TORN: A Billionaire Romance Series (Contemporary Romance Novel)

by Love,Michelle

  “Being this lighthouse was moved here, I think I’m in for a fight, Elizabeth. It might be a long one and I hope you’ll take over the fight when I can’t anymore.” He stops to catch his breath as he’s begun to wheeze.

  My grandfather has had asthma forever. Here lately, it’s getting worse and his color is paler than usual. It has me worried about him. For the first time in my memory, I think he may be getting too old to fight for the things he loves so much.

  “I’ll be happy to take over the fight, Gramps,” I say as I wait behind him.

  The wheezing stops just as suddenly as it began and he forges ahead again. “Great! I knew I could count on you to keep up my work,”

  “You can always count on me gramps. Always,” I say as we make it to the top step and onto a flat surface.

  He points the flashlight down and it lights up what seems to be a living area. “Down there is a kitchen and dining area, a living area, and one bedroom and bathroom. A really cozy little setup. If this place was refurbished it’d make a very nice, quaint place for a couple. Maybe newlyweds or an older couple. During the day, the view from up here is amazing. I can’t wait to show it to you in the morning as the sun rises.”

  A couple of sleeping bags are laid out on the floor and a lantern is in between them. Gramps lights it up and turns off his flashlight. “You made the trip up by yourself today while I was at school, Gramps?” I ask as I climb into the sleeping bag.

  He nods and eases his large body down to sit on top of his. “I did. There’s a picnic dinner in that basket over there. What do you say to grabbing us a couple of those ham sandwiches and a couple of sodas?”

  “I say, yes sir.” Taking the basket, I get the things he’s asked for and hand him a sandwich and a soda pop. “Grape, right, Gramps?”

  His smile answers me. I know his favorite pop is grape. Gramps and I have slumber parties all the time. I’m my parents only kid and I think he feels sorry for me. He and my grandmother had five kids and all of his other kids, my aunts, and uncles have large families. I think he feels I’ve been shortchanged by my parents.

  A loud siren rings out, making me jump. I shake my head as I sit up in my bed. It’s my alarm. It was all a dream.

  My heart is pounding as I try to come back to reality. Gramps is gone. He died a year ago. I don’t understand why I keep having these very vivid dreams from when I was a little girl.

  Looking out of my second-floor bedroom window, I see the sun rising behind the old lighthouse that still stands on the water’s edge not too far away from my apartment.

  Gramps never could get that place into the history registry. Since it was moved there by the owner, it’s not considered historical.

  It’s historical to me, though. My grandfather and I had many a sleepover in the old building. We’d walk along the shoreline and pick up shells and bring them home when we made our visits. Nearly once a month we’d go. Until I went away to college.

  Not a month after I graduated with my history degree, my grandfather died, joining my grandmother in Heaven. She left us two years before he did. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss them.

  With my dream, I think Gramps is trying to tell me I need to make a visit to the old place. I haven’t been over there in nearly a year. It sounds like a great idea for a sleepy Sunday afternoon to go back in there and have a nice reminder of when days were simple and me and Gramps were like best friends.

  We may not have been able to get that lighthouse protected the way we wanted to but so far the owner has left it like it is. And thankfully there’s never been a no trespassing warning posted on the property.

  Luckily we don’t have very much vandalism in this town to make that a necessity for most property owners. Which is good for people like me who like to hang around old buildings and conjure up old memories.

  Chapter 2

  ZANE

  “I want it boarded up and fenced off today, Troy. I don’t want to wait for Monday. I plan on selling that thing and I don’t want any more damage to it than it already has. Hell, I may have to bulldoze the old thing but until I can get down there to see it for myself and make a decision then I want it secured. Vandals can trash an old thing like that in no time,” I say as I look out the window of my Plaza Hotel Penthouse in New York City at the dawning day.

  “But it’s Sunday, boss. I don’t think I can rally any of my men to do that today,” he whines.

