Dammit! Ethan swore silently, his fingers tightening on the wheel in an effort to stop himself from ripping the damn phone from Erin and tossing the thing out the window, the urge getting stronger as he listened to her side of the conversation and realized the bastard was actually asking her out.
Todd. Ethan pictured the dude in his mind, recalling the last time he’d seen Erin with him and how he’d had the same urge to punch his lights out then, much like he very much wanted to right now. He thought they’d already settled the issue of her dating anyone else? Was she doing this deliberately to annoy him? Somehow, he didn’t think so…from the breathless way she sounded on the phone, it appeared Erin really liked this guy.
That thought soured his temper even more.
“I’m gonna kill him.” He muttered under his breath, too low for Erin to make out the words, but she turned to look at him anyway, then returned her attention to the phone.
“I’d like that, but maybe not right away?” He heard Erin say in response to something Todd said. Ethan kept his attention on the road ahead, though every nerve strained to listen to the one-sided conversation going on right beside him. “I’m in the middle of something at the moment, but I will call you as soon as it clears up. Might take a while though.”
Like hell, he was going let that happen. He thought, grinding his teeth in frustration.
Then Erin giggled. Shit, she actually giggled like a schoolgirl and he nearly lost it, gritting his teeth to keep himself from exploding. Ethan knew very well that of he opened his mouth right now, chances are he would say something he was going to sorely regret, knowing how stubborn Erin could get, and one wrong word from him and everything would blow up in his face. He’d acted like a jerk one too many times today and despite the insults Erin had hurled at him in return, Ethan knew he’d hurt her.
Erin ended the call, and silence reigned in the car for a few minutes. Ethan refused to say a word, not yet, not while his temper still burned hot, though he knew she was waiting for him to say something.
***
Ethan pulled into a quiet neighborhood lined with oak trees and identical single story buildings, one of the new modern ‘suburb estates’ that were springing up in the outskirts of Chicago. He drove past several buildings, the streets almost deserted save for a few kids playing at the end of the cul-de-sac, until he brought the car to a stop in front of a quaint white building at the end of the street and killed the engine.
The silence that had descended since the call from Todd seemed almost deafening to Erin and she cleared her throat, desperate to break the silence. Ethan didn’t acknowledge the effort, merely sat staring straight ahead at the house deep in thought.
“Is this the address Zoie gave you?” Erin asked, squinting through the windshield at the unremarkable looking building. Somehow, the place seemed at odds with the type of woman who would stalk and put up nasty pictures of her on the net. The house itself looked to be in excellent condition, with a neat lawn and well-kept hedges.
Ethan nodded, tapping a finger on the wheel, a clear indication that he was deep in thought. “It looks like no one’s home.” He observed quietly, the first words he’d spoken in a while.
“Still, I think you should wait in the car,” He held up a hand to silence her protest. “At least while I knock and see if there’s anyone in there.”
That made some sense, so Erin merely nodded in agreement. “Fine.”
He gave her a quick glance, his gaze searching her face for signs that she intended to do as he asked.
Erin raised an eyebrow in silent challenge.
He sighed, and gave the house another once over. “We don’t know if this woman might turn hostile and try to cause some harm. Honestly, it would be much better if you remained here while I talk to her so if something goes wrong, at least I’ll know you’re safe.”
“I understand your concern, but I want to talk to her too.” Erin insisted. “And I’m not exactly helpless Ethan.”
His lips tightened in disapproval but he said nothing more, just opened the door and got out. Tense, despite the bravado she’d just exhibited, Erin watched as Ethan made his way up the cobbled path towards the front porch. At the front door, he hesitated and glanced back at her, though she couldn’t read his expression then turned back and pressed the doorbell
As the chimes echoed through the house, Erin sucked in her breath in anticipation, her white knuckled grip tightening on the edges of the plush leather seat.
“Please let her be home,” she whispered, curiosity eating away at her with every passing second. The chimes died down, but there still was no answer from within the house. Ethan waited for two minutes before ringing the bell again, then he came down the porch and circled towards the side of the house, disappearing from sight, much to Erin’s discomfort.
