Ethan felt like punching someone's face in, and at the moment, he envisioned Abe Yetter on the other side of his fist. He'd spent the better part of ten years working with Abe, so the blow of his betrayal hit hard. Ethan's emotion felt like fire to gasoline.
The walk—or stalk, more like it—down to Abe's office only fueled Ethan's anger. Every person he passed stared as if they feared he would explode. Abe's office door was wide open, giving Ethan a plain visual of Abe working at his desk.
Seth sat outside, with his small desk close to Abe's, and Ethan stopped in front of him, placing his palms down flat to glare at him. "Did he put you up to finding out information about Aria and I?"
His mouth opened, but nothing came out of it. "Well, I—"
Abe must have noticed the commotion and walked to his door. "What's going on?" he asked, his face actually portraying shock.
Ethan shoved Abe into his office and closed the door behind him. He sensed several employees watching through the window, but he didn't care. Before Abe had a chance to speak, Ethan tossed the pictures down on his desk and stared at him.
Abe glanced down but didn't reach for the pictures. Ethan sensed a veil fall over Abe, and his face turned serious, that laidback fun demeanor vanished, and he glanced up with disdain in his eyes.
"Would you like to explain? By all means, take your time. I have all day, but you don't."
Abe interlaced his fingers over his stomach. "Of course, you have all day," he said. "Because everyone else does your work for you, Ethan. I've been picking up your slack for years, and you're offered the position as CEO in Dallas. I thought your father was smarter than to let his immature, playboy son run his business."
So many things fell into place for Ethan in that moment. Abe was never truly Ethan's friend; he was using him to climb the corporate ladder. Ethan nodded once, adjusting his gaze from Abe's smug face before he cracked and punched his lights out.
When he did, he noticed a picture frame in the corner of Abe's bookshelf with the girl from the bar. That night had been a setup, an attempt to lure Ethan into bed with who looked like his sister.
Ethan placed his palms flat on Abe's desk, coming eye level with him for a few short seconds. "I can't believe you'd jeopardize your job for this. Now, you won't be considered for the CEO position here, and you're out of work. Go ahead and refresh your résumé, Abe, because you're fired."
Abe's gaze slid to slits, and he stood up slowly. "We'll see what your father thinks about this."
Ethan chuckled. "He's still picking up his jaw from the floor, and he's not CEO, I am."
Abe turned toward him, his fingers tightened into fists at his sides. Ethan sensed he wanted to hit Ethan, and he wanted him to because that was one more reason to fire him on the spot.
"You've always put your own priorities over this job, Devry. This business deserves more than you can give it."
Ethan imagined it did look that way due to his past, but now, things were changing. He didn't even know if he would go to Dallas unless Aria wanted to go with him.
"And you just couldn't keep out of Aria's pants, could you? Now she's carrying your baby," he said, holding up his finger. "Let me guess, you're trying to get out of that too? I should have known she was a gold-digger—"
Ethan snapped; everything holding him back broke into tiny pieces and shattered along the floor. He shoved Abe, making him stumble back against the chairs in front of his desk.
Abe retaliated quickly, barreling his shoulder into Ethan, sending them both back against the wall, rattling the walls and the window where several people stood. Minutes ticked by as Ethan and Abe wrestled like two teenagers in a fight before two male office workers pulled them apart.
They dragged Ethan out into the hallway. "Sir, is everything okay?"
Ethan felt like a raving lunatic. The CEO just got into a fight with an employee in front of his workers. "I'm fine," Ethan said, straightening his jacket. "Tell Abe he has a day to remove his belongings before I have him forcefully removed."
He swept through the building, ignoring the questions and stares on his way to his office. Marilyn stood outside of her door, a terrified look on her face as he passed without a word.
Ethan locked his office door and slid his palm down his face in a sad attempt to calm himself. His office phone rang, and he figured it was his father calling, so he ignored it.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Mrs. Shields opened the door slowly and peaked inside. "I hate to bother you—"
"Then don’t," Ethan said.
She cringed but didn't move away from his doorway. "I'm sorry, but there is an emergency in accounting. The computer system crashed and the manager that quit normally handles it—"
"I'll be down there in a second."
Mrs. Shield went to shut the door but stopped. "I'm glad Abe is gone. He's always given me the creeps."
She shut the door, leaving Ethan with a small smile on his face.
***
Several hours later, Ethan tugged his tie loose from his shirt and sat down in the front seat of his car in an empty parking garage. The silence felt nice after the day he'd experienced.
Not only had his dad left for the day without another word to him, but Abe’s things were also gone when he went to check before he left. Part of Ethan felt bad for how things ended, but Abe stabbed him in the back, and he didn't need an employee that would manipulate him so easily.
Ethan dug his phone from his pocket and stilled when he noticed the huge crack down the center of it. He tried to turn on his phone, but the screen never came on. He'd been so busy throughout the day; he didn't even look at his phone while working.
His mind raced to Aria. He'd failed to reach out to her all day, and now his phone was gone. He screwed his eyes closed and rested his head against his headrest. He started his engine and drove toward Aria's apartment since the cell phone store closed hours before.
He sped toward her apartment, weaving in and out of vehicles, while trying to put less distance between them. His fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, and he pressed the gas down harder.
Aria was most likely pissed at him. He'd left in such an important moment, and he had no idea if she'd reached out to him or not during the day. He guessed his phone broke in his pocket during his fight with Abe.
If you wanted to call it that. Ethan had a bloody lip, and Ethan clocked Abe once or twice in the nose, which he deserved much more.
Ethan parked in front of her apartment complex and raced up the stairs. The breezeway was quiet and empty, which mimicked the answer he got when he knocked on her door.
There was no movement or whispers on the other side.
She wasn’t home.
He tangled his fingers into his hair and took a deep breath. He didn't know where Joan lived, or her last name, so he had nowhere to go other than the restaurant, and he wasn't sure anyone would tell him anything.
Ethan was too tired to wait around to see if she showed up, so he decided to go home. He'd come check on her early the next morning and settle everything.
Ethan Devry wouldn't let Aria raise his child alone. He'd be by her side the rest of the way and help her however she saw fit. Maybe his father would come around and want to be a part of their lives.
When the sun rose the next morning, Ethan hadn't been asleep long, due to the anxiety of not having a way to get in touch with Aria. He dressed for work, grabbed his keys, and arrived at her apartment around seven fifteen before she would leave for work. He hoped they could ride together.
The apartment door was open when he made it to the top of the stairs. He pushed it open, and his blood ran cold. A man stood in the middle of the floor with a clipboard and a maintenance hat.
"Excuse me, sir. Where is Aria Linetti?"
He gave Ethan an up and down look. "Moved out last night. No notice … nothing. Very unlike the girl. I always liked her."
Ethan froze in the doorway, much like the day before when he realized he was going to be a father. Now, he had no idea where the mother of his child went, and something told him she wouldn't be at Devry Media when he got there.