Heartbreaker

by Claire, Grahame

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  Heartbreaker

  Grahame Claire

  Heartbreaker (Paths To Love, Book Three) Grahame Claire

  Copyright © 2019 Grahame Claire

  All rights reserved. No part of this book can be reproduced in any form or by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Editing and Proofreading:

  Angela Houle

  Marion Archer, Marion Making Manuscripts

  Karen Lawson and Janet Hitchcock, The Proof is in the Reading

  Tandy Boese, Tandy Proofreads

  Cover Design:

  Hang Le, By Hang Le

  Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9974728-2-0

  For those who break the mold.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Epilogue

  Enjoy this book?

  Bonus Scene

  Book Stuff

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Grahame Claire

  About the Author

  Prologue

  Easton

  We forgot to close the curtains.

  Sunlight speared my closed eyelids, which refused to open.

  I rolled to my side, the sheet tangled around my waist, my feet and chest uncovered.

  Visions of last night flashed behind my eyes.

  A curtain of chestnut hair around my face.

  Long legs pinning me to the bed.

  Delicate, yet strong, hands searing my chest.

  Dark eyes full of the fire I loved, all directed at me.

  That bow-shaped mouth finally whispering things I’d wanted to hear for longer than I could remember.

  Her slender body, a perfect fit against mine.

  I touched the back of my neck. The flesh was tender from where she’d clawed me with her fingernails. I hoped it never healed.

  I pressed my shoulders into the mattress and yawned before I stretched out my arm. Wherever she was, it was too far away. And even though we’d been up most of the night, I hadn’t had enough. Would never have enough.

  My hand found a cool sheet instead of a warm body. Blindly, I patted around. The feather pillow was still dented, but empty. Her intoxicating scent lingered.

  I opened my eyes. Wrinkled bedding in disarray was the only thing beside me. I sat up and stilled, the sheet slipping to my hips. The air conditioner clicked on, the room otherwise quiet.

  I cast the covers away and stood, the carpet plush beneath my feet. My steps were measured as I approached the partially closed bathroom door. I hesitated, listening for a moment before I pushed it open.

  Empty.

  I looked at the foyer floor. Pants in a heap by the chair. Dress shirt around the leg of the console table. Blue tie a stark contrast against the edge of the cream rug. My clothes were scattered everywhere.

  Hers were gone.

  Chapter One

  Mulaney

  “I sold Carter Energy.”

  What the hell?

  Harris Carter leaned forward, looking at his folded hands on the boardroom table. He’d owned Carter Energy since it had been passed down from his father. The company was his pride and joy, his legacy. A shocked silence followed his announcement, while he sat with his head bowed.

  Last time we’d discussed our position, a merger was a possibility, not a sale. We’d agreed not to rush into anything. Mr. Carter had appointed me interim CEO when his wife had become ill, but apparently that was in name only.

  Easton Carter shoved back from his seat and stood with such force the chair rolled into the wall behind him. “Sold? What happened to a merger? You said we wouldn’t make a decision until after the first of the year.” He stared at his father, who made no reply.

  The Carters were a close-knit family. When it came to the business, we’d never made rash moves, certainly not one of this scale. Finding out Mr. Carter had taken this upon himself stunned us all. That wasn’t how Carter Energy operated.

  “Yeah, Dad? Why the rush?” Drew moved back from the table as well, folding his arms across his chest and propping an ankle on his knee.

  The Carter men exuded power. They were fifth and sixth generation Texans, running the independent energy business their forefathers had built from nothing. In a room with all three of them, it was hard not to feel intimidated. Long and lean, each sporting a tan from time spent outdoors, they had the rugged handsome features of seasoned cowboys, but the sophistication of cosmopolitan men. They were impossible to ignore. A man in a suit could be lethal to a woman. These men definitely were. One of them in particular.

  Mr. Carter glanced at his youngest son before meeting my eyes. “It’s done. We start the process of moving the headquarters to New York on Monday.”

  Easton pounded his fist on the table. “Monday? And why the hell would we move an energy company to New York when most of our assets are in Texas?”

  The man who was like a second father to me looked at his oldest son. “Those were the terms of the deal.”

