The Billionaire's Bidding (17 page)

“Oh, honey,” she crooned, drawing Katie into an embrace.

Alex and Nathaniel immediately put their heads together and began talking in low tones.

Katie hiccoughed out a sob. “I've made such a mess.”

“It's not your fault.” Emma shook her head, then shot Alex and Nathaniel a look to ensure they kept any stray opinions to themselves. “The only thing you're guilty of doing is trusting too much. We were coerced and lied to by criminals.”

Katie swallowed. “I should have guessed—”

“Guessed what?” asked Emma, her gaze still boring in on Alex's profile. “That a man could make love to you one minute then stab you in the back the next?” Emma hadn't guessed that, either. But she'd know better next time.

Alex spared her a fleeting glance, his expression neutral. She wasn't even sure her words had registered. Not that her condemnation would mean a thing to him anyway.

“The important thing is to fix it,” she said, switching her attention to Katie, pulling back and striving for a look of reassurance.

Katie gave a shaky nod, her gaze darting nervously to Nathaniel, and Emma worried what the man might have said before they arrived.

“We have to both sign a revocation,” said Katie. “The lawyers…”

Alex stepped forward. “The lawyers have it drafted, and they're waiting across the hall.”

Emma refused to look at him. “And then what?” she asked Nathaniel.

Alex gave a frustrated sigh.

“Then we make certified copies and have a sheriff waiting to serve it to both Murdoch and Cranston first thing in the morning.”

“And that's it?” asked Emma.

Nathaniel shrugged. “That's it.”

She turned to Katie. “See? It's going to be fine.”

Katie shook her head, mutely blinking back tears, and Emma felt like a heel.

“Hey, I know you'll miss him.”

Katie's face crumpled, and Emma pulled her back into her arms. Then she motioned for Alex and Nathaniel to leave. The papers were ready. All it took was their signatures before the start of business tomorrow. She could afford to comfort Katie for a few minutes.

The door snapped shut behind the men.

“I'm such a fool,” said Katie.

“You're not a fool.”

Emma had made a much bigger mistake. And, while they could recover from Katie's, Emma's was permanent. Alex would soon own half of their business, and there wasn't a single thing they could do about it.

Katie pulled back, a funny expression coming over her face. “If it wasn't for Nathaniel, we'd have lost millions.”

“If it wasn't for me, we'd have made millions.”

Katie shook her head. “That was just business.”

“You're
defending
Alex?”

“He could have had our loan called and cut us out completely.”

“Or he could have been
honest.
”

“He was honest. He gave us the choice between a hostile takeover or a merger. We took the merger.”

A merger? That's all it was to Katie?

Then Emma forced herself to regroup.

Yes, that's all it was to Katie.

Katie didn't know about Kayven Island. She didn't know that Alex had tried to seal the deal by pretending to fall for her. She didn't know that he'd been willing to coerce some friendly sex out of his bride of convenience before they got down to the business of flipping her resort for half a billion bucks.

Alex Garrison in love with Emma McKinley.

If anyone had told her two months ago she'd have dared to even think that phrase, she'd have laughed them out of the room. But she'd not only thought it. For a moment in time, she'd believed it. On that faraway beach, she'd believed it with all her heart. And he heart was what she'd given to Alex. And her heart is what he'd crushed with his bare hands.

He'd wanted her hotel, and she'd been stupid enough to hand him that and more on a silver platter.

Katie looked aghast. “How will I ever trust my own judgment again?”

It was Emma's judgment that needed remedial attention.

“I asked…” Katie tapped her fingertips against her mouth. “I asked Alex if he'd host our wedding someday.” Then she have a helpless laugh. “What a fool I was.”

“Katie, please—”

The office door opened. “Emma,” said Alex. “We have to do this.”

Emma looked at Katie. “You ready?”

She gave a shaky nod. “Yeah.”

 

By 8:30 a.m., ten cups of coffee to the good, Alex was ready to jump out of his skin waiting for the sheriff to show.

“Screw it,” he growled to Ryan who was sitting across the boardroom table, tapping a pen against the polished, inlay pattern.

Ryan's brow jerked into a furrow. “Screw what?”

Alex slid the manila envelope into his palm. “I'm delivering them myself.”

Ryan stood up, pushing the chair back behind him. “Whoa there, Alex. I don't think that's such a good idea.”

“Why not?” He couldn't stand sitting there another second. And at least he'd know it was done right.

“Because we don't want to have to waste our lawyer's time clearing you of assault charges.”

“David won't even be there.”

“Murdoch will.”

“Murdoch's too old to defend himself.”

“My point, exactly.”

Alex snorted as he stood. “Right. Like I'm going to assault an old man.” But he did want to see Murdoch's face when they presented the documents that would undo what he'd done.

