Chapter 9

An hour after the shooting, Jackson came down and personally gave them the all clear.

"Did you catch him?" Chloe asked him, the rock still in her throat.

Jackson only shook his head.

"Was...was anyone hurt?" She gripped his arm with a shaking hand.

Her brother placed a comforting hand on hers. "Not too bad. We've got two people injured, but it looks like they'll be okay."

"Oh thank God." She breathed. All the tension in her chest released, letting her breathe right again.

The guards had been quick to get Ethan, Chloe, Ian, and Eli into a secure car and back to the palace. Josh had assured Chloe that he and Danika would find a safe ride home.

"Text me when you get home, or to a hotel, wherever you're going." She'd told him.

"I will," He placed a kiss on her cheek. "Take care, Chichi."

And then they'd been ushered into a car. Jackson had hopped into the passenger seat at the last second. Ethan's personal guard, Darius, had been assigned to the driver's seat.

No one spoke on the ride back.

She wasn't sure if anyone could feel the tension between Jackson and Chloe, but she sure did. No doubt he was mad at her. Who wouldn't be? He knew that she was aware that Ethan was in trouble. Right?

"Jackson?" Chloe held her breath.

The commander didn't turn around all the way. Instead, he gave her his ear, his profile, to show he listened.

"I'm sorry."

At that, he did turn around, unbuckling his seatbelt to do so. "What for?" His eyebrows came together and he placed a hand on the dash to steady himself.

"For not telling you earlier." She confessed.

Jackson stared at her. "What are you talking about?"

She opened her mouth to blurt it out and tell him everything, but Jackson stopped her. "Whatever it is, can it wait until we get somewhere safer?"

She nodded with a grimace. Did he not know?

As if he could sense her anxiousness, Ethan rubbed her arm in a soothing rhythm.

Ethan, beautiful Ethan. Her prince. Her mate. He'd been in trouble this whole time and she'd done nothing to keep him safe. Hell, he still wasn't safe.

What was she going to do?

Once at the palace, Jackson pulled Chloe and Ethan into his office. Though it was late, almost passed midnight, Jackson's assistant Avery still tapped away in her own section of the room.

Jackson seemed as surprised to see her as Chloe was. "Avery? I thought I told you to go home."

Avery, a sweet black haired girl too nice for her own good, glanced up and over a pair of black rimmed reading glasses. "Sir?" She frowned at Jackson. "You weren't supposed to come back to the office. Today's your day off. With all due respect, I told you this morning that it is not good to overwork-"

Jackson smiled gently. "You might want to take your own advice, Avery." He moved stiffly into his office, gesturing for Chloe and Ethan to sit on the couch against the wall. "But since you're here, do you think you could make a pot of coffee?"

"Of course, Sir."

Avery moved towards the door where a little table sat with a coffee maker and an assortment of stirrers, coffee creamer, sugar packets, and protein bars.

"Thank you, Avery." Chloe pulled her feet up onto the couch and sat crossed legged. Her gold dress fanned out over her legs, hiding them among the fabric. "I see you moved your desk."

Before, Avery had a little station just outside the room. She seemed to thrive out there-Avery was a very capable assistant. What made her move into Jackson's huge room of an office?

"Our lovely commander occasionally needs someone to remind him what food and sleep is." Avery said in reply. She threw Chloe a sarcastic eye roll over her shoulder. Only Avery would be able to keep an eye roll polite.

"I eat." Jackson sat back in his black office chair, arms crossed. The material of his suit bunched up at the shoulders.

Chloe barely resisted rolling her own eyes. "You work too much, Jackson."

"I usually have to remind him what the outdoors is like." Avery said.

"She keeps an eye on me." Jackson murmured. "Not that I need it."

When the pot of coffee started showing signs of life, Jackson's focus went to Chloe.

As if he could sense her nerves, Ethan snatched up Chloe's hand in her own.

Jackson must've thought the best way to handle the situation was to rip if off like a Band Aid because he started off immediately with, "How did you know Ethan was in danger?"

He was going to make her do this with Avery still in the room? She barely liked having Ethan there to hear about her mistakes. But Avery was always so nice to her and Chloe liked having her around. She didn't want Avery to see her in a negative light.

Looks like she had no choice.

She opened her phone to retrieve the picture she'd gotten only hours ago and pulled it up until it was full screen. Then she placed it in front of Jackson. "I got this picture."

To Jackson's eyes, the picture of Ethan in front of the theater building probably didn't look like much. Although he had a sharp mind. So if the picture had gone to Jackson instead of her, he'd most likely realize the danger that it meant.

Except Jackson didn't know the rest of the story.

Jackson picked up the phone and tapped away at the screen. The aura around him got darker and darker the longer he read through her messages.

