by Ann Collins
“She did, and eventually we became friends. Father, however, became dissatisfied with her. She miscarried two years into their marriage and did not conceive again. She … died when I was twenty-three. It was a cancer in her female organs.”
“I’m sorry.” He brush a tear from her cheek.
She curled herself closer to him. “I’m not sure she ever loved my father. She always seemed wary around men. I remember her telling me, ‘Be very careful when choosing who you smile at or speak to, Julia. You never know what that man is really thinking.’ She felt I was being too friendly with the hotel’s male guests and employees. She was quite adamant about it.”
“Maybe she’d had a bad experience herself and was trying to protect you.” He kissed her shoulder.
“I don’t know. She never said. I miss her at times, but, fortunately for me, I have you.” She leaned up on one elbow and kissed him, feathering her tongue across his lips until they opened to her.
“Oh, Julia, what have I unleashed?”
“You haven’t ‘unleashed’ anything. You’ve shown me why our two Bridal Chambers are popular not only with couples on their honeymoon, but also with couples who’ve been married for many years.”
“Maybe we should try one out ourselves.” He gently pulled her on top of him.
“They are both occupied for three more days,” she said, her stomach clenching against the sensations swirling within her.
“I guess we’ll just have to continue christening our own personal bridal chamber.”
He cradled her face in his hands, bringing it down to his, where he laid siege to her mouth, his kiss hot, deep, and full of promise.
Chapter Fifteen
Late Saturday morning, Julia pushed back from the breakfast table, ready to return to work. She felt guilty for neglecting the hotel, but she did not regret the reason for her neglect. After a night filled with passion, she had awoken late with a lasting sense of contentment, happiness, and love.
The man of her dreams was still in her bed, catching up on the sleep they had lost.
Glancing around the apartment, she decided to move the Reid brothers’ plans from the coffee table. She set them in a corner of the sitting room, where Alex could bring them out whenever he was ready.
Her bedroom door opened, and he padded into the room wearing nothing but his pants from the night before. They were partially undone.
Her appreciative gaze slid over him. When her eyes eventually met his, he was smiling with one dark brow quirked upward.
“Morning,” he said, his voice deeper than usual. “I woke up and you were gone. I missed you.”
She shrugged, feigning indifference, but his words made her feel as if a cozy quilt had been wrapped around her. “I still have a hotel to run.” She waved toward her recently vacated chair. “Breakfast is on the table, if you’re hungry.”
“I’m starved. For you.” He reached for her.
She playfully dodged his grasp, feeling only a slight twinge from her wound. “Mr. MacLean, if you don’t keep your hands to yourself, I’ll never get any work done.”
“That’s the idea.”
She laughed. “I’m not going back to bed with you, no matter how tempted I may be. It’s already late, and I need to find out if there are any telephone messages or telegrams from the banks I contacted. If none of them are willing to loan me the money, you and I won’t have a bed.”
He sighed. “Well, if you put it that way …”
“I do.”
“All right, but you could at least take some of the sting away by giving me a morning kiss.” He tapped his finger against his bottom lip.
She chewed hers, trying to decide whether to accommodate him. “I don’t think I dare. You’ll take advantage of me.”
“Damn. How did you get to know me so well so quickly?” He grabbed for her again, this time succeeding.
Laughing, she tried to wriggle out of his hold, but then his mouth came down on hers, and Julia forgot that she had wanted to get away.
Sixty seconds later, breathless and nearly boneless, she leaned back in his arms. “You don’t play fair.”
“Not always, no.”
“But I do have to go to work.”
“Not without me. In case you’ve forgotten, there’s a sniper on the loose. I failed you yesterday. I won’t let it happen again.”
“An army couldn’t have protected me yesterday. Whoever shot at me tricked us both and hid himself well enough to elude your observation. You mustn’t blame yourself, Alex.”
He looked away. “Let me get dressed and eat something, then we’ll go.”
She hesitated, wishing she knew how to free him of his penchant for feeling guilty about events beyond his control. No bright ideas came to mind, though. “All right, but don’t take too long.”
As he disappeared into his room, someone knocked at the apartment’s door.
She walked over and called out, “Who is it?”
“Your brother. Tyler Wolff.”
Julia curled her hands into fists, struggling between her normally hospitable nature, her dislike for the man who had set her loan problem in motion, and her desire to have her questions about him answered. Ultimately, she cracked the door open a few inches. “What do you want?”
“To see how my sister is faring after her ordeal yesterday,” he said with perfect seriousness.
“I’m fine, as you can see. If that’s all, good day.” She started to close the door.
“No, it’s not all. Julia, I want to talk to you, and not through a sliver of doorway.”
Alex, dressed in his work clothes, entered the sitting room. “Who is it?” he asked, frowning, probably unhappy she had opened the door at all.
“Wolff. He wants to come in and talk.”
“Maybe you should let him. I’d like to hear what he has to say.”
She closed the door and huffed out her breath. “But he willfully tried to take my home from me.”
“He’s still your brother.”
She lifted her chin. “Half-brother.”