  “I wouldn’t know. I never saw them,” Easton spat out. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him so worked up, not that I blamed him. The whole thing was completely out of character for his father. He usually involved the three of us in every decision, creating a culture of community. Going rogue was not part of that.

  “Carter Energy will operate as a separate division for the next twelve months. The three of you will run that sector.” Mr. Carter spoke robotically, as if referring to something far away from this new reality. One where Carter Energy wouldn’t exist anymore.

  Drew cleared his throat and looked at his father in surprise. “What did Mom say about this?”

  “Your mother supports whatever we have to do. She and I have made the decision to sell to SPE,” Mr. Carter said. His eye
s always brightened when he spoke of Loretta. For all the strength the Carter men had, she was the true backbone of the family. As disappointing as it was, this truly was their choice. Carter Energy was an LLC with Mr. and Mrs. Carter as co-owners. They answered to no one.

  “Oh, so Mom knew?” Easton asked, his cheeks turning red in anger. “We’ve always run this company as a family.” He pointed around the table. “Not one of us would ever take a decision of this enormity upon ourselves.”

  Our gazes clashed, the sky blue of his eyes a firestorm that shook me. “He’s right. I thought we were looking at all the options. Or did something change?” I cleared my throat and looked away, unable to stand the intensity that crackled between Easton and me. After fifteen years working together, I shouldn’t react to his potency at all. Yet I did.

  “We were out of options,” Mr. Carter said firmly.

  “The hell we were.” Easton banged his fist against the table again. “What about our family legacy? What about the people who make up this company?”

  “I did my best to salvage what I could.” Mr. Carter was one of the most decent men I knew. I wholeheartedly believed he spoke the truth.

  “We should have done it. We.”

  “I’m sure Dad wouldn’t have made this decision without good reason,” Drew said before turning his attention to me. “And Mulaney had to be in on it since she’s interim CEO. They know what’s best for Carter Energy, right?”

  My toes curled in my shoes as I resisted the urge to wring his neck. Every single one of us should have known something. Maybe I was interim CEO, but Drew was Chief Operating Officer. Although he primarily focused on computers, mainly information technology, we all worked together and were aware of the company’s state of affairs. Normally. “I’m in the dark too.”

  “Are you?” Easton’s glare was cutting with accusation. “Because you’ve been awfully quiet for a bomb of this magnitude.” He threw his hands up as he moved back to his chair.

  I glared as I curled my hands around the edge of the smooth wood table. “I just said I didn’t know.”

  The heat in his stare returned, but it was full of anger, matching my own. A wordless argument ensued between us. His jaw ticked. One corner of my mouth twitched. He shoved his fist into his pocket.

  He didn’t believe me. It was written all over his face, and that hurt. Given the nature of our relationship over the last few months, his accusation shouldn’t have been a big surprise, yet it was.

  “She didn’t know, son,” Mr. Carter said, defending me, his expression kind when he spoke. “I’m not proud we had to do this, but there was no other choice. Please understand, I would never have sold if our options hadn’t run dry. It’s good for us all; you’ll see.”

  Easton’s brow furrowed as he looked back and forth between his father and me. “We just lost our family’s namesake. How are all of you sitting there like it’s nothing?” He got up from his chair, sending it rolling again as he stormed from the room, leaving a heavy silence in his wake.

  “There wasn’t any other way,” Mr. Carter said, a hint of pleading in his voice for us to understand.

  “Don’t worry, Dad. He’ll cool off.” Drew stood. “I’m sure you did what’s best. I’ll go see if I can get him back in here.”

  He was barely out the door when Mr. Carter spoke. “You’re quiet.” The man I looked up to deflated, like he was out of energy. The weight of the decision seemed to push him lower in his seat. There had to be more to the sale than he was letting on.

  “Not much to say, really. You did what you had to do. No reason to raise hell over something I can’t change, though I wish you would’ve talked to me.” I slipped off my heels under the table and relaxed into my chair as my irritation simmered.

  “Easton’s so angry.”

  “You would be too.” They both had a fiery temper, especially when things didn’t go their way.

  He snorted as I got up and moved to the side bar, grabbing a decanter of whiskey and two glasses. I poured each of us a healthy amount and slid a drink across the polished mahogany surface.

  Mr. Carter gratefully accepted, draining his glass in one swallow.

