Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (62 page)

“Carter!” She screams in his ear. “Stacey’s
watching you.”

Carter looks up just as Stacey looks over
and gets caught staring.

“So?”

“She’s checking you out. Please… please…
please….go over and dance with her and give Ethan a break.”

Just then, the music changes to the slower
rhythm of Drake’s song, ‘Hold on we’re going home’ and before she
can do or say anything Stacey has her arms around Ethan pressing
her body against him and swaying. Olivia stands still in the middle
of the floor. “Fuck!” She whispers. Turning down several
invitations to dance, Carter walks Olivia off to the side and
stands against the wall watching. Within seconds, he’s flocked by a
group of girls who are infatuated with his blue eyes and accent and
they distract him with their flirting. Olivia can’t take her eyes
off Ethan, watching him trying to be polite but clearly
uncomfortable and trying to keep space between them. She can tell
he’s starting to feel the effects of the several Scotch’s he’s had.
His movements have become lazy and his body appears slow and
heavy.

When Stacey buries her face into his neck
and wraps her arms completely around him and over his butt,
squeezing it tightly, fireworks go off in Olivia’s brain. Her hands
shake with anger and jealousy claws at her like a wildcat on
steroids! She shoots out towards the dance floor with the intention
of doing bodily harm when she’s stopped dead by a pair of strong
arms. “Whoa! Where are you going?” Carter’s voice echoes in her
ear.

“I’m going to peel that SKANK off MY MAN!”
She says through clenched teeth.

Carter chuckles. “Oh no you’re not, at least
not while you look like you want to stab someone.”

Worried, Ethan watches Olivia through the
crowd, understanding why she’s clearly upset. When Carter drags her
back towards the wall, he sends him a look to say “Thanks”. Carter
nods his acknowledgement. She’s literally trembling with anger and
Carter tries for a few minutes to settle her. Then the loyalty that
Olivia assumed Ethan would always have from his friends suddenly
becomes evident in Carters next move.

“Listen, you just stay here. Ok? I’ll look
after it.” Needing liquid encouragement, he drains his glass in one
gulp.

“Carter? What are you going to do?” She
asks, worried.

He pinches her chin and smiles. “You look
absolutely miserable and I can’t take it anymore. I’m going to do
what I should have done back at the other bar. I’m going to suck it
up and take one for the team.”

Olivia lets out a heavy sigh of relief.
“Thank you Carter. You’re a good friend.”

“Yes I am. And you are going to owe me one.
A HUGE one I might add.” He grins.

“Anything, I promise.”

He nods his head. “Alright, let’s get on
with it. Order me another drink. I’m going to need it.”

She watches as Carter makes his way onto the
dance floor, taps Ethan on the shoulder, and asks to cut in. Ethan
looks relieved but Stacey glances over at Olivia with hatred in her
eyes. Geez, what is it that this woman just doesn’t understand?
THAT’S RIGHT! HE DOESN’T WANT YOU!

Ethan quickly exits the dance floor, grabs
Olivia by the hand and hurries her upstairs. Alone in the VIP
lounge, he gives in to his needs, presses her against the wall and
kisses her roughly, like he means it. He doesn’t stop until she
pulls away, needing air. When John and Shannon join them in the
room, she begs him. “Can we go now?”

“Absolutely.” Ethan seems to be ok when he
steps away to pour himself a glass of water so she’s surprised at
the look of concern on John’s face. When he takes out his phone and
dials a number, she looks at Shannon who shrugs, clearly not
understanding his concern either.

“Hi Sarah, it’s John McCabe. I’m fine
thanks. Listen, Mr. O’Connell is going to need a room tonight. Can
you get one ready for him? Like… right away? Thank you. I’ll be
right there.” Obviously, John knows something that they don’t. He
must recognize something in Ethan’s look that tells him that he’s
about to surpass his limit. Who other than John would know
that?

“Sit, until I get back.” John says to him.
Looking exhausted, Ethan takes a seat in one of the large chairs
and refills his water glass.

When John steps out of the room, Shannon
takes Olivia’s hand. “Come here, I want to show you something.” She
pulls her out on the balcony overlooking the dance floor. “Have a
look.” She says nodding in direction of the back of the room.

