Intractable Souls : Book 1 of the Bound for Ireland Series (37 page)

“Well… you can if you want to.”

Ethan is beyond fed up with this agreement,
and on the edge of losing his mind when there’s a knock on his
office door. “Olivia, I have to go now, I think it’s best that we
continue this discussion in person.”

“Ok. I’ll see you on Saturday for sure.”
This time she waits for him to say goodbye before she hangs up.

Hannah peaks through the side window of
Ethan’s office door and waits until he waves her in. She brings him
a fresh pitcher of ice water with lemons as she does every day and
places it on the corner of his desk.

“Thanks.” His voice is low and stressed and
Hannah can’t resist trying to engage him in conversation. She has
something on her mind.

“Girl trouble?” She asks, knowing full well
that it is, compliments of her little chit chat last night.

Ethan sighs heavily. “How did you know?”

Hannah picks up the pitcher and pours him a
glass. “Women’s intuition.”

Ethan opens up a little. “She’s acting
strange today but I don’t know why.”

Hannah was hoping when she came in that she
would have the opportunity to have this discussion with him. “She
seemed alright last night.”

Ethan’s brow creases. “Last night?”

“Yes, I ran into her at Headwaters last
night. She was having dinner with a very handsome man.”

It takes a moment to sink in, and then it
occurs to him. The reason why she’s insistent that he date other
women is that she’s obviously dating other men. The thought leaves
him feeling a little shaken. Hannah stands at the side of his desk
hoping to console him. “Ethan? Is everything ok?”

He rakes his fingers through his hair. “Yes,
I’m fine. Will you excuse me please, Hannah. I have another
conference call in a few minutes.”

Hannah is not disappointed. “Oh, of course.”
She turns to leave, knowing that she’s planted a seed in his brain,
and mistrust grows quickly.

“If you see John, please tell him I need
him.”

“Yes I will. She closes the door behind her
and turns to see John walking towards her. “He wants to see you.”
She says softly.

John notes the nervous anxiety on her face.
“I take it he’s not in a particularly good mood?”

She shakes her head no, and keeps walking,
concealing her smile until she’s out of sight.

As John opens the door, an object that’s
launched across the room in anger, narrowly misses him. “Whoa! What
the hell happened in the 20 minutes I was gone?”

“Call the gym and tell them I’m on the way
down. Make sure there’s somebody ready to spar.“ Ethan makes his
way into the washroom and changes into track pants and a
t-shirt.

“You’re going for a few rounds of boxing…
now?” John looks at his watch.

Ethan’s jaw is clenched tight and the vein
in his forehead is jumping. “I need to punch something.” He slips
on his black Converse high-tops and ties them tightly.

John raises an eyebrow. “Ok, I’ll have
Parker sit in on the meeting and give you an update in the
morning.” He pauses a moment. “Ethan… make sure you don’t say stuff
like that when Miss Quinn is here.”

Ethan shoots him a look as he does up the
zipper on his hoodie and then shoulders past him into the hallway,
leaving him without any further explanation.

He’s almost at the gym when John catches up
with him. “It’s your lucky day.”

“What’s going on?”

“There’s no one at the gym to spar with so
you’re stuck with me.”

Ethan gives him a half a grin. “Are you sure
you’re up to it? You’re kind of old.”

John throws his head back in laughter. “Well
I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?”

Both men suit up and step into the ring.
Moving around each other, they size each other up, but it’s Ethan
that takes the first swing. John steps back and avoids the blow.
Frustrated, Ethan steps in and tries again. This time John blocks
and counters with a hard shot to Ethan’s stomach. Ethan pretends it
was nothing, but the grunt he makes as the air is forced out of him
tells a different story. “Is that the best you’ve got?”

John grins. “I’m just getting started,
junior.”

Ethan is all youth and power and unleashes
one punch after another in a relentless assault. Despite his age,
John is fast and is able to block or avoid most of them. He
counters a few good shots of his own and lands a quick jab on
Ethan’s chin forcing his head to jerk back. Stepping back, he gives
Ethan a moment to recover. Ethan opens and closes his jaw and
twists his neck trying to realign everything. A heavy sweat now
soaks his clothes and beads on his forehead under the protective
headgear.