  “I do not pay you to whine at me, Troy. I suppose if you have to fly your ass down there to do it, then that’s what you have to do. It’s not like you don’t make enough money to do that. And you can take my private jet if that’s what you have to do. Hell, take the wife with you. Make a day of it. It’s supposed to be beautiful in that quaint, Rhode Island town.” I tap my finger on the table to indicate for the maid to place my breakfast on it instead of hovering around, waiting for me to get off the phone.

  “It’s Chesapeake City, right?” he asks and I hear his wife squealing in the background. She’s delighted so he should stop trying to get out of what I need him to do for me.

  “It is.” Picking up the cup of hot coffee, I blow over the surface, making the steam swirl. “The lighthouse on the property may be a piece of crap but I don’t know that for certain. Either way, it will be removed from the property. I’m going to build upscale condos on it. With the purchase made, I want the property secured. The old owner left it wide open. I have no idea how bad the condition of the whole property is but that really doesn’t matter. Bulldozers make conditions right pretty damn quickly.”

  “Okay, boss. I’ll get on it right away. I’ll let you know when I’ve got it done. You want me to send you pictures?”

  “No, I’ll be going down there soon. Just lock it up for me,” I say then end the call.

  Grabbing up a bagel and slathering it with cream cheese, I place a layer of smoked salmon across it and take a bite just as a knock comes at my door. The maid hurries to answer it and I hold my hand up then wiggle my finger for her to come to me first.

  She does so and I whisper, “If that’s Miss Saunders, tell her I’m not in.”

  With a nod of understanding, the maid walks away and when she opens the door, I hear the shrill voice of the woman I was worried would be coming here this morning.

  I made a grave mistake last night. The liquor got to me, I’m afraid.

  “Where is Zane?” she asks. “I must see him.”

  “He’s not home at the moment. I will be sure to tell him you stopped by, Miss Saunders.”

  Easing out of the dining room just in case Meagan manages to get her head in enough to look around, I hide just inside the pantry in the kitchen. I feel like an idiot but seeing her is not a thing I can handle right now.

  I still haven’t figured out how to tell her that was a drunken mistake that will never happen again.

  “Let me in to wait for him,” Meagan snaps at my elderly maid. “He and I are a thing now. He’d expect you to let me in to wait for him.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” Lois says, apologetically. “I cannot let you in without him telling me to.”

  A loud huff is made, by Meagan no doubt. “Tell him to call me as soon as he comes in. I’ve tried calling him but it keeps going straight to voicemail for reasons I cannot imagine. He and I had an intimate night and I know he wants to see me today.”

  “Of course he does, ma’am,” my maid says. “I’m sure his phone has run out of batteries. I’ll make sure to let him know you were here and would like to speak to him, Miss Saunders.”

  “See that you do,” Meagan says with a snippy tone to her shrill voice. “I’ll be at the bistro on the corner. Tell him to come see me there.”

  “I will, Miss Saunders.” The sound of the door closing lets me know I can come out of hiding and when I step around the door to the pantry, I’m met with a pair of disappointed, light blue eyes. “Really, Mr. White? That woman?”

  “I know, Lois. My God, do I know. I had too much to drink and she swoo
ped in on me when I least expected it. I have no idea how I’m going to shake her now.” Going back to the dining room, I sit down to finish my breakfast and suddenly don’t feel the least bit hungry.

  “How long has it been?” Lois asks as she takes the feather duster out of her white apron and begins dusting the furniture. The lightweight particles fill the air and land on her black dress.

  “She’s been after me for years. I haven’t kept count,” I say then sip my coffee. “Her position as a judge in this town makes her a necessary acquaintance for me. It makes the eviction process much faster for the real estate my company rents out to be settled in a timely fashion.”

  “Money,” Lois says as she moves a tiffany lamp to clean underneath it. “The root of all evil.”

  Her short, white, tight curls bounce a bit as she jumps up to reach the top of the lamp to dust it. I get up and hold my hand out for the duster. The woman is about four feet tall and I hate to see her trying so hard to do the littlest thing like taking the thin layer of dust off the top portion of the lamp.

