“No! Kerri left to see her family. Her grandfather, to be specific.”
“That’s good, right?” When Ethan continued to glower, Alex added, “Guess not.”
“He’s an asshole.”
Alex nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, I know all about in-laws. Natalie’s family isn’t all that great either, especially her mother, but since the wedding she’s made some effort to be nicer.”
Most likely to ingratiate herself with her wealthy and influential son-in-law, Ethan thought. The woman tried too hard, but at least she made an attempt. Barron Sterling probably just didn’t give a damn.
“So where’s her family?” Alex asked.
“Here. The almighty Barron Sterling came out to Virginia, sent men to collect her, the whole nine yards.”
“Whoa!” Alex raised a hand. “Wait. Did you just say Barron Sterling?”
“You didn’t know?”
He shook his head. “I had no idea. Natalie never said.”
Ethan laughed dryly.
Kerri never talked about them because the memories hurt too much. So why hadn’t she wanted him along as a buffer? She’d said she wanted to protect him from Barron’s rage. Ethan didn’t give a damn about that old man’s feelings. He didn’t give a damn whether he got on Barron’s shit list. Sterling was already number one on Ethan’s.
Alex swore. “Wonder why.”
“She doesn’t get along with her family. They’re the main reason why she left the States. She hasn’t seen them in years.”
“Then why does Barron want to see her all of a sudden?”
“No idea. Apparently that’s classified.”
“If her family is all assholes, shouldn’t you be there? It’s going to be her versus Barron. I met him once, and he’s no pushover. A hard son of a bitch to negotiate with.”
Ethan picked up another club and smacked another ball. This one hit a tree trunk and ricocheted off into a pond. “She went alone, to ‘protect’ me.”
Alex choked. “What?”
“I told her if she went alone it was over.”
“Shit. And she still went?”
“Yep.” Ethan should’ve gone to a kick-boxing gym. Blood would be so much more satisfying than hitting tiny immobile balls that couldn’t fight back.
He glared at his surroundings—the pristine greens, gleaming clubs and expensively dressed men and women. God, he hated the sight of everything. If he’d been thinking straight, he wouldn’t be there, but Kerri had destroyed every rational part of his mind.
“Have you considered the possibility that maybe she cares about you too much to let you take on her grandfather?” Alex asked cautiously.
Ethan’s jaw tightened. “That doesn’t change the fact. She should’ve trusted me to take care of both of us.”
“A woman who moved halfway around the world to avoid her family—and built a new life for herself in Asia—is probably pretty self-sufficient. Not to mention used to being on her own. She’s not like you with your big, close family.”
No, she wasn’t. She could never count on anyone to care about her. Her family had pretended she didn’t exist to avoid thinking about the males they’d lost. She’d never had anyone she could depend on. And he hated them for hurting her, for what that horrible pain had done to her and to his relationship with her.
When he’d made his proposition, he’d been clear that it was supposed to be temporary. That had seemed important, given how skittish she was about commitment. Later, even though he’d done everything he could to demonstrate that he wanted more, he’d never actually said the words because he didn’t want to scare her off.
What a tactical mistake. Being wary of commitment didn’t mean a committed relationship wasn’t exactly what she needed. She’d been wary of course; not even her own flesh and blood had stood by her. Natalie had said Kerri wanted her men tall, dark and manageable. And by the last requirement, Kerri had meant men she could dump without leaving herself with permanent emotional scars. She hadn’t wanted to leave herself open to hurt because she expected everyone to ultimately reject her, as her family had.
And he’d basically fulfilled that expectation with his ultimatum.