Ethan lifted a brow.
“I loved you both. I fought to get Callen from Charlene. I gave her every penny I had to get my son away from her. As for you, I saw you in that second-grade play. You were a shitty tree because you couldn’t stand still, but it still made me cry. I loved you both and I still do. While you didn’t see me, Ethan, I was still there.”
He was actually surprised.
“But that’s not the point!”
Actually, it was for Ethan and Callen.
“I was told by your new nanny that guns aren’t allowed, and the kids are miserable, and they can’t even sleep together. You and Callen would sleep together all the time! I know! I would wait until you were asleep to tuck you both in!”
Ethan was astounded.
“Wait. You did?”
“Who do you think took care of you?”
“Granddad.”
“Yeah, because you hated my guts, but I bought you that skateboard because Timothy couldn’t afford it. I made sure Callen had those braces. He didn’t get that sexy smile by chance!”
“You took care of us?”
Why was this the first time he was hearing this?
“Yeah, I did because I couldn’t come within twenty feet of you two kids without you wanting to throw rocks. That first ten-point buck that Callen got?”
“Yeah?”
“I killed it. I was behind you both, and I saw him getting ready to shoot. I took the shot because you were riding his ass about being just as bad as he was as a hunter. Trust me when I say that wasn’t an echo you heard…”
Well, holy shit.
This plan had really been eye-opening.
“I may have been a bad parent, but don’t you dare tell me I didn’t love you. I love you both so much that I stayed away even though it hurt me. I cried myself to sleep many nights because I wanted to hold my boys. I’m a lot of things, but I’m not cold to the children I love.”
Ethan was staggered.
“Now I leave for four weeks, and I come back to this runaway, sanitized existence you are calling a life. This is insane. If you’re mad at me, that’s fine. Be mad at me and hate me, but don’t take it out on those kids.”
Ethan waited for his father to be done with his tirade.
“Are you finished?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“So, don’t take it out on the kids like you did to them when you bailed? You were mad at Elizabeth, the world, the Great Spirit, and you took off.”
He stared at him.
“Well, Dad?”
“Yes, I did the same thing. Do as I say, not as I do. I’m not perfect.”
None of them were.
Only, Ethan needed to know this wasn’t happening again.
“Well, thank God we already knew that lesson. Now I can sleep better at night after I have to comfort the boys when they wake up afraid that we’re leaving next. When will you get it, Wyler? Your actions have consequences. Now, I’ll take you to the airport.”
The man slammed his bottle down and grabbed the paper he’d placed there.
“I’m not leaving, and more importantly, fuck you. I’m not signing my son over. He’s mine. I’m going to stay right here and take care of my grandchildren and son. I don’t need your fancy cars, big home, or any of this horse shit. I will give them love and I’ll build a damn tipi to live in too!”
He ripped the application to apply for adoption up.
“There. That’s what I think of you taking my son away. I’m not discussing it anymore!”
Ethan didn’t speak.
Wyler was fuming.
“I’ll have you removed.”
“I’ll kick your ass. You think you’re the only Indian in this damn house who can kick someone’s ass? Well, do you?”
Ethan began laughing.
“Welcome home, Dad. I’m glad you figured it out.”
Wyler stopped. “Wait.”
“What?” Ethan asked.
“You weren’t driving me to the airport?” he asked.
“Nope.”
“You weren’t adopting my son?”
“Well, I didn’t intend to if I could get you to come home. I had to bring you here to show you what you were missing. I needed you to see what you gave up. I had faith in you. I knew you’d see our kids and remember that you need them as much as they needed you.”
And he’d learned a lesson in the process. Just because he didn’t see Wyler as a child, it didn’t mean he wasn’t there. He’d not given his father enough credit.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“I put a freeze on your bank account the second I hit the air. You’ll be glad I did. Bly took your debit card and tried to remove all the cash.”
He stared at him. “I’ll kill her.”
Ethan laughed.
“You set all of this up.”
“Well, no.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Callen and I set this up. What I said to you was all truth. You hurt us. You walked away again, and Elizabeth is crushed. That wasn’t a lie. The dogs in the garage were a fabrication, and the no elk thing was a lie. It’s under the frozen vegetables. How do I know? My shitty hunting skills managed to bag one and Callen and I broke it down.”
Wyler didn’t know what to say.
“About that, I was angry. You don’t have shitty hunting skills.”
“Thank you.”
“Did you use a shotgun?” he asked suspiciously.
Ethan laughed. “Focus.”
Wyler listened.
“When I handed you that beer, that was me testing your need to be in the present with the kids. You wanted them more than you wanted booze. That’s telling.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Believe it. I micromanage hundreds of children a day. What’s one more. Oh, and for the record, Callen and I are in your court, but Elizabeth…she has final say. This is her home. It’s her nest, and those are her baby birds.”
