Page 99 of Ethan's Sky

“I won’t lie to you, baby.” She assesses me, looking for the lie but she won’t find it.

“Why were you at their clubhouse, Sky? What happened the night Emily died?” I can feel her body vibrating against mine. “Why weretheytaking care of you? Why didn’t anyone contact me after you lost the baby? Why didn’t you?”

“I wasn’t allowed to tell you anything!” She shouts, taking a couple steps back out of his reach. “What is so hard for you to understand? Just when I think we’re getting somewhere, you come back to this. Why can’t you leave the past alone, Ethan? Please.”

“Because I need to know what has you so damn scared you didn’t think you could come to me. You didn’t even give me a chance to take care of you. You fucking left. What’s to say you aren’t planning on doing it again? I’m not going to let you. Get it through your head now, Sky. I just got you back. We may have shit to get through, but if you try to leave with them, I will follow your ass and drag you back to my bed where you belong. So tell me. Why were you staying in Mountain Heights? Give me that much!”

“Because that’s where I was taken after I was attacked,” She shouts! My heart slams into my rib cage.

The hell did she say?

“By whom?”

She ignores my question, continuing her rant. “It’s where Daddy and Gabe said I had to go. I lived in Mountain Heights the last six years under the protection of the club. Becausethey told me to.”

“Attacked by who?” I arch my brow, a silent demand for her to answer me. My voice is lethal and for a moment, I see the fear in her eyes.

“Hey. I won’t hurt you, Sunshine. You believe me, don’t you?” She looks like a scared animal, not sure if she should trust the wolf or scurry off in the woods.

“Skyler.”

“Shit!” She turns away pacing, scrubbing her hands across the nape of her neck. “Fine! You want to know? I was attacked the night Emily was killed. By whom doesn’t matter.” She waves me off, hoping I’ll let the little detail go.Fat fucking chance.

“Anyway, I was taken to Eli’s clubhouse when all was said and done to be placed under his protection. No one would question Daddy going to Mountain Heights since he took his truck there often to see Eli, and Gabe could get regular updates through the club. And if anyone came looking for me, they would tell them I ran away.”

“Kieran was right.”

“What?”

“Kieran. He helped me piece a few things together. Obviously, I don’t like it, but it makes sense.”

“What did he help you piece together?” She looks nervous.

“Not important now. Keep going. What else?”

“We were moving my things into the apartment over Eli’s shop. I had arrived there the night before. I had been feeling ill since I found Emily’s body, but this was different. I knew the sharp pains and cramping probably meant something bad was happening, but I didn’t want to tell anyone about the baby until I had to.” She shrugs. “Cash and I were eating, and I began to feel sharp pains in my belly. I tried to ignore it, but then the blood came. There was so much. I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom, but the pain was too much, and I ended up in a ball on the floor. I couldn’t stop it. Cash saw something was wrong and called Eli. They did what they could to take care of me, but the baby didn’t make it.”

“Did they know it was mine?”

“No. I didn’t tell anyone who the father was except Emily.” Her voice is quieter now. “After the miscarriage, they never asked, and I never told.” She shrugs. “I figured you had lost enough. No sense in making things harder for you.”

“Me? You were worried if they knew it was mine something would happen to me?”

“You weren’t a King then.” She says it like it’s supposed to make everything make sense. But what the hell does she mean, I wasn’t a King? What does it fucking matter?

Skyler must sense my confusion, because she says, “I was hoping things would settle down at homeand once I got far enough along in the pregnancy, and you were a King, Gabe would let me come home. I was going to find a way to get to you and live the life we had planned…as a family, but I…” She swallows hard, her voice coming out as a mere whisper. “I wasn’t strong enough. I couldn’t save the baby. You already blamed me for Emily’s death. How much more would you hate me for not saving our child?”

Tears fall down her face freely. Hiccups and sobs wrack her body with every breath. Turning away, she covers her face with her hands trying to hide herself from me. I grab her wrist, pulling her to my chest, running my hands up and down her back. Skyler’s hands wrap around my waist, squeezing me.

“I tried Ethan. I swear I did everything I could, but the …” Her words are coming out a jumbled mess in between sobs.

“Shhh. It’s okay, Sunshine.” My chest squeezes. All I can do is stand here and hold her while fighting to sort through a barrage of emotions. Grief strikes her, nearly knocking both of us on our asses as I hold her. “I never let myself truly grieve for the baby. I cried and allowed depression to take me over for a spell, but I don’t think I ever really let the baby go. I thought if I did, I would be letting you go.”

Jesus. She’s been holding onto this guilt all this time for something that wasn’t her fault.

“Skyler?” I take a deep breath, calm himself, but I can’t keep my frustration out of my tone. “What happened to make Gabe send you to Mountain Heights? Was it because of the attack?” Her body stiffens in my arms. I watch as she slowly begins putting armor back in place. “Who attacked you?”

“We should get going.” She releases her hold on me, trying to push off my chest, but I don’t budge.

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