Page 147 of The Damaged Billionaire's Obsession
Okay.
“So, did you do it?” I ask again, my heart in my throat.
“How could I have done it Bonnie?” He says patiently, looking at me like I’ve lost my marbles. “The man died of a severe allergic reaction.”
“I see.” I release him and go to the window to stare unseeingly at crashing waves along the beach outside for a few moments, gathering my thoughts.
I’ve seen the way Ethan’s mind works and why his friends hold him in high esteem.
You ask Ethan a simple question and he comes up with an algorithm.
You ask Ethan for direction he gives you the entire city’s roadmap.
And as for Ethan and Giovanni, I’ve overheard their banter too many times where Ethan playfully plants or refines an idea in Giovanni’s head, Giovanni says how fucking idiotic he thinks that suggestion is. But then turns around and does it.
Because Ethan is incredibly good at putting complex and intricate moving parts of things together and making them work seamlessly.
Given half a motive, his mind is the perfect place to hatch a plot.
“Okay. I think that was probably not the right question. Of course, you couldn’t have done it.”
I already know the answer, but if I don’t ask him the right question, I’ll never connect the dots.
Ethan comes to slide his arm around me, holding my back against his front. I relish his solid warmth, taking the courage I need to ask the next question.
I turn, wanting to see his eyes when I say. “What I should perhaps ask is, Ethan, is there any chance that you knew Jake Tyler was going to die before it happened?”
I hold my breath while he pins me with his hazel eyes for long moments.
Finally, when I’m beginning to think he might not answer me, he says, “You could say that I had… a premonition of when it would eventually happen.”
I release the pent-up breath in an audible whoosh.
Stella said I mustn’t cry. I’m not going to cryI chant inwardly.
The knot of helpless anger and despair deep in the pit of my belly, the one that I could never seem to escape, no matter what, the knot that’s tortured me since that night ten years ago, starts to unfurl and dissipate.
“Anything else you want to ask me before you become my wife?” He takes both my hands and laces his fingers with mine.
“No, Ethan, that’s absolutely everything I needed to know.”
Ethan drew out the blueprint and nudged all the pieces in the right direction without lifting a finger. Jake was probably as good as dead the moment I mentioned his name.
My heart starts to pound. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Ethan deadpans.
“For everything. For nothing. For just being you. You were right when you said you’re not into showmanship. You’re a behind-the-scenes, in-the-dark kind of guy.”
“And you, my love, are the flash of fire that lights up my world.”
I feel my face heat under his gaze. He knows what it does to me when he talks like that, but I play it cool, and I roll my eyes.
“You’re getting all soft and mushy on me, and it’s not even day one, Harvard.”
“Well, in that case, I should be brutally honest and tell you that when I saw you coming down the aisle, I was gripped with an insane hunger for you.” His voice drops an octave, “Like I really, really wanted to eat you out. I still do.”
“Jesus, Ethan!” And I’m right there with him. “You’re so freaking disgusting.” I’m already lifting my dress. “Tell me that door is locked, pervert.”