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“I gave you Summit Estates because you were finally showing true respect and interest in this company, and honest to god, I was excited to see what you could do with it. But you’ve gone against a direct order by involving Mays, proving to me that you’re just not mature enough to make these kinds of decisions.”
“Dad—”
There’s a rustling sound, like papers being unrolled before Silas speaks again. “These are the details that have been approved for the project. You said you wanted your name on the contract, and now it is. As long as we hold the highest bid, the council will accept our advancement first thing Monday morning.” A thud on top of the desk makes me jump. “But let me be clear… If I catch you with Patrick’s daughter, or speaking with Ellen Mays again, all my funding, investments, and support in Summit Estates will be pulled.”
Logan’s quiet for so long that I start silently begging him to speak. To stand up for himself for once, and to stand up for me.
“Understood.”
A sob hitches in my chest, my body boiling hot from the inside out in this suffocating space.
“I’ll be downstairs doing damage control before the auction starts. When you’re decent, meet me in the ballroom.”
Their footsteps fade as they cross for the door, and after several agonizing minutes, it finally clicks shut.
“You can come out now,” Logan says tightly.
Grabbing the lip of the desk, I slowly rise. Strands of hair stick to my sweaty face, and a painful knot builds in my throat when our gazes clash.
“Tell me you know I didn’t mean those things,” he says brokenly.
“That you were planning on helping him take over the strip, or that I’m just your fuck buddy?”
When his eyes snap to the papers his father left behind, I snatch them up before he can so much as take a step.
“Pen,” he weakly protests.
Grasping the contract, I read through it, line by line. My trembling fingers pause at the address listed beneath the demolition date and my vision tunnels. Hot tears prick at the corners of my eyes when I recall how strange Dorthea was acting the other night at dinner.
“They’re foreclosing?”
I’m astonished that she wouldn’t tell me. Betrayed, even though I know my friend would never intentionally hurt me, but this… This is too much.
“What?” Logan asks, as if he doesn’t already know.
He takes the contract before flipping through the pages, and his body goes stock still. The horror on his face is evident, but no less damning.
“He’s buying out the plot of houses where the group home is located.” My voice shakes.
Dropping the document, he rounds the edge of the desk. But when he reaches for me, I step back. “You knew about this, and you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t know he bid on those homes, Pen. I promise you.”
“He said you asked for this.” I point at the scattered papers. “Your name’s right there on the front page.”
“As far as I was told, he had his sights on a single building, but I didn’t know where because he kept me in the dark.” I hate that his genuine concern cuts through my vibrating rage. “And it didn’t matter, anyway, because I told him I wanted the project for myself. Something I could make my own without him shadowing me. More than that, something I could share with you.”
I wish I believed he was lying, but deep down, I know he’s not.
“I’ll talk to him once this all settles. Get him to understand where I’m coming from, so he’ll just be in the background when we move forward.”
“In the background?” I stare at him, absolutely amazed that he could be so blind. “You can’t honestly believe after all that, Silas is just going to hand you the strip? Open your eyes, Logan. He’s already sunk his claws into it.”
His shoulders hunch, making himself appear small, and it breaks my heart to see what Silas has done to him. “Don’t… Don’t make him a villain, okay?”
A warning voice whispers in my mind, rousing old doubts. We were forced apart once, and here we are, twelve years later, reliving that same heartache.
“Tell me you’re joking.”
