by Nina Lindsey
“I know.”
“I don’t want you to lose this place.”
“I don’t either. But I also don’t want to keep it because of the way we feel about each other.” She put her hand over his. “It took me a long time to learn how to stand my ground. I’m proud of myself for doing it against a company as powerful as Imperial. And against a man like you. No.”
She held up a hand when he opened his mouth to speak. “You’re an opponent like no other. You didn’t go easy on me, even after what happened the first night we met. It’s not in you to back down from a challenge. And I don’t want to win this because you make a concession that you never would have made if we weren’t sleeping together.”
His face darkened with a glare. “We’re doing more than just sleeping together.”
“If you wouldn’t make the exact same concession to Gary or Lois or Annie, then I don’t want it either.”
With a mutter of frustration, he pushed to his feet. “I meant what I said. This isn’t a wall between us. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.”
“You said Imperial Properties intends to be a presence in Bliss Cove for years to come.” She suppressed a surge of anxiety at the thought. “What does that mean for you?”
“I’d direct the construction of Oceanview and open a new Imperial office in LA.” He stopped at the window and folded his arms over his chest, his profile rigid. “I could make trips up here when needed. But I’d come more often just to see you.”
Where will I be?
“Aria, I’m telling you we can work this out.” He rubbed his jaw, his eyes dark. “We will. We just need a plan.”
Aria stroked her hand through Jumbo’s fur. As much as she appreciated Hunter’s certainty, the only way anything could be worked out was if Imperial lost the vote. Otherwise, she’d be forced to sell her property and move…and she didn’t think she could be with Hunter while he oversaw the destruction of Mariposa Street and the building of Oceanview Plaza.
She couldn’t imagine what that would look like—sleeping with him and cuddling up to him at night, having breakfast together in the morning…and then watching him go off to order one of the construction men to smash a wrecking ball into Meow and Then, Moonbeams, Nico’s…
She tightened her fingers in the cat’s fur. He bounded to the floor and walked away, tail swishing.
What if by some miracle, Hunter and Imperial lost the vote and she got to keep her building? Then he wouldn’t get his promotion, and he might even lose his shot at the CEO position…which meant he’d return to New York and probably go build a complex in Hong Kong.
Would she ever see him again? And what would happen to Mariposa Street? Her little fundraiser would fix a few windows and maybe pay for some graffiti clean-up, but they needed a great deal more money to make viable, substantial changes.
If she couldn’t convince Mayor Bowers and the town council to support a new Historical Preservation Society and if she couldn’t get both private and corporate funding, then Mariposa might just limp along until another developer swooped in.
Winning would come at a price that she didn’t know how she—or any of the other owners—would pay. Some of them would be upset with her for ruining what they considered to be a great deal. Lois and Ray might not be able to go on their cruise.
Had she been wrong all this time?
No. She’d known from the start what she was up against. She’d known her chances of winning were slim, but she’d chosen to fight the battle. She’d see it through to the end.
Aria rose to her feet and approached Hunter. She slid her arms around his waist, spreading her hands over his warm, ridged abdomen. She leaned her forehead between his shoulder blades.
“Of course.” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “We’ll work this out.”
Chapter 22
Aria set a box of Chaos Cookies onto the stack holding her daily café order. Hunter had left Bliss Cove three hours ago to drive to San Jose for his flight back to New York. Though he’d return in a few days, the town already felt different without him. She felt different without him.
“Did you get everything, honey?” Eleanor pulled a tin of hot muffins from the baker’s rack and started putting them in a basket. “I made some cat cookies for you too.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Aria checked her order form. “Does Rory have a shift today?”
“No, she’s working from home.” Eleanor straightened and wiped her hands on her apron. “I hope all the contract jobs she’s been taking lead to a full-time position. I’ve loved having her here, but she’s too smart to stay working at Sugar Joy and doing remote work. She needs a job that’s worthy of her.”
“If she wants one, she’ll get one.” Of that Aria had no doubt.
Callie had always colored inside the lines, working steadily to advance her career within the rigid structure of academia. But Rory, the messy finger-painter, had thrown herself into the Wild West of the tech industry when she was a freshman in college. She’d been hired at different companies over people with twenty more years of experience. She’d created her own positions, demanded better offers, started her own projects. She was a force.
It was a little strange that she’d stayed in Bliss Cove for a year and a half, but they’d all dealt with Dad’s death in their own ways. Maybe Rory just needed to be home longer than she’d expected.
After saying goodbye to her mother, Aria brought the boxes to her van. Since she had a couple of hours before opening—and dealing with Rory alone was easier than confronting both her sisters—she drove to Rory’s apartment building. The curtains of her sister’s apartment were closed, but a flickering light shone behind them and Jimi Hendrix music thumped against the door.
When Aria’s knock went unanswered, she texted Open the door.
A second later, Rory pulled open the door, her long hair loose and tangled, and her slender figure clad in torn sweats and a T-shirt reading Coders Don’t Byte. “What’re you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too.” Aria pushed past her sister into the near-empty apartment.
