Page 79 of The Enemy of My Enemy Is… My Fake Boyfriend?

His words trailed off as he took a menacing step forward, and in that moment, I knew why he was here. He'd figured it out. It hadn't been that hard really. And now he wanted a confrontation.

Eyes narrowed into slits, he glared at Ethan. "You're the one who sabotaged me."

Not wanting to sit behind Ethan anymore, I moved my chair to the side and stood up, although neither of them took any notice of me.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ethan said.

Chase's angry glare shifted to me. At first, fear overwhelmed me, that ugly, mottled look on his face taking me instantly back to that nightmare of a morning when he'd yelled at me and called me all sorts of ugly names.

But then, something rose up beside that fear, a trickle of that new self-confidence I'd been working on, and I threw him back that dirty look with every ounce of disgust I could summon.

"Andyou," Chase spat at me, "I know you're responsible for that dead spider in my desk somehow."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I echoed back Ethan's previous words, deciding that was a good strategy to have.

Ethan took my hand at that point, and the surge of strength from that simple gesture took me by surprise. I'd never had that before in a relationship—not with Chase, not with anyone—that feeling and realization that my partner had my back.

Chase's eyes went to our clasped hands, and he huffed some air out of his nostrils, like a bull getting ready to charge. And then his nasty scowl went to Ethan, his lips curled in a sneer.

"Just remember," he snarled, "I had her first." There was a beat of silence before he added, "And she wasn't that good."

One second, Ethan was standing beside me, holding my hand. The next, Ethan had Chase by the throat.

"Don't talk about her like that, you fucking asshole," Ethan growled.

Despite the height difference and obvious contrast in strength, Chase didn't seem flustered. If anything, he looked even more enraged. "I'll talk about that bitch any way I want to."

In a flash, Ethan punched Chase right in the face, Chase crying out and flying backwards into the wall. Leaning against it and hunched over, he grasped his nose then looked at the blood on his hand in horror. "You... you broke my nose."

Ethan shrugged. "You deserved it."

There was a strange pause, energy coursing through the air, while I wondered what the hell would happen next. Would Chase fight back? Would Ethan punch him again? Should I not be standing here frozen like an idiot and call the police instead?

Chase's frantic eyes went back and forth between his red-speckled hand and Ethan standing tall before him, the tension in the room rising with each beat of my anxious heart. As Ethan towered over him, larger than life itself, Chase seemed to assess the risk correctly and backed away toward the door.

Once he was a fair distance away, he raised himself fully, his pride clearly taking a hit along with his stupid nose. "You'll pay for this," he hissed. "I'm going to sue your ass off."

"Go ahead. Add me to the list," Ethan said with a chuckle. "Sue me. Sue her. Sue everyone. Good luck with all that."

With a muttered curse, Chase turned and stalked from the room, Ethan watching him from the open doorway until we heard the elevator ding in the distance.

He turned back to me. "You should call security and make sure he leaves."

Good idea. In all the excitement, I hadn't even thought of that.

I took a minute to call down, also very belatedly letting them know that Chase Harrington was no longer on the safe list to come up here and, as a matter of fact, should be banned from the entire building.

They assured me that he was off the list and also watched him as he left the building. When I hung up, I practically collapsed back into my chair, my knees shaky but not in a good way like before.

I sat there completely stunned by what had just happened in my office, not sure what to think of it all.

Ethan perched on my desk, reaching out a hand to stroke the bare skin of my arm. "Are you okay, baby?"

The caring tone as he said it, the way he called me baby, made me want to cry.

"What an asshole. I can't believe I was going to marry someone like that. What is wrong with me?"

"It's not you. It's him."

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