  “What happens now?” I barely tasted the whiskey as disappointment sank in.

  “The transition begins.”

  Starlight Petroleum Energy was a global business similar in size to Carter Energy. We’d been in competition for some of the same ground over the years, winning most while losing some to them. But selling Carter Energy? There were many families whose sole income was with us. “How many people?” Even though Easton, Drew, and I would move to New York for the twelve months, there was no way all our employees could too.

  He closed his eyes, his voice low when he spoke. His staff was an extension of his family, so I knew this was hard for him. “Fifty positions will be available in New York for our people to apply for. All other roles will be assumed by SPE staff.” Fifty. Shit.

  I tossed the remaining whiskey down my throat and poured us both another round. “It’s Christmas.” Thank God the office was closed for an extended holiday so we could put off delivering the news. From what I’d seen, this could have waited until after the new year, at least. Not for the first time today, I felt like I was missing something.

  “I know.” He loosened his tie as if it were choking him.

  There it was again . . . the remorse. This sale was sudden for Mr. Carter too. But why? I wanted to throw something. We’d failed on an unimaginable scale, and I had no idea why. Easton and I should have noticed if the financial health of Carter Energy was declining. “I don’t get it. Tell me what I’m missing, because there’s no way we ran this company into the ground—”

  “This was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” he said, as if tired of all the questions.

  I balked at his insistence. An opportunity? “Did you want out?”

  He met my gaze, and all I saw was remorse mixed with resolve. “I need you to keep an eye on things up there. We won’t have control like we have here even though we’re running separately.”

  It didn’t escape my notice his answer skirted around my question. I put a hand to my forehead.

  “So what? They make all the decisions and we have to live by them? Why even keep a separate division?” I put my shoes on and began to pace in front of the floor-to-ceiling office windows.

  It was almost dark now, the traffic along I-10 already at a crawl. The holiday decorations on the streetlight poles flicked on, yet another reminder of the season and the terrible timing of this news. Out there it was business as usual, while here in this boardroom, I acknowledged Easton was right. We’d lost what we’d worked so hard for.

  “I tried to broker the deal to keep the office here so we could stay together, but it wasn’t possible.” He pushed his glass away. “I’ll come to the city when I can, but, but with Loretta being—”

  “Loretta comes first.” This wasn’t news, and he didn’t need to justify that choice. His wife meant everything to him. How much of the decision to sell had been affected by her illness?

  I stopped moving and placed a hand on the cool glass of the window. When Mr. Carter had first mentioned the possibility of merging with another company a few months back, it had astounded me. Profit margins had decreased in the prior twenty-four months, but nothing that couldn’t be overcome with some of the new potential drilling sites I’d been working to secure. “How did this happen under my watch?”

  “I won’t have you blame yourself for this. There’s not a person in this industry who can sniff out oil like you. The sale was a necessity. This is on me. Please trust me on this.”

  And I did. Because whether I did right or wrong, he always spoke to me the same way. Straight up truth.

  His fist balled on the table, though he stopped short of pounding the polished wood as Easton had. Red crept up from beneath his collar. For a second, he closed his eyes as if trying to get control of his escalating temper. When they opened, the frosty gray pools were
less turbulent.

  But how?

  I still believed in this company. I still believed Mr. Carter, Easton, and I were the best at what we did. Drew, I could live without. I knew oil. I knew how to make lots of money. I didn’t know how to fail. Not in business.

  Just in my personal life.

  If I wanted, I could walk out of this building and never look back. I didn’t have to work. I could go back to Burdett, live on the ranch, and raise horses and cattle with my family. Mama and Daddy, even Ruby and Granddaddy, wanted my brother Stone and me to come back so we could all be together.

  But I’d been avoiding Burdett like the plague for seven months. Not because I didn’t love my family, but because they could read me like an open book, and I’d done something I didn’t want them to know. Ever. Staying away would make that possible.

  “I hate that city,” I said, disgusted. It wasn’t personal. There were some great people in New York, but the main problem was . . . it wasn’t Texas.

  “That’s why I’m sorry it’s come to this,” he said, deep-set lines creasing around his eyes.

  “Don’t be. What’s done is done.” He lifted a brow. New York was a huge city, and it would be easier to avoid my most challenging weakness. “I’ll be in New York on Monday.”