  “This is why you have that stepping stool I bought for you with some of that evil money you’re talking about. The same evil money that pays your wages. Nice wages, as a matter of fact.” I hand her the duster back after freeing the expensive lamp of the dust it had accumulated since yesterday’s dusting.

  A nod precedes her words, “I’m only saying that you don’t have to make the judge your bedfellow to get justice, Mr. White. There is more than one judge in this city. Meagan Saunders is not the only one, you know. And she’s an aggressive piece of female. You’ve really put your foot in it this time.”

  “I know that. I do. I think a trip out of town might be the thing to get her to forget about me,” I say as I pick up my phone to check out some exotic destination to hide from her at.

  “I doubt that would work. She’s been waiting for you for quite some time. And now that you’ve given her a taste. Well, I doubt she’ll be easy to get rid of. Like a bad smell, you know?”

  With a groan, I go and fall onto the expensive leather sofa in the living area and throw my arm over my eyes. “What am I going to do about her, Lois?”

  “If you were married already, she could never have gotten to you in the first place. How long are you planning on waiting to find a wife? You’re thirty-five for goodness sakes. Most men have entire families by your age.”

  “Most men don’t have the demanding job I have, either. It’s not easy accumulating the wealth I have, Lois. It takes lots of time, energy, and attention. Woman take that too. I don’t have enough for both.”

  “Shame, then,” she says as her feather duster kicks up some more particles into the air that float past her nose, making her sneeze.

  “Bless you. And it is a shame. But I don’t know what I can do about that.”

  Chapter 3

  ELIZABETH

  With Sunday’s chores out of my way, I walk down the street to visit the old lighthouse. My grandfather has stayed on my mind all day long. The list of things I needed to do today, my one day a week to get things done, grew. Laundry, grocery shopping, wash my car, vacuum, mop, dust. It took nearly all day and the evening snuck up on me.

  The summer air is nice and there’s a nice breeze coming in off the bay as I walk along to make what now will be a quick visit to the place Gramps and I would hang out so often. The sound of a hammer bangs away in the distance and has my natural curiosity looking around to see who’s doing what.

  The sound gets louder the farther I walk then I see a truck parked at the edge of the little dirt road that leads to the lighthouse. A woman is sitting on the passenger side of the truck with the door opened.

  “Hello,” I call out as I come up to her.

  She turns and gives me a smile. “Oh, hello.”

  Looking out at the lighthouse, I see a board is covering the door and it sends a chill through me. A man walks around from behind it and comes our way with a hammer in his hand.

  “What’s going on here?” I ask the woman with confusion.

  “This place has been bought by my husband’s boss. You’re soon to have a brand new set of luxury condominiums.” She steps out of the truck and offers her hand to me. “I’m Sandy.”

  I shake her hand. “I’m Elizabeth. So the lighthouse has been sold? I had no idea it was even up for sale.”

  “Well, I don’t know what to tell you. I guess it was. My husband’s boss, Zane White, just acquired it. He told my husband to get down here and board it up and put up some fencing to keep everyone out.”

  My heart stops and I look at the old place I may never get to see the inside of again. Not ever!

  “This is terrible,” I mumble.

  “Why?” Sandy asks me. “It’s just an old rundown building. The property will be looking fantastic in no time. You’ll see.”

  “This place has a lot of memories for me. My grandfather and I used to have sleepovers on the observation deck inside. We used to watch sunrises there and some sunsets too. We use to look for shells on the shoreline and pick them up and take them home.” I look at the man who’s just finished boarding up the place and find myself near tears.

  “Hi there,” he says with a friendly tone. “Troy Sandoval with The Sandstone Company. How do you feel about getting a brand new condo complex right here in your little town, miss?”

  “I feel like I don’t want to see that there. I feel like I want to keep the lighthouse here instead of that terrible idea,” I stammer. “I’ve tried on many occasions to get this property declared historic but haven’t managed to do that yet. This place is special to me.”