Ethan comes back at him hard swinging at him
wildly with unrestrained power. John watches and responds. He
continues the same attack repeatedly and within minutes, Ethan’s
energy is spent. His arms, heavy and tired, slowing in their
assault. Waiting for the perfect moment John delivers one powerful
shot that sends Ethan to the floor. HARD.

Offering Ethan his hand, he pulls him to his
feet. “You need to learn to harness that power. Boxing isn’t much
different from soccer. You need to watch your opponent and get to
know his habits then wait patiently for a well-placed shot. Hitting
hard and fast only tires you out.”

Ethan says nothing. He’s been taken to the
proverbial woodshed by a man 10 years his senior. He can’t deny
that it was a well-taught lesson. Untying their gloves, they try to
catch their breath and prepare to leave.

“So what pissed you off? Or did you suddenly
find your stapler offensive?”

“Hannah said that Olivia was at the
restaurant last night having dinner with another man.”

John looks surprised. “Are you sure? I would
be careful believing anything Hannah says. She does have an
ulterior motive after all.” He moves to the corner and picks up
both water bottles, and tosses one to Ethan.

“What do you mean?” He squirts a generous
amount of water in his mouth and then spits it out. John picks up a
towel and wipes the sweat off his face before looking at him in
disbelief. “You’re joking right? Hannah doesn’t want Olivia around.
She wants you for herself.”

Ethan is surprised. “She does?”

John throws a towel at him. “Christ, how
hard did I hit you?”

It’s late by the time Ethan showers and
walks to his car. His shoulders tense, when he sees Eva Storm
leaning against it, waiting. He sighs and makes a mental note to
have a chat with security. She looks worried today, the kind and
gentle expression morphed into a look of anguish and unrest.
Unlocking the door with the remote, the blip echoes loudly through
the empty space. Eva doesn’t wait for him to acknowledge her. She
needs to tell him something. “What are you waiting for, child? You
need to tell her.”

He knows that he should ignore her, but he
engages her in conversation. Wrong thing to do with a stalker!
“Tell who, what exactly?” He’s just plain curious now.

“The one whose fingerprints are on your
soul. You must tell her, who you are.”

A cool breeze blows past them and makes him
shudder. Nervously, he looks around for the source of the draft.
Eerie! Swinging his bag off his shoulder, he opens the back door to
Challenger and throws it in. When he turns to tell her that he
thinks she’s bat shit crazy… Yup, VANISHED again.

Driving home to Dufferin County, he
considers stopping at Olivia’s and straightening things out. His
mind is racing in several different directions; it’s been such a
strange day. Deciding that it’s best to wait until he’s not both
mentally and physically exhausted, he drives home and finds Rachel
sitting on the couch with a cup of tea.

She looks up when he comes in. “Hey.”

“Can’t sleep?” He puts his bag down on the
floor.

She shakes her head no, looking lost and
forlorn

“You and Scott still not seeing eye to eye
on starting a family?”

Again, she shakes her head no. “I just wish
I was as sure as he is that I’d make a good mother.”

Ethan sits beside her. “Well from what I’ve
heard, every woman worries about that.”

“I guess.” She shrugs, taking a sip of tea
and putting her mug down on the coffee table.

“I think you should trust Scott, Rach. He
loves you very much and believes you would be a wonderful mother.
I’ve only known you a short while but I see the way that you care
for your friends. And really… the only prerequisite you need to
raise a child is the ability to love. You certainly have that.”

His words are sincere and for the first time
she doesn’t feel like motherhood is an impossibility. “Thank you
Ethan. You’re right.” She relaxes a little and smiles. So, you’ve
been working late every night. Tough week?”

“Brutal, actually.”

Rachel laughs. “Ha! You’re lucky you haven’t
had to deal with Olivia this week. She has been absolutely
impossible. I don’t know why but she isn’t eating. Something is
bothering her.”

“No kidding. I talked to her today and she
hung up on me.”

Rachel is shocked. “No way!” Then she
giggles. “Part PMS, part starvation.”

Ethan suddenly feels agitated. “Someone told
me that she was on a date with some guy last night.”

