Her sister’s blue eyes locked onto hers, and Allie could tell she’d been crying. Her heart squeezed, and it seemed she was able to muster up that responsible person, because she put her arm around her and gave her a hug. “I know it sucks, Dani. But we have each other.”
She expected her sister to hug her back, but Dani pulled out of her hug. “I can’t believe you did that. I wanted to take those freaking M&Ms and—”
“Hey, I know.”
“I am never coming here again. I’m never seeing her again.”
Allie nodded slowly and reached out to touch her sister’s arm. “It’s okay.”
Dani shrugged her off. “It’s not okay, and I’m still pissed at you for being a doormat.”
“Don’t talk to me that way.”
“Why, what are you going to do? Kick me out, not give me food? Fine, then do it.”
Allie schooled her features, compartmentalizing her hurt, and used her professional skills, pretending Dani was one of her kids from work. She knew where this was coming from. When she had taken Dani out of their mother’s care, it had been out of necessity. The promises her mother had made Allie had all been broken, and Allie’d had no choice but to pull her ten-year-old sister out. She knew Dani hadn’t gotten over the feeling of abandonment. She also knew that Dani had no idea why she still felt indebted to their mother. “We’re stuck together, kid.”
“I’m done, Allie. I don’t want to be stuck with you anymore. How can you be so tough and so stupid at the same time?”
Hurt slashed through her. Allie stared into her sister’s eyes and tried not to cry. She saw the maturity there, years ahead of where she usually was. She owed it to her sister to tell her the secret she’d kept buried from her for so long. “I’ve been trying to protect you. I know you already despise Mom, and I just didn’t want to make it worse.”
Dani stood there, fiddling with the red scarf around her neck and watching her. “What are you talking about?”
Allie kept her voice low and tried to make it brief. “I gave her the money because I owe her.”
“For what?”
“For choosing me.” She looked down at her boots, wishing she could take back what she’d started. She never opened up to anyone, but maybe it was time. Maybe it was time Dani understood everything.
“Choosing you over what?”
“Over her boyfriend at the time. She took my word for something. She took my word over his,” she whispered, trying to rein in her emotions, the memories, so that Dani would remain calm.
“What was it about?”
Allie looked over Dani’s shoulder, concentrating on the glowing Exit sign. “He, uh, started coming into my room at night.”
Dani squeezed her eyes shut and covered her ears, shaking her head. “No, no, no, I can’t deal with this. No.”
And then she was gone. Allie watched her disappear down the empty stairwell, tears blurring her vision. She wouldn’t go after her now. She could barely breathe. Just starting to speak had drained her of all the strength she had left. She had just spoken about something so dark from her past, and she was shutting down. She wanted to sit down and cry. For once, she needed someone around her to be stronger than her. She never should have said anything to Dani. She wasn’t ready. She got that she needed to blow off steam, and she knew Dani had a good group of friends. So Dani would probably go to her best friend’s house. And she…this wasn’t something she could tell Ethan. How could he possibly understand this? She looked around the filthy hallway, the smells that were familiar now clinging to her clothes. No, Ethan would never be able to relate to any of this. Where she was, who she was, would never be enough for Ethan.
Chapter Five
Ethan straightened his tie as the elevator doors opened. He made his way down the corridor of the Dane Building Group, the familiarity of it roping him into thinking about all the times he’d been here as a kid, a teenager, an adult.
When he’d been little, he’d wanted to work here, alongside his father. He had always thought that was his destiny. His father would bring him into work and Ethan would listen attentively, fascinated by meetings and the way his father commanded authority. He loved how smart his father sounded. He wanted to be just like him. He had always been smarter than Carson, worked harder than Carson, and at one point in his life, his father had known that. He and his father had bonded. Until the day the doctors told them all just how weak Ethan was. That was the day he and his father had grown apart. That was the end of his trips to the office with his father. The end of being connected to his father and the beginning of Carson’s rise to power.
For a while, Ethan had been too sick to care. He’d seen it happening, he’d sensed it happening. He felt like a toy that had been rejected for not being perfect anymore. Even when he’d recovered, things didn’t go back to normal. Ethan had to work harder just to prove that he was capable of doing what he could before. But his father’s faith had been lost, and so had his.
Little competitions began between him and Carson, their rivalry only growing. He knew Carson had been threatened by him, and there was no way Ethan would let him win. Despite all his accomplishments, his better grades, his extra-curricular achievements, none of it was good enough for their father anymore.
Ethan stopped outside the boardroom, his gaze wandering over the employees sitting at the long table. His father was at the head; Carson sat to his right. A long time ago, Ethan had imagined himself sitting there. Maybe this competition was his father’s way of giving him his rightful place in the company. Maybe his father really did want him beside him now.
Ethan grabbed the door handle, his hand clenching the cool steel bar tightly. Too bad he wasn’t doing any of this for that reason. He didn’t want to sit beside his father anymore. Or any of them. He just needed to prove that he could.
“Mr. Dane,” a voice called out.
He turned to see his father’s secretary walking toward him.
“Don’t worry, Rose. I’m going to see myself in.”
Conversation petered out as he approached the head of the table where his father was sitting. The surprise and gleam of pride in his father’s eyes should have filled him with satisfaction, but for some reason it didn’t. Someone brought him one of the leather swivel chairs, and he sat down next to his father, opposite Carson. His brother’s face was red and it looked like he was ready to break into a sweat, which was precisely the reaction he wanted. Ethan never came to these meetings. He knew Carson saw it as Ethan marking his territory. He liked to think of it as that and also enjoying being a shit-disturber, just as Carson had mercilessly done to him when they were younger.
“Hi, Dad,” he said as he sat down. He turned to everyone at the table, some of the faces familiar. “Good morning, everyone.”
He settled into his chair and gave Carson a smirk.
His father stood and gestured to him. “For those of you who don’t know, this is my talented son, Ethan. He’s decided to surprise us and listen in to today’s meeting. Hopefully one day we can convince him to join us here at Dane Building Group.”
Ethan forced himself to keep his expression calm. It was the first time in years his father had offered him any kind of praise, backhanded or not. It should have made him feel proud, especially considering how shitty Carson was looking.