Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Stay right here and I’ll take you in a minute,” Ethan said firmly. “This will only take a second.”
As soon as he was out of sight, she jumped to her feet and raced for the hallway.
In the back of her mind, she knew she was going to be in trouble. But she just needed a moment to calm her mind. And for that to happen, she had to be in her safe place.
Running into the closet, she sat and tried to calm herself. But it wasn’t working.
Her fault Samantha and Rhodes broke up.
Her fault that Rhodes was angry at Kevin, who was good for his career even if he was a bit of a jerk.
Her fault she’d fallen in love with a man that she couldn’t have long-term.
You know what you need.
If only she could find one.
Cate searched through her drawers for a spare hair tie.
There!
Putting it around her wrist, she flicked it. But the thoughts kept coming.
She couldn’t keep them out.
What was she going to do?
Ethan wasn’t going to be happy with her. Neither would Rhodes.
But she was a grown woman. If she wanted to punish herself for being an idiot, she would.
What else would work, though?
You could cut yourself.
No, no. She didn’t like blood.
You could pinch yourself.
Oh, she liked that idea. She sharply pinched her forearm.
Yep. That worked better.
“Where’s Cate?” Rhodes asked as Ethan walked into the living room.
Fuck.
He’d told her to wait for him. Maybe she’d been busting. What was he thinking? He should have taken her to the toilet before going to talk to Butch.
But he’d been gone three or four minutes at the most.
“She was supposed to be right here.” Ethan turned toward her bedroom. “I’m just going to go find her.”
“Fuck! You left her? You can’t leave her like that. I’ll go find her!”
Ethan turned to him. “I thought we’d settled this. You know I’m not going to hurt her. I care about her. I want to look after her.”
Rhodes sighed and looked away, but Ethan knew he was listening.
“I know you want to take care of her. I get it. I want to do the same. But Cate has her own mind. Her own feelings. She can make her own decisions.”
“I know that,” Rhodes said. “I’m just trying to stop her from getting hurt.”
“We have more in common than you know, since I want that too.”
“Fuck. Fine. But I’m coming as well. I have to make sure she’s all right.” Was that fear on Rhodes’ face? Why would he be scared?
Not for the first time, Ethan wondered if there was something he was missing. He understood Rhodes being protective, but he often seemed over-the-top.
And this was coming from Ethan.
Ethan followed Rhodes to Cate’s bedroom. He knocked twice, then walked in.
Ethan frowned. They needed a lock on the door if that’s all the warning Rhodes gave before walking into her bedroom.
Rhodes strode to her closet, which wasn’t a surprise. Then he knocked again. This time, though, he didn’t just barge in.
“Cate? It’s me. Can I talk to you? Cate?”
“I’m reading,” she called back in a fragile-sounding voice.
“Cate,” Ethan said. “Let us in, please. Or come out here so we can see you.”
“I need to see you, Cate,” Rhodes added. “Protocol.”
Protocol?
What did that mean?
There was definitely something going on here that he didn’t know about. Which didn’t make him happy. He needed to know everything about Cate.
But then the door opened, and Cate was staring out at them, her face was white and her eyes were wide.
His poor baby. This had all been a lot for her. Ethan wanted to gather her up into his arms and hold her tight.
“Baby, why did you leave? You know I wanted you to stay on the sofa,” Ethan said as she walked out of the closet.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Something was going on inside that big brain of hers. He guessed that was understandable with everything that had happened.
But he didn’t like that she’d run away from him instead of coming to him.
“Cate, tell us what’s going on,” Rhodes pressed.
“I don’t want to.”
“Shit,” Rhodes muttered. “Am I pushing you too much? Ethan thinks I’m too overprotective and that I’m too scared of you getting hurt that I smother you.”
“I didn’t say it exactly like that,” Ethan said dryly.
“Do I?” Rhodes asked gently. “Do you want me to back off?”
“I love you. You’ve always taken care of me. I don’t want you to go anywhere.” Moving to him, she hugged him tight before pulling away. “I love you. You’re the best brother I could ever ask for. But I don’t want to be a liability.”
Fuck.
He knew she would take what Kevin said to heart. And that was on top of Rhodes kicking Samantha out.
Yeah, his girl took too much on her shoulders. Took the blame that people heaped on her when she wasn’t at fault.