“Touch me and go to jail!” Bryce spat, ripping his face away from Ethan.
James, Sebastian, and Cody both laughed, making Bryce look at the men warily.
Now Ethan was grinning, sinister and powerful. “Send me to jail, motherfucker. I’ll spend some quality time with my big brother there. Meanwhile, when you go to jail, I’ll make sure they give you a nice welcome party.” Ethan winked.
Kitty gasped and grabbed her son’s arm: “This is why I didn’t want to come here! Trash. All of them.” She yanked Bryce away, but I saw it, the deadly look my ex had given Ethan for embarrassing him in front of his parents; it gave me chills. Ethan was a badass, and I had no doubt that he was capable of murder if it meant protecting me, but Bryce … I was starting to think Bryce was an unhinged psychopath and Ethan would push him over the edge.
Ethan turned to me then, placing two gentle hands on either side of my arms. “Are you okay?”
I hadn’t even needed to say one word to Bryce or his family. Ethan had protected me from all of that. Still, seeing them here had shaken me. Watching them leave out the double doors should have made me feel better, but I was worried.
I nodded. “But you need to be careful. Bryce is dangerous,” I warned him.
James, who rarely spoke, stepped closer to Ethan and lowered his voice. “Say the word and I’ll help you kill him and hide the body.” His voice was low and deadly and his words sent chills up my spine. He wasn’t kidding.
I should be scared. They were talking about murder. Any normal person would have immediately jumped in with “No! Don’t even say that!” But I didn’t. I stayed silent. Some deep dark part of me wanted Bryce dead. Then maybe I could sleep peacefully at night. He’d gone too far dragging his parents here. He was sick in the head, I could see that now. He wasn’t going to let me go.
Ethan placed a hand on James’ shoulder. “Thanks, brother, but that won’t be necessary.” He paused before looking at me. “Yet.”
There was a promise in his eyes. My sexy felon would wipe the Earth of Bryce Conner if he fucked with me again.
“Do you want to go back to the cabin?” Angela asked, speaking up for the first time, timid and shy for once in her life.
I sighed. “No. Then he wins. I want to ski all day with my friends like planned.” I tipped my chin high and stared at the double doors Kitty had dragged Bryce through. She wouldn’t stay on the mountain after that skirmish. They were probably on their way back to Phoenix now, soon to be on a plane to Aspen.
The others dispersed while Ethan pulled me into his chest. I tucked my head underneath his chin and just let him hold me, right there in the middle of the crowded lodge. Pulling back, he tilted my chin up so that he could look into my eyes.
“Let’s have fun while we are here, but when we get back to Phoenix I think we should meet with a lawyer or police officer and talk about your options.”
My options. Like a restraining order? I couldn’t get one of those without iron-clad proof that Bryce was stalking or abusing me. So far I had a paid-off credit card and a random meet-up at a ski resort. Nothing that would hold up in court. What he’d done in the alley behind Mickey’s wasn’t on tape, and I’d never reported it for fear of Ethan going to jail for assault. But I didn’t want Ethan to worry, so I nodded.
I was determined to enjoy my weekend, Bryce wouldn’t ruin tonight for me. Ethan, the hot tub. I deserved that, and I wouldn’t let Bryce wreck this new relationship that I’d built. It might have been built over a burning fire, but I’d built it nonetheless, and I was finally happy and feeling normal. That’s all I’d wanted since I left L.A. Ethan King was my ticket out of victim hell and I wasn’t going to lose that. I cared for him too much.
Bryce could go fuck himself. I could deal with a few random meet-ups here and there. But if he ever touched me again, Ethan or I would put a bullet in his head.
* * *
I tried notto let Bryce’s little run-in ruin my day, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking over my shoulder the rest of the time we spent skiing. By 3PM we were all wiped out and made our way back to the SUV we’d rented for the day to get us up and down the snowy mountain. When Ethan opened the back SUV gate and found Nick and his girl half naked doing God knows what, we all burst out laughing. Ethan kicked them out of the car and chastised them for being teenagers, but it lightened the mood.
By the time 5PM rolled around, we were grilling burgers on the deck in a snowy wonderland and I’d all but forgotten Bryce’s run-in. I’d napped a little when we got home, and now I was excited to eat, jump into the hot tub with Ethan, and then have our special night together.
He came out onto the porch holding his riding helmet.
I raised an eyebrow. “Going somewhere?”
He leaned in and kissed my cheek. “Getting a few things to make tonight special,” he whispered. “Be back for dinner in thirty minutes, and then hot tub.”
Heat traveled down my body at his promise, and my heart beat wildly at the romantic gesture. Was he getting flowers? Chocolate with strawberries? Champagne?
I watched him walk out the door. Then Angela came over to hip bump me. “Wanna play Cards of Humanity with James, Cody and I until dinner is ready?”
“Sure.” I followed her inside and we started to play while Sebastian tended the grill. I sort of lost track of time until Sebastian declared burgers were ready.
Ethan wasn’t back.
I picked up my phone and texted him.
Burgers are ready.
