Chapter 3

A man with purposeful strides walking into the Solar Point Tower who didn't have the name Ryan or Clyde could only mean something was bound to go wrong.

Ethan stepped onto the forty fifth floor and made a beeline for Ryan's office, ignoring the woman who was yelling for him to "not disturb Worthington during his break or he'll be very angry".

"Open this fucking door, Worthington," he shouted from behind the closed door.

Ryan cursed under his breath when he heard the pounding on his office door and pulled his zipper back up, pushing the curtain of red hair under his desk. "Stay here, gorgeous. I'll be right back."

Agatha made a show of licking her lips and kissed the bulge in his pants. "I'll be here."

Ryan stood, walked over to the door and swung it open with a grin. "Ethan Boyd. What can I do for you?"

"You took my fucking girl out the other night, and she hasn't answered any of my calls."

"I haven't spoken to your girlfriend in days either," he said, unamused by the look of anger on Ethan's face. "Will that be all?"

He pushed the door opened when Ryan made a move to close it. "She never told me she was going with you. What the fuck happened over dinner?"

Ryan smirked. "Are you afraid I did something to make her realize what an arse you are to her?"

"What's your deal with her?" Ethan asked, bitterly chuckling. "You think she'll leave me? You and I both know she's nothing on her own."

Anger surged through Ryan, but he didn't show it. "Callie isn't here. Leave now."

He slammed the door shut this time and returned to his desk. Agatha was sitting on his couch now and smirked when he sighed in frustration.

"Is it a woman you two were fighting over?"

He impassively stared straight ahead and stood, extending a hand to her. "Let me show you back to the finance department."

"I like it up here," she said, pouting. She took his hand anyway and followed him out the door.

Ryan stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Callie in the arms of Ethan, accepting his comfort over something she was upset about. He didn't like that scene, and he refused to watch as he led Agatha past them and across the elevator landing.

Callie pulled away from Ethan, frowning when Ryan stepped on the lift without sparing her a glance and fell into tears again.

"Please tell me what's wrong," Ethan practically pleaded as he tried his best to comfort her.

She couldn't tell him that it was him who had made her upset, so she shook her head and broke away from him, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips. "Can you come over tonight?"

"Of course," he said. He gave her one last kiss then showed himself out of the building.

Ryan stepped off the lift just then, the top button of his shirt torn from the fabric. The tear must have been a recent one from when he took the woman down.

Callie quickly wiped the tears in her eyes away and forced a smile to greet him, but he swiftly walked past her and closed his office door.

She followed him and knocked once, but he didn't answer to her. "I'm sorry."

Ryan breathed deeply into the thick air and opened the door. "Why are you apologizing?"

She took a step back, unprepared to face his towering figure. "I don't know."

He touched her tearstained cheeks and pulled her into his office, locking the door behind them. "You've been crying."

"Ethan's seeing a woman," she said, casually shrugging. "What can I do but be hurt by it?"

"Leave him," he suggested as he poured a glass of water for her. "Drink something, love."

She took the glass and gripped it hard in her hand. The cool water against her skin felt oddly comforting as they simultaneously sat on the leather couch. "You're going to say I'm an idiot, aren't you?"

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I'm going to say I don't want to leave him."

"And why's that?"

She pressed her lips together, set the glass of water down and dragged a hand through her brunette hair. "I won't always have Clyde to fall back on. All I have is Ethan, and if I don't have him, then who do I have?"

"Me," he whispered, capturing her lips in a soft kiss. He pulled her body over his so she straddled his lap and cupped the back of her neck. "You're afraid of being alone because you've been without someone for so long. I'm not going anywhere, Callie."

"Are we friends?" she asked him, her eyes fluttering closed.

He kissed each of her eyelids, touched his forehead to hers and hummed in response. "If that's what you want us to be."

"I want us to be friends."

He kissed her, but she quickly broke away and shook her head. "Friends don't do that, especially when they're both in relationships with other people."

"You're leaving Ethan," he told her sternly. "He's hurting you, and I can't watch anymore."

"What about that woman?"

"Agatha from the finance department?" He chuckled, shook his head with a scoff. "She's not my damn woman."

"Neither am I."

"But you're my friend," he said with a smirk. He kissed her lips again and pulled her closer when she tried to break away.

