Some Like It Charming - By Megan Bryce Page 0,56
know how hard he was going to work.
And now she knew. He either wanted nothing or everything.
She would bet on everything.
Ethan followed her out, holding her hand silently on the subway ride to their building. They rode the elevator up, Mackenzie’s arms crossed tight in front of her. She went straight through to her bedroom after he opened the front door, not looking at him.
Ethan followed her, blocking her from shutting the door with his foot.
“Go away,” she said in a harsh voice.
He pushed the door in, grabbing her arms, and pulling her in close. He wrapped his arms around her, not saying a word.
She whispered, “Please go away.”
“No.”
He held her close as she cried, as her tears fell, soaking his shirt. He simply held her and ran his hand down her hair, over and over.
Mackenzie finally whispered, “You need to warn your grandma. And maybe your mother.”
She felt him smile. “They know what a con man looks like.”
“Then why does your mother still fall for your smile?”
“She’s my mother. And you don’t need to worry. The O’Connors have dealt with con men before.”
She lifted her head, finally looking him in the eye. “Not like him.”
“I’ll let them know he is a threat.”
She nodded, wiping her face.
He said, “You have a sister?”
She looked down at the carpet. “Who knows. Maybe he made it up, to get to me. It worked.”
She didn’t know what to do about a sister. A three-year-old sister. And her father married? She would have said that would never happen. What was marriage and family to a man who cared only for money?
“What made you leave? What did he do?”
A half-laugh, half-sob escaped. “He did nothing. Nothing when he should have done something.”
Ethan sat down on the bed, pulling her down to sit beside him, silently watching her. She knew what he was doing, drawing her out with his silence, but she couldn’t seem to stop the words.
“I was with him, on his compound. And my mother died.” She took a deep breath. “I didn’t find out until months later. He never told me. Not when she was sick, not when she died, not when they held her funeral.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t care. And he didn’t think I would either.” Mackenzie blinked a few times, not wanting to cry again. “I cared. She was my mother.”
He nodded.
“I decided I would go back home, visit her, visit my grandparents. I was tired of the compound, tired of the suckers. And he said, ‘Oh, she died.’ Like. . . like–” She waved her hand in the air. “Like they were out of peanut butter at the store and he hadn’t thought it worth the bother of mentioning.”
“I’m sorry.”
“He didn’t care that I might need to say goodbye to my mother. I was raking in the cash for him and he didn’t want to let that go. I meant money to him. Just like everyone else there. Just a big dollar sign.”
Ethan took her hand, running his thumb up and down, trying to soothe her hurt.
She said, “I’d learned to see people, see what they really wanted. So I looked at him. And all he wanted was money. He didn’t want a daughter.”
“His loss. His problem. Not yours.”
She shrugged. “I went back home, tried to see my grandparents, but they looked at me like I was just like him. Cold and heartless. They said my mother had called and sent letters, wanting to see me before she died. They didn’t believe I’d never received them.” She shook her head. “They wouldn’t forgive me for letting my mother die heartbroken and alone. I lost all my family trying to get him to love me. Lost everyone who’d already loved me.”
He shook his head. “They were grieving. Have you tried contacting them since?”
“Once. Nothing had changed.” She laughed, a hopeless tear-stained choke. “They saw a woman even colder than they remembered.”
“I don’t believe they thought you cold and heartless.”
She raised an eyebrow. “You don’t? I’ve been called ice queen enough times to know most people see me like that.”
“I never saw cold. I saw. . . closed, maybe. A fortress protected by a moat and a drawbridge, with a no entrance sign chiseled into the stone.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “No wonder you couldn’t leave me alone. What a challenge for you.”
“I knew there must be something inside worthwhile to protect.”
She looked down at their intertwined hands. “Maybe.”
Ethan said, “No. I was pretty sure then. And now I’m certain.”
Mackenzie smiled slightly. “You’re the