“Harper!”

She hadn’t even realized she collapsed until she was on the floor just inside the door to her apartment, her legs refusing to cooperate. In all honesty, Harper wasn’t even certain how she got home. She remembered watching Ethan leave a moment before running to the bathroom to be violently ill. She remembered closing up her office and taking the elevator to the main floor to catch a taxi home but none of it seemed real.

What was real, however, was the pain. Harper had never known pain like this - deep in her gut, spreading through her chest until she gasped for air; and every time she thought of Ethan’s pained expression, it only got worse.

“Harper, what happened? Are you hurt?” The moment she was inside, Athena was there, slender arms wrapped around her. Harper didn’t know what to say - there were no words she could possibly come up with that could convey the pain she felt.

Was this how Athena felt every time a man scorned her? Was this what she had to carry every time someone betrayed her? It was even worse than Harper had imagined.

“No,” she managed, barely above a whisper. “I’m not hurt.” It was the most blatant lie she’d ever told.

“You can’t even stand!” Athena protested vehemently. “Talk to me! Tell me what’s going on!”

She had barely even seen her sister since she’d gone to Long Island with Ethan - a few minutes that morning over breakfast during which the dark-haired girl commented that she looked particularly chipper. And why wouldn’t she? She’d spent the morning lounging around in bed with the man she loved.

Fuck. Dear sweet Jesus Christ, she loved Ethan... and now she’d lost him.

For the first time in her life, Harper couldn’t pretend not to feel. She couldn’t boil down her grief to equations and variables. She hurt... and her grief poured out of her unfettered.

The first sob tore right up from the soul of her and Athena started, squeezing her even tighter - but she said nothing else. She simply let her sister cry - loud, long and ugly - right there in the foyer. It had been a good long while since the last time Harper cried so hard she exhausted herself, and now she did. She cried until she was literally half asleep. Until Athena had to help her from the floor and to her bedroom; and even then, Harper barely had the wherewithal to be embarrassed before she lost consciousness.

The blonde had no idea how long she slept, but her dreams were dark, and her slumber fitful. Harper remembered her parents’ arguments more vividly than she had in years - the way her mother always insisted that good things come to an end - that something precious can never last. Harper may not have really known what love was, but she knew that what she had with Ethan was precious.

And she’d squandered it.

When she woke, it was dark outside. The only light in her room was a single lamp, and Athena was curled in an armchair near her bed, her expression anxious. “Here.” Before Harper could say a single word in her own defense, Athena extended a tall, cool glass of water to her, along with two aspirin. “Take this.”

For once, Harper let her give the orders. She was too exhausted for anything else.

She took the pills and drank the entire glass of water before attempting to speak. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to just fall apart like that.” Her voice was hoarse - scratchy from the near inhuman sounds she’d been making hours earlier.

Athena frowned deeply. “I don’t want your apologies, I want his.”

That drew a bleak smile from the elder woman. “Why do you automatically assume that he’s the one who did something wrong?”

Her sister’s brow furrowed. “How could you have done anything? You don’t know your way around a relationship well enough to ruin it, Harp. No offense.”

And yet, she had. She had destroyed whatever was between her and Ethan with her dishonesty and pride.

God, just remembering the way he looked at her was enough to tear her apart. Like she’d yanked the heart right out of his chest and spat on it right in front of him... Maybe she really was as cold as everyone believed.

“Talk to me, Harper,” Athena urged her softly - the very same words Harper had used on her days earlier. “I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

This shouldn’t be her cross to bear. For her entire life, Harper had been the one taking care of Athena. She always handled whatever came her way - she was more than capable on that front. But this... this was something she knew nothing about.

So she talked.

She told Athena the details she’d hidden from her - how Ethan had used a pseudonym and she hadn’t even known it was him until the first time they met. She detailed how his father contacted her and how seriously she had considered the paycheck.

And she told her how things had changed. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t keep from being drawn to a man meant for someone else. Harper saw the job as a challenge at first, and then, bit by bit, it morphed into something else entirely. It wasn’t a task - it was an indulgence. She looked forward to every moment she spent with Ethan - to his teasing and his jibes. She secretly adored his cleverness and the casual way he approached life. He was everything she wished she could be, and she had no earthly clue why the hell he wanted her.

But then everything had fallen apart.

