Ethan (Members From Money Book 37)

by Katie Dowe

  “You have always been able to talk to your father. I am just asking you to talk to him for me and let him know that I made a mistake and I want him to forgive me.”

  “It’s always about you, isn’t it?” Harper said bitterly. “You want to be forgiven because you want to get back on Daddy’s good side. What about the hurt you caused him? You are on your own with this and I will not mention to my father that you called and asked me for help and told me all the sordid details of the pain you are putting him through!”

  *****

  She almost did not answer the phone when it rang a few minutes later fearing that it was her mother! She wanted to call her father but what did she say to him to make up for the betrayal he was feeling right now?

  She bit off a sigh as she looked at the screen. “What do you want?” she asked him rudely.

  There was a moment of silence before he responded. “Is this a bad time? I wanted to make sure you got back to your place safely.”

  “I am sorry,” she told him with a sigh.

  “Want to talk about it? What happened between here and your place?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Sure? I am a very good listener.” He said in persuasive voice.

  “I am sure you are,” she said with a smile in her voice. “I- it’s personal.”

  “For the effect it is having on you, I am sure it is. Talk to me.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Both.”

  “I promise not to pass judgment but just listen and make the necessary response.”

  “What good is that going to do?” she was starting to feel better just talking to him.

  “I have no idea but if it makes you feel better then I am all for it.”

  “It’s my parents.” She found herself telling him.

  “Ah. The bane of our lives especially when we consider ourselves adults.”

  Harper laughed at that.

  “Talk to me, darling.”

  The endearment had a profound effect on her even though she knew he did not mean it. “My mother is having an affair.”

  “I see,” he drew out the two words as if considering what she had just said. “And she told you?”

  “She wants me to intervene on her behalf to my dad.”

  “So your dad knows as well.”

  “She confessed.” Harper laughed bitterly. “For the last few weeks, both of us could see that something was not right with her and I was wondering if she was ill. Little did I know I was right.”

  “I am going to say something and you might want to hang up on me when I am through.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “No one has an affair if everything is okay in the relationship. Notice I did not say perfect because we both know that does not exist. If a man or a woman is looking elsewhere then there is something lacking.”

  “You are right; I am on the verge of hanging up on you.” She told him. “He has given her everything! She lacks for nothing. He spoils her and allows her to walk all over him.”

  “I thought you said nothing was wrong darling?” he said in amusement. “The fact that he would push aside his manhood and let her think that she was better than he is – well therein lies the problem. He has given her absolute power over him and it allows her to do whatever she pleases. I am deeply and incredibly attracted to you darling and I have a feeling that it will go further than that but I am not going to let you twist me around your little finger no matter how you make me feel.”

  Harper flopped back against the cushions and held the phone to her ear. “So if I say I wanted a Mercedes Benz, convertible that is and the latest edition along with the most expensive diamond necklace I can find, you would not give it to me?” she asked him softly.

  He laughed at that. “I would happily give you anything you want darling. I will call up a friend of mine who sell luxury cars and have him send one over to you. As for the diamond necklace, I know a jeweler--”

  “Don’t you dare!” she said with a laugh.

  “Darling, I am happy I was the cause of your laughter. It sounds like music to my ears. What are you going to do about the parental situation?”

  She sighed. “I have no idea. I want to call my dad but I am not sure I should.”

  “Let them sort it out. I always think that affairs of the heart should be sorted out between those involved and besides we are starting our own relationship and need to concentrate on that.”

  She laughed again. “You are very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  “I am very sure of us,” he corrected with a chuckle. He could spend the entire night talking to her and doing other things that did not require words! “Ah Harper I wish you would reconsider and come to the apartment with me. How am I going to go to sleep tonight?”

  “Like you do every other night,” she shivered at his words. “You will manage.”

  “Take off your bra,” he said huskily.

  “What?”

  “Take off your bra and touch your nipples. I have my tongue around the tight bud and I want you to feel it.”

  “Ethan--” her throat closed up and she could hardly breathe!

  “Can you feel it, baby? I am releasing my very erect penis right now and stroking it, pretending that I am deep inside you. Do you feel me?”

  The feeling was excruciating! Harper’s head dropped back and her mouth opened as the breath escaped her. She trembled and could feel her nipples hardened painfully. “Stop,” she moaned.

  “I am not going to stop,” he whispered. “That is the last thing either of us wants. I am touching the tip of my penis to your mound and after that I am going to take you inside my mouth. I want to catch every last drop of the orgasm that is going be coming at any minute now.”

  “Oh God!” Harper moaned. “Ethan please.”

  “Want me to come over?”

  “Yes, please. Now Ethan!”

  “I am on my way baby.” He whispered hoarsely.

  Chapter 12

  “Ethan darling, are we boring you?” his mother’s voice broke into his sub consciousness and brought him back to the matter at hand.

