“She’ll believe us if Duncan can back us up. Where is he?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he’d be over a while ago and he never showed.”
“Okay, we’ll wait for him and then drive over there,” I said. “I’m going upstairs to take a quick shower and change my clothes.”
Nathan didn’t respond, he just sat down in the sectional and put his head in his hands.
“Once Duncan gets here, everything will work out,” I told him. “You’ll see.”
He nodded.
I really didn’t believe it would be that easy, but I could tell he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. So was I, for that matter. We had to keep it together, at least for mom’s sake.
I sighed and then went upstairs to take a shower. As I stood in the shower washing the conditioner out of my hair, images of Taryn’s mangled body swept through my mind. I couldn’t get the picture of her lifeless gaze out of my head and it was all I could do to keep from going hysterical. The fact that I’d almost been killed by whatever the hell Faye had turned into wasn’t easy to digest, either. As far as I was concerned, we all needed to leave town as quickly as possible, especially after hearing Faye’s threats. Without a doubt, I knew she had plans for me, and there was no way I wanted to stick around to find out what they were.
I turned off the water and then opened the shower door for my towel. After drying my skin, I put on a robe then leaned over to wrap the towel around my hair. As I lifted my head back up, I was met with two piercing blue eyes.
“Jesus!” I gasped, backing away from him. “Don’t do that!”
Ethan smiled wickedly. “Do what?”
“Sneak up on someone getting out of the shower,” I snapped, pulling my robe in tighter.
He stepped towards me and tugged playfully at my robe. “Looks like you’re finished, which is too bad. I’d have loved to join you.”
I slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”
Ethan moved towards me again, this time until he had me backed up against the tiled wall. “Your mouth says ‘no’,” he whispered, staring at it. “But your eyes say something entirely different.”
I stared up at him. “Get the hell out of my house.”
He raised his hand and touched my cheek. “Come on, don’t be like that.”
I raised my chin. “Do you think I’d just let you waltz in here and do whatever you want with me after what you said at the diner earlier?”
His eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I know it was rotten, but I did it for your own good.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me?”
“I was trying to protect you,” he said, turning away. He walked out of the bathroom and I followed him.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He sat on my bed and began removing his shoes. “Faye is dangerous.”
“So, I’ve heard. Is that psycho creature from hell your girlfriend or something?” I asked, watching him unbutton his shirt. He wore black dress pants and a dark blue shirt that brought out his eyes more than ever.
“Or something,” he said, reaching for me. “Look, I didn’t come here to talk about her. I came here to be with you.”
I slapped his hands away again and stepped back. “You’re incredible.”
He leaned back against my pillows and gave me a slow, sexy grin. “You told me that quite a few times last night. Come join me on the bed and I’ll give you an encore.”
I raised my hands in frustration. “Just stop, Ethan. There’s no time for this. Faye murdered someone I knew from school tonight and she came after me, too!”
His face darkened and he sat up. “What?”
I told him about my encounter with Faye and he stood up. “Shit,” he said as he began to pace around my room.
“You have to control your little concubine, or whatever the hell she is,” I said. “I’m not ready to die.”
He stopped pacing and stared at me. “I can’t control her,” he said. “Nobody can. But, I’ll protect you. In fact, we need to leave this place before she comes back for you. Right now.”
I stared at him incredulously. “I’m not leaving with you, Ethan.”
He grabbed my arms and stared into my eyes. “I’m not asking you this time, I’m telling you. We’re leaving.”
Before I could protest anymore, my balcony door opened and Duncan walked in. “Let her go,” he growled, his eyes blazing with fury.
Ethan released me and snarled. “This is none of your business. Leave us!”
Before I could comprehend what was happening, Duncan launched himself at Ethan and they crashed onto my bed.
“Stop it!” I yelled as fists began to fly.
“What in the hell?!” hollered my brother as he stormed through the door.
“It’s Ethan and Duncan!” I cried, stepping back as Duncan was kicked across the room. He landed against the wall but quickly launched himself back towards Ethan, who was already prepared for another attack. I watched in horror as his fist slammed into Duncan’s and blood sprayed all over my purple and green comforter.