“Harper, that’s not your fault.” Athena was immediately up in arms. “You weren’t going to take the money! He got it all wrong!”

“But I lied to him,” Harper returned. “I might have taken it once... I planned to do the job-”

“Fuck once, Harper! Things have changed now. You can’t just let him walk away thinking you did something you didn’t! You love him, don’t you?”

And there it was - the pregnant question hanging, needy and cloying in the air. Love. It was an emotion Harper had always believed was so contrived and false. Something that belonged in a fantasy rather than in the real world. But the truth of the matter was that Harper had fallen in love. She hadn’t intended it -it just happened... and that was the danger in it.

“I do,” She managed, her throat thick with the threat of tears she didn’t know she still had in her. “So, I know I don’t deserve him.”

He had given her everything and she couldn’t even be honest with him. For Christ sake, she couldn’t even fight. She stood in her office, letting him assume the worst of her, and ultimately, she’d let him walk away because it was all true. For years upon years, she had been cold. She’d thrown people together for profit and refused to believe in the simple pleasure that was romance.

How could she ever be the one Ethan needed?

**

If Ethan were more melodramatic, he’d have taken off work. As things currently stood, Vlad was busy trying to keep their project in California on track and the office was only just functioning, which meant they needed all hands on deck.

Lucas had never been much of a businessman, but even he came in to help run information between departments, and he served to deliver the demands that Ethan missed when his father left his numerous voicemails.

For once, he was glad of the work.

If Ethan had nothing to do, he might very well have imploded at the emotions that threatened to consume him. He wanted to call Harper - to apologize for all the harsh things he’d said. He wanted her to tell him that it wasn’t true. That he had everything wrong and she wanted him and only him.

But Ethan wasn’t a naive child any longer. In the week since he and Harper had last seen one another, he hadn’t had a single call or message from her. He worked himself into exhaustion and all but fell into bed at night so he didn’t have to think of how much larger the bed seemed without her in it.

Everything was fucked. Six months ago, the loss of a friend with benefits would never have impacted him like this. Ethan would have found solace in the fact that there were always other women - willing bodies in which to bury the emotions that threatened to crush him.

But Harper had never been just a friend with benefits. Even when they were first together, she was something more. An obsession... something he put on a pedestal to adore and ponder... he had always wanted all of her.

And what had she wanted? To wear him down? To buy time while she milked him of all his secrets and planned on making a mint and her career with one final match? In his mind, she was colder than she’d ever been in person, and that made things all the worse.

“Maybe you should take a break.”

He jerked to attention to find Lucas standing in the doorway of his office, his gaze concerned.

Ethan exhaled a tired sigh. “Don’t do that. If you’re going to work here, get a real job. There’s no ‘office ninja’ position.”

“Well, it’s nice to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor,” Lucas chuckled, but the sound was forlorn and pained. He stepped into Ethan’s office to set a stack of papers on his desk and his brother scowled.

“What the hell are these?”

The corners of Lucas’ mouth turned up slightly. “An excuse to come see you. You haven’t been out of the office in a while, so I just wanted to know who you are and what you’ve done with Ethan.”

The elder man groaned. “Is it really so hard to believe I’m finally taking initiative?”

Lucas could have given him a simple answer, but instead, he did what he did best: made Ethan feel like an absolute ass. “You know, we might all be from different places, but I feel like the Kensley brothers all handle their problems the same way. You work. I guess Dad taught us that... bury our woes in work until they’re not woes anymore.”

Ethan grimaced. “Might take a while.”

“Join the club.” Lucas returned dryly. “Woman spurned club. Population: You, Vlad and Shiro.”

His brother frowned. “What the hell does spurned even mean, anyway?”

“It means that Vlad did something stupid - like refusing under peer pressure to admit he loves a woman he’s obviously crazy about. And Shiro let himself get wrapped in what’s probably the only mistake he’s ever made.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “You talked to Shiro?”

Of course they’d all talked to the Shiro. While they were waiting to figure out their father’s prognosis, there was little more they could do, cooped up in the manor. But, as far as Ethan knew, Shiro hadn’t breathed a word of what happened between him and Athena to anyone.

To him, anyway.

“Yep. And I’ll talk to you... right after you go see Dad.”