  “A little bit,” he said with a slight smile as he looked around the room. The board meeting was long and tedious and all they had managed to do was to say the same things in a roundabout manner that was getting on his nerves! “Gentlemen, Mother--” he nodded to her and then continued. “We have been discussing the settlement to the people involved in the lawsuit for weeks now and I have yet to hear a solution to the problem at hand. “We cannot be so eager to pay out whatever it is to people who think that they can put a price on their sufferings. If we give in to their demands, we are opening ourselves up for a lawsuit. Why aren’t the lawyers dealing with this?”

  “The lawyers are the ones making the suggestions that we go ahead and pay them off.” Mark Blackburn said.

  “Then I should be talking to them and maybe think about getting new counsel.” Ethan said dryly. “I will deal with the matter. If there is nothing else, the meeting is adjourned.”

  Evelyn waited until the men had left the room before she spoke. “There is a problem.”

  “I am sure there is,” Ethan got to his feet and went to pour some orange juice. “Want some?”

  “No, darling,” she said shaking her head. “Were you aware that your sister has been sneaking around with an employee?”

  “I thought Erin was seeing Adam?” he asked, his eyes brows raised.

  “Not Erin.”

  “Ah,” he brought the glass to his lips and sipped the ice cold orange juice. “Erica finally found someone. Good for her.”

  “Not good darling!” Evelyn said visibly upset. “A relationship like that is not going to go anywhere.”

  “Why Mother I never pegged you for a snob.” He said teasingly.

  “You know I am not. But I am concerned about her. He just came to work with us a few months ago and--”

  “
You are afraid he is some sort of spy coming to steal secrets to sell it to other companies.”

  “He could very well be but that is not what I am concerned about. Erica is very inexperienced — she is not like Erin. What if he is just using her to get to her money?”

  “And what if he actually likes her for who she is?”

  “Ethan, this is serious!” she got to her feet and paced the length of the large conference room. “I am going to confront her about it and tell her to fire him.”

  Ethan slammed the glass down onto the table causing her to turn to stare at him. “You are going to do no such thing Mother. What about your relationship with Clive Rainer? I could say the same thing about him being after your money.”

  Evelyn stared at her son in shock. “You know?”

  He smiled at her grimly. “Since the beginning. I know what goes on in this place Mother and you were very quick to defend him. Now he is someone I am very wary of.”

  “Why?”

  “Because he was the one who pushed the drug ruthlessly. I have been doing some digging into his life--”

  “How dare you!” Evelyn pulled herself up to her full height and stared up at her son, her blue eyes flashing.

  “I dare because I am in charge of this company and I would do anything to protect its reputation. I am not going to let anyone’s libido get in the way, not even yours.” His eyes met hers and she dropped her gaze first.

  “Clive is a good man--”

  “And I think he is a man with an agenda. He is broke Mother and has been broke because of the cancer treatment his wife went through. He was also in love with you and dad took you away from him.”

  She stared at him. “I know he loves me--”

  “But he also resented dad and I think that has not changed with Dad’s death.”

  “You are wrong,” she said quietly. “He has always been a friend.”

  “I am not taking that chance. In the meantime, that questionable drug is not going back on the market.”

  “He spent years researching and harvesting that drug!” she cried.

  “And I intend to make sure that it is safe and the side effects very minimal.” He sighed and went back to his seat. “I want you to be happy Mother, I would like all of us to find that person and be happy but I have a company to run and you are the one who always told us that people will try to get to us because of who we are.”

  “You are wrong about him.” She repeated.

  “And if I am I will personally apologize to him and give him a raise,” he said with a small smile. “But for now I am erring on the side of caution.”

  She nodded and holding her head high she turned to leave the room. “And please do not say anything to Erica,” he called after her. She did not answer but went out and closed the doors behind her.

  He leaned back his head and closed his eyes wearily feeling the tiredness invading his soul. His phone rang and he looked at the screen, a smile curling his lips. “Hey.”

  “How are you?” even after they had shared so many intimate moments she still managed to sound polite. But she had called him so that was a good thing.

  “Thinking of running away. Would you come with me? There is this little place a few miles away from here and there is a cabin that a friend of mine owns. How about taking off with me for a few days? We could spend the entire time naked as there would be no one to see us and make love until the sun comes up.”

  “Is that all I am to you? A sex slave?” her voice was husky with amusement and he smiled.

  “I also admire your brilliant mind darling.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I am feeling the heaviness of the crown I wear,” he told her lightly.

  “How very oblique.”

  “I don’t want to bore you with the details.”

  “The way I bored you with mine a few nights ago?”

  “You are right.” He told her about his suspicions.

  “You could not have handled it differently? I am sure your mother is humiliated that not only do you know of her affair but also you suspect the man she is having it with. Can you just imagine how humiliated she is?”

