Chapter 52
Chapter Fifty-Two
E ric knew better than to try and banish Willow from his thoughts.
She’d been lodged in his mind permanently ever since he’d dropped her home. The best he could do was try to focus on the administrative tasks on his plate while thoughts of Willow nagged at him.
He’d barely slept last night, consumed by every facet of their previous day together. He wanted to relive each moment in minute detail, remembering every one of her expressions, the sound of her teasing laughter flowing into the sound of her unchecked joy. And then her lips.
Oh, those lips.
They had to be the sweetest, softest thing he’d ever encountered, and he wanted to feel them all over again.
His eyebrows dipped into a frown. But more than that…he wanted to see her—just look at her and make sure she was okay.
Ever since his run-in with Dallas King, he’d been worried about her.
Had Big Brother given her a hard time too?
Eric scoffed aloud. Of course he had. Dallas wouldn’t just let it go. And if Willow had already lied about how she got home…?
He dropped his hands from the laptop with a groan.
This was useless. He wished like heck he could talk to her right now. He needed to check that she was okay. Find out what new lies she’d had to tell?—
Or if she’d told the truth.
Cold dread washed through him, all the way down to his toes.
She wouldn’t. Would she?
Muttering a curse under his breath, he pushed his chair back, needing to move, to get some air. She wouldn’t tell her family about the hidden treasure. Or about him.
Right?
The intercom on his desk buzzed, and his assistant’s voice crackled. “Mr. Spencer, your?—”
But before she could finish, his father burst into the office. Eric shot to his feet. “Dad, what are you doing here?”
“This is my lodge. I have every right to be here.” His father’s face was an alarming shade of red, which put Eric on high alert.
He must have just flown in. Eric didn’t even hear the helicopter approaching.
Shaking his head, he gritted his teeth and faced his father head-on.
His stomach twisted. It’d been years since he’d seen the man lose his temper like this. He was scrambling to figure out the reason why and tried to counter the incoming storm with a calm smile.
“Of course you have a right to be here. But you weren’t scheduled to arrive until?—”
His father’s fist came down hard on the desk. “Do you think I wanted to charter a flight out here first thing? But I had to look at you for this. I had to hear it with my own ears!”
“Hear what?” Eric stupidly whispered, hating the way his father’s face contorted into a look of outright contempt.
“I have to know what my son thinks he’s doing consorting with the enemy.” The way his father had sneered the word son with such disdain had Eric’s insides plummeting.
His twisted stomach dropped down to his knees.
Oh no.
What had Dallas done?
“So!” Dad barked. “Can you explain this betrayal to me?”
Betrayal?
He wasn’t…
He hadn’t done…
Snapping his eyes shut, he pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to think.
What had his father found out? And how?
Dallas must have called him.
Really, Dallas? That’s low, even for a King.
With a short huff, he rested his hand on his hip. “Dad, I can explain?—”
“Do you have any idea how humiliating it was to realize I’ve been clueless about what my own child has been doing all these months.” His father leaned over the desk, his nostrils flaring. “But to hear all about it from a King !”
“A…,” Eric started and stopped. Crap.
“Is it true?” The question was so loud, it seemed to bounce off every surface in his office.
Is what true?
He nearly said it, but playing dumb would only infuriate his father. He knew this from experience.
Eric scrambled to pull his thoughts together, to make sense of what had happened between dropping Willow off yesterday and this morning. The only thing he knew for certain—Dallas King was involved.
Dallas had seen them. And if he’d confronted Eric and hadn’t believed him, he’d have gone straight to Willow.
And Willow…
He swallowed hard. Willow was a phenomenally bad liar. He knew this better than anyone. She was an honest person, and the guilt over keeping secrets from her family had to be eating her up, but…
How could she do that?
She looked right at him with those big blue eyes of hers and made him feel like he could give her the world and it’d be safe within her hands.
And then she just turned around and gave them up? Just like that?
He could only imagine her family’s reaction. Was it as bad as his father’s right now? Maybe they’d made it impossible for her not to spill the beans.
Eric’s blood began to boil. They better not have yelled at her.
He met his father’s rage-filled glare.
Oh crap. How much had she told them? And what had Dallas told his father? Unless he’d made Willow make the call. Had she confessed all to his old man?
Oh, Willow, what have you done?
As much as he hated the idea of her family forcing the truth out of her, he couldn’t get over the fact that she’d given it to them.