The negotiations had moved far enough, with David legally entitled to conduct them, that backing out now could get dicey. Their lawyers had advised the most expedient way out was for Alex's company to present an outrageous counteroffer so that Murdoch would be forced to withdraw. Quick and neat, and Alex was at the helm. First things first though, they had to deal with that proxy.

“It's not like there's anything to negotiate with him,” said Ryan. “You don't even have to have a conversation.”

“I just want to see his face.” Alex was still doing a slow burn. “I told him
I
was the contact. He ignored me. That makes it personal.”

“You sure it's not Emma that makes it personal?”

Alex slid a glance Ryan's way.

“How was the honeymoon?” Ryan asked mildly.

“Short,” said Alex.

“You didn't call in yesterday. Not once. Not to anyone.”

Alex retrieved his briefcase and placed the envelope inside. “No cell service.”

“No phones in the hotel.”

“We were busy.”

Ryan grinned. “It went well?”

Alex snapped the case shut. “I guess that's irrelevant now that she knows about Kayven.”

Ryan sobered. “Yeah. I guess it is.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, trying very hard not to care.

Sure, Emma was upset. But she'd get over it. And he had what he wanted. He had what they'd all wanted: a ring on her finger and a fifty-percent share in McKinley Inns.

And…He scooped the briefcase from the table and headed for the door. He was about to rescue the jewel in the McKinley crown and visit revenge on an annoying rival.

 

“You okay?” Emma whispered, walking up behind Katie and stroking the back of her soft blond hair.

Her sister was sitting on the bench seat in the bay window of the penthouse dining room, staring at the wispy clouds on the eastern horizon. The coffeemaker dripped and hissed on the countertop.

Katie nodded. “What about you?” They'd sat up most of the night talking, so Katie knew all about Alex and the honeymoon.

Emma took the other end of the bench seat, curling her legs under her robe. “My stomach aches, but I think it's embarrassment more than anything else.”

At least that's what she was telling herself.

She closed her eyes and sighed. Alex and Ryan and Nathaniel must all be having a good laugh at her expense. She'd fallen for his act hook, line and sinker.

“They must have been afraid I'd back out,” she whispered, leaning one elbow on the white windowsill, supported the weight of her achy, sleep-deprived head.

Thinking about it, she realized her decreasing objections to the marriage correlated to when Alex started acting as though he liked her. He'd obviously figured out really quick that she was a desperate, lonely, plain-Jane woman, ripe to fall for pretty much anybody.

And he'd used that as a way to control her. Who knew if he even wanted sex with her. Maybe he just thought she wanted sex with him. And he was willing to play the gigolo, if it meant sealing the deal.

The pretty one. He'd actually hinted she was prettier than Katie. What's more, she'd actually started to believe him.

Alex had earned his millions through acting alone.

Katie squeezed her shoulder. “It's going to be okay.” But her voice was too hollow to be convincing.

“I can't divorce him,” said Emma. “I'd lose a fortune.”

“Then we'll go away. We'll go on a very long vacation.”

Emma nodded. She'd promised to live with Alex and hang on his arm like some kind of accessory. But that part wasn't in writing. So he'd just have to learn to live with the disappointment.

She only hoped she could learn to live with it. Despite her resistance, she'd started to like the life he'd made up. She'd even started looking forward to that goofy McKinley-Garrison office party. And redecorating his main floor. It would have been fun to redecorate his main floor. Even if it was only temporary.

A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye.

Who was she kidding?

She'd stopped thinking about it as temporary somewhere on the hot beach at Kayven Island, along about the time Alex pretended he loved her, and she realized she loved him right back.

She inhaled a shuddering sob.

Katie wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Oh, Emma. It's going to be okay.”

But it wasn't going to be okay. It might never be okay again.

A
lex was going to make things right. And he was going to make Clive Murdoch regret the day he even considered crossing Alex Garrison.

He slapped the envelope down on Murdoch's desk.

“What's this?” the old man asked, glancing from the envelope to Alex.

“Our counteroffer.”

Murdoch's eyes narrowed.

Alex plopped down in one of the guest chairs. “To bring you up to speed. David Cranston's authority to negotiate for McKinley's has been revoked.”

Murdoch's face went from pasty to ruddy. “That's—”

“He's lucky he's not in jail. You're lucky—”

“He has a duly executed power of attorney.”

“
Had.
I'm the man you have to deal with now.”

Murdoch snatched up the envelope. “We'd already agreed on a price.”

Alex nodded. “That you had. And I'm willing to stick to that price, provided you agree to the in-kind contribution McKinley's requesting.”

