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“He’s not. Once his father was out of the way I thought for sure that JT would step in as CEO.” The sole reason Violet had married JT was to help him take over his family’s company. “Instead, he sold his shares to his cousin in order to buy Titanium.” Titanium was the Stone Properties hotel and casino JT ran in Las Vegas. It was the largest and most profitable of all the company’s properties, thanks to JT’s excellent management.
Harper couldn’t see the sense in his decision. “I’m surprised he would do that when he could have all of Stone Properties to run.”
“He wanted to stay in Las Vegas.” Violet looked as blissful as a woman in love should. “He knew my heart was here.”
“What about Grandfather’s contest?” Harper asked. The corporate offices for Fontaine Hotels and Resorts were in New York City.
“Last week I told Grandfather I wasn’t interested in being CEO.” Violet looked at Scarlett.
Before Har
per grasped what Violet’s decision meant for the future, Scarlett held her glass high and proclaimed, “All hail the future CEO of Fontaine Hotels and Resorts.”
Harper’s heart twisted in her chest. Had Grandfather made his decision? Was Scarlett his choice for a successor?
“Congratulations,” Harper said to Scarlett, proud that her voice was so bright when her heart was lost in shadow. She’d wanted Grandfather to pick her, had spent her entire life working toward that goal. More than that, she needed his acceptance. To think that she wasn’t good enough was a blow she hadn’t prepared herself for.
Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Not me, silly. You.”
“Me?” Harper looked from Scarlett to Violet. “I don’t understand. Grandfather hasn’t said anything about the contest being over.”
Scarlett piped up. “I called Grandfather this morning and told him that the network executives loved the pilot for my new series and picked up the show.” Her starlet smile flashed bold and brilliant. “That means you are going to be Fontaine’s next CEO.”
The news should have thrilled Harper. It was why she’d worked hard and sacrificed a social life in high school to ensure she got into Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration. After graduating with top honors she’d gone to work at a Fontaine property in Chicago, starting at the bottom to learn every aspect of the business. All her energy had gone into proving to her grandfather that she was not her father’s daughter. She would give Fontaine Hotels and Resorts her complete attention.
But to get the job because her competition had dropped out. That wasn’t her idea of winning.
“Grandfather still has the final word,” she reminded her sisters, not ready to celebrate. “He might just decide that I wasn’t going to be his first choice.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Scarlett scoffed, clinking her crystal flute with Harper’s. “You are and always have been the front-runner.” She glanced at Violet. “No offense, Violet. I think if you’d hung in there you might have given Harper a run for her money.”
“I’m not insulted,” Violet said, a fond look in her eyes. “I love Las Vegas. And I love running my hotel. I’m not really cut out to sit in endless meetings and read reports all day.” But Harper knew Violet was downplaying how serious her decision had been.
At Scarlett’s urging, Harper sipped at the sparkling wine, but the effervescent liquid didn’t ignite joy or even relief. As soon as Ashton’s restaurant opened, she would head to New York and have a face-to-face chat with her grandfather. Until she knew his thoughts on her future with the company, she wouldn’t let herself hope her dreams were coming true.
In a state of conflicting emotions, Harper ate her salad in silence and listened to Violet and Scarlett with half her attention. Both of them were madly in love with wonderful men. It was hard for Harper to contribute to the conversation. Listening to them discuss Violet’s upcoming belated honeymoon and Scarlett’s wedding arrangements demonstrated just how two-dimensional Harper’s life was. She had her work and her sisters. Both meant everything to her, but after spending the evening with Ashton, she couldn’t help feeling as if she was missing out on something important.
“I got an update from Logan a little before you showed up today,” Scarlett said, catching Harper’s eye. “He said his people have tracked the million your mother wired to the blackmailer.” Scarlett didn’t explain how this had been done and Harper refrained from asking, expecting that the methods were not official. “It went through several banks before it landed in an account belonging to some guy named Saul Eddings. The strange part is he doesn’t seem to exist.”
So, the blackmailer was clever. Harper had been racking her brains for days trying to figure out who could have dug up a thirty-year-old affair. Why wait until now to trade the information for money?
“What’s going on?” Violet asked.
“My mother is being blackmailed.”
“Your mother?” Violet shot Scarlett a worried look. “Blackmailed about what?”
“Ancient history,” Harper explained, wondering what was causing Violet’s escalating tension. “Apparently she had an affair thirty years ago.”
Violet whirled on Scarlett. “You didn’t tell her, did you?”
“No.” Scarlett eyes grew hard as she stared at Violet.
“She needs to know.”
“I need to know what?” Harper demanded, alarmed by the sudden animosity between her sisters.
“It won’t help,” Scarlett said. “Logan will find out who’s doing this and he and Lucas will take care of it. So, you need to just let it go.”