Seconds turned into minutes, in which Erin grew steadily agitated as Ethan failed to reappear. Her brain conjured up several scenes, all which ended in her picturing Ethan lying face down in the dirt, hurt and bleeding from an unexpected assault while she sat here in this damned car, doing nothing.
More minutes passed and still, Ethan did not return, and by this time, her nerves were shot to high heaven.
“Screw this.” Erin muttered, yanking open the door. The warmth of the midday sun hit her, at odds with the cool interior of the car, but Erin paid no notice as she hurried past the porch, taking the same path she’d seen Ethan disappear through minutes before. She followed the path until she came to a dwarf gate that led into what appeared to be a garden at the back of the house. As she neared, she could hear Ethan speaking to someone, his voice clearly carrying in the quiet.
“Mrs. Moreland, I’m not here to harass anybody.” Ethan was saying as Erin caught sight of him, standing by the backdoor talking to a nervous looking elderly woman in soiled overalls, clutching a pair of garden shears. ‘I just want to know if your daughter is home.”
Mrs. Moreland shook her head, the action freeing strands of silver hair from underneath the wide straw hat perched atop her head.
“I already told you,” she replied in a voice tense with disapproval. “I don’t know who you are, but you’re trespassing and I will call…”
She caught sight of Erin as she approached and trailed off, recognition flickering in her eyes. She clutched the shears tighter and her lips tightened even further. “You need to leave. Now.”
Erin came to stand next to Ethan, who shot her a scolding look, but she ignored him, her gaze fixed on the old woman who had partially turned towards the door.
“Wait!” Erin pleaded, taking a step towards Mrs. Moreland.
The woman paused, an uncertain look in her eyes as she turned back to Erin.
“What?”
“You know me.” The words weren’t a question, more like a confirmation of facts. Erin had seen that flash of recognition and though she didn’t know this woman, it sure as hell looked as though the woman knew her. “I saw how you looked at me just now, and I think, you know who I am.”
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mrs. Moreland snapped, though the denial seemed weak. “Look, you’re going to have to get out or I’ll call nine one one…”
“Is Lilian Putney your daughter?” Erin cut in, struggling to hold onto her temper. Mrs. Moreland knew something but wasn’t being cooperative and it was frustrating to no end. “Where is she? How do you know who I am?”
She felt Ethan’s hand on her shoulder and he squeezed lightly in caution. Erin shut her eyes and took a deep breath and struggled to calm the raging nerves, his touch calming her in ways she couldn’t describe.
“Try and stay calm.” Ethan whispered, his mouth close to her ears. His hand dropped back to his side and he took a step closer to Mrs. Moreland, who watched warily.
“Mrs. Moreland, again I apologize for intruding like this.” Ethan spoke slowly, his tone radiating calm reassurance. “But if you’ll just spare us five minutes, I promise we’ll leave. All we need is five minutes.”
They both waited, as Mrs. Moreland considered the offer, her eyes straying from Ethan to Erin. After long moments, she nodded and turned back to the door, gesturing for them to follow her.
Erin moved to follow but stopped when Ethan laid a restraining hand on her arm. “Let me ask the questions, Ok?”
She nodded and he let her precede him into the small but neat kitchen. Mrs. Moreland set the shears down on the kitchen table and led them past into a spacious living room.
Erin glanced around, taking in the bright mustard walls that seemed to have family photos covering every inch of available space, the hardwood floor, with a medium sized couch and two matching single chairs. One of pictures on the wall caught her eye and she moved closer, recognizing the smiling young woman as the same with the photo Zoie had gotten off the site only in a different pose. She stared at the face, her brain struggling to tag the face to memory but came up blank.
“Have a seat,” Mrs. Moreland said quietly, indicating the couch. She waited until Erin had settled in beside Ethan before taking a seat on one of the single chairs, arms folded primly on her lap as she stared at them in tight lipped silence for several seconds. “Remember, Mr. Lachlan, you have five minutes.”
Ethan exchanged a look with Erin, then nodded in silent assent. “Thank you for giving us the time. Mrs. Moreland, I believe you know my girlfriend, Erin Gosling.”
Erin let out a gasp in surprise at the description and turned to Ethan with wide, questioning eyes. But he ignored her, keeping his attention on Mrs. Moreland as he waited for confirmation. She decided to let the comment slide for the time being, though she would demand an explanation later.