It’s dark and the flashing lights make it
hard to see. “What exactly am I looking for?”

“Carter. Look straight past the bar and to
the right. Against the wall.”

Olivia tries to focus and follows the line
of people down the wall. Finally, she sees him, recognizing him
only by his height and clothing because his back is to them, his
face is hidden in the darkness. “Ok, I found him.”

“And?”

“And what?” Olivia watches intently, getting
only quick glimpses as the lights pulse off and on. All of a
sudden, she gets a really good look and her mouth widens in shock.
“Who is he kissing?”

Shannon starts to smile. “Stacey!” She looks
behind her to make sure nobody is listening. “A few minutes ago he
had her in the corner under the stairs. It was dark but I’m pretty
sure her legs were wrapped around his waist.”

“Oh my God! What do you think they were
doing?” She looks shocked, but deep down inside she’s pretty
impressed with Carter right now.

“I’m pretty sure they weren’t dancing.”
Shannon blushes.

“Well, he said he was going to take one for
the team.” Olivia laughs. “Ethan’s lucky to have such a good
friend.”

Shannon looks at her and raises her
eyebrows. “I think we both know that he did it for you, not
Ethan.”

Olivia says nothing, but knows that there is
more than a little truth to that. She and Shannon became instant
friends when they met; the same was true for her and Carter.
Although she was sure from the moment they sat down for dinner that
Carter was hoping for more than that. She’s seen it in his eyes
more than a few times tonight.

Hearing John return, they head back into the
other room where Ethan seems to be napping in the chair. He opens
his eyes as John taps his shoulder. When he wakes, John hands him a
hotel key card. “Here, there is a room ready upstairs. Carter is
looking after Stacey.” The two girls snicker and Ethan looks at
them suspiciously. John ignores them and continues. “Shae and I
will make sure everyone else gets home safe. Go and get some sleep.
It’s been a crap day. I’ll have one of your suits sent over in the
morning.”

“Thank you, John.” He slaps him on the
shoulder and looks over at Olivia, holding out his hand. She looks
stunned for a moment. She hadn’t thought about what would happen at
the end of the night. Her car is at the office but she certainly
shouldn’t be driving. Ethan would never permit her to take a cab
all the way back to Dufferin County at this hour of the morning,
not even if she went back with the three boys. She takes a deep
breath and takes his hand. “I guess I’m staying.”

“Of course you are.” He frowns at her as if
she had just made a ridiculous statement.

On the journey from the club to the hotel
room, Ethan’s mood moves from the warm fuzzy feeling brought on by
the alcohol and into that downward spiral that creeps into sadness
as the buzz wears off. He’s quiet and pensive. Lost too deep in
thought, Olivia fears. He keeps her close to his side in the
elevator but she can tell there is a lot going on in his mind. The
situation is feeling way too familiar to her, causing fear to start
rumbling around inside her. When he fumbles with the key card, she
takes it out of his hand and opens the door. Leaning down to kiss
her, he comments on how beautiful she is, and then frowns when he
sees the fear in her eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think I can stay.” She says
anxiously, not knowing how he will react. When Sam started to sober
up after a night of drinking it was usually accompanied by
depression and violence. Almost always, directed at her. It’s not
something she wants to tell Ethan in his current alcohol haze, so
how does she make him understand?

Ethan is disheartened. “Please don’t go. I
don’t think I could bare it if you left me tonight.”

She looks into the room from the doorway and
sees the bed and then she looks up into Ethan’s eyes. They are
hooded, heavy and very tired. He hasn’t given her any reason to
believe that he’s dangerous, but how can she possibly bring herself
to sleep in the same bed with him when he’s like this? Their first
time overnight in a bed together? In fact, the first time she would
be in a bed with any man after her last night with Sam. Ethan is
nowhere near the state of mind that will allow him to comprehend
how terrified she is right now.

“Please stay.” He begs with a sad, desperate
voice. “I just need to be close to you. I just need to know that
things are ‘ok’ between us.”