He got it.
He wasn’t out of the woods yet.
As if timed perfectly, the tablet chimed.
“Answer it. You need to do this.”
Ethan handed it to him.
“Good luck, Dad.”
Wyler needed it.
As she pinged the tablet, she hoped to see her kids even though it was rather late. At this point, she’d be happy to just hear from Ethan.
She missed him.
What she wasn’t expecting was when HIS face came on the screen. She actually dropped the tablet in shock. Callen caught it with his big hand.
Jesus!
She wasn’t expecting that.
“Wyler?” she asked.
“Elizabeth, I owe you one hell of an apology. I was wrong to be angry with you. I was horrible to blame you for Maeve’s death. You didn’t do this. I’m ashamed of my behavior.”
She didn’t say anything.
“I know that when I left, I abandoned you. You lost your father all over again, and I shouldn’t have done that to you. So many times, we all think you’re so strong, but you do get hurt.”
Oh, she was aware.
“I know what I did is so heinous that I shouldn’t ask this, but I would like to come back and stay with the kids. They need me. You need me. If being under the same roof with you is something you can’t stand, I can go to Maeve’s home. We never sold it. I accept that. I’ll give you space.”
Callen ran his hand up and down his wife’s back. It appeared that Ethan’s plan had worked.
Now, they needed to see if she’d let him stay.
Callen knew it had to be her choice.
“I don’t hate you,” he said. “I love you so much, Elizabeth. I’m ashamed that I broke your heart. Please forgive me.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“I don’t hate you either, Wyler. I would have offered up my life for hers. I would have died so you didn’t have to bury another wife. I tried my best to save her. It just wasn’t in my control.�
�
He watched her hurting over this, and it broke his heart.
“I know what she did, and I would like to hope that it was done out of fear. I would like to hope that she wouldn’t have offered you up like that.”
“I see Ethan has a big mouth.”
He smiled.
“Well, yes, he does, but he also has a big heart, as does Callen.”
She was aware.
That last hole in her life was stitching up, and she felt a little better.
“Please forgive me.”
“Okay.”
“That’s it?” he asked. “Like that and I am forgiven?”
“You were mourning your wife. I left DC when Ethan was angry at me. It’s the same thing. I don’t hate you, Wyler, and I’m sorry your wife passed.”
He noticed she didn’t call him dad.
That bridge might be burned.
“Can I stay?” he asked.
“It’s your home too. We don’t kick family out. We accept them for who they are, and we, as the tribe, love them. Timothy Junior needs you, and that will forever supersede anything that I’m thinking or feeling. He’s only a baby, and TJ needs his father. I love him too much to take that away out of my own anger.”
“Thank you.”
She nodded.
“I love you, Elizabeth. You’re mine.”
She didn’t give him the words back. She couldn’t. That hurt was still there. He was right. He’d been her father, and he walked out on her too.
It stung.
She needed time.
“Is Ethan there?” she asked.
“Yes.”
His face came on the screen.
“Hey, baby.”
“How was the notify?”
Clearly, his wife was not going to discuss anything Wyler related. She wanted to discuss anything else.
“It’s done, and for now, Dorian West has agreed to stay out of the media, but he’s going to want all of her back together again.”
Yeah, she figured as much.
“I’ll do my best. Are you coming here?”
“He’s insisted.”
“Perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She ended the call.
When she did, Ethan was surprised. He didn’t think she’d be angry that Wyler was back, or that he’d set it all up.
“I’m sorry if she’s upset with you,” he offered.
“It’s okay, Dad. Let’s get the kids to bed. I have a long week ahead of me.”
He didn’t doubt it.
So did Wyler, and he couldn’t wait for it either.
He was home.
Again.
* * * B l a c k h a w k - W h i t e f o x * * *
He grabbed both girls, and they were easy to get.
The nurse came right over to him when he pretended to be injured, and the stripper recognized him from the club.
This was easy.
Now he would take them to his secret spot and deal with what was coming.
IN his workshop, he could be free.
He could make them into something beautiful.
Something cherished.
He would give them a whole new life, and make them his. When he was finished, they would shine.
And they would answer to him.
He was ‘The Puppet Master’, and he owned them all.
Chapter Seven
Monday Morning
Boston
W hen he woke up, he wasn’t in the bed back in his hotel room. In fact, he was still across the hall in Blue’s room. As he stared at the ceiling, he didn’t want to move. She was beside him, and he didn’t remember much of what had happened.
Okay, that was a huge lie.
He remembered helping her work on the phone numbers for Elizabeth Blackhawk, and then he watched her fall asleep.
Honestly, he didn’t want to leave when she passed out, so he finished her research, moved her laptop, and then tucked her into bed.
Then he told himself he’d only watch her for a little while as she slept.
Was it wrong?
