6. Emerson

Eva Ward had strutted into my office like she already owned the place, sitting in the chair in front of my desk, crossing her long legs, a picture of poise. I had immediately shut down. I refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing how she riled me, so I built up my walls, I donned the ice-king persona my staff claimed I had, and I leaned back in my chair with my arms crossed over my chest, mask in place. "What do you want? I already told my father the answer was no. I won't marry you." My top lip curled in disgust.

Instead of answering me, though, she'd asked, "That omega at the desk out there… what's his name?"

As calm as I had intended to stay, knowing her attention was on Roland left me hollowed out, my insides replaced with a fury so hot and liquid that it felt like lava—and I was getting ready to blow.

She didn't even wait for an answer, her shark's grin widening like she'd scented blood in the water. "He's very handsome, that one, and I can tell he's very protective toward you. But the question is… do you feel the same? What would you do to protect him?"

I'd planted my hands on the desk and stood, leaning in and towering above her. "You would dare come into my office and threaten my staff?"

She tutted, not a single feather ruffled by my ire. "I would never dream of it. I'm only remarking on the precarious financial situation you seem to find yourself in. It would certainly be a shame to see your employees suddenly without a job. Some of them—such as that young man out there—might even live in an apartment on Elm Street that just so happens to be owned by me. Without the means to pay his rent, he might find himself without a place to live. That would be terribly tragic." She sighed, examining her manicured nails, painted a sharp red. "I don't really know why I bought the place, to be honest. It's so old and rundown, I'm surprised there hasn't been a gas leak."

I didn't even need to check Roland's employee record to know that he did, in fact, live on Elm. This woman had done her research, and no matter how she claimed this wasn't a threat to the man I loved, there was no other way to interpret her words.

And after sowing that tiny seed of fear, she'd stood and said, "I've always found fall weddings to be quite lovely, wouldn't you agree?" Then she strode back on out the way she came, as if she weren't the devil herself. She was probably bluffing, but I couldn"t afford to take the chance. I couldn't let something happen to Roland, and yet I couldn't protect him either. Helplessness threatened to choke me, wrapping itself around and through me, pouring down my throat and into my lungs until I felt certain I would drown.

When I'd wandered out of the office, Roland had been there, a steady certainty in my life. He was always there for me, no matter if I could allow myself to lean on him or not. He felt like my anchor, both keeping me tethered, but also with a weight of responsibility that had the power to drag me under.

There was no doubt he could feel me drifting away, and he'd grabbed my hand, grounding me. For one single moment, I could breathe. "Please, Emerson. Don't try to pretend everything is fine when it clearly isn't. I can't help you if you won't let me in," he pleaded.

"I-I can't… You can't help me. Nobody can. I'm so sorry, Roland." Walking away from him was physically painful, like a knife plunging into my chest and straight through my heart, but it was the right decision. It had to be. It didn't matter if I was tired and broken, writhing in agony and destined to walk this earth alone forever. All that mattered was that Eva Ward couldn't touch him. I had to protect what was mine.

I watched Roland on the security monitors to ensure he got onto the bus and that nobody was following him. I would drive him home myself if I thought it wouldn't paint a giant target on his back, admitting to everyone how much he meant to me. Hell, I would lock him up in my own home if I could get away with it. Eva didn't come across as a violent person, but in my mind, that just made her all the more dangerous. I didn't know what she was capable of. She was an unknown, and I refused to let down my guard for even one second knowing she likely had someone watching us.

With Roland safely out of sight, I shut myself back in my office and got to work. I pulled up all the financial files I had, invoices and expenses and payroll, and I started crunching some numbers. The math just wouldn't add up. The hotel needed to make more income, but there were only so many rooms to rent.

I grabbed the desk phone and called Sawyer Sheen, my PR manager. He answered on the second ring. "Hey, Emerson! I was just thinking about you."

"Oh yeah? For good reasons, I hope, and not because I'm the thorn in your side that you can't get rid of." I laughed uneasily, but he heard the edge to my voice.

He sobered instantly, going into damage-control mode. "What's going on?"

I sighed, caving in on myself. "I don't know what to tell you, Sawyer. You've worked so damn hard to help me get this hotel back on even footing, and now it looks like it might've been for nothing." I gnawed on my lip, desperate for someone to confide in. "Look, this needs to stay between us, but… it turns out, my grandfather was in bed with the mafia, and now he's gone, and I'm left paying the price. He screwed us all for the sake of his dream." I hadn't called Sawyer with the intention of spilling my guts to him, but the words just started pouring out. He was the closest thing I had to a friend these days. "And now the fucking mayor wants me to marry her in order to wipe the debt clean, taking half my business and ruining precisely all of my life, for the sake of saving my hotel and my employees' jobs!"