“Right. A half-brother you must have questions about. Don’t you want to know why he was kept a secret from your father? I know I’m curious.”
She was curious, about that and other matters. “Fine.” She swung the door open. “Come in, Mr. Wolff.”
“Thank you.” He inclined his head to her and stepped inside. “Do you think you could call me Tyler? We are brother and sister.”
She didn’t answer, taking a moment to study his perfectly tailored, iron gray cutaway suit. She didn’t want to give in to him, but no matter what Wolff had tried to do to her, there was no disputing they were family.
“As you wish, … Tyler. Even though you don’t deserve to be heard, I admit there are a few things I’d like to know.” And once she had her answers, she would send him back where he came from.
“I will answer them to the best of my ability.”
“I hope you’ll answer them truthfully,” she dared to say.
His eyes—her father’s eyes—narrowed, and his lips thinned. “You’ll get the truth.”
“Good.” She waved him toward the sofas and chair. “Please sit down.”
He unbuttoned his jacket and took the chair.
Mindful of her wound, Julia eased herself onto the sofa. Alex joined her, a united front against the man who had acted more like a predator than a brother.
“What is it you want to know?” Tyler asked.
She took a moment to arrange her skirts. “To start with, when did you find out Lloyd Fairbanks was your father?”
“Eight months ago, when my mother was on her deathbed.”
She laced her fingers together and twisted her hands in her lap. “My condolences.”
“Thank you.” He peered toward the window and the sunny day outside. His throat flexed, but then he turned back to her. “Next question.”
She nodded. “Why is owning the Hotel Grand Victoria so important to you?”
“That answer is more complicated. According to my mother, when she met Lloyd Fairbanks, he was still a single man, and there was a mutual attraction. More importantly, he wanted female companionship and she needed money. Her husband, an able-bodied seaman, was rarely home and never left her with enough to live on. She arranged with Mr. Fairbanks to be his paid mistress whenever her husband was away.”
Mistress? Julia had never imagined her father, even unmarried, would have a mistress, especially a married one. She did not approve of Tyler’s mother committing adultery or her father being part of it. And yet, who was she to judge? If Alex hadn’t married her, she could have ended up penniless and homeless. What might she have had to do to survive? And what more would she have done if a child were depending on her?
“Shall I go on?” Tyler asked.
Alex stretched his arm behind her head, along the back of the sofa. His very nearness soothed her, calming her nerves and giving her the courage to learn more about her father and his past.
“Yes. I want to hear it all.”
Tyler crossed one leg over the other. “The arrangement between Mr. Fairbanks and my mother ended when he met the woman who became his wife—your mother. My mother’s husband returned soon after, and two months later she realized she was pregnant. She had always wanted children and was thrilled, believing her husband was the father. After my birth, however, she saw the truth, which frightened her. On many occasions, Mr. Fairbanks had mentioned how badly he wanted a son. My mother believed if he knew I existed, he would try to take me from her. So she never said anything.”
“What about her husband?” Julia asked, caught up in the story despite her uncharitable feelings toward Tyler. “Did he realize it, too?”
“Not at first. He was at sea most of the time, including during my birth. When I was about three, he figured it out, but Mama told him nothing about Mr. Fairbanks. She was afraid if she did that he might tell him, or even attempt to sell me to him. When I was five, the three of us moved to Boston, where the man I’d always thought was my father could get more work and be gone more often. Eventually, he abandoned us.”
She felt a wave of sympathy rise in her heart. Alex’s hand came down to rest on her shoulder, and she touched her fingers to his.
“How did you and your mother survive?” she asked.
“She took on two jobs so I could stay in school. When I was twelve, I started working in a ship chandlery. My real education began there. It has served me well.”
“Apparently so,” she said, impressed in spite of herself. He had worked his way up from nothing, and now he had enough money to buy the Hotel Grand Victoria. Yes, very impressive.
Alex stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles. “I would guess you have that innate talent for business that some call ‘the Midas touch.’”
Tyler shrugged. “I’ve been very fortunate.”
Julia studied him. He could be very humble when he wished, but she couldn’t forget the arrogance he had exhibited during his recent visit to her office. “When you learned about … your real father, did you want to meet him?”
“Yes, but there were burial arrangements to make and my mother’s affairs to put in order and my own business affairs to take care of because I’d neglected them to be with her when she was ill. When I was finally ready to meet Mr. Fairbanks, I discovered he was not in Philadelphia, as my mother had believed, that he had come here and built a remarkable resort hotel on the shores of Coronado Island. I got excited. I’d never had anything in common with my mother’s husband, so when I realized I took after my real father, I was elated. And since she’d been so afraid he would take me away from her, I imagined he would open his arms to me once I introduced myself.” He looked away and sighed deeply. “Obviously, I was too late.”
She dropped her hand back to her lap and struggled with her conflicting feelings. Through no fault of his own, Tyler had been born into a difficult situation that, in his eyes, would never be resolved. Even so, she couldn’t help but resent him. He was everything her father would have wanted in a son.