Yes, but he couldn’t help it.
After spending some time with her, he realized that he genuinely liked her.
She was sweet.
She was beautiful.
And he was intrigued.
After he’d listened to her talking, and he became emotionally involved with her, he couldn’t help but be intrigued.
In fact, he wanted to protect her.
There was that innate need in him to keep her safe. It was silly since she wasn’t in any danger, but still…
Ivan was afraid.
He knew that if he got too close, old wounds would open, and he’d be forced to feel all those emotions of his past. He didn’t hide his past to be a dick.
He hid it because it hurt.
Now, here he was, face to face with a woman who made him want to take that risk. Blue was someone he never thought he’d want to get to know.
She was younger.
She was smarter.
She was…dangerous.
Still…
He did.
He wanted to find out everything about her, so he could help her relate better. Ivan could see her struggling, and that bothered him.
So, he was going to try and figure her out. God help him, but he found himself intrigued by everything she did and had done.
For Christ’s sake, she climbed the Himalayans, she jumped feet first into a dangerous pit, but she didn’t know how to eat pizza.
How?
That still amazed him.
When the alarm on his watch went off, he gently rolled to his side to watch her.
She was curled up, facing him.
Her hand was tucked beneath her chin.
Well, he had to wake her.
“Hey, Blue,” he said, touching her cheek with his fingers. “It’s almost six in the morning. Your boss likes to be on the job by seven, and I have to follow her around all day. We both need to be up.”
She stirred.
Then she must have realized he was in her bed beside her.
Blue’s eyes popped open.
“OH SHIT!”
He stared at her.
“Nothing happened. I kept my clothes on,” he reassured, as she bolted upright in bed.
“NO! I didn’t finish those reports for Elizabeth. She’s going to hang me in the autopsy room and use me as a piñata. SHIT! SHIT! DOUBLE SHIT!”
It amused him that she wasn’t worried about sleeping beside a man she barely knew, but instead about a report for her boss.
He watched her jump out of bed, race to her laptop, and turn it on.
“Come on! Come on!” she begged, glancing down at her watch.
He wanted to laugh.
Blue was disheveled, her red hair was mussed up, and she was chewing on her bottom lip.
Yeah, he liked her.
A lot.
“I’m going to take a shower,” he said, getting up. It amused him that she was now up pacing like a maniac. The woman didn’t even care that they’d cuddled all night long.
Good.
He planned on doing it again, and soon.
“I’ll leave the second key to my room here. When you’re done, come get me. I’ll walk up to the Blackhawk’s with you.”
She looked panicked. “Okay,” she muttered as the laptop began booting up.
He headed out, back to his room, and to shower.
Once he was gone, Blue put in her password. The screens opened, and she began scrolling.
It was all there.
More importantly, it was all there and done.
Finished.
Her reports had finished, and all the details were catalogued so she could relay them to her boss.
Then something caught her eye. There was an electronic Post-It Note attached to her report.
She read it.
‘Blue,
You fell asleep. I finished it and emailed your boss a copy. I know ho
w she likes the reports before her morning meeting. I didn’t want you to get in trouble since I distracted you with pizza.
Ivan.’
She couldn’t believe it.
He’d done the reports for her.
This was crazy.
When she looked up to thank him, she realized that he had left the room. She recalled him saying something, but what? She’d been so freaked out that she hadn’t listened.
Then she saw the key on the dresser.
Did he want her to go over there? Was that what he said? GOD! She wished she’d been paying attention.
Blue thought about what he’d done for her, and then she focused on the most important part.
THEY HAD BEEN IN BED TOGETHER!
Holy shit!
She’d been cozied up to a sexy man and she’d slept right through the whole damn thing.
Of course she did.
Hurrying to get dressed, she was grateful that she’d showered the night before. As she stared in the mirror, she fixed her hair, slapped on some makeup, and was ready to go.
Grabbing her things, she took the key and headed across the hall to his room. Slipping it in the lock, Blue walked into his space.
As she rounded the corner, she stopped walking, gasped, and dropped her bag.
Then she spun around so fast and placed her hand over her eyes.
“SHIT! I AM SO SORRY!” she said, when she’d caught him in his room and completely naked.
In fact, she’d gotten the full frontal.
And what a view it had been.
Jesus.
The man was sexy.
“I swear you told me to come over. I didn’t realize…I’m so sorry.”
Ivan grinned at her.
“You’re a doctor. You’ve seen naked people before, right?” he asked.
She didn’t move.
“I’ll wait for you in the hall. Your key is on the floor.”
He tucked the towel around his waist. He’d been curious if Blue was all doctor all the time, or if he could make her blush.
Well, he figured it out.
“You can turn around,” he said. “I have a towel on.”
She hesitated.
“I swear I’m not lying. There is a towel between me and your eyeballs.”
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