Chapter 49

Ethan’s words rang out over and over in my head.

I don’t like it when you disappear.

He sets me down in the seat of the car and leans over me to buckle me in. I can smell his cologne, the fresh and woodsy scent he likes to wear. A thin silver chain dangles from around his neck. How come I’d never noticed that before?

“Stop behaving like such a child,” He continues his scolding, though it’s much less angry now. He was scared before, I realized, when he barged into the bakery in a sweat. He was worried something had happened to me, but what?

What fear could he possibly have?

I wished he would just talk to me. So that I could stop guessing and wondering. So that I could know where we stand or if we were even considered friends in all this. Were we allies? Business partners? Acquaintances who shared a house?

I pouted without realizing as I struggled to navigate our relationship in our head.

When Ethan got in on the driver’s side he took one look at my face and rolled his eyes.

“You sure are pouty for someone who just spent her entire day eating cake and thinking about it.” He was teasing, I knew he was, but my head still whipped over in his direction with a glare.

“I do more than just eat cake and think about it,” I argued. A small smile appeared on his face, he was happy to argue if it meant I was talking. “It’s a science! Baking is science!”

Ethan nodded along as I ranted about baking powder and yeast, the way sugar cooks eggs, and the science behind flour. I knew he didn’t care, but he listened either way because he knew I liked to talk about it.

This is what I mean when I say he’s confusing. He listens and cares, but then he technically cheats on our marriage with some other woman and refuses to tell me about it.

It doesn’t make sense.

The drive was short, which was lucky. What wasn’t lucky were a few lingering vultures hanging around waiting to take their photos. Five people swarmed the car once Ethan pulled into the driveway. He opened the door, and ran around to my side.

“Excuse me everyone, got to grab my lady,” He joked and threw open the door, and once again picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.

I squealed and begged to be put down, but Ethan didn’t listen. He ran inside with me on his back, and locked us in so that no one could disturb us.

“That was fun,” He teased and set me down. “Like a little work out.”

“You just wanted an excuse to show off your muscles,” I teased back at him. I rarely ever did that, and the delight that lit up his face was beautiful. He was a beautiful man.

“Go sit at the table, I’ll make dinner for the two of us,” Ethan insisted with a smile.

I walked over to the small kitchen table and plopped myself into one of the chairs. Ethan strode into the room, and flourishly grabbed the floral apron I usually used to bake and tied it around his waist.

“Very stylish,” I grinned and folded my hands on the table.

“Watch and learn how to cook Little Miss Baker,” He cracked his knuckles and brought out three cutting boards with two steaks and a handful of vegetables.

I giggled and watched as he burned literally anything he touched.

“I don't understand what I'm doing wrong,” He furrowed his brow and put his hands on his hips in frustration.

“I've got an idea,” I placed my hands on his shoulders and pushed him away from the oven. “Trust me.”

I grabbed two slim boxes from the freezer and slammed them down next to the burnt steaks and charred vegetables.

“What’s this?” He picked one up and inspected it cautiously.

“It's a TV dinner,” I said proudly, “Steak in a box!”

Ethan looked at me skeptically, but I assured him it would be worth it. I placed the meals in the microwave and put them in for the needed time. Three minutes later, we had a full plate of Salisbury steak, potatoes, and broccoli. None of which were burned.

“It smells… interesting,” He crinkled his nose as he picked up the plastic plate the food was served in. I shrugged and led him into the living room.

“TV dinners have to be eaten in front of the television,” I insisted and plopped myself on the couch, rather unladylike.

Ethan followed my example, even going so far as to fall into the couch cushions with a loud ‘hmph’.

We flipped through the stations together lightly debating what to watch and eating our microwave dinners.

“I'm sorry about earlier,” I admitted. I knew I was partially right, but I also knew I was partially wrong for just hiding away. Even if it was nice to hide for a few hours.

“I'm sorry about what you think you saw,” Ethan looked at me, meeting my eyes. “Listen Ava I think we need to talk about who Olivia is to me and-”

Ethan shifted in his seat to look at me and hit a button on the remote. A familiar face shown on the television screen and my attention was drawn away from Ethan.

I audibly gasped at the view of Olivia posing with a man old enough to be Ethans's father on the screen with the words ‘wedding of the year's scrolling across the bottom in elegant font.

“What-” I sucked in a breath, standing from the couch to get a better look at the screen. “Ethan?”

“Andrew and Olivia, the star crossed starlets who, together, control half of the assets of our nation have officially set a date for their anticipated wedding!” The narrator on the screen spoke loudly over their picture.

Ethan watched the screen as if it held the keys to the future, his face unreadable. Stonelike.

“Is that?” I couldn't finish the question, I didn't need to.

“Olivia and Andrew have set their wedding date for next weekend, to all those wanting to watch but didn’t receive an invitation,” The show host added that second part in a joking tone, “Tune into this channel on Saturday, six p.m. to view the entire ceremony in all its glory.”

The television clicked off with a buzz, I looked back at Ethan. His food went untouched on the coffee table as he stood up and threw the remote down on the couch. Hard.

“Are you okay?” I reached out to him, but he held a hand up silently asking me to back off. I took a step away from him and he sighed deeply, angrily.

“I need to make a few phone calls,” He started walking out of the room, his face stormy and pale. “I’m sorry.”

I wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for specifically. The dinner, the burnt food, the changing the channel, ruining the happy atmosphere we’d created for the first time in days, or the cheating. I nodded my head, telling him it was alright for him to leave.

He pulled his phone out of his trouser pockets and took the stairs two steps at a time to get to his office. The door shut with a loud thud, and I was left in the living room alone.

It made sense, now, why Ethan would keep Olivia a secret as long as he could. He wasn’t just cheating on me, but she was cheating on the most powerful alpha wolf in the business world.

I knew very little about Andrew from that pack, but I did know that he was not a force to be reckoned with.

Ethan was in deep trouble if this was the man he was going up against.