Immediately, Ethan tensed. “What is it? Did he collapse again? Is something wrong?”

Lucas shook his head immediately, his expression reassuring. “Nothing like that. He just knows you’ve been working like a demon and wants to talk to you.”

Ethan was immediately suspicious. Their father only summoned them to the manor when he had some sort of secret agenda. Apparently, his cancer had just made him wilier. “About what?”

“He wouldn’t say.” Lucas shrugged. “I’m just the messenger.”

Ethan suppressed a groan. This was the last thing he needed right now. There were things to do downtown, he could hardly think straight, and he didn’t relish the idea of getting a lecture from his ailing father. But he felt guilty enough about staying away when he hadn’t known his Dad was sick. If he didn’t go now, he’d never be able to forgive himself.

“Fine,” he groused, picking up the papers Lucas had brought to thumb through. The folders were filled with blank sheaves of copy paper. “Wow. Amazing.”

“I’m a ninja like that,” Lucas smirked.

**

Five hours later, Ethan was on his way out of the city. The long drive was one of the first periods in a long while that Ethan had to think for himself. He didn’t like it. No matter how loudly he blasted the radio, he kept replaying his and Harper’s last conversation in his mind over and over again. It never got any less painful.

He had attacked her, that he knew... but hadn’t she deserved it? Hadn’t she lied to him about her intentions? Made him feel things he had no business feeling? If he was honest with himself, Ethan had never felt the same way about another woman. Harper was an anomaly... and now that he knew her true intentions, he didn’t know if he’d ever felt more betrayed.

His family was always telling him to open up, to trust. Talk about his feelings and resolve his issues. Well, that had worked out marvelously. He divulged to someone who couldn’t care less about him and his problems. What a wonderful judge of character he turned out to be.

Ethan had been better off when he used women instead of losing himself in them - even if the sentiment made him feel like the biggest ass in all of existence.

When Ethan pulled into the long drive of the manor, for a split second, he remembered the sirens and medics that had surrounded the house just a week or two earlier. It was enough to make him more than eager to listen to whatever his father had to say - admonishing or not.

Jackson Kensley had just finished his chemo treatment for the day and was sitting outside on the terrace with his wife. For a moment before he spoke, Ethan just watched the two of them together. They were so in love - even after being married for close to forty years. Though he had never been one to believe in happily-ever-afters, Ethan knew that if there were such things, his parents would certainly be it.

Even if he couldn’t be.

“Hey, Dad.” Forcing a smile onto his face, he advanced on them, noting the way his mother smiled at the sight of him. “Hey Mom.”

“Ethan.” Olivia Kensley released her husband’s hand for long enough to rise and squeeze her son tightly. “Always wonderful to see you.”

“Well, I was summoned.” Ethan chuckled. “Lucas is a good messenger.”

“He cooperates when he thinks the cause is a good one.” Despite the strain on his body, Jackson Kensley’s comebacks were just as snappy as ever. He turned to stare up at his son with narrow eyes before gesturing to the seat across from him with his cane. “Sit.”

Ethan sat. It was, after all, why he had come in the first place.

Olivia Kensley bent her head to kiss Ethan on the cheek, and then she was gone - presumably to give his father more space to verbally dismantle him.

“How are things in the office, my boy?”

Ethan chuckled at that. “Chaotic. Finding an architect willing to take on two major projects at this stage in the game is going to be murder, and we want to make sure we get a handle on our losses. Vlad’s not in the most communicative mood, Toshiro might as well be a zombie and you…”  He trailed off, not wanting to work himself into a frenzy when his father hadn’t actually said anything.

“I’m a sick old man?” Jackson filled in the gap, arching a brow in inquiry.

Ethan immediately winced. “Dad, you know that’s not it.”

Jackson sighed, leaning back in his chair to soak up some of the sun’s rays. “Say what’s on your mind, Ethan. God knows we’ve always wanted you to.”

Ethan didn’t think that would be the best idea. His mind was currently a jumble of business and forbidden pleasure that he had no business thinking about. If he attempted to talk about anything, it would probably come out in some obscene thought vomitus that no one would be able to make any sense of. Besides, hadn’t his father called him here so he could do the talking?

“This is... nothing we can’t get through,” he tried lamely.

“Mm.” Jackson merely hummed a neutral response. “And what of Harper Jones?”

