Page 31 of The Restaurant on Plum Island
But Alex moved to block his path, his eyes narrowing warningly. “Let her go, Ethan.” His voice was low, rumbling through his chest like a growl. “Trust me, you’re better off. I thought you’d learned your lesson about her three years ago.”
Ethan’s hands itched to wrap around his brother’s neck as he could quite happily throttle Alex at that moment. He hadn’t wanted to believe it was true when Harley confronted him the other day and told Ethan what had happened three years ago.
Even after all the evidence had pointed to Alex having been the one that fired Carly, and then told him she’d quit the movie, Ethan still clung to some hope that it wasn’t his brother’s doing. There must’ve been some mistake or explanation other than Alex wanting to manipulate the situation for his own gain.
But after today, Ethan had to start accepting that his brother was every bit the selfish playboy the world saw him as. Thinking nothing of shoving someone out of the way by whatever means necessary to get his way. Ethan stood glaring at his twin brother. How could they look so alike on the outside and totally opposite on the inside?
“Move out of my way, Alex,” Ethan said through gritted teeth, “because trust me, right now, you don’t want to push my buttons.”His eyes narrowed threateningly. “While Dad can only clip your wings these days as he’s retired, I can cut them off as the acting interim CEO of Blackwell Productions.” He raised an eyebrow pointedly. “And that includes confiscating the Black Ocean, your ridiculously opulent and oversized superyacht.”
“Go ahead!” Alex threw up his hands and pursed his lips. “If you’re trying to make me regret my actions, you’re wasting your time.” He raised his eyebrows. “If you can’t see past pretty eyes and bouncing curls to the manipulative, scheming woman beneath—“ His eyes searched his brother’s before shaking his head and stepping aside. “You know what?” He yanked the door open. “Go after her. Let your emotions blind you to yet another woman who’s going to rip your heart out and ruin your life. I won’t be there to pick up the pieces this time.”
“I never asked you to!” Ethan sneered. “But I’m warning you to stay out of my business.”
“Not a problem,” Alex snarled, backing away. “Message received loud and clear. It’s your funeral.”
Ethan looked at his brother scathingly. “Carly doesn’t, nor did she ever, deserve what happened.” He shook his head at the blank look on Alex’s face. “But you don’t care, do you?”
“If that’s what you think,” Alex shrugged, “who am I to disagree with the great Ethan Blackwell?”
Ethan’s gaze locked onto Alex’s, and for a moment, he saw a glimpse of pain before it disappeared. His heart softened, and he let out a sigh. He understood that Alex was only trying to protect him, even if it was in a misguided way. However, Ethan knew that his brother needed to learn to work with others and contribute as part of a team rather than always trying to manipulate situations to his liking.
Ethan had given his word to Sam and Harley that he wouldn’t confront Alex about his involvement in ruining Carly’s career three years ago. However, that didn’t stop Ethan from trying to get information out of his brother without directly asking him about it.
His head swiveled toward the door. Ethan also had to go after Carly and make this right. He glanced at his brother. Ethan was torn by two pressing matters: confronting Alex and getting answers was just as pressing. He ran a hand through his hair, a growl of frustration escaping him. He noted the stubborn set of his brother’s jaw and knew he wouldn’t get anything out of Alex today.
With the decision made for him by his brother’s attitude, Ethan jabbed a finger at him. “This isn’t over. You and I are going to have a long talk.”
“Then you should seriously consider coming to one of my dinner parties,” Alex said, his voice riddled with sarcasm. “There’s no better place to have a discussion.”
“Or surround yourself with witnesses in case I try to throttle you!” Ethan seethed. “And until we’ve had ourprivatetalk—“ he stepped toward the door, “I suggest you cut down on your extravagant parties unless you want to foot the bill from your personal credit card.”
Before Alex could reply, Ethan strode out the door to pursue Carly. He only hoped she hadn’t gone far and that he could somehow salvage the fragile bond Ethan felt had started to rebuild.
Darn Alex and his games.Ethan would deal with him later. Right now, finding Carly was all that mattered.
As Ethan stepped out into the foyer of the Summer Inn, the weight of his emotions bore down on him. The confrontation with Alex had left him raw and unsettled, but his concern for Carly overshadowed everything else. He had to find her, to clear the air and apologize for his brother’s stupidity.
He scanned the foyer and walked towards the seating area, which had large glass windows that looked out over the white sandy beach, his heart pounding in his chest.
Please don’t let her have gone home.While they were now neighbors in the Cobble Cove Nature Reserve Housing Development, Ethandidn’t want to have to talk to her there. Her son and his daughter would probably be home, and it wasn’t fair to drag them into this.
“Is everything okay, Mr. Blackwell?” the woman’s soft voice asked, sending him spinning around to face the hotel manager.
“You wouldn’t happen to have seen Carly Donovan?” Ethan asked her.
“Yes, sir,” the manager’s reply had Ethan catch his breath as he waited for her to tell him where Carly had gone. “Miss Donovan is in the seating area talking to Miss Vanderbilt and Miss Joyce.” The manager pointed in the direction. “Would you like me to call Miss Donovan for you?”
“No, thank you,” Ethan declined her offer. “I’ll find her.”
Ethan walked through the busy foyer, stopping at the threshold of the hotel’s large front lounge area. His eyes scanned the people seated there until they landed on Carly, who was talking to Harriet and Dawn. Ethan rubbed his eyes and sighed. He knew prying Carly away from his two childhood friends was going to cause him a lot of questions from them later, but he pushed forward anyway.
“Ethan!” Harriet was the first to greet him as he approached their table.
“You’re just in time to join us for a glass of champagne,” Dawn told him. “We’re celebrating me finishing the second script for season two of the Cobble Cove Mysteries.”
“Fantastic,” Ethan said distractedly as his eyes met Carly’s, and his heart squeezed at the look of mistrust and betrayal shining in her gold-flecked hazel eyes.
“I’d say we should put the bubbly on your tab,” Harriet told him.
