Addicted (Ethan Frost #2)(43)

Miles blanches, stutters over his tongue and his feet, even if he is standing still.

“All right, that’s it!” I tell them. “Miles, you need to settle down—”

“I need to settle down? You’re the one sleeping with the enemy. After everything his brother did to you, after everything his parents did, why would you hook up with him? If you needed money that badly, you know you could have come to me. I’ve wanted to help—”

“Don’t talk to her like that,” Ethan growls. His jaw is working at the implication, his hands clenching into fists and I know he wants to lash out. Hell, he has every right to … After everything my brother has said and done in the last five minutes I pretty much figure it’s a miracle that he’s still able to stand, let alone talk. Ethan wouldn’t take this from anyone else and I know the only thing keeping my brother in one piece right now is the fact that Ethan doesn’t want to upset me any more.

But it’s a tenuous protection, one that I can see is wearing thin. Especially when Ethan seems to think that Miles is ignoring his warning. “Seriously, Chloe. Getting that internship isn’t worth this. Law school—”

I see the moment Ethan snaps. He steps forward, reaches for my brother again, but before he can so much as grab on to him, Tori’s voice rings through the apartment. “Get out!”

All three of us turn to stare at her incredulously. Her face is white with fury, and she’s pushed herself off the couch. The green hair and halter top she’s wearing should ruin the intimidation factor, but she’s shaking with so much suppressed fury that she makes quite an impact. “Get the hell out!”

“Tori,” I say, appreciating the support but wanting desperately to diffuse the situation. “He’s just—”

“Calling you a whore,” she finishes flatly. “He’s standing in the middle of our apartment and calling you a whore. I won’t have it.”

“That’s not what he meant—”

“Oh, I don’t know. Your brother’s a smart guy,” Ethan tells me. “I think he knows exactly what he’s saying.”

“Are you kidding me?” Miles looks at me, completely exasperated. “I’m the bad guy here? He’s the one sleeping with an intern, the one whose family bought off a rape victim—”

“And you’re the one who sold out his baby sister for start-up capital, so excuse me if it disgusts me to watch you try to take the moral high ground here.” Ethan is all but vibrating with rage at this point. From the moment he found out about my family forcing me to take money for my silence, it’s been eating away at him. Now that my brother is here, making a total ass of himself, is it any wonder Ethan is more than ready to take him apart?

“Chloe.” Tori whispers my name, and I turn to see her staring at me with wide and stricken eyes.

Shit. I never told her about the rape, never told her anything but the most basic stuff about my past. I wanted to reinvent myself when I got to San Diego and that included leaving all of this stuff back in Boston, where it belonged. Now it’s out in the open and she’s looking at me like I’m a victim, like I’m hurt and defenseless and weak.
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It’s that knowledge that sends me over the edge. I’ve dealt with everything else—learning about Ethan’s connection to Brandon, finding my way back to him after I found out, my brother acting like an absolute bastard—but knowing that my secret will never be a secret again just about brings me to my knees. Because this is my life, these are the choices that I’ve made. I’ve already had my ability to choose taken away from me twice over very important things. I’ll be damned if I stand by and let it happen again.

“That’s it. I’m done,” I tell them, walking over to the door and sliding my shoes on. “Come on, Ethan. I’ll walk you to your car.”

He just looks at me, brow cocked in silent inquiry.

“Obviously, I’m going to have to deal with my idiot of a brother. And since he can’t be civil, it looks like I’m going to have to do it alone.”

For a moment, I think Ethan is going to argue. Leaving me to face anything alone—unpleasant or otherwise—isn’t his typical modus operandi. But he must read something in my face because in the end, he just nods.

We don’t speak until we’re in the elevator, and then Ethan says, “I’ve got to be honest. I’m having a hard time with this one, Chloe. Leaving you with him isn’t easy for me.”

“I know.” I lean into him, rest my head on his chest. “And I appreciate you letting me handle it.”

“Yeah.”

“You don’t have to look so grim. Miles won’t hurt me.”

“Seeing as how he gave me a bloody nose with that sucker punch of his, you’ll excuse me if I don’t have your same confidence in the matter.”

“Is your nose okay?” I ask, poking at it a little. “It doesn’t look swollen or anything.”

Ethan snorts. “That’s because you’re used to seeing it messed up from the fight with Brandon. You forget what it looks like when I haven’t been punched in the face.”

“That’s a good point,” I tell him, stretching up and pressing a soft kiss to his poor nose—which isn’t swollen but is definitely starting to bruise—before we exit the elevator.