Page 101 of Takeover

“Ethan, what are you doing here? You know what? You can leave. Come on, guys.” She walks past me, but I quickly put the flowers and chocolates down and grab her hand. “Don’t,” she says, pulling her hand from mine. “How the hell did you find me, anyway?” she asks, but she’s not looking at me. She walks over to the closet and grabs a light jacket.

“I’ve come to take you home, baby.”

Vickie chuckles and Alan crosses his arms. “Macho bullshit,” Vickie says under her breath.

“I’ll go home when I’m damn good and ready to go home,” Tara tells me. “And just so we’re clear, by home, I mean my parents’ house.” She bends down and adjusts one of her shoes, and her already short dress hikes up her thigh. Just another couple of inches and her panties will show. If she’s wearing any.

“Can you two give us a moment, please?” I ask of Vickie and Alan.

“No,” they say in unison.

I let out a breath and turn back to Tara, who is now in the mirror preening. She fluffs her hair and puckers her lips, grabbing a tube of lipstick to add more.

“I’ll rip that fucking dress off, Tara, and you won’t be going anywhere,” I hiss, taking a menacing step closer.

“Rip it off and I’ll go out naked. Go to hell, Ethan,” she says.

“Tara, I did not kiss Lindsay. She kissed me, and as soon as she did, I pushed her away. She didn’t show that part of the video. You know—”

She holds a hand up, but she finally faces me, so I shut up. “Are those flowers for me?” she asks.

“Of course.” I hand her a bouquet, and she takes it.

“That video that the entire fucking world saw shows otherwise. You think I’m only upset because you kissed Lindsay? God, you’re such a…” She takes a minute to ponder the word.

“Fool?” Vickie offers.

“Brainless idiot?” Alan contributes.

“Good one, twin,” Vickie says, offering Alan a high five.

“Dummy. You’re such a damn dummy, Ethan. Yeah, I know how you kiss, so I know you didn’t voluntarily kiss Lindsay, but the fact that you think that your disgusting display is less humiliating because you didn’t want it to happen. How do you run a corporation, you idiot? I warned you it was a setup, but you had to go charging in, right? And you never said a word, did you?” She tightens her hand around the bouquet of flowers, closes the space between us, and hits me with them right on my shoulder.

Alan and Vickie start to laugh, and that must fuel her because she hits me a few more times.

“I bet you’ve never had your ass kicked with some flowers,” Vickie says. I take a step back from Tara’s attack, but she comes forward and unleashes her fury on me. I grab her wrists and pin her in place, but her breath is frantic. She does her best to pull her hands away, but I’m too strong.

“Just take the beatdown, man,” Alan says. “You deserve it.”

“Will you stop, dammit!” I yell. She freezes at my tone, but not for long. She tries to kick my shin, but I manage to sidestep her. I push her against the wall, raise both hands above her head and pin her body with mine. I hold her there until her breathing calms down and the fury leaves her. When she finally calms, I let go of her wrists and pull her into my arms. She’s rigid, but she doesn’t try to move away.

“Please, give us some time,” I say again to her siblings, but they make no move to leave.

“We’re not leaving until Tara asks us to,” Alan says as he steps closer to us. Vickie follows, and I know I’m only a few seconds away from getting attacked by the Taylor twins.

“It’s okay. I’ll meet you two in the lobby in five minutes,” Tara says. Without another word, Vickie and Alan leave the room, leaving me alone with Tara for the first time in over twenty-four hours.

As soon as the door closes, she speaks. “Let me go.” I drop my hands immediately, and she steps away, moving as far away from me as possible in the hotel room. She goes to the large windows overlooking Manhattan and looks outside. “You have exactly five minutes, and then you can leave.”

“I’m sorry for everything,” I say, taking a tentative step closer. “You were right. I should have waited to confront her, but I was angry because she hurt Vincent and you.” I wait for her to reply, and when she doesn’t, I continue. “I’m relieved you know it was a setup, Tara, but it’s out there and I know it hurt you. As for the other fight we had, I’m really sorry about that too.” She still doesn’t speak, but I can see her body go rigid at the mention of our fight. “Obviously, I shouldn’t have said what I said.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she finally says, but she still has not turned around.

“I know my words hurt you, Tara. It’s no excuse, but the truth is I felt attacked, and I got defensive. I didn’t mean any of it. I’m sorry, baby.” I lay my hands on her shoulders, hold my breath, and wait for her to speak. She shrugs out from under my hands and steps away from the window. She takes a few steps before she turns around to face me.

“You know what? Take your apology and go. Alan and Vickie are waiting for me downstairs.” She tries to walk past me, but I block her. She looks away, but I grab her chin and bring her eyes to mine. I see the tears before they fall. She quickly wipes them away, keeping her eyes on me. “I made a lot of exceptions to be with you, Ethan. I won’t have my apartment back for another eight months. Not until my tenant’s lease runs out. I really wanted the job at Bullseye, and I know the reason I didn’t get it is because of my relationship with you. I threw my rule about not dating men with kids out the window. Not to mention my rule about being the other half of a black power couple, and what did I get? More hate and drama than I ever could have imagined. From your bitch of an ex-wife to your bitch of a sister, but despite that, I loved being with you. I thought you loved and respected me, but as soon as I say something you disagree with, you showed me your true colors. But at the end of the day, you’re right. Vincent is your son, and you don’t need to check with me before you do anything. My life was fine before I met you, and it will be again. I don’t need your ex-wife talking shit about me, trying to chip away at my self-esteem. And I don’t need you talking down to me and pulling rank either. You might rule BradCo or New York City, or even the world, but you don’t rule Tara Taylor.” She tries to push past me again, but I block her.

“Okay, Tara. I said some shitty things, but you walked out on me. We had a damn fight, and you left. I had to track your sister’s phone to find you. I must have called you fifty times today. Yeah, I fucked up, but I’m here trying to fix it.” She scoffs and tries to move. “No, look at me.” I tilt her chin and look into her eyes. “I hate myself for hurting you. Since the day the three of us got together in the toy store, I’ve dreamed of us being a family. And we are. You’ve made my penthouse a home. I love you. Vincent loves you, and I know you love us. You have to understand that since the day he was born, I’ve made all of the decisions where Vincent is concerned. It’s always been me and him. Lindsay wasn’t interested. And when you called me out for cutting her out of his life, I attacked you because deep down, I know that decision would only end up hurting my son.”

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