by Marie Carnay
“The past is the past, Gage. Sometimes you have to let it go.”
His brother threw up his hands. “Just like you’ve let Bianca go, right? All these years and you still resent me for it.”
Holt opened his mouth, but no words came out. Sometimes his brother made a good point. He closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. “This isn’t about Bianca. It’s about Jess.”
“Excuse me?”
“I care about Jess. I don’t want to give her up when this assignment is over.”
Gage was silent for too long.
“You don’t feel the same?”
“My feelings don’t matter. This fling we’ve been having… you know it can’t go anywhere. It never could.”
“Because of the vote."
Gage nodded. “The vote, the acquisition, the piece she’s hopefully putting together. We won’t look so sympathetic if it turns out the woman writing the biography on us is also our illicit lover.”
Holt blinked. “Is that all she is to you?”
“We need the good press, Holt. Not another fucked-up relationship. Look at how well we handled the last one.”
Holt exhaled. He didn’t want to think about Bianca Sutherland ever again. She had been the wedge that drove them apart and the whole reason they were in this mess. Some memories were meant to stay in the past.
Jess was different. He just needed to get his brother to see it. “We should have a backup plan in place.”
His brother walked toward the office door. “Fine. You do what you think is necessary. I for one hope we don’t need it.”
Holt raised his mug. “I’ll drink to that.”
Chapter 16
GAGE
The morning conversation with Holt kept replaying in his mind. They had gotten in way too deep with Jessica Woodson, way too fast.
When his brother asked how Gage felt about Jess, the words lingered on the tip of his tongue. I’m afraid I love her. But he couldn’t admit that. Not out loud. Certainly not to Holt.
The last time they’d fallen for the same woman, everything exploded. Bianca was a grenade in the middle of the MacIntosh family. Jess might be more than their ex ever was, but she was still human.
It didn’t matter that the first thing he thought of every morning was the blush of her cheeks when they kissed. Or that he wished the soft thrill of her moans filled his ears all day long.
They hired her to do a job, not become their girlfriend. MacIntosh Hotels was the priority. It had to be. He wouldn’t fail his father a second time.
The party planner popped around the corner and flashed a smile. “Everything’s running smoothly, Mr. MacIntosh.”
He feigned interest. “Great. Are we nearing capacity?”
“Yes, sir.” She flipped the pages on the clipboard and ran her finger down the names. “One small thing. We’ve got a Mr. Nikolas Gordon outside. He claims he’s invited, but he’s not on the list.”
Shit. Just when he needed a night off. “You are correct, he’s not invited.”
“Should I ask security to escort him off the premises?”
Gage frowned. As much as he wanted to say yes, it wouldn’t help. He shook his head. “No. Let Nicky in, but tell security to keep an eye on him. One hint of a disturbance, and he’s to be removed. No photos. No paparazzi. Absolutely no media coverage if there’s a scene.”
“Of course, sir.” The planner turned and walked down the hall, walkie-talkie crackling as she relayed the message.
Two weeks had passed since the run-in at Tristfall and Nicky had been radio silent. It didn’t sit well with Gage at all. Now here he was, showing up uninvited to the annual party for the MacIntosh Fund for Cancer Research.
The man must be planning something. If only Gage knew what.
“Guess what a little birdie told me?”
Gage said nothing as Holt approached.
“Oh, come on, don’t you want to know?”
“Gossip’s never been my thing.”
“Even if it’s about Gordon’s plans for the hotel chain?”
Now Holt had his attention. “I’m listening.”
“He’s diversifying. Buying up tons of properties in odd areas. No word on his plans.”
“So what? The company’s been looking to expand. The board mentioned something about launching a lower-tier hotel chain. That’s probably it.”
“Where’s he buying property?” Jess’s voice made Gage turn. Oh, my. Floor-length dress in deep purple silk, hair like spun honey. God, how he wished they’d met some other way. A charity gala would be the perfect place to parade her around on his arm and introduce her to the world.
She stepped closer and Gage leaned in to kiss her cheek. “You’re stunning tonight.”
He caught the suggestion of a smile before she reined it in. “What is this about Gordon buying properties? Where?”
Holt shrugged. “New York, Chicago, even a bunch in Atlanta.”
“Where in Atlanta?”
“New… Old… something French?”
Jess stiffened next to him. “Old Ponce?”
Holt snapped his fingers. “That’s it. How’d you know?”
“It’s my neighborhood. There’s been a rash of historic building purchases lately. Places were demoed that are on the historic register. I haven’t been able to piece it together. Are you sure it’s him?”
Gage interrupted. “Holt’s not sure of anything. It’s just a rumor, right?”
“From a reliable source. I told you I was working on a backup plan.”
Gage wanted to slap him. Did he not see Jess standing right there?
“Backup plan for what?”
Gage smiled. “Never you mind. The party’s about to start. How about you find Wendy and mingle? Holt and I need to make our introductions.”
The wrinkle in Jess’s brow broadcast her disappointment, but she covered well. “Fine. I’ll make myself scarce.” She flashed them both a smile. “Gentlemen.”
