s trying to make up for the past…I don’t know.” She shook her head. She wasn’t sure what she wanted. Her thoughts were too mixed, too confused. No, that wasn’t entirely true. She knew what she wanted: Ethan. But she didn’t know if she could have him. She didn’t think she could bear it if he turned away from her. “Ethan and I can’t just ignore everything and go back to what we used to be. We did and said too many things.”

Quietly, Natalie put an arm around Kerri’s shoulders.

“He’s really tight with his family, Natalie. And my relationship to Sterling & Wilson will create a rift between them, if not now, then eventually. And he’ll start to hate me.” Then there had been the fight, the ultimatum. That hurt the most, maybe because she hadn’t expected him to make their relationship conditional upon her doing what he wanted. She blinked away tears. “I don’t want to live my life trying to make up for the way I was born.” No, she refused to revert back to her old self, doing everything in her power to earn what crumbs of affection and acceptance she could manage from those who should’ve loved her as she was, without conditions. “Our affair started really suddenly, so it’s only fitting that it ends just as fast.” Even as she smiled at her friend, Kerri didn’t know how to stop her heart from breaking in the same abrupt manner.