“So you towed the line, then, to keep everyone safe?”
Ethan liked touching her, stroking the smooth skin of her shoulders, pushing his fingers through her hair, and she hadn’t bitten him yet so he kept on doing it.
“It wasn’t all bad, honey. Look where I live.” Ethan gave her a smile she didn’t answer.
“Don’t bullshit me, Gelderman. You were miserable, even living in this place.”
He was, but it surprised him that she knew that. Doing whatever his father asked of him had taken its toll on him; even at a young age he’d become introverted and angry. “The hardest part of it all was that everyone thinks he’s a good guy because he’s so good at manipulating people.”
“How did you get away?”
She rolled on top of him, her hands one on top of the other, chin on top as she looked up at him.
“I planned and plotted for years. Uncle Mitch is dad’s brother, and he kept me sane by teaching me to fly a helicopter. He convinced Dad to let me learn, and in all honesty, if I hadn’t had those lessons I think I’d have gone crazy.”
“So you kept your head down and learned to fly and when you were old enough you joined the Army. I bet that was a day to remember, the one when you told your dad what you were doing.”
“It wasn’t pretty. I had told Hope and Taylor what I intended to do, and they wanted me to do it.”
“What’d your dad do?”
Ethan remembered the day clearly, and the memory never got any better. “Hope was away at school, and Taylor and Mother were visiting family for a couple of days, so it was just me and Dad.”
“Where was Brad? You haven’t mentioned him in all this.”
“He was away at college.”
“But were you ever close with him like the others?”
“Yeah. It started to change, though, when he realized our father was only interested in me and not him. He would run to him every time I did anything wrong.”
“He’s a bit sleazy, but I’m sure most of that is your dad’s doing again. He has to have some of you and the others inside him, I’m guessing”
“Women fall all over him, Annabelle. Sleazy is not something he’s ever been labeled before, I’m sure, and yeah, he was once a pretty good guy.”
“Believe me, I’ve been hit on by plenty of men and I know sleazy when I see it.”
The bite of anger he felt at men hitting on her was totally unreasonable, but Ethan felt it anyway.
“So your dad must have been pissed when you told him?”
“Yeah, we fought, and it was the first time I can remember that he lost his cool and raised his voice. We roared at each other and then he threatened to cut me off, but I’d made sure he couldn’t hurt me. Financially I was pretty independent because I already had my grandparents’ inheritance and he couldn’t touch that.”
“So you just left? Packed up your stuff and walked out?”
“Uncle Mitch walked into Dad’s office as he threw the first punch, and I got in a couple of my own before he separated us. I just walked out then, and didn’t look back.”
“You said Uncle Mitch is your dad’s brother?”
“Yeah, he’s a hardass too, but he’s fair with it, unlike his brother. He came to my room while I was getting my bags. I told him how things had been and why I was going, then asked him to watch over the others. He didn’t say much, just shook my hand and told me if I ever needed anything I could come to him.”
He fell silent as he remembered that day, could feel the emotion welling inside him as he recalled walking from the house and climbing into his pickup. It was as if someone had been standing on his chest for years, and was finally stepping off. He’d driven down the driveway crying like a baby. The relief had been so intense his hands had shaken for an hour.
“It must have been a wonderful feeling to finally get out from under your dad, but I bet there was sadness, too, for your siblings?”
One of Annabelle’s hands settled on his chest. The gesture was meant to comfort, and surprisingly it did, as had talking about his past with her while she lay in his arms.
“So now you know why I want you to stay out of the battle, Annabelle. He’s a mean son of a bitch, and I won’t let him hurt you.”