A mattress lay on the floor, and clothes were strewn around, but the only actual “furniture” was a huge desk topped with a shiny, state-of-the-art computer, a monitor the size of a TV screen, and high-level speakers.
“This is me finally responding to your multiple texts.” Aria sat down in the plush office chair. “You told Mom you have a sofa.”
“I told her I was getting a sofa. Haven’t gotten around to it yet.” Rory folded her arms, eyeing Aria shrewdly. “Where’s your boyfriend?”
Tension shot down her spine. “He’s not my boyfriend, but he had to go back to New York for a couple of days. If you’re going to lecture me about him, I’m leaving.”
“No lectures. I need to show you something, but be warned that you’re not going to like it.”
Aria frowned. “What?”
“When I was doing the search on Armstrong, I found a bunch of stuff about his Imperial Properties projects.” Rory crossed to the computer and pulled the keyboard closer. Her fingers whisked over the keys. “Pretty straightforward. But then I started digging a little deeper. Bruce Sinclair has had some issues in the past, mostly questionable compliance with zoning, cutting corners, promising one thing, like affordable housing, and failing to deliver. Then I hacked…I mean, found some correspondence from Sinclair that indicates Imperial Properties might not be on the straight and narrow about Mariposa.”
“What does that mean?”
“That they don’t intend to stop with Oceanview.” Rory punched another key, and a bunch of email messages popped onto the screen.
Aria scanned the messages. The correspondence was between Bruce Sinclair and several company lawyers about a “Venture project” in Bliss Cove slated to begin next summer.
Massive moneymaker…pristine coastline…exclusive access to private beaches…privatizing sections of the redwood forests…keep out the rabble.
Talk up as “eco-fri
endly.” Town officials will be easily bribed…have them run interference for getting around zoning and enviro laws. After Marp. St. is finalized, we’ll have them by the balls.
Aria’s blood turned to ice.
Rory closed the screen, regret tightening her mouth. “I knew you wouldn’t not want to see these.”
“Was…” She swallowed past the constriction in her throat. “Was Hunter part of the email chain?”
“Not this one.”
“Did you hack his account?”
Rory shook her head. That meant she hadn’t tried. If she’d wanted to get into Hunter’s account, she would have.
“Why not?”
“I told you it was obvious early on that you were into each other.” Rory sighed and brushed a strand of hair away from Aria’s forehead. “Honestly, I’m on your side about Mariposa because you’re my sister, but other than that, I don’t have a dog in this race. So I never thought Armstrong was a bad guy. And you’ve been all lit up and glowing for days, which I was pretty sure had something to do with him. In that past few weeks, you’ve been more like yourself than you have in a while. Like you’re finally letting go of whatever bad shit happened to you when you left Bliss Cove.”
Aria’s heart squeezed into a ball so tight she almost couldn’t breathe. “How did you know?”
“I know you.” Rory settled her hand on the back of Aria’s neck, tugging her closer. “Remember, I’ve been through a lot of shit with scumbag men in the tech world. I’ve learned a thing or two. My instincts about Armstrong aside, I didn’t want to find out a guy who’s obviously good for you is involved in dirty dealings.”
A strange relief nudged through Aria’s growing despair. Had it been the same with Callie and her mother? Had they seen it on her, sensed it in her? Had they known she’d distanced herself from them, avoided their texts and calls, because she hadn’t wanted them to know how weak she’d been? Had they been giving her the space to find herself again?
She rested her forehead against Rory’s side. “What about the envelope you gave me after you did the search on Hunter?”
“Open it. But what’s that old saying…two wrongs don’t make a right or something about good deeds not going unpunished? I have no idea how much he’s involved in this Venture project thing. There are probably countless deleted emails about it.”
“I feel sick.” Aria wrapped her arms around her stomach. “I’d wondered why a company as big as Imperial Properties was interested in Mariposa Street. It didn’t seem like a very important project compared to the stuff they’ve built in Tokyo and Manhattan. But they were using it as a foothold into Bliss Cove so they could construct whatever the Venture project is. God.”
She hated the anguish rising to the surface, threatening to overwhelm her. She couldn’t believe Hunter would spearhead a project that Imperial was keeping a secret from Bliss Cove residents. A “massive moneymaker” involving attempted bribery.
But Mariposa Street was Hunter’s deal to make. He was slated to direct Oceanview. He’d be president of Imperial Properties holdings on the West Coast. Bliss Cove was in his domain. And when he became CEO…
She shook the thought out of her head. She’d have to worry about Hunter later. The immediate issue was that she’d been right in her suspicions.
“I have to tell the other Mariposa owners.” Pulling back, she looked up at her sister. “They’ll never vote to sell their properties and make way for Oceanview if they know what else Imperial is planning. I’ll just tell them about this Venture project…hell, I’ll tell the town council, Mayor Bowers, and anyone else who’ll listen. No one will be in favor of Oceanview after hearing about this.”
“But we don’t even know what this is,” Rory pointed out.
Aria groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. She couldn’t just give the Mariposa owners some vague accusations against Imperial and expect them to rally around her cause. She needed concrete evidence of their actual plan.
“Thanks, Rory.” Picking up her bag, she pushed to her feet and headed to the door. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you sooner.”