The smell of warm coffee slowly pushed throughout the room. One of Chloe's favorite scents was the smell of coffee beans. There was a warm, comforting feel that came with the smell.

Avery came by and handed each of them their own mug of coffee. Chloe got the Mickey Mouse mug while Ethan sported a simple white mug that said, I'm sorry for what I said before I had my coffee.

The only place she could think of to start was at the beginning. "I got a weird text message a few weeks ago. At first I thought it was just Jason playing a prank on me. He likes to do that sometimes."

She felt rather than saw Ethan's focus sharpen.

"Did you ask him about it?" Ethan leaned forward, his coffee cup clasped between his hands and his elbows resting on his knees.

"No." She took a sip of her coffee to steady herself. "By the time I saw him next, I already knew it wasn't him."

Jackson tapped his fingers against the desk. "Tell me more about the messages themselves."

"When it started, they were something simple. Compliments. Like, "I like your dress"." She rested her side against Ethan's shoulder, finding comfort in his closeness. "But then they started to get worse. Whoever it was always knew what I was doing and what was happening."

Jackson pinched his lips together. "And at what point were you going to tell someone?"

Next to her, Ethan sat back on the couch, taking his comfort from her.

She could feel their disappointment. Why didn't she tell them? Of course she shared her whole life with them, so why hadn't she shared this big piece of news?

"I didn't..." The contents of her mug became super interesting. "I didn't want to bother anyone."

A bang sounded through the room, making her flinch. Some of her coffee spilled on her hand.

Jackson rose slowly from his chair. He leaned forward over the desk, pressing his fingertips into the wood to steady himself.

Chloe went back to staring hard at the ground.

"You certainly bothered a lot of people tonight, Lizzie. Look what happened."

She couldn't make herself look up from the floor. If she did, for sure she'd burst into tears. "I know."

"I don't think you do." Jackson's scary tone was calm. Too calm.

"I didn't think anything would happen." She tried to defend herself. "I figured he'd eventually go away."

"And did that work?" He asked sarcastically. "You cannot just ignore these kind of things anymore, Lizzie. This effects more than yourself."

Basically, she had been selfish. That's what she got from what her brother was saying. Not everything was about her anymore and it was high time she started thinking about how these kinds of decisions would affect other people.

Jackson didn't get it.

Pulling up any and every piece of strength, she steeled herself. "I can't be the reason things go wrong." She said. It didn't come out as loud or as strong as she wanted to, but at least she'd looked Jackson straight in the eye when she'd said it.

"You are not infallible, Lizzie." Jackson snapped.

Her eyes started to burn. She knew, deep down, that the only reason Jackson was angry with her was because he'd been forced through a situation without having the full information beforehand. Jackson was the type of person who had to know every single detail before anything happened. The fact that Chloe had that information and didn't share really stung him. After all she could have made him way more prepared or even aware of what was happening, and she didn't clue him in.

"That's not what I'm saying, Jackson."

"Well, that's what I'm hearing." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "God, you should have told someone. You should have told me." His voice broke.

"I know. I know I should've." Chloe set her cup of coffee on the small table next to the couch and wrapped her arms around herself. She didn't dare look at Ethan, who'd so far kept quiet. She was too afraid of how he felt. "And I'm sorry."

"You have a stalker, Lizzie." Jackson said, "The second you realized what was happening, you should have come to me. Hell, or even Ethan. Because what happened tonight is completely unacceptable. Now you're not just endangering your life, but Ethan's as well."

"I know." She mumbled.

"Stop saying you know!" Jackson bellowed. "You don't. If you did, then you would've done the right thing, damn it."

Chloe's hunched her shoulders, still holding herself. "I'm not going to put more people in danger!" She sobbed, actually sobbed.

Jackson slammed a fist onto the desk. Again. "You obviously-"

"People died!" Chloe couldn't see past the tears, but she refused to let that stop her. "People died because of me. Frank killed people, Jackson. To get to me. I thought if I could just figure out a way to handle it on my own, then no one would get dragged into another one of my messes."

Jackson froze the second he heard Frank's name. He reared back like he'd been slapped.

"You looked for me for years, Jackson." Chloe continued. Her voice was unsteady. "Years. All that time and effort. Because of me. I thought...I just didn't want you to have to keep cleaning up after me."

With a sigh, Jackson deflated. Exhaustion seeped out of every pore on his face. "Let's get something straight: Whatever happened with Frank Leighton was not, and never will be, your fault." He came over to crouch in front of her, taking a deep breath. "You had no control over that situation. Lizzie, you were just a kid."

"I never stopped looking for you. And I never would, even if you were still with Leighton." He continued. "Look, what I'm trying to say is that any problem you have is my problem too. We're family."

"It shouldn't have to be," Chloe had a hard time speaking past the guilt in her throat. "I should be able to handle my own problems."