  “Oh,” he says and his green eyes droop a bit at the edges. “I’m sorry to hear that. But the lighthouse might be sold and moved somewhere else. If the owner decides to do that instead of demolishing it.”

  “Demolishing it?” I cry. “He might tear it down instead of keeping it intact and selling it? That’s terrible!”

  The man seems stunned by me and goes around the truck. “Sorry, lady. The fencing will be done tomorrow.” He pulls something out of the back of the truck and I see it’s a sign on a wooden stake. A no trespassing sign.

  I watch him take the hammer and pound it into the ground. “I can’t go look around anymore?”

  He shakes his head. “Nope. Boss’ orders. Sorry, lady.”

  I turn and start to walk away in a daze. The lighthouse is off limits to me. It’s been taken away just that quickly. I have no idea what I can do to stop this.

  I’ve circled numerous petitions as has my grandfather to get the place protected and none have gotten enough signatures thus far. I don’t see how that will help this time either.

  My head feels light as I walk back home. The truck comes by me as they leave the place I used to think of as our own little personal spot. The place we would hang out and talk about our day and our plans for the future.

  The place Gramps and I could just hang out and enjoy each other’s company. And it’s going to be taken away. Gone like the wind.

  It’s not fair!

  It’s not a thing I can allow to happen. Maybe I should chain my body to the building. Maybe I should go back down there with my own hammer and take the plywood off the door and go inside and occupy the lighthouse to stop its destruction.

  But maybe the owner will decide to sell it. Maybe I could get the town to buy it and put it in one of the parks or something. But it still won’t be the same as where it is now. On the bay where you can look out over it and watch the birds flying around.

  We watched a storm come in once. I was afraid and Gramps showed me how the storm was a necessary part of our ecosystem. The lightning that filled the sky and made me jump was explained as he told me it brought nutrients to the ground that helped things to grow thick, tall, and strong.

  Every day that next week, we went back to the lighthouse and he pointed out the new growth the rain and lightning had made to the area surrounding the lighthouse.

  I remember being amaz
ed that something that looked so destructive really wasn’t at all. The wind blew away trash, debris, and old leaves, leaving the area clean. The rain washed away bird poop that had accumulated all over the shoreline where birds would stand and wait for little things to get close to the edge of the water for them to grab and eat.

  The whole thing was mind blowing to me and made me have a new respect and better understanding of nature. All because I was able to sit in the top of that lighthouse and look out the windows that surrounded the observation deck and watch the whole thing happen.

  Now I’ll never be able to do that again. I’ll never be able to take my kids, if I ever have any, up there so they can witness the things I have. I’ll never be able to walk my dog, if I ever get one, up the swirling staircase to get some much-needed exercise. None of it!

  And it’s all because of some dumbass who wants to tear down a piece of history to put up some damn condos which we have way too many of anyway.

  I don’t know if I can just sit by and accept that.

  Chapter 4

  ZANE

  “What do you mean, she refuses to go?” I ask my secretary who has called me to tell me some woman from Chesapeake City, Rhode Island is at our office and is refusing to leave until she can talk to me, personally.

  “I told her you only see people who have made appointments and she said she wanted to talk to you and it would only take a minute or two of your precious time,” Lane tells me.

  “Did she actually use the word, precious?” I ask as I walk down the sidewalk toward the building I own and our offices are located at the top of.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Hmm.” I wonder who this piece of work thinks she is. “Did she give you any idea what she wants.”

  “She’s muttering a lot about a lighthouse as she paces back and forth in front of your office door.”

  “The lighthouse on the property I bought last week, I’m guessing. What the hell does she care about that?” I ask as I turn to the right and head up the sidewalk that will take me in the back entrance so I can take the private elevator up that goes directly into my office. That way I don’t have to come in contact with the woman who has plans on bothering me about such a mundane thing as an old building that was never hers.