  “How would you have handled it?” he challenged her.

  “I would continue my investigations and be sure of my facts before saying anything to her. I am sure she would not be seeing this man if she did not have feelings for him.”

  “I will apologize to her but I have my reservations and my instinct tells me that I am not wrong.” He paused. “Come to me tonight.”

  “No.”

  He sighed. “Baby do we have to go through this song and dance every single time?” he asked her in exasperation.

  Her heart warmed at the endearment. “It’s not that. I am going to speak to my dad.”

  “Have you called him before now?”

  “Yes and he says he wants Mother out of the house. She is hysterical and he is avoiding her. What a mess!”

  “Want me to come with you and help you to referee?” he asked her.

  She laughed. “I wish I could say yes but you have your own problems.”

  “Don’t remind me. I have also been told that my sister Erica is seeing one of the employees.”

  “So?”

  “The guy is a junior accountant and she is the CFO of a very rich company and also a shareholder. I told Mother to leave them alone but I have to weed out the undesirables.”

  “Who do you have looking into my life Ethan?” she asked him stiffly.

  “No one. I don’t care if you want to be with me for my money. It’s too far gone for caution now. Besides you might be pregnant with our child or children. Twins run in my family.”

  “What?”

  “You have not noticed that we have not been using anything? How remiss of you.”

  “I am not pregnant.”

  “Are you sure?” he asked her softly. “I deliberately did not use anything when I made love to you. I am always careful because of my position but with you I don’t care.”

  “Stop fooling around,”

  “I am not. I really hope you are pregnant. Can you imagine being big with my children growing inside you? I can see it now, your growing belly and me listening to the heartbeats of our children, making love to you from behind, with my hands wrapped around your belly stroking it slowly as I eased myself inside you, touching your core.”

  “I am hanging up Ethan.” She could barely form the words.

  “Come to me when the crisis averts. I will be waiting.”

  *****

  “Where is she now Daddy?” Harper asked softly as she stared at her father. He looked haggard and worn as if he had not been sleeping much.

  “I did not ask her.” He said wearily. “I am thinking about divorcing her.”

  “Daddy you love her. Isn’t there some way you could work things out?” Harper felt the sadness of the entire situation wearing her down. She had wondered if she could stay out of it and allow them to deal with it themselves but he had called and asked to speak to her when her mother was not there.

  “I gave her everything!” he said bitterly. “I loved her so much and put her on a pedestal and I gave her everything.”

  “Why?”

  He looked at her with a frown. “What do you mean why?”

  “Why give her everything? Was it fair to her to let her think that she was perfect? She is just human Dad and you treated her like spun glass. Your marriage was never balanced and even as a child I could see that. You were the one who was always giving and you never gave her a chance to give back. You always thought she was too beautiful and too good for you and that gave her the edge. Now is your chance to sit down together and work things out.”

  He stared at her for a moment and looked down at his hands. She was right! The first time he had seen Faye he had been spellbound. Harper looked very much like her mother and he was sure she had the same effect on men. He was just an ordinary man who did not have much to offer except a very comfortable lif
estyle. “I cannot forgive her,” he said softly.

  “But you can talk to her and tell her how you feel. Really talk to her and see if some good can come from this.”

  He looked over at her and smiled. “I always knew you were smarter than we were.”

  “I am your daughter after all.” She moved over and took his hands, “I know you are hurting Daddy and I also know Mother is hurting as well. Just talk and see what comes of it. If after you have done talking and you still want to go ahead with the divorce, I promise I will support you.”

  *****

  “Everything okay?” Erica asked as soon as she stepped into her brother’s office.

  “Close the door behind you.” He told her.

  She did so and came forward slowly, wondering what was going on. “That fellow you hired? Mark, is he working out?”

  Erica tried to keep her face neutral as she answered. “Yes, he is working out quite well. Is something wrong Ethan? You never questioned my choice of employees before.”

  “You are sleeping with this one, so naturally I am concerned.” He watched as her face paled. “Sit Erica.”

  “How long have you known?” she asked him slowly.

  “A few weeks now but I have been waiting for you to tell me. Mother knows as well.”

  “Oh God!” Erica sank down in her seat and clasped her hands together. “What is she saying?”

  “She wants me to fire him.”

  “You can’t.”

  “I have asked her not to interfere. So tell me why I should not be concerned.”

  “He is not after our money if that is what you are thinking.” She told him swiftly.

  “He told you that?”

  “Ethan he is genuine. He has a sick mother--”

  “That you are paying for her to be taken care of. I would say that is taking advantage of sleeping with a very wealthy woman.”

  “He did not ask me to do it.”

  “And yet he allowed you to go ahead and do it.” Ethan leaned forward on his desk. “I am not against you in all this Erica; I just want to make sure you are not being taken for a ride.”