An impeccably uniformed driver stood on the other side of the door. The man was in his mid-fifties, his dark hair glinting with streaks of dull silver.
Ethan stood looking down at the man, his larger body dwarfing him. “What?” he demanded, uncharacteristically rude.
“Good day, sir. Mr. Barron Sterling sent me,” the man said, not even raising an eyebrow. “I’m Miles Wellington. I understand that Miss Kerri Wilson is currently residing here, and I am to pick her up.”
He must’ve thought the name Barron Sterling would be enough to make Ethan back down. He had miscalculated.
“You can tell Mr. Barron Sterling he may come in person if he wants to see Kerri,” Ethan said.
“As it happens, sir, he is currently in town. So he has, in fact, come more than ninety percent of the way already.”
“It’s that last ten percent that makes all the difference, isn’t it?”
“I’m sure you’re correct, sir. However, if I might speak with Miss Wilson herself?”
Suddenly Kerri felt tired. Before Ethan could answer, she put a hand on his arm. “It’s fine, Ethan. I’ll go see what he wants, get this whole stupid thing over with.” He wouldn’t intimidate her into running this time. Justin had been right. Natalie had been right. Kerri couldn’t keep giving up what she?
??d worked for, what she’d built, just to avoid seeing Barron.
“But—”
“Excuse us for a moment,” she told the driver.
“Of course. I shall wait.”
She pulled the door closed and lowered her voice. “Look, my grandfather won’t give up. He’s used to getting his way. Kind of like you.”
Ethan ground his teeth. “Number one, I’m not like him. Number two, I’m going with you.”
“What?” This was unexpected. “Why?”
“I’m not going to let you go by yourself, knowing how your family’s treated you. You don’t have to face them alone.”
“Ethan…thanks. Really. But I’ve always faced them alone. I’ll be all right.”
“Maybe in the past, but not this time. Now you have me.”
She held his hands. His concern for her formed a small lump in her throat, and her eyes stung with what felt suspiciously like tears, but she couldn’t let him get in the middle of this mess. Barron squashed anyone who got in his way, and Kerri didn’t want Ethan to go up against her grandfather. Ethan was supremely capable, but he already had a full load of problems he needed to deal with: his own career, The Lloyds Development, the awkward situation in his family with Jacob and Catherine… She had a feeling that since Jacob had proven himself incompetent, everything was going to fall on Ethan. He didn’t need Barron after him on top of everything else.
Barron was her problem.
“I have to,” she said, her mind made up. “He’s my family.” His hands tightened. “I’ve been running from my family for a long time, and it’s time I faced them. But it has to be alone.”
“I won’t let them hurt you again.”
She sighed. “Ethan, I’ve always taken care of myself without you, and I can continue to do so. Maybe you don’t want to acknowledge that, but it’s the truth. You can’t protect me from my family.”
“I’m telling you it doesn’t have to be that way.”
“And I’m telling you I don’t need a protector. Barron can’t hurt me any worse than he has already.” God, this was hard. All she had wanted was someone manageable to have a little fun with. Now she might end up being indirectly responsible for ruining him if Barron decided to get ugly about it. “We both wanted an affair until we grew tired of each other. So let’s not get too mixed up here. You really, really don’t want to make an enemy of Barron. Stick to the spirit of the deal we agreed to: no strings attached, no messy emotional drama.”
Ethan’s face hardened to a stony mask. “You think I’m doing this for emotional drama?”
“No.” She winced inwardly. A bad choice of words, but now it was too late to take them back. If she gave in even a little, Ethan would press his advantage. “But this is my decision, not yours.”
“People in relationships don’t turn their backs on each other when the going gets tough.”
“It’s not about turning our backs—”