Chapter 54
SILAS
“It all started with the cam room?” Robert asked.
I came clean with the man. All of it, although I left out all the sex, which made my recount pretty short. I also skipped what Eve did in the cam room, but I wouldn’t shame her that way. Although, I had a feeling he knew, or at least the gist, since he’d overheard a few naughty seconds of it.
I shook my head. “It started with Eve turning down the James Corp loan.”
“The program your brother and his future wife created.”
I nodded. “That’s correct. And it ended with us marrying. For me to ensure this deal went through and for her to get control of her trust fund. We married for money.”
He made a sound, like a grunt of disappointment.
“Except for the date of our wedding, every aspect of our James/Hyport deal, every aspect of our… friendship is the truth.”
I wasn’t sure if he saw me as a friend, but I considered him one. A mentor, in a sense. He’d started his hotel empire before I was born. I only took over mine. Now that he was retiring, I had hoped to do him proud with where I could take his hotels into the future.
But not now.
“I’m not sure if I could make a story like that up if I wanted to lie,” I admitted.
“What happens with her ex?” he asked. “The man who controls… controlled her trust?”
I couldn’t imagine why that was so important in all of this, but he had me by the balls.
“I’ve dug up some information on him. Shady sh–stuff.” I shifted in my seat. “There’s more, I’m sure. I’ll get it soon and see him ruined.”
He nodded. “Good.”
I sighed, met his shrewd gaze. “I know the deal is dead,” I said, resigned to it. “I have too much respect for you to expect to continue a working relationship. You were right to end things with my father and you’re right to end things now.”
“And if I want the deal to go through?” he wondered, studying me closely.
The answer was easy. “I’d end it myself.”
“Oh?”
I nodded, shifting in my chair. “Like I said, I’m just like my father. Maybe worse.”
I glanced at my hands.
He was quiet and I let him take the time he wanted.
Filling it with empty chatter was a sign of nervousness.
Of weakness. I was neither. I was resolved.
After all these years since my father died, after all this time busting my ass to prove I was nothing like my old man, I finally caught on that I couldn’t run away from fate.
Finally, Robert spoke. “You forget I knew your father. Very well.”
I nodded, but I hadn’t forgotten. That was why it seemed I’d worked extra hard on this deal.
“You didn’t marry Eve for money,” he said.
I looked up, met his gaze. “What?”
“You married her because you didn’t want to let me down.”
I stared at him, tried to understand what the hell he was talking about. “What?” I asked again, eventually.
“Your father was no role model. Or maybe he was for you, but in what not to do. What not to be in a CEO. Because of this, or despite him, you’ve turned into an incredible leader. You have every value a corporation like the James Hotels needs. And Hyport as well.
I blinked at him. Confused. “Um… what?”
He smiled.
Smiled?
“Silas, I’m proud of you.”
My mouth fell open and I stared. And stared some more. The words sunk in and… shit. I looked away. Emotion clogged my throat. Hopping to my feet, I paced his office.
“You’ve never heard that before, have you?”
I shook my head hard but couldn’t face him.
“I’ve watched you for years. Followed how you turned James Corp around. How you grew it. Did everything you’re supposed to do. That was why I wanted to sell to you.”
I spun and faced him again.
I ran a hand over my neck. “Because you’re proud of me? That makes no sense.”
“To you, probably not. If you want to end this deal because of marrying Eve, you’re dumber than I thought.”
My eyes widened, stunned. “Why’s that?”
“Because I know a good man when I see one.”
He stood, came around the desk and set his hand on my shoulder. “Because you’re not anything like your father. You never were.”
I shook my head.
“You doubt me?” he continued. “Believe your wife.”
I blinked, wiped my nose. “Eve?”
He nodded. “She called Kathleen earlier. Told her she wouldn’t give any pink coffee shop t-shirts to anyone who weren’t on Team Silas. Those are her words, not mine. Oh, and she offered a two-million-dollar incentive to the sale.”
“WHAT?” I shouted.
He nodded. “That wife of yours offered up her trust fund to sweeten the deal.”
I laughed, the long-lingering pain of my father sliding away.
That feeling was replaced by what I felt for Eve.
She would give up her trust fund for me?
For the deal? That money wouldn’t cover the price of linens, but it was a sign.
A sign she loved me unconditionally. That she’d walk away from what she’d fought so hard for.
For me.
Shit. SHIT!
“I blew it with her. That’s why she stormed out earlier,” I told him, scrubbing the back of my neck.
He stepped back, shook his head. “Son, there’s nothing fake about your marriage. You just have a lot to learn about women. For one, never tell a woman to calm down.”