"Ryan," she protested, palming his chest, "as I said, friends don't do that."

"Come here," he murmured. He couldn't help himself when he kissed her again and again. Then he pulled away and chuckled before capturing her lips again. "Fuck, love. I just can't stop."

"Stop," she whispered, giggling. The vibration of her laughter traveled straight to his groin, and she gasped when she felt his erection press against her sex. "Ryan, seriously!"

"I'm sorry." He stood up and set her on her feet, pressing his lips to her forehead before reluctantly taking a step backward. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah," she said. A smile met her lips, and she believed she would be alright for the first time in her life. "You should stop by for dinner. I'm going to tell Ethan it's over tonight, and I'm also going to need a little comfort in alcohol."

"I've got wine covered." He leaned in to kiss her and groaned when she pressed a finger to his lips. "It's insanely difficult right now, love."

• • • • •

"You aren't breaking up with me."

Callie glared at him from where she sat on the bed and pulled her knees up to her chest. "I am, Ethan. We're done."

"What are you gonna do without me, huh?" he asked, grasping her chin between his his thumb and pointer finger. "Did Worthington put you up to this?"

"No," she said, her voice slightly quivering. "I'm leaving you because I need to."

"Need to?" He quirked a brow, laughed in disbelief and pinned her against the mattress. "No, baby, you need to stay with me. I'm so good to you."

"You're not. You aren't even faithful."

"Come on, baby. It was once."

"Twice, if not more," she snapped, struggling beneath him. "Let me go, Ethan."

"Please stay," he begged, caressing her inner thighs. He moved further until his hand was cupping her sex, and a whimper broke through her lips. "Do I have to fuck you to make you stay?"

"Don't do this," she pleaded, her eyes brimming with with tears. She tried to fight him off, but her strength was no match for the weight of his body.

Her dress was pulled up to her waist, and his zipper came undone. Then he was plunging into her in one swift moment.

She cried in pain, clawed at his shoulders and any flesh her nails could anchor themselves in to. "Get off of me, Ethan! Get the fuck off!"

"Tell me you'll stay," he panted as he continuously punished her insides like stabs to the chest. "Don't leave me. You can't."

"Get the fuck off of her," Clyde yelled, pulling Ethan's heavy body to the floor.

Callie quickly scrambled to a sitting position and pulled the comforter around her body, squeezing her eyes shut as the sound of pounding flesh flooded her ears.

Clyde stood in front of her with bloody knuckles and lifted her chin, forcing her to meet the reflection of her hazel eyes. "Please tell me that was the only time he ever did that."

She nodded. She couldn't even trust her voice not to break if she tried to speak.

"Fuck," he muttered, pulling her into his arms. "I felt something was terribly wrong. I sped all the way from the office to get to you."

Ryan stepped into the bedroom just then, his knuckles clenched at his sides when he saw Ethan's unconscious body on the floor. "He raped you?"

"Let's let her rest," Clyde said to his friend. He wanted to ask what he was doing there in his sister's apartment, but that question wasn't at the top of his list at the moment.

"I don't want to stay here," she told the two men. "Take me with you."

"We have to do something about him," Ryan said, jerking his head in the direction of Ethan's body.

"You want to press charges?" Clyde asked Callie.

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself. "He'll get out of it. He gets what he wants."

"Not this time," Ryan said, his jaw working violently under his skin. "I will fucking kill him when he wakes up."

Clyde eyed his best friend. "You care a great deal."

"Why wouldn't I?" Ryan asked, frowning. "We both care about Callie."

Clyde stood, kissed his sister's hair then nodded once to Ryan. "Take her to your place. I'll deal with Boyd."

"Are you going to hurt him?" Callie asked, hugging her comforter tighter.

"I just might," Clyde honestly told her. "That's why I don't want you here."

Ryan helped Callie to her feet and led her out of the apartment. Once he was certain Clyde could no longer see them, he lifted her into his arms and carried her to the lift.

"I can walk," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck nonetheless.

"I know," he whispered as he pressed his lips to her hair. It was tangled, and a thin layer of sweat covered her hairline, but he didn't mind. "I want to hold you so you at least feel safe tonight."

"I'm safe," she assured him. "I'm safe with you."