Rachel is shocked. “What? That’s not
possible.”

“It’s true, she was seen at my restaurant
having dinner with a man. A very good looking man apparently.” He
finds it hard, even now, to think about it without feeling a
jealous rage starting to brew.

Rachel is still a non-believer. ”Ethan,
there are only two men, besides yourself, that Olivia would trust
enough to go out with. So, it could only have been either Scott or
Noah. And Scott was working late with you last night.” She pauses,
feeling suspicious for a moment. “Wasn’t he?”

Ethan reassures her. “Yes, he was. So it was
Noah then.” That doesn’t make him feel any better.

Rachel gives him a sympathetic smile. “Hey,
trust me. She’s done with him.”

“I don’t get it, then why is she so
determined to push me away?”

“She’s frightened.”

“Rachel, you have to tell me what this Sam
guy did to her. Please.“ He begs.

Rachel sips her tea and thinks for a moment.
“It’s not really my story to tell, Ethan. However, I think you
should know. Olivia had just broken up with someone and feeling
very vulnerable when Scott introduced her to Sam. He had just moved
here from the city and had joined the soccer team. They hit it off
right away and Olivia fell fast and hard. Things seemed great and
then I started noticing small marks and bruises on her arms and
legs. One day she showed up with a split lip and black eye and a
non-convincing story about falling.”

Ethan listens without interrupting and
thinks about what he would do to this man if he ever crossed his
path.

Rachel sighs. “I finally convinced her to
leave him. She told him that night that she was breaking it off
and… he snapped.”

She chokes back the tears trying to get the
rest of the story out. Ethan passes her the box of tissue from the
end table. “I found her the next day unconscious on her bed. He had
hit her so hard that he split her head open. The mattress was so
soaked with blood that I was afraid she was dead.” She wipes her
nose with the tissue. “We got her to the hospital and they came out
to tell us that it took fourteen stitches to close the gash on her
skull and that they were keeping her in an induced coma until the
swelling went down. Other than that, she had a lot of bruises and a
fractured rib but they were confident she would be ok.“ Rachel’s
tears start streaming down her cheek at an increased pace. Ethan’s
heart becomes heavy and pained at her reaction, feeling guilty that
he has caused her this upset. “It wasn’t until later that the
doctor in the emergency department told me that there was
overwhelming evidence that he had raped her.”

“Jesus Christ!” Ethan can’t focus his
thoughts. His mind is racing in a million different directions. All
different ways he’s going to hunt this bastard down and murder
him.

She wipes her nose and tears with the back
of her hand and takes a deep breath in. “To this day, she denies
it.”

“What?” Ethan feels sick.

“She denies that he raped her. She says that
it was consensual.”

“Why would she do that?” It’s an irrational
thing to do and Ethan struggles to wrap his head around it.

“Scott thinks it’s because she can’t cope
with it. Accepting that he raped her, I mean.”

Ethan blows out a deep breath. “Wow!”
Pressing his hands to his temples he massages the twitching
nerves.

Rachel pulls herself together. “I shouldn’t
have told you. You were so good for her and now you’ll probably
want nothing to do with her.”

“Why would you say that?” Ethan is annoyed.
Why does everyone think he’s a heartless bastard?

“That’s an awful lot of baggage to take on.
No one would blame you, least of all Olivia. I think that’s why she
created your agreement. It gives her the protection she needs by
keeping you from getting too close.”

“I hate that fucking agreement.” He rakes
his fingers through his hair in frustration.

“Think of it as a castle wall that she has
built up around herself. She needs you to start climbing the wall
to rescue her.”

“If she wants to be rescued why is she being
so difficult?”

“I told you, because she’s frightened. She
has been hiding in that castle for three years and the world left
her alone. You show up and start climbing the wall and get
dangerously close to the top before she even knows what’s
happening. Now she’s trying to regain control of her fortress by
making you comply with the rules. She doesn’t WANT to be rescued…
but she NEEDS to be.”

“I think I understand.”

Rachel purses her lips together. “Think of
each rule as a section of the wall you need to climb. Each time you
dissolve a rule you get closer to the top.”