46. Liam
On the morning of the Lucas Hall hearing, Em is sleeping so hard that even Frank’s crowing doesn’t wake her.
I have no idea what’s going on, but ever since I said I wasn’t going to fight her, she’s been off. She got up at the crack of dawn yesterday and didn’t return until long after I’d gone to bed.
And it all happened right after I told her I loved her.
Maybe it was too much, but it sure doesn’t bode well for us when she leaves for good.
She’s groggy, half-asleep, as I start to get dressed. She seems to have to force herself to sit up in bed. “Will you come today?” she asks. “To the hearing?”
I hesitate. I look like a quitter, with the way I dropped my plan. It was obvious, even during the initial hearing, that I wasn’t going to get my way, but I’d still have gone in there with guns blazing if it wasn’t for Emmy. Everyone who sees me watching her will think I’m a lovesick sap, and why shouldn’t they? That’s exactly what I am.
“Do you want me there?” I ask, hoping the question will prompt her to let me off the hook.
She nods. “I really do. I need you. It matters.”
She’s never once told me outright she needs me for anything. I have a full day planned, but there’s no way I’m failing her now. “Then I’ll be there.”
To watch you put the final nail in the town’s coffin.
And mine. Because this means you’re leaving.
I run around to check on my projects and pull up on Main Street just before noon.
The Princess
I’m waiting on the steps.
Pulling onto Main Street.
I’ve heard those words before. You’re not about to send Bradley out here to tell me she made you up, right?
Even Bradley’s fervent imagination couldn’t make up anyone as good in bed as me.
You’re okay.
I walk down the street and smile when I see her there, waiting.
She’s so beautiful in the afternoon light. Simply looking at her is enough to make me really understand what it means to want something. To want it desperately.
Some people would say she’s too much work. But what I see is her strength. She’s been through some shit, but she still stands proud. And she’s beautiful, sure, but it’s her strength that makes her so much more than that.
I climb the stairs and tug her against me, letting my mouth find hers.
“You’re ruining my street cred,” she says, but she’s smiling.
“I love you,” I tell her because I want to make sure she’s heard it. And then I slide my fingers through hers and pull her toward the door so she isn’t pressured into saying it back or explaining why she can’t yet. “Let’s do this.”
The ballroom is full by the time we get inside. We find seats near the front and she reaches for my hand again. I can feel her anxiety echoing through my fingers.
I laugh quietly. “Why are you nervous, babe? I’ve never seen anyone cover their bases as thoroughly as you have. It would take a fucking earthquake to make this fall through, and actually…an earthquake would help your case, because this building would definitely cave in.”
Her smile is tired and strained. “I think you’d be surprised by how fast things like this can go off the rails.”
The minutes are read. Em’s proposal and mine are mentioned, and the secretary clears her throat. “Actually, the offer made by Long Point Construction has been rescinded. Therefore, the only offer on the table is the one made by Inspired Building. If there are no objections, we can take it to a vote now. Miss Hughes, would you like to say anything before we begin?”
I glance at Emmy, expecting another presentation, this time with fireworks or cash shooting out of a cannon. But instead, she’s looking toward the door where Harrison, of all people, is striding in. Her face relaxes at last. That hand clenching mine still holds on but less tightly.
He walks to the front of the room. “My name is Harrison Reid,” he says. I suddenly remember why we called him Hollywood as a teen—because he’s got old-time movie-star looks and commands a room like guys on TV do, all square-jawed and self-assured. “I’m an attorney with Baker Karlsson, here on behalf of a client who wishes to remain anonymous at the present time. Before I begin, however, I should mention that there were some flaws in the inspection report, and I have an injunction from the California Department of Planning which states that, due to the building’s potential historic significance, it can’t be torn down until the matter has been adjudicated—a decision that could take some time. I also have in hand a competing offer made by my client, which involves no destruction of the building whatsoever. If I may?” he asks the council members, pulling out his laptop.
The mayor’s brow furrows in irritation as he glances at the rest of the council. He sighs in exasperation. “I suppose. Go ahead.”
On the screen, a photo of Lucas Hall appears in black and white from another century. “There were a number of flaws in the initial report about Lucas Hall’s structural integrity. It is my very strong belief that once those flaws have been addressed, any plans that involve the building’s removal will prove impossible due to the historic nature of the building.” Harrison pauses, looking from the council to the audience with a brow raised. “My client is proposing that Lucas Hall become a resort instead, which would meet the state’s preservation requirements while bringing a new tourist base to Elliott Springs. My client has proposed devoting the halls and lobby to the history of the town—a strategy that has been implemented with great success in other hotels around the world.” Pictures begin to flash up on the screen of other hotels. It has all the slickness of one of Emmy’s presentations but is diametrically opposed to what she wants. And then there’s an image I recognize. It’s the goddamn plans I had drawn up for the hotel.
“What the fuck,” I hiss under my breath to Emmy. “That’s my fucking plan.”
“It’s you,” she says quietly. My head jerks toward her. “You’re the anonymous buyer if you want to be, with the backing of two investors.”
For a moment, I’m too astonished to speak. “I can’t buy Lucas Hall, Em,” I say at last. “I don’t have the money, and the bank turned me down.”
She swallows. “I took care of it, I believe.” She checks her phone and then glances over her shoulder as a girl I’ve never laid eyes on before rushes forward and hands a file to Harrison.
