His Revenge Series

Chapter 2

“Nicky tells me you’re from Minnesota?” Erin asked, hoping to get him talking.

He studied her for a few seconds, that unnerving gaze of his seeming to pierce into her thoughts. She held herself still, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm. No doubt, he used that stare to make people uncomfortable and Erin wasn’t about to let him get to her.

“Yeah.” He finally replied. Erin waited for him to elaborate but Ethan said nothing, simply continuing to hold her gaze.

Her mouth twisted. Fine then, he wanted to play dumb Neanderthal right? Well, she had other ideas.

“Whereabouts in Minnesota?” she prodded.

“Clareshorn.” Another one word reply.

“Do you play any sports? Hockey? Football?” She had met a lot of those types, the ones who fancied themselves tall, dark and silent.

Well, in his case, he had tall and dark down to an artform.

“No.”

She drummed her fingers harder, impatience threatening to boil over to the surface. “You were adopted right?”

Ethan’s blue eyes narrowed. “How do you know that?”

Ah! Finally a whole sentence even if it was just a question.

“I did some research,” Okay, maybe like a full background check, but she was not going to tell him that.

His bio had been short and precise. Born Ethan Hugh Lachlan, adopted by an Irish couple, High school star quarterback, graduated magna c*m laudefrom Stanford university with a degree in civil engineering, no previous marriages and no kids. No skeletons in his closet so far.

A muscle ticked in his jaw and his eyes turned to flint. “You spied on me?”

She bristled at the accusation. How dare he make it seem as though she’d drilled a hole in his wall and kept her eyes glued to him.

“Research,” she replied in a frosty tone. “I do not spy on people Mr. Lachlan.”

“Then keep your damned spoiled little nose out of my business.”

“I beg your pardon? Did you just call me spoiled?” Erin hissed at him. “How dare you?”

“I don’t tolerate people digging into my personal life Ms. Gosling. While I realize you may have nothing better to do with your time, stop poking your nose where it doesn’t concern you.”

“Nicky is my concern, and I certainly have a right to find out as much as I can about any man she chooses to align herself with.” Erin forced the words out through clenched teeth. “For all I know, you could be nothing more than yet another opportunist out to take advantage of her money and connections.”

He looked as though she had just pulled a gun and aimed it at his head. Erin bit her lip and wished she could swallow those last words somehow, but it was already too late. The damage had been done.

As she watched him, his breathing seemed to cease and he became still, though the air crackled with tension, cloaking them inside a force field. He looked so dangerous, like a big cat waiting to pounce on his prey and Erin shivered, icy chills sliding down her spine, every sense on alert.

“Opportunist.” He repeated the word so softly, she would have missed it if she hadn’t been watching him so intently.

She said nothing, though her heart hammered wildly as she wondered what he would do. This man could be deadly and she was suddenly seized with fear for her delicate cousin.

He would tear Nicky’s heart apart if he ever got this angry at her. Dear lord, he had not even reacted yet and Erin was already afraid. His knuckles gripping the edge of the table were white and his eyes glittered dangerously.

“You little fool,” He ground out. “Someone should have throttled some sense into you long ago.”

“What’s going on?” Nicky had returned to the table and stared at the two of them, frowning in confusion at the palpable tension simmering between them.

“Erin?” she looked at Erin when Ethan stayed silent, her gaze searching her cousin’s face for an answer.

“Nothing.” Erin forced herself to remain calm though she really wanted to kill Ethan Lachlan. Twice now, the man had insulted her in the space of a few minutes.

****

Ethan glared at the snotty woman seated across from him, resisting the urge to throttle her. The evening had turned sour for him from the moment he had made that stop at the coffee shop. He had been stuck in traffic caused by a car accident, and to top that, he’d left his phone at the office. He’d spent close to an hour swearing at the cars blocking the road while his mind filled with thoughts of Nicky waiting and wondering if he had stood her up.

Now he was here, and having to deal with Little Miss Snob and her scathing comments that worsened his mood.

It was obvious to Ethan that Erin Gosling did not care for him in the least, if the disdain and condemnation in those hazel eyes of hers was any indication of her true feelings.

His anger burned when she’d mentioned she’d had him investigated; he valued his privacy and did not relish the thought of Erin Gosling snooping into his background and then having the guts to rub it in his face, even having the nerve to accuse him of being a gold digger.

Ethan studied her from under his lashes. He had expected Erin to look like Nicky in some way, but he was surprised at the woman sitting across from him now.

Straight brown hair, pulled back in a severe bun at the nape of her neck, paired with attractive enough features.

The mint colored, dinner gown she wore was simple yet undoubtedly chic, and he could bet his life savings the price tag would have more zeros than was strictly necessary.