As soon as she was out of earshot, Holt turned on him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Funny. I was about to ask the same of you.”
“What are you talking about? I’m the one trying to come up with a solution. You’re what? Checking the vote numbers every two minutes? Treating Jess like the hired help instead of our girlfriend.”
“Keep it down!” Gage grabbed his brother by the arm. “She is no such thing, and you’d be a fool not to remember that. Until the vote is final, she’s nothing more than an NNT employee hired to do an assignment.”
Holt shrugged his brother off. “Maybe to you, but to me she’s a hell of a lot more. Vote or no vote.”
Damn it. They never should have gotten involved with her. Gage ran his hand over his cropped hair. Arguing with Holt would get him nowhere. He turned to leave when Holt stopped him.
“I’ve seen the way you look at her. You’re lying if you say she means nothing.”
Admitting what Jess really meant to him would be their ruin. He braced himself. “I never said that.”
“Then why are you acting this way?”
Visions of their father, barely breathing on white hospital sheets filled his mind. Maybe it was time Holt learned the truth. He exhaled and focused on a cufflink. “When Father was in the hospital, I spoke with him.”
“When?”
“The night he died.” Gage glanced up to meet Holt’s shocked eyes.
“You said he was unconscious. That there was nothing to be done.”
“By the time you got there, he was gone. Telling you would have only hurt you more. I wanted to spare you that.”
“You lied.”
“I omitted the truth.”
Holt reached out and gripped his arm. “Tell me what he said.”
Gage swallowed. “He said selling the hotels to Gordon was a mistake. That his anger and disappointment clouded his judgment.”
God, Gage still remembered his face. Pain etched into his father's features as he struggled to breathe
. The pallor of his cheeks as death robbed the world of a great man.
“What else?”
“He made me promise to get the company back.” Gage waited for the words to sink in. “I promised him, Holt. I promised Father we’d buy back MacIntosh Hotels.”
HOLT
It can’t be true.
“You’re lying.” Holt staggered back, his arm falling to his side as he stared at Gage. All this time he’d thought his brother was out to prove something. Out to make a name for himself and one-up their father.
“Not anymore.”
Holt ran a hand through his hair and tugged at the strands until it hurt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“We weren’t even speaking to each other, Holt. When you showed up at the hospital it was the first time I’d seen you in, what? A year?”
Fuck. What a horrible time it had been in their lives. After Bianca walked out, Holt had fallen apart. Drowning himself in liquor, he'd taken his anger out on Gage at every opportunity. He still tasted the tang of blood on his tongue from the last fight. The punch he landed square on his brother’s jaw sent Gage to the floor. Beating him into a pulp had been the goal. He hated that his father had caught them. Hated that he stopped the bloodbath.
Holt hadn’t been close to satisfied.
“You should have come to me, Gage.” His hand trembled as he made a fist. “I would have understood. All these years I never figured out your obsession with the hotels, but now I get it. If you'd come to me, we could have worked together, bought them sooner. I would have supported you.”
“You wanted to kill me, or don’t you remember?”
Holt sagged against the wall. “I remember.” Hundreds of partygoers were waiting in the ballroom, but all Holt could think about was the legacy a dying man had asked Gage to save.
“Is this why you’re resisting Jess? Is it because of the past? Bianca?”
His brother didn’t answer. The scowl said all Holt needed to know. Gage didn’t want to let their father down, even now.
“She won’t come between us, Gage. You have to see that.”
“All I see is my promise. That’s what I need to focus on. I can’t disappoint him again, Holt.”
“He’s dead, Gage. You can’t disappoint a dead man.”
Gage puffed out his chest as he inhaled. “The party is calling. We need to go.”
“This isn’t over.”
Gage didn’t answer before turning on his heel and walking out of the room.
Chapter 17
JESS
“What’s with that guy?” Wendy always sussed out the bad apples.
“He’s the minority owner of MacIntosh Hotels.”
Her best friend raised an eyebrow.
“You remember. The company Holt and Gage are trying to take back.”
“Ohhhh. Now I get why he looks perpetually constipated.”
Jess coughed and thumped her chest. “Careful! I almost snorted champagne out my nose.”
“At least that would liven things up.”
Wendy had a point. Since she’d been keeping her distance from the brothers, the party had been a real snoozefest.
A few weeks ago, Jess would have been relieved. A party where she didn’t get cornered by Joe or propositioned by Dale? A chance to actually just enjoy her best friend’s company and not worry about anyone talking to her would have been her dream night.
Now all she thought about was being arm-in-arm with a MacIntosh and being part of the party. Those two had addled her brain. “New York has gone to my head.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m bored. At a party. That never happens.”
Wendy’s eyes went wide. “I told you those hunks of yours have changed you.”
“I’m not sure it’s all good.”
“On that, we can agree to disagree.”
Jess stared at Nicky Gordon as he made the rounds. What Holt said still resonated with her. Nicky was involved in development back home. She wished she knew what.
“You’re thinking.”
“I want so badly to walk up to that bastard and confront him. He’s got something to do with the tear-downs in my neighborhood.”
“No way.”