Ethan’s head jerked up so quickly it might have been noosed. “What about her?”

Jackson’s expression remained carefully open. “I heard that you brought her with you when I was having my conniption. Why would you need her here on family business?”

Was that what this was about? His father was angry for bringing an outsider into family business? Seemed a rather petty matter for Jackson Kensley. “It doesn’t matter,” Ethan finally managed, his tone hollow. “We’ve gone our separate ways now.”

“Have you?” Jackson sipped at the tea on the table before him, an odd gleam in his eye. “One would at least think she’d do the job I hired her for - but she’s a stubborn one, Miss Jones. Almost as stubborn as you.”

Ethan just stared. What on earth was his father talking about? He was the one who had originally hired Harper… Slowly, he began to piece together the information his father was giving him. “You hired Harper to match someone?”

“To match you, specifically.” His father revealed the words casually - as if they had little to no import.

Ethan’s eyes widened. “You hired Harper for me?”

“Tried to hire.” Jackson’s mouth turned up in a wry smile. “She never really took me up on the offer. I don’t think her heart was ever really in it... despite the monetary temptation.”

Ethan knew that his father was sick, and that they were supposed to be having a rational conversation, but he couldn’t help the anger that welled up within him. “It was you. You were going to pay her a million dollars to match me.”

“Well I did a little research and she seemed up to the task. Of course, I also considered that she herself was a force to be reckoned with.”

But Ethan was hardly listening. “Dad… you can’t just manipulate people. That’s unfair... it’s deceitful... just because your idea of love is wonderful doesn’t mean it actually is. Real love is complicated. It’s ugly, it’s imperfect its... it’s fucked.”

“And how would you know that?” Jackson inquired casually. 

Ethan opened his mouth and shut it several times as he attempted to find the right words. What did his father want him to say? That he loved Harper? That his feelings for her taught him just how much it hurt? That he’d learned his lesson?

“Ethan, that woman is hurting just as much as you are.” Jackson mused lowly. “I didn’t hire her because I wanted her to pawn you off on a stranger. I hired her because you needed each other. You may call it prying, son... but I just want to see you happy. Harper makes you happy. Am I wrong?”

Ethan didn’t like the strange amalgamation of emotions swelling inside him. The conflict - hurt and elation, confusion, and most of all... a longing to go to Harper and right what he had wronged. “She lied.” He finally managed in a low voice. “Why would she lie to me?”

Jackson chuckled lowly. “A matchmaker disproving her own system? I can’t imagine that was very easy for her. I haven’t had the pleasure of many meetings with Miss Jones, but I can say this: you two are so very alike that anyone with eyes could see it.”

Ethan’s chest was so tight that he couldn’t breathe. He wanted to cling to the sanctity that his own misperceptions gave him - that Harper was wrong and that she had only wanted to hurt him. But the fact of the matter was that he knew Harper... he was her, under different circumstances. They could have easily had one another’s lives; and yet, they had endured and found one another.

“Fuck…” he breathed, running a hand through his hair absently.

His father was smiling. “Welcome to the real world, Ethan.”

At that, his son gave a dry smile. “Been here for a while Dad. Seems the world is getting a kick out of the Kensleys right now.”

“Yes, about that...” Jackson shifted in his chair, accepting the fresh cup of tea that Isabella brought him with a grateful smile. “There’s some business we have to tend to there. Not that I don’t have the utmost respect for Vlad but, of all of us, he most needs a nudge in the right direction.”

Ethan arched a brow. “Meaning... what?”

“Well,” Jackson’s eyes twinkled in anticipation. “I’d like to speak to him. In person.”

Ethan was immediately up in arms. “Dad, he’s in California. There’s no way. You need to stay here.”

“Are you trying to tell me what I can and can’t do, Ethan?” Jackson’s tone was light, but there was a hard backbone of determination that had been present for as long as Ethan could remember. “If I want to go see my son, I will. But, ultimately, I’d like your help.”

**

 

Three weeks later

It was strange to be back after all these years.

When Athena had first suggested they return to California, Harper was stubborn. Just because she and Ethan didn’t work out didn’t mean she was giving up her dream. She had her own life, regardless of the gaping hole the man had left in her heart.

