Silent Love(20)

"Please, Beth, don't go," Ryan implored. He swore his brother's voice hitched.

With one final rake over both men, Beth stepped around Ryan and left their home and their lives.

When the sound of her car pulling out of the driveway smacked Sean in  chest, he felt his body shake and heave. His younger brother bent down,  slung his arm over his broad shoulders, and helped him to his feet.  Slowly they made their way upstairs to his bedroom.

"We'll get her back," Ryan quietly assured him.

"Ryan," Sean choked back a sob. If he hadn't been so beaten, he never  would have allowed her to leave. He would have hauled her ass upstairs  and made love to her, to remind her where she belonged. With him.





14





For the next couple weeks, after he'd healed enough to be able to move  without jerky motions, Sean tried daily to contact Beth. He called her,  texted her, emailed her, went by her home, and even stopped by her  parents' house. She was nowhere to be found and didn't return any of his  messages. When her father answered the door, the man pointed and barked  for Sean to get the hell off his porch. If her mother answered the  door, she sympathetically told him Beth wasn't entertaining visitors.

Meanwhile his close relationship with his cousin broke apart. Sean was  absolutely irate with her. If Courtney had just acted like a normal  person and wasn't so goddamn overdramatic, none of this would have  happened. But leave it to her to ruin the only relationship he  considered marriage worthy.

His own relationship with Derrick went beyond strained. A week before  the blowup, Derrick had bought the building and already leased the  bottom floor to Sean, who continued with the process of opening his own  office. But that was as far as their relationship went. That is until he  threw himself on the sword and went to Derrick to try to salvage their  deal.

Knocking on Derrick's open office door, his cousin's husband glanced up  from the paperwork he was absorbed in. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Can we talk?"

His two henchmen stepped out of the shadows and took menacing positions  on either side of their boss. Derrick casually leaned back in his chair,  but that posture didn't fool Sean. It was that of a cobra ready to  strike. "By all means," he drawled like an evil train conductor in an  old black and white movie.

Stepping into the room, his body flexed, ready for a verbal or physical altercation.

"I assume you're here about the money," Derrick tested.

Yeah, his cousin-in-law was not a stupid man.

"Yes," he said, squaring his shoulders. "I need to make sure Beth is taken care of."

"Interesting choice of words," Derrick said. "I feel the same way about your cousin."

Fuck, foot in mouth. "Clearly you realize that was an accident. I'd never hit a woman. Ever."

"So you say, but you were angry."

"Still am," he said dryly.

Jaw clenched, Derrick didn't respond for a few long, uncomfortable  moments. Then the man laid down what exactly was going to happen and was  not to be questioned. Any money Sean needed from the personal loan,  from that moment on, he had to deal with Jack or Carl, who were about as  friendly as a block of ice. Derrick made it clear he refused to deal  with him. Sean had to give Derrick credit, his entire entourage stood  loyal to Courtney, even to a fault.         

     



 

"I'm only doing this because I believe you two will work this out. Maybe  not today or tomorrow but some day. The relationship you've grown up  with doesn't end suddenly and overnight," Derrick said. "You need to  understand the hurt your cousin still deals with on a daily basis from  my brother's loss."

"You need to understand she no longer comes first in my life. That slot belongs to Beth," Sean snapped.

Derrick cocked a brow. "Get out. I'm finished dealing with you. Jack and Carl are in charge of your loan."

Yeah, that money went from an insisted gift to a loan. Really he should  have predicted that move. That had been a week ago. Meanwhile their  parents had tried interfering, but Sean refused to entertain his mom's  and aunt's words of wisdom about family, blood bonds, blah, blah, blah.

Standing in the center of the future receptionist office, waiting for a  delivery of desks, filing cabinets, and computer equipment, Sean was on  his cell again trying to reach Beth but to no avail. Disconnecting the  call instead of leaving another message, he sighed, his heart shattered.  He was amazed how one woman's departure had torn him up. He didn't know  he was capable of such heartache, but she had opened up his soul, taken  a hold of it, and he'd willingly handed it over. Shoulders sagging, he  felt drained of all energy from the lack of sleep or food. His stomach  couldn't handle any form of sustenance without cramping, and he tossed  and turned at night with visions of what was missing from his world.

A soft knock on the open door interrupted his silent misery. Spinning,  he balked. Looking disheveled, Courtney stood in the doorway.  Automatically he looked past her to see who she brought for security.

"I'm alone," she said softly. "I snuck out."

Sean snorted sarcastically. "Like a high school girl sneaking out of her bedroom at night?"

Those matching blue eyes to his shined as she blinked rapidly. A brief  pang of guilt shot through him, but he pushed it down. He couldn't allow  Courtney's hurt to get to him. He was the one who lost too much all  because of her.

"Can we talk?" Her voice shook.

"I have nothing to say to you," he said, resolute.

Regardless of his tone, she never backed down when it came to him and  Ryan. She always did know how to push their buttons. She took a step  inside the office and looked around. "It's coming together."

"What do you want, Courtney," he barked. "I'm busy and don't have time for your shit."

Her sharp inhale bounced through the room. Cocking a brow and crossing  his arms over his chest, he impatiently waited. They stood ten feet from  each other, but it might as well have been a world apart.

"I came to apologize," she said softly. "I handled that all wrong‒"

Interrupting her, he held up a hand. "You think? You had no right  putting your hands on her. You had no business acting the way you did.  You could have talked to her like a reasonable adult, but that's not you  is it Courtney? You're the perpetual child, constantly pouting, batting  an eyelash, or throwing a tantrum to get what you want. Close to forty  years old, and you haven't grown at all. Even with all that you've been  through. But now your spoiled rotten behavior cost me the woman I  desperately love. So forgive me if I'm not willing to accept your less  than sincere apology."

Her horrified expression brought him slight satisfaction. "Sean, I never  meant to ruin your relationship. I constantly think about that day. I  constantly wonder what his last thoughts were, what was the last thing  he saw, was he in pain? I just needed to know if she saw anything."

"She didn't see a goddamn thing Courtney because she went through her  own personal hell and still lives with it daily. I've tried to break  through the wall she's put up around herself and was making some  progress, but you fucking destroyed that in a matter of seconds." He  felt himself growing unhinged again. Raking a hand through his hair, he  spun away from his cousin, unable to look at her. "I hate you, Courtney.  Get the fuck out of my life. I've lost enough with you in it. You have  your husband and his henchmen to look after you now. You don't need me  any more and I'm tired of your shit. Get out!" he bellowed. His deep  anger consumed him. Closing his eyes, he tried to maintain his composure  and not put a hole through the newly painted white wall.

He knew when she left. It took a minute of her silently standing behind  him, probably debating on what to do, but she took the smart route and  left without a word or another plea for forgiveness. Which he had none  for her. His entire life he loved Courtney like a sister, relentlessly  protected her, but he refused to put her needs first any longer. There  was another woman that needed to be first in his life. If he could get  her back.         

     



 





15





Beth was miserable. She'd never been more disheartened in her life, and  that included when she almost lost her life and lost her hearing.  Sitting on her parents' back deck, she stared out over the in-ground  pool and watched her dad meticulously clean the inside with the vacuum.  Even at sixty years old, her dad was an extremely handsome man. She  admired his tenacity for continuing to keep in great shape and even more  for insisting her mom join the gym. Deep down she knew her father was  afraid of losing his wife too soon in life. They were both getting up  there in age and heart disease ran in both sides of the family, though  her parents were a picture of perfect health. They watched their diets  and maintained a busy lifestyle that kept them going.