He flips it open, nods, and then walks forward to the town council. “Here’s what we’re willing to offer.”
What the hell is happening right now? Is the council actually looking over a financial offer made on my behalf without me even knowing what it is?
“There’s no way this is legal,” I tell her.
She laughs low, under her breath. “It’s…mostly legal. Don’t worry. I’m the only one breaking some laws.”
“Miss Hughes,” says the mayor, “I assume you’ll be fighting these motions?”
She smooths her skirt as she stands. “This is all a shock to me, Mr. Mayor. If there actually is an injunction, as Mr. Reid claims, Inspired Building will need to reassess the situation, as court battles of this sort tend to drag on far longer than is financially viable.”
If the mayor cared about Elliott Springs a fraction of the way I do, he’d see a resort is the best solution for the town—a middle ground that reenergizes our commercial base without destroying our history. It says everything about him that he’s absolutely crestfallen instead. He just wanted his fucking park and the clout that comes with leading a mid-size city.
He accepts the package from Harrison with a scowl and announces the meeting will need to be postponed. Harrison turns toward the door, giving Emmy a wink as he goes.
“What the hell is happening here? Why is my friend, who you don’t even know, winking at you, and how the hell could you have gotten me a loan without involving me?”
“I called Harrison yesterday,” she says, “and got him to help secure the injunction. And then I flew to LA to talk to a potential investor, and he agreed.”
“Who agreed?”
Her gaze grows a trifle wary. “Damien Ellis. I can lend you or get you enough cash upfront so that you’ll own more than fifty percent. Ellis has agreed to put up the rest.”
My shock gives way to something that feels a lot like…jealousy. Last night, when I thought she was off at work, she was in LA with a guy who definitely was hoping to fuck her. “What exactly did you have to offer Damien Ellis to make that happen?”
“Me,” she says, and my stomach drops. “No, not in the way you’re thinking, though it’s flattering that despite my intellect, you still think my primary value rests between my legs. I agreed to come to work for him rather than trying to get him to buy Inspired Building. It’s not entirely what I wanted, but the executive board will realize how useless Charles is without me and fire him anyway, and that’s the part that mattered most.”
“And the illegal part?”
She sighs. “There are potentially some conflict-of-interest issues here. It looks pretty bad that Charles’ project now belongs to my new employer, but Damien thinks he can finesse it.”
“I don’t love that you’re now calling him Damien,” I growl.
She laughs as she climbs to her feet. “Seriously, Liam? I just gave up all my plans and put myself in a legally questionable situation, and all you can focus on is the fact I’m calling my boss by his first name?”
I stand and pull her toward me with my hands on her hips, letting my forehead press to hers.
She gave up everything for me. She gave up every plan for her future and the town’s future, all so I could have this thing I wanted. “Why’d you do it?”
She shrugs a shoulder. “It was the thing you wanted most.”
“Em,” I say quietly, pressing my lips to her head, “it hasn’t been the thing I wanted most for quite a while now.”
I can’t see her face, but her fingers tighten on my shirt, and I get the feeling she’s smiling.
We walk toward Harrison, waiting in the building’s lobby with the redhead who brought him the offer from the back of the room.
“Now you’ve done it,” the woman says to Em. She holds up her phone, where a series of all-caps texts litter the screen. “Charles is going fucking nuts.”
“How would you feel about working for Damien Ellis’s company instead?” Em asks her, which is when I finally realize this must be her assistant, Stella. “I’m still going to need someone to fire people for me.”
“I do have a lot of experience at that now,” she replies. She nods toward me. “Is this the hot contractor?”
Em sighs as she turns my way. “Just for the record, I didn’t call you that. Julie called you that.”
Stella yawns and rolls her eyes. “It was lovely to meet you both,” she says to Harrison before locking eyes with Emmy. “I’m going to my hotel to sleep. And you’ve been making it clear for months that you thought he was hot. Stop lying.”
She walks away, and I glance at Harrison. “I still don’t understand how this happened. How are you involved in all this? Do you work for Ellis too?”
He fights a smile. “I’m involved because your girlfriend here burst into my office yesterday morning when she couldn’t get a call through and demanded I drop everything to help get the injunction. And then I’m pretty sure she flew down to LA and did the same thing to Damien Ellis.”
“He has bodyguards,” Em counters with a roll of her eyes. “You can’t just burst into his office.”
I laugh. “So what exactly did you do?”
She raises a shoulder. “I don’t love the way you’re assuming it was something obnoxious. I snuck through a restaurant and interrupted him during a meeting.”
“You’ve got a live one, Liam,” Harrison says, glancing from Em to me. “But since I, too, have been awake all night, I’m going back to bed. Let’s catch up soon.”
“We want to meet this mystery girlfriend of yours at some point!” I call after him, and his smile is slightly troubled as he nods and waves goodbye.
“So does this mean you’ll be based out of LA?” I ask Emmy as we walk outside after him.
She shakes her head. “Damien said I could stay in New York and fly out a few times a month. I was thinking I’d stay here a few more weeks just to help you get the money taken care of, though.”
“Or,” I counter, stopping in place to face her, pulling her hands into mine, “you could just stay with me. For good.”
“But I hate Elliott Springs.”
“Maybe,” I reply, “but you love me.”
“Whatever.” Her smile is wide. “Maybe. I guess you’re okay.”