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With a quick nod of her head, she turned and walked as quickly as she could through the crowded dance floor toward the elevator. Blood pounded in her ears, drowning out the band and the conversations swirling around her. Each step felt as if someone else was taking it...as if she wasn’t in control of her own body.
How could her dad have done this to her? The question jackhammered its way around her head.
How could he have sold Fox Vineyards without talking to her first? Did he really think so little of her?
A sob rose in her throat but she squelched it. She would not break down in front of all these people—and certainly not in front of Adrian Cabrera.
She reached the elevator just as the doors opened. She stepped in and pressed the button for the third floor.
A sixth sense made her look up. Adrian was striding toward the elevator, his long legs eating up the distance. His face was blank—a handsome façade concealing his thoughts.
Did he want to discuss the sale? Make her understand why her dad selling Fox was better than her taking over? He might not be the manipulative capitalist she had assumed him to be, but he was still arrogant, spoiled and cold. If his comments about a family business versus an “operation” were anything to go by, he would turn Fox into a hollow shell of what it currently was, all for the sake of profit.
She pressed the button to close the doors. Surprise cracked Adrian’s aloof mask, followed swiftly by anger. She saw him quicken his pace, but the doors slid shut before he could reach her.
A tiny smile tweaked her lips as the elevator descended. It was childish to close the door in his face, but also immensely satisfying.
The ache from earlier returned and squeezed her heart tight. Disappointment, fear and betrayal warred for control as she scrunched her eyes tight.
The one thing she had held on to after her dad’s diagnosis had been that she would be able to continue the family legacy with Fox Vineyards—maybe even one day pass it down to her children. The dream of honoring her parents through Fox, of staying in the place that had brought her so much joy, had kept her going on even the darkest days.
Now that dream was gone. Her dad was dying, leaving her just like her mom had, and she was powerless to save him. Her entire world was slipping through her fingers and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The next morning
“Mr. Cabrera, I cannot give out another guest’s hotel room number.”
Adrian planted his hands on the marble counter and leaned forward. The front desk attendant, a small wisp of a girl with oversize black-framed glasses that dominated her paper-white face, didn’t move an inch.
“This is urgent.”
“If it’s an emergency, I can dial the police.”
His fingers curled. When had everyone become so impudent?
“It’s not that urgent,” he ground out.
“If it’s not that urgent, then I can’t be expected to break protocol and put the safety of a guest at risk.”
Alejandro walked up to him, his hair messed and his eyes sleepy. Unlike Adrian, in his pressed pants and buttoned-up shirt, Alejandro sported jeans and a wrinkled gray shirt that barely stretched across his chest.
Alejandro flashed a smile at the clerk. “Is my brother bothering you, Leia?”
OfcourseAlejandro would know the names of the hotel staff. He made friends wherever he went.
Leia narrowed her eyes. “Yes. He’s asking me to break security protocol. Unless a guest has told us that their room number can be given out, I’m not authorized to share that information. Withanybody,” she added with a glare in Adrian’s direction.
Alejandro turned to Adrian. “Why not just have Leia call the room?”
“Because I want the room number.”
Alejandro grinned. “Because you know that if Leia calls up there and tells whoever it is that you want to speak with them they’ll tell you to go to hell and hang up.”
“I don’t recall asking for your assistance,hermano.”
Alejandro leaned up against the counter and yawned. “This wouldn’t happen to be about the second woman you chased off last night, would it?”
Adrian pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked down at the screen. He didn’t need Alejandro seeing how deeply Everleigh Bradford had worked her way under his skin.