Murdoch peeled away the envelope and stared at the first page of the contract. Then he stared bug-eyed over the page at Alex, and his ruddy complexion turned near purple.

For a second, Alex worried the man was going to have a heart attack.

“
Free
staffing?”

“For all McKinley properties, around the globe, into perpetuity.”

“That's—”

“Perfectly legal, according to my, and your former, legal team. You are, of course, free to turn it down.”

Murdoch opened his mouth, but nothing emerged except a damp squeaking sound. It took him a few seconds to recover the power of speech. “This is outrageous.”

“This is business,” said Alex, clamping his jaw. “I told you to deal with me and me alone. What's more, I told you
nothing
of McKinley's was for sale.”

“Because you wanted it for yourself.”

“That's true,” saidAlex. “And I got it.” But things had changed.

Murdoch's mouth twisted in an ugly sneer. “I sure hope it was worth the mercy screw.”

Alex was out of his chair in a flash, reaching across the desk and grabbing Murdoch by the collar, Ryan's warning obliterated from his mind. “Don't you ever
dare
—”

“You trying to tell me this is something other than a media-palatable land grab? Don't waste your breath, Garrison. You know as well as I do that this deal suits
nobody
but you. You screwed her in more ways than one.”

Alex's fist clenched. He wanted nothing more than to smash the self-satisfied smirk from Murdoch's face.

Trouble was, Murdoch was right.

Alex had screwed Emma. He'd used her, and he'd lied to her. And what he'd won was a half-billion-dollar property, a ridiculous prenup that forced her to stay with a man she probably hated, and half of her business, when she could have bailed herself out financially if he'd only been honest with her.

He got what he'd set out to win. But he'd lost so much more in the process.

He slowly let Murdoch go, then sank back into his chair.

How exactly was he different than Murdoch, or even David for that matter? If Alex could go back in time, he'd tell Emma all about Kayven Island, wait for her to sell it, then romance her, no strings attached.

He almost laughed at the absurdity.

He wanted Emma more than he wanted the island, more than he wanted the money, more than he wanted anything, really. All he wanted was for Emma to redecorate his house so they could throw party after party and fill that mausoleum with life and laughter.

Well, he couldn't have that. Not anymore. But he didn't have to take Emma down with him.

He took a deep breath. “I'll sell it to you,” he said to Murdoch.

“Not with free staffing, you won't.”

“I'll sell it to you for double the agreed-upon price, no staffing, no other conditions.”

Murdoch's eyes narrowed.

“That's the only offer I'm making,” said Alex. “Take it or leave it.”

He could give Emma the money, and give her back McKinley. She could bail the company out of debt, and his partners…Well, his partners would just have to learn to live with it. Worst they could do is gang up and fire him as CEO.

If they did, he'd live with it. Just as long as he'd done right by Emma.

 

After two days and four pints of caramel pecan dream, Emma swore to herself that she was through with grieving. She had lost, and Alex had won. And that's the way it happened in the big bad world.

At least she still had half her company. And she and Katie could still work toward buying him out. Someday, anyway. For now, he was her partner. She wouldn't allow herself to think of him as anything more.

She wouldn't divorce him, but she wouldn't live with him either. If he wanted to talk to her, he could do it at the office. Her door was always open to all of her business associates.

An associate.

Yes. She liked that term.

In fact, she almost looked forward to seeing him again. She wanted him to know she was over him, that she'd picked herself up, learned from the experience and carried on.

Katie appeared in the bedroom doorway.

“This just came for you,” she said, entering the room, holding out a cardboard envelope.

“From downstairs?” asked Emma, coming briskly to her feet. It was time to get back down to the office anyway.

“Crosstown courier,” said Katie.

Emma took the envelope and tugged on the tab. The Garrison offices return address jumped out, but she refused to let it rattle her. There'd be plenty of correspondence between her and Alex from here on in. She could handle it.

“What is it?” asked Katie as Emma's gaze focused on the letter.

Emma read the brief paragraphs then shook her head and started over again.

“What?” Katie repeated.

The message finally sorted itself into some kind of order inside Emma's brain. “He sold Kayven Island.”

“What?”

Emma squeezed her eyes shut, then refocused on the bank draft clipped to the top of the letter. “Alex sold Kayven Island to Murdoch.”

Katie moved closer. “I thought the whole point was to
not
sell Kayven Island to Murdoch. How much…” She peered over Emma's shoulder. “Holy
crap!
”

Katie tried to read the letter, but Emma's hand was shaking too hard. So Katie had to still it.

“He's giving it back?” asked Katie.

Emma reread the words. “He says we should use Murdoch's money—” Her gaze went involuntarily to the amount on the bank draft. Holy crap indeed. “—to pay off McKinley's debts. And then it's ours. A hundred percent. Free and clear.”