And now his father knew, which meant…
He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling twelve years old again and called to the principal’s office. “Dad, I can explain?—”
“I am done with your explanations.” His father’s voice was so cold, so low, so…certain.
His brows drew together. “Dad?—”
“Enough! Our lawyers say you’ve been hesitating over the lawsuit, and now this?” It was the disappointment in his father’s expression that nearly killed him. It was so much worse than his anger.
“I wasn’t hesitating. I had a plan,” he started.
His father scoffed, crossing his arms. “Your sister said you weren’t ready for this responsibility?—”
“What does she have to do?—”
“I should have listened to her. You’re too young, and you don’t have enough experience. What were you thinking, trying to play these games with a King?”
“Dad—” he tried to interject, but his father wasn’t even listening to him.
“I’d hoped some experience at the helm would make you a strong leader, but I will not just sit back and watch you destroy what I worked so long and hard to build.”
“Destroy what?” His own temper flared. “How?” He pounded a fist on his desk just the way his father had. “You haven’t even given me a chance to explain what you think you know. Don’t tell me you’re going to take a King’s word over your own son’s.”
That got through to his father. At least, it seemed to give him pause.
Eric drew in a calming breath. “Since I’ve taken over, this lodge’s memberships have consistently risen.
The waitlist has grown exponentially. Nonmembers have to book up to a year in advance now.
” As if he’d been preparing for this moment, Eric started rattling off the impressive numbers he’d accumulated.
Heck, maybe he had been preparing. Maybe he’d always known that a day would come when he’d have to justify himself and his position. The numbers he threw out had more of an effect than anything else he could say.
His father understood numbers. He appreciated cold, hard facts.
By the time he was done, his father had settled some. But his eyes narrowed on Eric with a lingering suspicion. “Tell me this. Why did I have to hear about your secret meetings with that Willow girl from Dallas King?”
“I…what?” He shook his head, trying to think clearly. But Willow’s name on his father’s lips threw him off guard.
The older man leaned back, the look in his eyes pure challenge.
No, it was a test.
He was testing him. Which made Eric wonder, yet again, just how much Willow had told Dallas. What Dallas had said to his father.
Oh hell. If this was a test and he got it wrong, all the work he’d done these past two years would be in vain. It’d all be for nothing, and his position here would be gone in a heartbeat.
“I haven’t been keeping secrets. What we found in No Man’s Land could have destroyed our case. I had to be strategic?—”
“What you found ?” His father’s voice cracked like a whip.
“Boy, you haven’t forgotten our recent conversation, have you?
Throw as many impressive numbers at me as you like, but if I find out you’re sitting on something that could end this land claim for good, and you’re not using it, then you will be out of this office faster than you can say sorry.
Because there is no excuse good enough for what you’ve been trying to pull here.
Eric, I kid you not, if you don’t make this right in the next twenty-four hours, you are out.
I don’t care that you’re my son. I won’t tolerate this kind of betrayal in my company, and most definitely not in my family! ”
Eric’s throat went dry, his heart clenching so tight that a pain shot down to his belly. But at the same time, his thoughts sharpened.
He and Willow had never stood a chance. This secret of theirs could only ever end one of two ways.
Either his family claimed the treasure and used it to legitimize their hold on the land—or hers did. And now that she’d told them everything, he was running out of time.
Did she tell them where the treasure was?
Or was she going to get it for them once lunch prep was over?
He checked the clock on his phone.
Crap!
He had to go. Too much was at stake if he hesitated.
This was a battle that had been going on for more than a century. Since before Rose and Charlie were even born.
Had he really thought this could end any other way?
The idea of Willow…of what he knew he had to do…
His insides felt like ash. His chest felt like it’d just taken a blow.
But she was planning the same thing, wasn’t she? Sure, her siblings might be forcing her to do it, but she’d cave, right?
Just like she caved and told them everything.
No, this had to end. Now.
“Dad, I have to go and fix this.”
His father’s glare was cold and unrelenting, filled with mistrust.
With a sharp huff, Eric flicked his hand in the air. “I’m going to get you what you need to finalize this whole land claim. Just give me an hour.”
A muscle ticked in his father’s jaw before he held up his index finger. “One hour. Then you’re going to get back here and tell me everything . From the beginning.”
Eric’s insides crumpled.
“This is your last chance, son. You understand me? Your last.”