But the more she operated her business, the more Harper discovered that said heart simply wasn’t in it anymore. How could she match people based on variables and figures once she had tasted real emotion?

Despite her own heartache, Athena liked to tease that she was the one who had always been right, and Harper had to give her that. What a pair they made - two lovesick sisters leaning on one another for support.

But then, they had always been leaning on each other.

“We could start fresh there,” Athena insisted one night over sushi. “You still have your reputation. I could work downtown… and we could visit our parents.”

That got Harper’s attention. They hadn’t visited their parents for years, precisely because Harper hated to hear their mother and father debase each other. Though they hadn’t lived together for almost two decades, they were still bitter about how spectacularly their marriage had failed. Moreover, they were still consumed with how they had each been wronged that they refused to recognize how much their rows had impacted their children.

Harper had decided long ago that it was just best to stay away - and now Athena wanted to go back. “We could ask them what went wrong. We never really found out, did we?”

At first, Harper had laughed. Their parents never hesitated to list reason upon reason how they had been wronged by their spouse. They could each write a book on how the divorce was the other’s fault. But when she really thought about it, Harper realized that her sister was right. They didn’t really know why their parents’ marriage had failed. They could play the blame game for years and years, but unless a real discussion was had, none of it would mean anything.

But still... going back?

She still couldn’t believe she did it. Said goodbye to her New York office and moved back to LA, left everything she’d built… and now, the prospect of facing her parents seemed somewhat daunting. Athena, ever enthusiastic, had suggested that they just move back in with one of their parents - but Harper shot that down pretty quickly. If things got ugly, she wanted to be able to escape.

And besides that, living with either of her parents would just remind her of how spectacularly she’d failed with Ethan. In the end, it had just been arguments and accusations - very much like her parents. That was never what Harper wanted to become.

In truth, she had always been frightened that her life would come to that.

But now, she hardly had to worry. Ethan would, no doubt, find someone better for him. He didn’t need a matchmaker to tell him that he was charming, funny, and gorgeous, and that the depth of his humility was nothing less than breathtaking. Despite the pompous nature he showed everyone else, boiling Ethan Kensley down would reveal his resilience, kindness, and dedication.

At the very least, she would always have those memories.

“So, today’s the day?” They had barely been settled in LA for a week. Harper was looking for new office space while Athena contemplated translating jobs, but they had both taken today off. They were going to see their parents... to try and get some answers. Harper would head to their mother’s and Athena their father’s. Of course, the two refused to see one another, so asking anything more would be out of the question. They would just have to do their best.

“I guess so.” Harper smiled at her sister, hoping she didn’t look as nervous as she felt.

It would be better this time, she promised herself. Things would be different. Now, thanks to Ethan, she had an entirely different perspective.

...So why did she still feel as if her life was falling apart?

***

In Ethan’s opinion, LA was exhausting. He could see why the city so overwhelmed Vlad, but that didn’t mean it was any easier to steer his brother in the right direction.

First and foremost, bringing their father from New York was no easy feat. Almost no doctor would sign off on it, and even then, their mother insisted on coming as her husband’s personal nurse. Ethan had to deal with his father’s whims for a six-hour flight, and then he had to deal with Vlad’s stubbornness. It was easier, he supposed, knowing what his brother was dealing with. Vlad didn’t like to be told that he was wrong, but sometimes he needed to hear it. And their father excelled at that. It only took one excruciating conversation to get Vlad to take his head out of his ass... and then the rest was all gravy... at least for his brother.

Of course, Ethan hadn’t thought Vlad would go so far as to actually propose to Charlotte Gardner, but he certainly wasn’t protesting. Maybe the forthright architect would lighten him up - their father certainly seemed partial to her. And Ethan couldn’t deny the simultaneous warm-fuzzies and urge to puke that he got when Vlad declared his love for Charlotte for every gossip-hungry media outlet to hear. For him, it was the ultimate sacrifice.

Ethan could certainly respect that.

All in all, the day was very, very long. From flying to the city, to forcing Vlad to man up, and then the inevitable celebrations that came afterwards... a very prominent part of Ethan wanted nothing more than to collapse in his hotel room.

But he had bigger fish to fry.

Harper was here.

Though he’d been busy the past few weeks, Ethan hadn’t forgotten about her for one moment. When he heard that she was closing her Manhattan office, a brief moment of panic enveloped him. She was leaving the city - running from him.