“He's tearing up the prenup,” said Katie as she continued reading. “What's this about redecorating his house?”

“It's a joke.” Emma laughed weakly. “When we were goofing around on Kayven…” When they were goofing around on Kayven, all her dreams were coming true. She'd dared to hope. Now, her eyes stung with the need to give him another chance. Was Alex truly that sweet, funny, sexy man? Or was that man a fraud, contrived to distract her? And which one of them had written the letter.

How would she ever know for sure?

Katie stared at her. “You do know what this means?”

Emma nodded. It definitely meant one thing. “We own our company again.”

Katie elbowed her in the arm. “It means he wants you to
redecorate his house.
”

Emma scrambled to keep her emotions out of it. She had to thank logically. “That was just a joke.”

“A joke? A guy who's giving up this many million dollars doesn't make jokes for the sake of a joke. He wants you. He probably loves you.”

“Then why is he tearing up the prenup? Without the prenup, I can divorce him.” Her voice caught. “He wants me to divorce him.”

Katie squealed in frustration. “He wants you to come to him. Because you
want
to. Without coercion. He gave you back your money.” She stared at the draft. “And
then
some. He gave you your freedom. But at the same time he mentions redecorating? Earth to Emma.”

Emma's mouth went dry, and her heart thudded in her chest. Could Katie be right? Did she have the guts to find out?

“Go to him,” said Katie. “Thank him.
Redecorate
him for God's sake. And do it now.”

Emma bit her bottom lip. She wanted this, desperately wanted this. But if Katie was wrong…“You really think—”

“Go! I'm going to the bank.” Katie glanced down again. “Holy crap.”

 

Emma swung the mansion's big oak door wide open and strode into the foyer.

“Mrs. Garrison. So good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too, Mrs. Nash. Is Alex in?”

If she was wrong, Emma had already decided to pretend it was all a joke. She'd pretend she'd only stopped by to thank him for his gentlemanly, yet fair, behavior. And the rest was just a big joke.

No hard feelings. No harm done.

Mrs. Nash stepped back, a wry smile on her lips. “He's out back. Oh, have you had lunch? I can bring out some tea or sandwiches? Philippe has this great—”

“Philippe is here?”

Mrs. Nash laughed, and her cheeks turned slightly pink. “Oh, no. Of course not. Not at the moment.”

Despite herself, Emma grinned. “Is it fair to say he'd be willing to help with future parties?”

Mrs. Nash nodded. “I think that would be fair to say.”

Okay. That was a happy outcome.

Emma would cling to that.

She made her way past Hamilton and the other Garrison portraits, her chest tightening and her pulse increasing.

Oh, please let Katie be right.

Emma cut through the breakfast room, onto the deck, then down the stairs to the pool.

Alex was at an umbrella table, reading the
Times.
He glanced up at the sound of her footsteps.

“Emma.” He was on his feet in an instant.

She slowed to a stop in front of him, not sure any more what she should say. The moment took on a surrealistic quality and her bravado evaporated. “Hello, Alex.”

The sea breeze whispered through the aspen trees while they stared at each other.

“You got my letter?” he finally asked, his expression giving nothing away.

Emma nodded stiffly. “Thank you.”

He moved forward. “It was just business, you know.”

Her heart sank slowly in her chest, her palm going slick against the briefcase. He wasn't going to buy that it was a joke. This was definitely going to be embarrassing. “I know.”

“It was nothing personal.”

She flinched. “Of course not.”

“I knew what I knew, and you knew what you knew, and I made the best deal possible for my company.”

She'd been a fool to come here. A fool to think…“So you said.”

“There was no reason to tell you up front.” He gave a harsh laugh. “A guy wouldn't get very far telling his competition his secrets, would he?”

“Right.” She'd only hoped she could get out of here in time. “Well, I just—”

“But then…” Alex's tone softened, and the harsh slate look went out of his eyes. “Then I proposed to you. And maybe, maybe that was when the rules changed.”

Emma stood frozen to the ground.

“And then I married you. And that definitely meant the rules had changed. And then…” He took her left hand, rubbing his thumb over the Tudor diamond. “Then I fell in love with you, and any right I'd ever had to treat you as a business adversary was gone.”

The aspen trees rustled into the silence.

“Emma?”

She couldn't help smiling. It was going to be okay. It was really going to be okay. “You fell in love with me?”

“Yeah, I fell in love with you. What did you think I meant by ‘saying it'?”

“That you were in love with me.” At least that was how it had seemed in the moment.

“Damn straight.”

“Or that it might only be part of the game.” She had to admit, the thought had crossed her mind.

“You thought our time on the beach was a game?”

She shook her head, her chest tightening with joy. “No. Not the beach.”