Mrs. Moreland’s gaze however, had moved to rest on Erin, pinning her beneath the shrewd green eyes.
“I know you.” She confirmed, her tone filled with such condemnation that Erin reared back in surprise. “My daughter talks about you a lot.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow, his only indication of surprise. “Your daughter, Lilian?”
“Yes.”
“How does she know me?” Erin asked, ignoring the look Ethan shot her way, unable to stay silent any longer. “I’m sorry, but I’ve looked at some pictures of her, but I honestly don’t think I’m acquainted with your daughter and I am good with faces, but nothing rings a bell.”
Mrs. Moreland’s lips thinned in disapproval. “Then that simply means your memory isn’t as good as you think.”
Erin stifled the urge to scream in frustration. This whole thing was fast getting on her last nerve, and the feeling was like constantly hitting a brick wall with each damn question. Beside her, she felt Ethan shift then his hand came over hers, enfolding it in his grip, a silent warning to hold her temper in check. She almost laughed out loud at the irony, considering how short his temper could be when he wasn’t getting his way.
“Mrs. Moreland, perhaps it would be better if we had this conversation with your daughter.” Ethan said, his voice filled with a quiet authority that was mirrored in the look he gave the woman. “Can you tell us where to find her?”
Mrs. Moreland seemed torn for a moment, then gave in with a sigh. She glanced at the watch strapped to her wrist. “She should be home by now, her shift ended twenty minutes ago.”
On cue, they both heard a car pull up in front of the house, and several minutes later, the front door opened, admitting a tall, slender blonde clutching two grocery bags. Erin’s heart sped up as the blonde came into the room, still not noticing the two of them sitting together on the couch.
“Mom, I got the eggs but the store was fresh out of….” Lilian froze, eyes widening as she finally caught sight of the visitors. She stared for several seconds, then her eyes hardened in anger.
“What the hell are you doing here?” She spat angrily, setting the bags carelessly on a side stool. She turned to her mother, “Mom, how could you let them in here? You know how I feel about her.”
Mrs. Moreland held up both hands. “They showed up a few minutes ago wanting to talk to you, I felt it would be best if we heard what she has to say.”
Me?
Erin stared at the pretty blonde in confusion, stunned at the venom in the voice of a woman she had never met before today. She hastened to her feet, determined to get to the bottom of things.
“Excuse me, but I’m going to demand an explanation, right now. You,” She pointed a finger at Lilian, her eyes blazing in anger, “Are going to tell me why you’ve been doing your best to ruin my reputation, and why the hell you’ve been stalking and putting up all those pictures or so help me god…”
Ethan rose, cutting Erin off mid-sentence. “Sit down, both of you.” His voice brooked no arguments, and both women humbly complied, still shooting daggers of hostility across the room.
He crossed to stand before Lilian, hands thrust into his pants pockets, the very picture of solid intimidation, eyes cold, a silent warning that he was not in the mood for feminine hysterics.
“I’m not a patient man, Lilian, and I am not the type you wish to mess with. Regardless of what you say right now, know this, I have proof that you are behind the articles besmirching my character and I will not hesitate to hand you over to the authorities and make the rest of your life a living hell and you will wish you never crossed me. So for your own good, you’d better tell me everything.”
Lilian’s eyes widened in terror, fingers gripping the edge of the chair. She shot a pleading look at her mother, but the poor woman looked stunned. Even Erin felt a shiver race down her spine at the ice in Ethan’s words, and she stared up at him, awed and turned on at this side of him.
Lilian swallowed audibly and nodded slowly, her face drained of all color.
“Good.” Ethan returned to his seat. “Now, first I want you to tell me how you know Erin.”
Taking a deep breath, Lilian straightened slowly, shooting Erin a hateful look. “She stole my fiancé.”
***
Ethan heard the words, but somehow, it didn’t make any sense. Erin let out a shocked gasp, and he felt her hand grip his thigh, nails digging through the fabric of his suit, but a glance at her showed she was oblivious to the contact. Her face had drained of color, and he could feel she was visibly shaken by the announcement. Erin had taken this woman’s fiancé? The very idea seemed absurd to him, but a glance at Lilian’s face confirmed that the woman actually believed her accusation.