But there was nowhere she could go he wouldn’t follow.

And so, he watched, and waited. When she settled in LA, he couldn’t have been more relieved. Of course, Vlad wanted to know why he was here, and on that point, he couldn’t be completely honest with his brother, but all that mattered was the end game.

Now, Vlad had his blushing bride, their father was settled in his room with a very capable west coast doctor tending to him, as well as his wife... and Ethan was free to tackle his own mistakes.

To say he was eager would be a bit of an understatement. He might have hired a driver, but he still had his vices. Instead, he rented a luxury sports car before making his way towards south LA - where he knew Harper and Athena had settled.

Harper.

God, how he missed her. That blonde hair, the way she smelled, that sardonic little smirk. If he could just talk to her... tell her how much of an ass he had been... maybe she would forgive him and they could start over. Be lovers in the real sense of the word.

The notion was enough to make Ethan grin in elation as he lost himself in the prospect of his future…

And missed an oncoming car swerving out of its lane.

***

“So, how’s that good-for-nothing father of yours?”

Harper was getting nowhere fast. She brought her mother a gift, regaled her with stories of New York, and had planned on slowly, but steadily, heading toward the topic of her parents’ marriage... but her mother broached it first. And not in a favorable tone. In truth, just being in this house made her uneasy. Harper had too many bad memories of the place.

“Athena’s gone to visit him,” Harper tried with a thin smile. “You might ask her.”

Predictably, her mother frowned. “Of course, she goes to see him before me. Playing favorites.”

Harper groaned. “No one’s playing favorites, Mom. Thee will come see you tomorrow.”

“If your father hasn’t poisoned her against me, that is.”

Harper had barely been in the house for an hour, and already, she wanted to throw her hands up in frustration. How she had expected to get anything out of her mother was completely foreign to her now. All the woman wanted to do was talk about her own problems. Both she and their father were so wrapped up in their own issues that…

Oh God.

The answer crashed over her with the force of a tsunami and Harper understood. Two people wrapped up in their own problems... so caught up that they couldn’t see what brought them together in the first place.

Just like she and Ethan.

Ethan.

In that moment, she needed Ethan so badly she could barely stand it. She missed him - both his snark and his sincerity. The way he held her, the way they made love and all the good he brought out in her…

She had to see him. Had to.

“I’m going to call your sister.”

Harper was so consumed by her own thought process that she barely noticed when her mother left the room. She didn’t notice when the older woman got Athena on the phone and proceeded to be righteously displeased. In fact, she didn’t notice much of anything until the TV before her switched onto a special news bulletin.

And the world stopped.

“In a horrible accident on I-49 this afternoon, Ethan Kensley, son of billionaire mogul Jackson Kensley, was struck by an oncoming car in his rental on the way to south LA. The car was totaled, and Ethan Kensley was rushed to Bayside Hospital in critical condition. He is said to be stable but suffering from a number of injuries that-”

By this point, Harper had tuned out the overly concerned voice of the newscaster. All she could see was the image of the twisted sports car that he had been driving. It was utterly destroyed, the frame warped and the metal torn beyond compare.

Horrified, Harper could only stare. Ethan. Ethan was in LA. A car had hit him and dear God… the last thing she’d told him was to get out of her office.

Immediately, the blonde lurched from the sofa, grabbing her purse. “Harper?” her mother called, her head poking out of the kitchen doorway. “Where are you going? I thought you wanted to talk!”

“I’ll be back later!” Harper hardly managed the words before she was out the door, sprinting down the drive to her car.

Ethan. Ethan.

She had no idea how she got to the hospital. The entire ride was a blur. Outside the building, every media outlet in existence was clamoring for news of the Kensley family. Harper shoved through them without hesitation before rushing to the reception desk, hardly daring to breathe.

“What room are they keeping Ethan Kensley in?”

She was well aware that she probably looked frightful, but Harper didn’t care. She had to see him. Had to tell him…

But the receptionist was eying her warily. “Are you a family member? I need to see some identification.”

The blonde could have screamed in frustration. It was her first impulse to lie, but she didn’t have the paperwork to back up her claim. “Look,” she began, tension evident in her voice. “I have to see him. Please. I just need to know that he’s alright.”