Jackson shook his head. "Not every issue can be solved alone. If Ethan had been in the situation, wouldn't you want him to tell me?"

Of course, then Jackson could help him. That was Jackson's job. "Yes."

"Then why is it any different because it is you?"

He had a point and she knew it. It didn't make her feel much better.

"I'm sorry." She rubbed away the moisture on her cheeks.

Jackson rubbed at his jaw. "Me too. I guess the only thing to do now is move forward."

Chloe bit her lip. No doubt her eyes were beyond red and her mascara smeared. "Are you still mad?"

She couldn't stand the thought of her older brother being angry with her. He'd done more for her than anyone else. More than she even knew, as Avery often hinted at. She wanted him to be proud of her. Wanted him to be happy with the girl he'd spent most of his life looking for.

"No." He finally answered. He'd picked up his mug from the desk and slowly traced the rim. "But I can't say I'm not disappointed."

It hurt. But disappointment was something she could work with.

The room went quiet, all of them bogged down with emotions and stress. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Avery spoke up. "I don't want to intrude, but I think we should all get some sleep and work on the problem tomorrow." The gentle look on her face was directed straight at Chloe. It contained sympathy and, surprisingly, understanding.

Jackson rubbed at one of his eyes. "That's a good idea."

As they filed out, Jackson said, "I'll be posting extra guards around you two for the time being. So don't be alarmed."

"Thanks Jack." Chloe turned and gave her brother a tight hug. "I'm sorry." She said into his shirt.

"I'm just glad everyone's okay." He kissed her on the head.

Chloe and Ethan almost had Jackson's door closed when Jackson called her name. "Yeah?"

He gave her a tentative smile. "Love you."

"Love you too, Jackson."

Ethan marched rather than walked them down the winding halls and up a large staircase to their chambers. They passed a few late night staff on their way back who each gave them a small bow.

Chloe fought to keep up with her mate and worry tightened her gut. He hadn't said a word to her so far. If he'd spoken during her and Jackson's big hash out she wouldn't be so concerned.

But Ethan was never this quiet.

She stopped walking. Right in the middle of the hallway. "Ethan?"

It took him a second, but he stopped. He didn't turn around and it was that action that told her he wasn't happy.

For some reason having Ethan mad at her was ten time worse.

"Ethan?" His tense shoulders tightened further. "Are you okay?"

The question could perhaps be the worst question she'd ever asked. It was the type of stupidity that happened in the drama shows Danika used to watch. Because every time someone spewed it, the answer was obvious.

Fuck no, he's not okay.

What else was she supposed to ask?

"No. No I'm not." He whirled, stepping up into her space. "Why didn't you tell me?"

There were a million things she could've said, but none of them felt right. Felt good enough. She decided to stick to the truth and see what he made of it. "I didn't think it would ever get this bad." She exhaled deep, if only to erase some of the internal tension deep inside her. "Celebrities have stalkers all the time. Danika's had at least two. But when she ignored them, they went away. I thought if I just-" She cut herself off.

"A stalker is a serious thing." Ethan's fists tightened at his side, then he released them.

"I know that-"

"If you knew, why didn't you tell anyone?" He asked, running a hand over his dark locks, causing them to stick up every which way.

That didn't lessen the power of his anger. If anything, it made him a bit more intense. More stressed.

"I'm sad...sad that you feel our relationship isn't open enough to share this kind of thing." His palm came up to cup her cheek, the anger slowly being replaced with sadness. "I only just got you back, Chloe. We haven't even begun to settle fully into this new lifestyle, and already you're making me doubt."

Doubt. The word made her want to curl into herself. She never wanted to have Ethan not trust her...and here she was doing just that.

"Please don't."

He half-turned, as if he couldn't even look at her, and stared at the landscape painting next to them. "Hell, Chlo, I love to hear every single detail about you. You could tell me you had French toast for breakfast and I'd find it fascinating. Because anything that you find exciting, I find exciting. Anything you feel, I want to feel. I want to share my world with you. And I want you to share mine. I want us to have that universe-altering love. But that kind of love only happens through communication and inclusion. Neither of which you've shared with me."

If he'd gutted her like a fish, it would be a hundred times less painful than hearing the heartbreaking dissatisfaction in his voice.

Chloe missed the warmth of his hand.

"I have to bite my tongue every time I call your name because my first instinct has always been to call you Elizabeth. You've been my Elizabeth, been in my heart since the moment you were born." He finally looked back at her, this time searching her face. "And then I lost you."

"I'm right here." She closed the distance to hold his face in her hands, feel the stubble of his jaw scrape against her palms, and make him see her.

"Are you though?" He whispered. "Because sometimes, like today, I'm not really sure."

Then he stepped away and went into their chambers, dragging the pieces of her shattered heart with him.