“I don’t know that he would have physically embraced you,” she said. “Lloyd Fairbanks wasn’t a warm man. But he would have welcomed you. Like your mother told you, he always wanted a son.”
“When did you learn of his death?” Alex asked.
“The same week I’d planned to travel west. It was a bigger blow than I’d expected. Until that moment, I hadn’t known how much I wanted to be part of his life. Right then and there I decided I had to have the Hotel Grand Victoria. It was his creation, a part of him, just as I was.”
Julia smoothed a wrinkle in her skirt. “I can understand why you were so persistent in your attempts to buy the hotel, but those reasons don’t excuse your actions. You had no right to involve the bank or use my employees to gather information.”
She hadn’t yet decided what to do about her two traitors. Perhaps nothing. What would be the point? After next Thursday, if the Hotel Grand Victoria belonged to First California Bank, she would have no say in the matter anyway.
“I used what was at my disposal,” he said, making no apology.
Alex pulled his legs in, removed his hand from her shoulder, and leaned forward. “Are you still bent on owning the hotel?”
She didn’t move, barely even breathed, as she waited for Tyler’s answer.
“Since yesterday, I’ve thought a lot about what it is I really want. I don’t have the father I’d hoped for, but I do have a sister.” His gaze swung between her and Alex. “And a brother-in-law. Someday, I may even have nieces and nephews. In the long run, I think having family will be more important than having a hotel.”
Julia glanced at Alex. As of this morning, she knew exactly how Tyler felt. She could imagine living her girlhood dreams of having children and a husband who loved her, a man who she loved in return. Her love for the hotel paled in comparison.
Tyler scooted to the edge of the chair. “Julia, I came today, not only to see how you were, but to put several business propositions before you.”
“Let me guess,” she said, stifling the urge to roll her eyes. “You’re offering to buy the hotel.”
“That would be one option, yes. After the sale, you’d be a very wealthy woman who could go anywhere and do anything. Neither you nor your husband would ever have to work again.”
“I prefer to stay here,” she answered, “and I enjoy managing the Hotel Grand Victoria.”
“Then that brings us to option number two, in which we form a partnership. I will pay off the balance of your loan, and we can go into business together.”
Once again, he was trying to get his hands on her home, but without him, she might very well lose it. “I don’t particularly like that option either.”
He placed his forearms on his thighs and clasped his hands. “It’s a good option. You’d be free to continue in your role as manager for as long as you wished. In the months I’ve been watching you, despite your sex and society’s general opinion of what a woman can and cannot do, I have learned you are an efficient and effective manager. I believe you take after our father as well.”
Our father. That would take some getting used to. She appreciated Tyler’s compliment, though, and felt warmed by his belief in her. He recognized her abilities, seeing what her father never could.
Alex covered her hand with his. “Julia, with the second option, you’d be losing nothing.”
“But I’d be gaining a partner I barely know.” Tyler was a man accustomed to being in control, and he’d probably question her decisions or interfere with her way of doing things. She wasn’t ready to give in to him yet. “Is there a third option?”
“There is.” Tyler straightened. “I have persuaded the board of directors at First California to give you an additional month to pay them. You can, therefore, continue your attempts to get a new loan from another institution.”
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
“That was generous of you,”
Alex said, his hand squeezing hers.
“Yes,” she finally managed, wondering what kind of persuasion he had used on the bank’s directors. She decided she would rather not know. “Thank you, Tyler. I’ll take the third option.”
He chuckled. “I thought you might. If, however, you change your mind at any time, let me know. The other offers will stand.”
“I’ll keep them in mind and, if necessary, contact you in Boston. You’ve been away from your business interests so long I’m sure they must be in need of your personal attention.”
He laughed, stood up, and fastened his jacket. “My dear Julia, you’re not going to get rid of me that easy. You have an older brother now, and older brothers are supposed to look out for their younger siblings, especially their sisters.” His expression turned serious. “I'm not going anywhere until whoever shot you is captured.”
She swallowed a moan.
Alex got up and held his hand out to Tyler. “Welcome aboard, Wolff.” They shook hands. “Any help you can give would be appreciated.”
“I’ll move into the Hotel Grand Victoria this afternoon,” he said.
Julia sank deeper into the sofa. Her new-found brother was here to stay.
* * *
“Alex, I really ought to do my evening rounds,” she said, getting up from the table and placing her dinner dishes on the waiter’s tray for collection. “As you well know, I need to check on things. I only left my office once this afternoon.”
He added his dishes to the tray. “No, you are not going anywhere.” He wasn’t about to let her put herself in danger again. “You’re safe here.”
“But whoever is doing this won’t know that I’m going now. I’m not responding to any notes.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re a target.” And Julia was his wife. Alex wanted her around for a long time. Last night’s blissful hours of lovemaking were only the beginning. “Someone is still watching, and we have to take every precaution.”
A knock on the door made them exchange wary looks. Their visitor couldn’t be the waiter. They hadn’t pressed the annunciator calling for him yet. And Alex knew Tyler had returned to San Diego for a dinner engagement.