“Yeah,” the stone-faced woman replied dryly. “You and every other reporter. Only family allowed to see him.”

Harper could have collapsed in dismay. What if something had happened? What if she never got to see him again? The thought of Ethan leaving her forever... it was more than she could possibly bear.

“Let her through.”

The blonde started at a deep, vaguely familiar voice to her right. She looked up, shocked to see none other than Vladimir Kensley standing over her with a wan smile. “Harper Jones, right?”

Harper nodded in disbelief as Vladimir raked a hand through dark hair. “He looks awful, but he’s still breathing... and I’m sure he’ll be glad to see you. So, let her through.” He directed his last words at the flustered receptionist, who all but bent over backwards to obey him.

“Oh - of course, Mr. Kensley!”

“Thank you.” Harper could barely get the words out as her heart leapt into her throat.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Vlad jerked a thumb towards the hall behind him. “He’s in room four sixteen. First door beyond the elevator on your right.”

Harper was gone almost before he finished speaking. For her, an elevator ride had never been longer. She almost knocked over two nurses as she burst from its confines and jerked the door to room four sixteen open.

And there he was.

For close to a minute, Harper didn’t draw a single breath.

Oh God. Oh God.

More than half his body was wrapped in bandages, one leg suspended from the ceiling - clearly broken. There was more blood than she had seen in a long while, and the handsome face she so adored was swollen with trauma. Green eyes were mere slits directed at the ceiling, and Harper’s heart went out to him as tears streamed down her face. Ethan. Her Ethan.

He was alive.

Slowly, she advanced on the bed, step by step. She was halfway across the room before the man in the bed shifted slightly, his eyes meeting hers.

Time stopped.

Harper’s eyes swept over him again and again, concentrating not on his injuries but the fact that he was alive. He was still breathing, and she wasn’t too late.

It was Ethan who finally broke the silence. “Well, fuck.” His words were muffled through the bandages around his head. “Not the reunion I expected.”

Slowly, Harper sank down on the edge of the bed, reaching out to touch one of his hands gently. “Does it…” She swallowed thickly. “Does it hurt?”

Ethan chuckled darkly at her question. “I’m so drugged up I don’t know my asshole from my elbow. So, no... at least, not now.” A low breath whistled from him. “I’m pretty fucked up, Harper.”

Tentatively, the blonde reached down to touch his face as gently as she could. “Fractured spine. Broken leg... a shit ton of torn ligaments...they’re talking about therapy to learn how to hold a spoon again.” He choked another laugh. “What a fucking mess.”

“My mess.” Harper murmured, his face between her hands as her eyes met his. “Mine. I’ll take care of you Ethan. I’ll take a break from work, I’ll move in... I’ll do whatever I have to-”

“Harper, that’s ridiculous. I’m fucked,” Ethan spat, “I might never be the same again and I…” He trailed off, pain evident in his tone. “I said all those things... all that shit I didn’t mean. I should have listened to you. I should have believed in you.”

This was the second time she had come apart in front of him, but Harper hardly cared. He was here. And as long as they were together, everything would be fine. Everything could be worked out.

“I shouldn’t have lied. I should have been honest with you, Ethan... and I’m being honest now: I love you. I shouldn’t have let you go... I shouldn’t have left the city. Maybe if I hadn’t you wouldn’t be-”

“Don’t you dare, Harper.” He cut her off brusquely, his gaze hungry. “Don’t you fucking dare. This isn’t your fault. None of it is.” His tone softened. “Did you just say you loved me?”

“I love you.” Her makeup had to be a mess by this point. Ethan was the only person in the world that could reduce her to an amorphous puddle of emotion... and Harper supposed she had better get used to it. “I do. I love you. And I’m not going anywhere, no matter what you say.”

“Jesus…” Ethan groaned. “You are stubborn.” He smiled as well as his face would allow, and her heart leapt. “I fucking adore it. I adore you Harper... and if this accident gets me a few months of you waiting on my hand and foot... I suppose it will have been worth it.”

Harper laughed through her tears. “Don’t count your chickens. I’m going to be a hard taskmaster. You’ll hate me.”

“No.” Ethan met her gaze steadily, his eyes full of emotion. “I’ll love you. Never doubt that, Harper. I will love you... in all the ways that you deserve.”