“According to Holt, it’s true.”
“Shit. What are you going to do about it?”
“What can I do? I slapped the guy in the face. I can’t exactly say hello and then ask him about bribes.”
Wendy grabbed her arm. “Maybe you won’t have to do any walking. Incoming at two o’clock.”
Jess glanced up as Nicky Gordon sauntered up to her. Oh, God. Being a wallflower was a million times better than talking to him. She straightened up in her heels. “Mr. Gordon. Wish I could say it was a pleasure.”
He smiled and showed off a piece of spinach stuck in his teeth. “They’ve got you on a long leash tonight, don’t they sweetheart?”
“I’m not your sweetheart.”
“No, but you are theirs, aren’t you?”
Wendy stiffened next to her. “Excuse me, we haven't had the pleasure.” She shoved her hand in Nicky’s direction. “I’m Wendy Franklin. I do lifestyle for News Network Today. And you are?”
Nicky smoothed his checkerboard tie. “Nikolas Gordon.” The way he looked Wendy up and down made Jess’s skin crawl. “Are you another of the MacIntosh conquests?”
“Please. You assume I need a billionaire to take care of me? Look at these shoes.” She waved a blue suede peep toe his direction.
Nicky frowned at her, but Wendy ignored it. She reached out and touched his arm. “What I am always in need of is a good story. You don’t happen to have any, do you?”
All at once he changed, a smile spreading across his face like the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. “There’s the affair between your fellow reporter here and the MacIntosh brothers. I’ve been told it’s pretty juicy.”
“Mmm.” Wendy bit her lip and glanced at Jess. Her eyes sparkled. “I was hoping for something a little closer to home. Got anything an Atlanta audience would be interested in?”
The man regarded her for a moment. Bite, please. Jess had never wanted someone to spill their secrets so badly. “I’m afraid I don’t get down to the South very often.”
“How about your company? It’s worldwide, isn’t it? You have to have some property there, am I right?”
Nicky’s chest swelled. “I own a few.”
“Anything exciting to splash on the lifestyle pages? Something to get my readers all hot and bothered?” Wendy pressed her chest into his arm and Jess fought down a wave of nausea.
She had to hand it to her best friend: the woman knew how to work an angle.
Nicky stared at her cleavage for a beat before answering. “I may have some gossip. Off the record.” He eyed Jess and she pretended to be lost in her phone. Wendy steered the man a few steps away.
From her distance, Jess couldn’t understand the conversation, but the way Nicky practically launched spittle-filled words into her best friend's ear, he had to be giving her plenty of dirt.
At last, they parted ways and Wendy waved as the man sauntered away.
She came over with one finger in her ear. “Ugh. I’m going to be washing this ear out for weeks. I swear he spits more than a cobra.”
“Did he tell you anything?”
Wendy beamed.
“Come on, out with it!”
“Holt was right. The slime ball is buying up property in your neighborhood.”
“What for?”
“That, he wouldn’t say. Just something big and exciting. That I should remember his name. It’ll be all over the news soon enough.”
Jess frowned. His name? “What about MacIntosh Hotels?”
“Didn’t mention it.”
Something about the whole thing stunk, but Jess couldn’t figure out what. One thing for sure; Nicky Gordon was up to something. By the sneer on his face when he poured his poison into Wendy’s ear, it wasn’t good.
Jes
s glanced at the crowd. Gage and Holt were still making the rounds in a sea of organza and silk and chiffon. They would never notice if she disappeared. She drained the rest of her drink and set it on a nearby tray.
“Can you cover for me? I’ve got some digging to do.”
Wendy nodded. “Does that mean I can drink your share of the champagne?”
“Of course.”
“Then go. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.”
Jess leaned in and gave Wendy a quick squeeze. “You’re the best.”
“Tell me something I don’t know!”
A few hours later, Jess’s suspicions were confirmed. Nicky Gordon was buying up property on behalf of holding companies owned by MacIntosh Hotels. But that’s where the trail turned dark and twisty.
After every sale, the properties were sold again in private sales to anonymous buyers. If Nicky was planning on expanding MacIntosh Hotels, the sales made no sense.
Neither did subterfuge.
Holt and Gage needed to know what was going on. They might be able to get to the bottom of it.
Jess busted through the doors to the reception hall and stuttered to a stop. Oh. Researching always took longer than she expected. The party was over. Where there had been hundreds of New York elite a few hours before, there now stood an empty dance floor, barren podium, and not a single guest.
A handful of staff in white jackets and black pants were picking up empty glasses and carting off trays, but no one from the gala remained. She frowned and fished her phone out of her clutch. Where could they be?
“Looking for us?” Holt’s voice startled her and she almost dropped the phone.
“We missed you this evening. Something come up?”
She nodded. “I need to talk to you and Gage. I did some digging on Gordon. You’re right. He’s snatching up property in Atlanta and demolishing the buildings. Something suspect is going on.”
Holt slipped his arm through hers. “We have plenty of time to discuss it tomorrow.” He leaned close and the familiar smell of cedar and musk and a hint of liquor filled her nose. “Right now I want you naked in my bed.”