Page 19 of One More Kiss
“It was my plan from the very beginning,” I confirmed. “We all know Joseph would have continued to sabotage everything to the point that Lily would have been left with nothing by the time he died and she finally got her rightful inheritance. I couldn’t allow that to happen. Now, she has what should have always been hers.”
Winston snapped the file closed, tossing it back on the desk in front of Samuel. Scrubbing his hands over his face, he stared sightlessly at the wall.
“Tell me where she is. I need to find her and explain everything.”
Sam and Winston shared a look for a long moment before Sam shook his head. “No. We promised her we wouldn’t. Regardless of this peace offering, she has too much hurt in her heart to want to be near you.”
A frustrated growl ripped out of me. I took a threatening step toward Sam, but Winston stepped in front of me, blocking me from breaking the prick’s neck. “Calm down. You killing her best friend isn’t going to endear you to her.”
“I need to find her. She could be pregnant,” I choked out. “When I kicked them out of the hotel earlier, Joseph and Nicole confessed to tampering with her birth control.”
“Fuck!” Sam exploded as he turned and knocked over the chair Winston had been sitting in only moments before. “I’ll bury them both alive.”
Continuing to keep himself between me and the other man, Winston turned to face Sam. “This changes everything. He didn’t betray her.”
Sam shook his head, chest heaving with fury. “It doesn’t change anything. Giving her half of the hotel doesn’t fix what he broke. It’s not justice because it was supposed to be hers anyway. He treated her like shit, man.”
“Keeping our relationship a secret was to protect her. I didn’t want Joseph to try to use what we have as an excuse to contest the will,” I explained, my voice raspy and strained. “If Howard hadn’t died, I would have been married to her by now. But he did, and we all know that was probably the best thing he could have done for her. Because now, her legacy is safe. I made sure of it. No one can touch her shares. They can’t use her or the child she might be carrying.”
Snorting, Sam walked away from us. “All you cared about was fucking Joseph over. Keeping him away from the prize. If it was to protect Delilah, you would have told her. The only reason you’re pissed now is because your little fucktoy isn’t around to play with.”
Red descended over my eyes. Shoving Winston out of my way, I smashed my fist into Sam’s face. Blood gushed out of his nose as he stumbled back. “If you ever talk about her like that again, I will rip your goddamn head off your shoulders. She is not a toy. She’s the woman I love.”
“Enough!” Samuel bellowed from behind his desk. “Both of you, calm down. Fighting isn’t the answer to anything. Either rein it in or get out of my office.”
Squeezing the bridge of his bleeding nose, Sam righted the chair and sank down into it, his eyes blazing hate at me.
Turning to Winston, I dropped to my knees in front of him, knowing if I didn’t convince him, I’d never see Lily again. “Please, tell me where she is. I know I fucked up. I don’t deserve her. Fuck, I never did. But I swear to you, I’ll make it up to her. Every day for the rest of my life, I will work to make her happy and try to erase the pain I unintentionally caused.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
delilah
Watching the sunset was supposed to calm the soul. I couldn’t argue that it was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever witnessed, but my soul wasn’t all that impressed by the blend of yellows and reds disappearing below the ocean’s horizon.
Vacations were meant to be relaxing, but mostly, I’d just been bored on mine. And lonely. I wanted to be back in Vegas. With my friends.
With Nash.
Pressing my hand to my chest to ease the pang just thinking of him brought, I tried to push him out of my head. He’d shattered me in ways I didn’t know a person could break. But that didn’t seem to matter to my heart. I loved him.
Winston had called in a favor and arranged for me to disappear for a little while. The couple who owned the house where I was staying rarely used it, so I wasn’t imposing on anyone. This little island getaway was supposed to recharge me while I attempted to figure out what to do next. I had my own money, so it didn’t matter if I found another job. But I was already feeling twitchy with nothing to do.
I wanted to go home.
It wasn’t until the last few weeks away from the Royal Phoenix that I truly realized how much the hotel was just that. Home. I tried to tell myself it wasn’t in hopes of softening the blow of losing everything. But that didn’t seem to matter. I felt the hollow ache inside me at its loss.
Walking away from my job had been easy enough when the pain of betrayal was still fresh. Now, I heard a whisper in my mind, urging me to go back. For the most part, I’d ignored the soft voice, but it became more insistent with each passing day.
Coward.
Cringing at the new taunt both the angel and demon on my shoulder threw at me, I pushed my sunglasses up into my hair and stood. Dusting the sand off my dress, I started the walk back toward the cottage-style house as the last rays of sunlight faded, leaving only the moon to guide my way.
“Lily.”
My head jerked up when I heard Nash’s gravelly voice. A figure stood several yards away, too big to be the little old man who was the island caretaker.
I couldn’t do more than stand there and stare, several tense moments passing before the lone figure moved. “Baby, I missed you so damn much.”