Page 43 of The Mafia's Desire

“He needs this,” Angel whispered to her.

Sara agreed, but she didn’t like seeing him upset. “What do you want from me, Ethan?”

“I want you to come home where you belong.”

“So, I can rot in the bedroom?”

“I never said you had to stay in the bedroom,” Ethan hissed.

“Every time I tried to do anything, you forbade me to do it. I got tired of it, so I stayed in your room.”

“Our room,” Ethan said.

Sara sighed and looked down at her feet. She felt defeated because she had no idea how to get through to him.

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Ethan, may I have a word with you in my office?” Alastair said.

Ethan gritted his teeth. “I’ve already told you, this is between Sara and me.”

“Now.”

Fuck. He couldn’t ignore Alastair’s demand. He took one more look at Sara, turned, and followed him into the office.

After the door closed, Ethan went to the bar and poured himself a drink. He held up his glass to his cousin. “Do you want one?”

Alastair snorted as he sat at his desk. “Not even I start drinking at one in the afternoon.”

Ethan didn’t care. He needed something to settle him down. He’d have a heart attack if he didn’t mellow out. When he’d been told that Sara left the house, he’d felt a fear he never had before. He couldn’t keep her safe if she weren’t by him. He needed to get this conversation over so he could take her back home.

“What do you need?”

“I need you to take your head out of your ass,” Alastair said.

Ethan stiffened. “Wait. What?”

“If you don’t, the women will drive us all crazy until they get what they want, and right now, they want Sara to be happy, and even I can tell she isn’t.”

His emotions were going haywire, and he didn’t know what to do. They were all over the place, and it felt like his head was about ready to explode. Hell, he’d sound like a pussy if he talked about it, but there was no one else he knew that would understand.

He stood and walked over to the large window behind Alastair’s desk to look out. He didn’t see anything because his inner focus was on Sara.

“I want to wrap her in cotton and keep her on my lap, so she doesn’t get hurt. On the other hand, I’m mad because I can’t control myself when I think about her. It’s disrupting my work.”

Fortunately, Alastair didn’t laugh and just nodded. “I get it. When Beth came into my life, I was consumed with her. Fuck, I still am.”

“How do you think straight and get work done?” Ethan asked. He watched his cousin think about it for a moment.

“I tell myself I will have Beth in my arms in a few hours, and she’s close if I need her at any time. But first, I must ensure our family’s business stays on track to provide for her. I also delegated more of my work, so I didn’t work such long hours. Have you done that with your brothers Drew and Gavin?”

“A bit, but I know they can take on more. They ask for it a lot.”

“Then do it. You’re never going to be able to not think about her. She’ll pop into your head all the time. You just have to make peace with it if you want her in your life. The way you’re trying to deal with it is pushing her away. What’s this I hear that you won’t let her garden or be in the kitchen. What’s that about?”

“She can get hurt.”

One of Alastair’s eyebrows rose. “Shovels and spoons have become dangerous?”

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