“Wait.” Concern laced Rory’s voice. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know yet.”
She hurried back to her car before her razor-sharp sister realized she was lying. Because Aria knew exactly what she was going to do.
Chapter 23
Though his twenty-eighth-story New York office was silent, Hunter could almost hear the noise of traffic on the streets below. Two days since he’d left Bliss Cove, and he still wasn’t accustomed to the shift from ocean waves to cars honking.
He checked his phone for the thousandth time. Aria hadn’t responded to his texts or phone calls since yesterday morning. There was no one he could call to find out if she was okay.
Unless…
He pulled up a website and dialed the number for Moonbeams. “Destiny? Hunter Armstrong.”
“Oh, hello, darling. How’s the Big Apple?”
“Big. Listen, have you seen Aria? I’ve been trying to reach her, but she’s not responding.”
“Sure, I saw her yesterday. She said she was going away somewhere, and she asked me to take care of the cats for a couple of days.”
Hunter’s heart slammed against his ribs. “She went away? Where?”
“Hopefully for some energy cleansing. Her aura has been rather stressed recently.”
He pushed his chair back and strode to the windows. Forcing his voice to stay even, he thanked Destiny and ended the call. He called Meow and Then, but the phone went to voicemail.
He took a breath and told himself to calm the fuck down. Aria wasn’t under any obligation to tell him where she was going or why. Maybe she was taking advantage of his absence to visit an old friend. God knew he’d been greedily occupying as much of her time as he could. She probably needed space or whatever.
Before the vote.
He turned away from the window and studied his computer screen, where the financial information for Oceanview Plaza was displayed in a spreadsheet.
He’d always loved starting a new project. Finalizing the plans, breaking ground, getting underway after months of prep work. Starting always meant that the paperwork was done and the physical work was about to begin. The building was the part he enjoyed the most.
Under normal circumstances, he’d be anticipating closing the deal that meant he could start phase two. Not to mention gain a substantial promotion and eventually a virtual lock on the CEO position. A huge piece of his plan, right within his grasp.
He’d always done everything he could to keep his plans from going wrong. To keep things on track. It was his own shit luck he hadn’t realized that because plans didn’t go as…well, planned, that didn’t mean they went wrong.
Just the opposite, in fact—plans that went awry could sometimes lead to the best place ever.
Too bad for him that he couldn’t figure out how to stay there.
The complications buzzed like wasps in his brain.
Kill Oceanview. Come up with a new negotiation. A new design, a new plan. Undercut Bruce Sinclair and tell Mariposa owners to vote no. Close the deal and change everything when he was president of West Coast operations.
None of that would work. There was always a snag that would either hurt Aria unbearably or leave Mariposa Street to fester and die. Even if he turned over his hefty personal savings and investments to her renovation fund, it wouldn’t be enough to sustain the street’s revival. And the town council wasn’t in favor of holding on to Mariposa either.
Quit his job and convince Aria to run away with him to a secret island where they could laze naked in the sun, eat sweet, juicy mangoes, and make love under waterfalls.
That was the best option of all.
He typed an address into his computer and brought up Meow and Then’s website. A little message flashed at the top of the screen. Eighteen cats adopted since we opened! Congratulations, Porkchop, on finding your forever home with the B
ennetts.
The message was accompanied by a photo of a smiling family—two parents, a boy of about ten, and a girl of five or six. The little girl was holding Porkchop, who was so large he overflowed her arms. The cat peered into the camera, his expression appearing both smug and happy at the same time.
“Good luck, old friend,” Hunter murmured. “Thanks for running away and ending up outside my window.”
“I’m sorry, did you say something, sir?” His assistant Margaret paused in the doorway with a sheaf of papers.
“No, just thinking out loud.” Hunter swiveled to face her.
“I wanted to remind you the meeting starts in fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks.”
“Here’s the agenda and the revised blueprints for the plaza.” Margaret approached and placed the papers on his desk. “Oh, what an adorable cat.” Her eyes widened as her gaze shifted past him to the computer screen. “Is that an adoption site? Are you getting a cat?”
“Perish the thought.” Hunter set the screen back to the search engine.
“I have a mixed breed named Misty,” Margaret remarked. “She’s the sweetest thing. I don’t know what I’d do without her. I only wish I had room for more animals. If I didn’t live in the city, I’d have a menagerie. You should think about adopting a cat. They’re wonderful pets.”
“So I’ve heard.” He pushed back his cuff to check his watch. “I’d better get up to the conference room.”
He shrugged into his suit jacket before picking up his briefcase filled with Oceanview paperwork. He took the silent, mirrored elevator up to the top floor.
As he stepped into the plush lobby, he pushed all thoughts of Aria and cats out of his mind. Time to focus on work.
Bruce, Juliette, three of the company lawyers, and another VP were already seated around the massive oval table. An aerial photo of Bliss Cove was displayed on the presentation screen. After greeting everyone, Hunter took a seat across from Juliette.
“Welcome back.” She met his gaze levelly, one arched eyebrow lifting. “How is your progress on the Mariposa deal?”