“What are you talking about?” Ethan snapped, piercing Lilian with a stern look.
“I mean, this bitch seduced my fiancé and then strung him along for two years, then dumps him like the fucking whore she is.”
Erin jumped to her feet, eyes blazing in fury. “That’s a damn lie! I have never taken anything from you. For God’s sake, I don’t even know who the hell you are and I would never steal any man.”
Lilian sneered, her face twisted in derision. “Really? Cos you seem real good at taking things that don’t belong to you. You’re a selfish little bitch, always wanting things that don’t belong to you.”
“And you’re a lying crazy…”
The confrontation was fast getting out of control and he needed to shut both women up before they came to blows.
“Enough!” Ethan roared, the sound echoing throughout the room. He stood, easily towering over everyone else, wincing as the three women instinctively shrank away, frightened by his anger. One look at Erin’s white face and the anger drained from him.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to remain calm. Losing his temper alongside the women would not help the situation, and he very much wanted answers to the thousand questions Lilian’s accusations had thrown up. Bloody hell! He’d had Erin under constant surveillance in the last five years and the only guy she’d dated in all those years had been.
A sneaking suspicion stole into his mind. He turned to Lilian, who was looking up at him in apprehension. “Your fiancé, what’s his name?”
“Luke.” Lilian sniffed, eyes welling with unshed tears. “His name’s Luke.”
Erin gasped. “What? W…what are you talking about?”
“We were engaged and happy until he met you and everything went wrong,” Lilian dashed away tears falling down her cheeks, glaring at Erin. “You knew he wasn’t available and yet you flaunted yourself at him till he couldn’t resist. He left me and didn’t even care that I was pregnant with his baby. How could you be so heartless?”
Ethan listened in growing incredulity. The story sounded like something from one of those ridiculous late night soap operas his mother still loved to watch, yet watching Lilian, it was obvious the woman was in pain from the bitter memories she was currently dredging up.
“That’s not true.” Erin was incredulous. “Luke…he…I had no idea he was already involved with someone else, he never said…I swear, I would never date a man in a relationship with someone else.”
Lilian scoffed in derision. “Really? Well, then how about the fact that you are sleeping with Ethan, huh? Doesn’t it even bother you, knowing Nicky’s still in love with him and that you’re hurting her by doing this?”
“What?” Stunned beyond belief, Ethan stared at the woman, wondering of his hearing was playing tricks on him. He didn’t know what revelation shocked him more, the fact that Nicky was still in love with him or that Erin had been aware of that fact.
He looked at Erin, who’d turned even paler if that were possible, looking like she was about to pass out. Without thinking twice, he crossed over and grabbed her arm and forced her to sit down, gently pushing her head down between her knees.
“Breathe.” He rubbed her back, hoping to sooth the trembling woman, though his mind still struggled to process the information he’d just heard. He heard Erin take several deep breaths, could feel the little tremors that racked her body subside and moments later, she straightened and looked up at him, expressive brown eyes huge and anxious.
“She’s lying,” Erin’s glance slid towards Lilian, and he suddenly felt anger radiating from her in palpable waves. “I know for a fact that Nicky’s not in love with you, she was ne…”
She broke off abruptly, clamping her mouth shut as though she’d thought better of whatever she’d been about to say.
“I’m not lying!” Lilian shot back, a smug satisfied look on her face. “If you don’t believe me, why don’t you go ask Nicky herself? After all, she was the one who told me about it.”
Erin shot to her feet, eyes sparking with the intent to wipe the smug smile off Lilian’s face. “See, that’s how I know you’re a bloody liar. Nicky would never say something like that.”
“Was Nicky your source of information in that article?” Ethan cut in.
He’d always wondered how Lilian had gotten all the inside knowledge she’d written in the first article, and the fact that the stalker had always known when he and Erin were together had bothered him a lot. Now, it all made sense, given Nicky’s possible involvement.
“She’s in this with you, isn’t she?”
Lilian let out a mocking laugh.
“Nicky? Please, that girl’s as stupid as they come. All I had to do was get close enough to make her believe I was a friend and you wouldn’t believe the things she confided to me about. Now, get the hell out of my house, or I’m going to call the cops.”