Poor Ethan, she has been so caught up in her
own whirlwind of emotions today she hasn’t thought about how hard
everything has been on him. She can see it now in his face, his
eyes are lost and hollow, searching for a sign of forgiveness,
acceptance, and unconditional love. There is no way she could leave
him alone tonight. She just doesn’t have it in her. She nods and
walks into the room, feeling him exhale a heavily weighted breath.
He locks the door behind them, throws his wallet and other pocket
contents on the table, and begins to get undressed down to his
boxers. Swaying a little, he makes his way into the bathroom and
closes the door.

Olivia takes the opportunity to quickly get
undressed down to her panties and then grabs the t-shirt he’s
discarded on the floor and pulls it on over her head. She’s already
under the covers when he returns and nervously waiting to see what
comes next. Making his way to the side of the bed, he stands there
staring at her for a long period of time. Olivia holds her breath
and squeezes her eyes closed tightly… waiting. Near the end of
their relationship, this was where things always went terribly
wrong with Sam. After a night of drinking, she would be roughly
dragged to the edge of the bed and her body violently used as an
outlet for his anger. Her heart racing, she thinks for a moment
about getting out of the bed and leaving, as fast as she can.

Ethan watches her, sober enough to see the
tension in her shoulders and her hands firmly fisted in front of
her, grasping the blanket. Remembering the fear in her eyes as they
reached the door, he sits on the side of the bed for a long time
thinking, before he lays back against the pillow and swings his
feet in under the covers. Clinging to the furthest edge of the King
size bed, he purposely leaves miles of space between them. He lies
on his back with his arms stretched over his head, not making any
effort to touch her at all. For a long moment, he lay there in
silence. “I’m sorry, Liv.”

She relaxes when she hears the calm, gentle
sound of his voice. Her breathing settles but she continues to lie
on her side, facing away from him. “You don’t have to
apologize.”

“Yes I do. I was a complete bastard today.”
His breathing gets heavier with emotion.

“A lot of things went on today. We got
through them, that’s all that matters.” She’s desperate to prevent
him from getting wound up.

Ethan suddenly has the need to talk through
what’s going on in his head. “Everything is so fucked up. I feel
like my life is veering out of control. All my friends are angry
with me over this Jessica thing. My father hasn’t talked to me
since the first newspaper report. My sisters are trying to be
supportive but I can see the disappointment in my mother’s eyes
when she looks at me.” His voice gets quiet, despondent.

Olivia turns to face him with the sudden,
overwhelming need to console him. He looks forlorn and lost, raw
emotion eating at him. Moving across the bed, she wiggles close to
him so she can touch him, stroking his hair and soothing him. He
can hardly bring himself to look at her let alone acknowledge her
touch. Fighting the urge to reach for her he lowers his arms to his
sides and then remains completely still. His biceps hard and
tense.

Moving her head against his pillow, she
lowers her lips to his shoulder and presses them against the dark
ink of his tattoo. “Ethan, everything is going to be ok, baby. Get
some sleep, we can talk tomorrow.”

Taking a deep breath in, he holds it, his
eyes look cloudy and heavy, his expression dejected. His voice
cracks when he speaks. “I… I didn’t think this day could get any
worse, then Carter showed up… and I saw that look in his eyes when
he saw you.”

“I’m not interested in Carter, Ethan.” She
clarifies, realizing that she needs to console him, hold him, just
as much if not more than he needs to be held. “Come here.” She
says, beckoning him into her arms. Quickly, he moves over and close
the space between them, pressing his body against her, letting her
surround him with her softness.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers against her neck.
“After everything that happened today, after Stacey… fuck… and I
didn’t stop her…” He tenses and takes a few sharp breaths. “If you
leave me… I deserve it.”

Olivia’s emotional level is through the roof
from her own sobering. “Shhh, baby. I’m not going anywhere.
Everything is going to be all right. Please go to sleep now, ok?”
If she can just get him to relax enough to sleep it off he’ll be
fine in the morning. She knows that he probably won’t remember
anything that’s happened in the past couple of hours. That was
always what happened with Sam. The next morning he never remembered
the hurtful things he said or did.

Wrapping the blanket around them, she
presses her warm lips to the top of his head. He lies heavily
against her chest, his cheek rubbing gently on the skin just above
her breasts. He wants to hold her but he hesitates, bringing his
hand to her hip then letting it slide down, twisting the edge of
his t-shirt around his fingers.