Page 73 of Blackstone's Heart
Nodding Krista handed it over. She suddenly felt nervous when Gage and the others started walked toward the back of the building, leaving only her and Ethan in the lobby. She licked her lips and opened and closed her mouth a few times, but nothing came out.
“My office. Now.” Ethan ordered.
His tone left no room for argument. She fell into step behind him, for once she was glad she was tall and had long legs. He was striding purposefully toward his office and had she been shorter she would have been running. Ethan held open his door for her and after she walked in, he all but slammed it closed behind him.
“What in the ever loving hell did you think you were doing Krista?” He demanded.
“Ethan I was only trying to help.” She argued.
“Help? Dammit woman you could have been shot! Did you even THINK about that when you pulled that stunt?”
Krista was getting pissed now. “Don’t you pull that shit with me Ethan. I took a chance and that chance saved our ass! Not to mention we now have the fucking gun he was using!”
Ethan crossed the carpeted floor and looked down at her. “You took a foolish chance. You got lucky with that shot. What if you had missed?”
Krista crossed her arms over her chest. “I knew it was a chance, but I was thinking two steps ahead. I saw you and Gage drawing your weapons after I pulled mine out. I was ready to duck down if I did miss, but I knew that would also give you two an opening to fire.”
Ethan’s chest broadened and lifted as he took a slow deep breath then released it. He started to counter her argument when there was a knock on the door. “What!”
The door opened and Lance stepped in. “I just finished stitching Tony up. Morton is taking him home now and I told him I want him taking it easy for the rest of the week.”
“Good.” Ethan stated, his voice clipped.
Lance looked between Ethan and Krista. He frowned as he felt the tension between the couple. “Is everything alright here?”
“Everything’s fine. I’m going to talk to Gage about that fucking rifle.” Ethan hissed then stormed out.
Lance walked over to Krista. “You okay?”
Krista heaved a sigh and walked over to the couch. “He’s pissed at me. Out in the courtyard, I pulled out my gun and took a shot at this guy. I must have hit him because he dropped the rifle and then Ethan and Gage took off after him.”
Lance now caught on. He sat beside her on the couch. “Listen, surely you can see where he’s coming from right?”
“Yes Lance I do, but at the same time he knows me well enough to know I rarely miss when I aim at something. On top of that, he and Gage were pulling out their guns as well so I knew if I missed, I would duck down behind the wall and let them have at it.” She closed her eyes as she rested her head on the back of the couch. “Right now he’s only seeing me as his fiancée and not the woman who can and does take care of herself. It pisses me off Lance.”
Lance reached over and laid his hand on her knee. “I don’t know what to tell you here, except that this is an issue only you and boss man can fix.”
“Yep. I wonder though how much he REALLY believes that I can take care of myself when it counts or does he see me as a woman who always needs a man to protect her.” She sighed quietly.
Chapter 20
Ethan slammed into the house ahead of Krista and went straight toward the kitchen. He was seeing red. Stalking to his fridge he yanked it open and grabbed a bottle of beer. The sound of the door slamming closed did nothing to calm the rage that was consuming him right then. Before he could think he let out an animalistic roar and flung the unopened bottle at the wall just as Krista walked into the kitchen.
"Ethan David Blackstone! What the hell are you doing?" Krista yelled as the bottle shattered a mere two feet from her.
"Don't." Ethan ground out at her as he turned away.
"Oh no you don't. You're not going to turn away from me." Krista demanded. “We have an issue to settle buddy.”
"Just stop Krista. Right now."
"Or what? You want to hit something? Huh? You go ahead, try to hit me and I'll lay your ass out on this tile floor." Ethan spun, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles were white and the tendons in his arms bulged. Krista however didn't bat an eyelash as she got right in his face. "You don't scare me Ethan. You never have and you never will. I want you to fucking talk to me. Now!"
Letting out another yell, he dug his fingers in his hair and started pacing. "I'm pissed! This is the second time this fucker has injured on of my men. First Grant and now Tony. Not to mention he shot at you again. I swore to your dad, to you and to myself to protect you and I've failed. Yet again. Not to mention that you put yourself in harm’s way by taking that stupid risk!"
Krista sighed and moved to him. She wrapped her arms around him, stopping him mid stride. "Ethan, you haven't failed me. No, look at me." She said when he wouldn’t look at her. She cupped his face. "Do you hear me? You. Have. Not. Failed. Plus, you need to get that if I can protect myself I will. You, Dad, my brothers, you all helped to ensure that I could handle myself."
Ethan couldn’t argue that. “Yeah I know that, but it doesn’t mean that I have to like it. I was scared as hell when you rose over that wall and raised your gun.”