Where Nicky was breathtakingly beautiful, Erin was attractive in a cool professional sort of way, but there was something in her eyes when she’d first looked at him that had hinted at smoldering fires underneath that icy exterior.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts and realized Nicky was looking at him, worry clearly written in those green eyes and he felt bad for letting his anger ruin the evening.

“I’m sorry, Honey, nothing is wrong,” he pulled her down beside him and kissed her lips gently. “Erin and I were simply getting to know each other, weren’t we?”

He shot Erin a warning look, daring her to contradict him.

She was no fool, nodding in agreement and accepting the unspoken cease fire.

Thankfully their food arrived, and the rest of the evening passed with the both of them carefully avoiding any volatile topic.

Later, outside the restaurant, he saw the derisive curl of her lips when she saw his truck, and Ethan decided there and then that he thoroughly disliked Erin Gosling.

*****

Erin was thankful when the long, torturous dinner finally ended. It had been pure agony having to keep silent, when all she had wanted to do was give that man a piece of her mind.

What on earth did Nicky even see in him, for heaven’s sake? Watching them together was like watching a pair of mismatched shoes on someone’s feet.

While her cousin was clearly in love with Ethan, the man had shown little or no emotion towards her in return, and alarm bells rang in Erin’s brain.

“Well, what do you think of Ethan?” Nicky piped up as Erin pulled into the evening traffic, steering the blue Jaguar with skill.

Erin took her eyes from the road briefly to spare her cousin a thoughtful look. She could not really bring herself to lie to her cousin and say Ethan Lachlan was perfect for her. Her protective instincts kicked in and she knew what she had to do to save Nicky from making the biggest mistake of her life.

“Nicky, may I be honest with you?” she began, returning her attention to the road.

CHAPTER TWO

Five Years Later

The black BMW pulled up to the curb of The Gosling. The chauffeur waited, glancing through the rear mirror at his passenger, who was lost in thought, staring out the window.

A valet, waiting under the awning, sprang forward, holding an umbrella and pulled open the back door, but she still didn’t stir.

“We’re here, Ms. Gosling.” He informed her in a quiet voice.

Erin started slightly, turning from the window and blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds before her brown eyes cleared and she flushed.

“Oh, thanks George.” She busied herself with gathering the huge stack of shopping bags in both arms and got out, shutting the door with her foot then hurrying through the drizzling rain into the hotel lobby.

She smiled at the busboy, who hurried forward to take the bags from her.

“Hello James,” she said, glad to finally be rid of the bags. “Is my mother here yet?”

“Yes Ms. Gosling, she’s waiting in the open cafe. Shall I take these up to the penthouse?”

“Yes, please. Thanks.”

Erin turned and headed off towards the cafe at the southern part of the hotel.

The Gosling was an ultramodern edifice of glass and marble rising fifty stories high and was her family’s pride and joy. She followed a succession of exquisite walkways and escalators until she came to the open dome right in the heart of the structure that was the open cafe.

The hostess smiled, and nodded towards where Erin’s mother sat, next to the marble mini waterfall.

“Hi Mom, sorry I’m late,” she bent and placed a fond kiss on her mother’s made up cheeks then flopped into the vacant seat opposite. “Nicky insisted on visiting every single shop we passed and time got away from me.”

Victoria Gosling leveled a fond smile at her daughter. “Hello darling. I just got here myself anyway so no need to apologize. How is Nicola?”

Erin was momentarily distracted by a waiter who appeared at her elbow. She ordered an iced tea then turned back to her mother.

“Nicky is fine, bridal nerves and all.” She grimaced as she recalled the torment of following her cousin from shop to shop, watching her try on a dozen outfits, all the while Nicky had kept up an excited chatter, while Erin had listened absently, wishing she could leave and return to the blessed seclusion of her hotel room.

Fortunately, the outing had been cut short by a call from Nicky’s fiance, Ryan, asking her out to lunch.

“The wedding is next month, isn’t it?” Victoria asked, taking a sip of orange juice while studying her daughter, noting the tired circles under her eyes and the tense shoulders. “You look tired darling. Have you been overworking yourself again?”

“Mum, you say that every time you see me,” Erin said, amused. “And like I keep telling you, I’m fine. Besides I have been on my feet all morning, so I should look tired anyway.”

“There are circles around your eyes and you look like you’re about to snap in two, you’re that tense.” Her mother pursed her lips in disapproval. “I am going to have a word with your father when I get home tonight, see about cutting down the responsibilities at the hotel.”

Erin sighed, drumming her fingertips on the table. Sometimes her mother treated her like she was still sixteen rather than a full grown woman of twenty seven.