He was totally silent on the other end of the phone, and I started to regret dumping this all in his lap. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No, no!" he said quickly, cutting off my backtracking. "It's okay. Actually, I was just thinking about how it makes sense."

I laughed darkly, assuming he was making a joke, but when he didn't continue, I scoffed. "What? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I saw the upswing in marketing, and I knew money had to be coming in, but nothing we did seemed to make any difference. It made no sense. It was like the hotel was a sponge, just absorbing the income. Like a parasite." I thought that word described Eva Ward perfectly.

His confirmation made me feel a little better but no less hopeless. "Don't suppose you have any suggestions on how to fix this."

He made a little humming sound. "I mean, it's not like I have any mob ties, if that's what you're asking, but…"

That last word hung suspended in the air between us, and I found myself holding my breath. "But?" I asked.

His sigh wasn't as heavy as the ones I'd been heaving lately; it was hesitant but not exasperated. "Look, I don't want to get your hopes up or anything, but I know a guy. He might be able to help."

My hackles already up, I snapped, "A guy? What kind of guy? I'm already in over my head here. I don't want to get in bed with any other criminals or anything."

Sawyer laughed, bright and tinkling. "Who on earth do you think I am?"

I blew out a long breath. "You're a guy who knows a guy."

"Don't worry so much. My friend's legit, used to work for the FBI." I could hear the clacking of computer keys as he got to work. "Just hang in there, okay? Don't do anything stupid like say ‘I do.'"

"I might not have another choice," I muttered as I hung up the phone.

Even though he'd told me not to get my hopes up, I couldn't help it. The spark had caught the tinder, and a small blaze had begun to smolder inside my chest. I felt like I'd dropped a little of the load I was carrying.

In the aftershock of everything that had happened over the past 24 hours, my body was entirely drained, wrung out, until I was little more than a damp rag. Pushing away from my desk, I decided to call it an early night. It was Roland's night off, which meant I could go home and get some sleep. I had to trust that he was safe for now.

Except when I emerged from my office, I did a double take. "Roland? What are you doing here? Isn't it your night off?" It took a moment to register that he was wearing a suit and tie, but it wasn't his work uniform. In fact, it fit him far better, the shirt a tight fit across his chest, his pants also a slimmer fit, hugging in all the right areas to draw the eye—well, my eye, anyway. I refused to think about who else's eyes were drawn. I was suddenly no longer tired.

He didn't seem surprised to see me and tilted his chin up defiantly, a strange expression on his face. Was he mad at me? "I'm here on a date," he said, and I couldn't stop my wince, as if his words had hit me like a slap across the cheek.

I gulped. "A date? That's… nice." I nearly choked on the word. "Where is he?" I was already searching for this supposed date of his. He'd never mentioned a boyfriend before, and part of me wondered if he was faking it, trying to get a rise out of me. I immediately felt guilty for even thinking that. Roland wasn't the type to play games.

"It's starting to rain, so he dropped me off out front then went to park the car."

Sure enough, the front door opened and a tall, good-looking alpha made his way across the lobby, his suitcoat sparkling with raindrops. There was no mistaking that he was here with Roland, and the way his eyes were focused on my omega made me feral. And then the man's lips began to stretch into a tender smile, and my fists clenched at my sides. Who the fuck was he, thinking he could smile at Roland?!

"Are you going to introduce me to your date?" I asked through gritted teeth.

With zero hesitation, Roland said, "No. I don't think that's a good idea, do you?" He looked straight at me as he said it, clearly judging me for my reaction, and I felt a little chagrined by my attitude. Roland turned and joined his date halfway, and together they headed to the restaurant, leaving me to watch them go. Roland didn't turn to look back at me even once.

The devastation was crushing. Roland could've gone anywhere else for dinner! Was he trying to torture me? Punish me in some way? I followed in his wake like a lost puppy, begging for even a scrap of his attention. Fuck. I was trying to let him go. This was a good thing. It was what I wanted… wasn't it?

When the asshole ushered Roland into the restaurant with a hand on his lower back, I growled under my breath and turned down the hall to the left, slipping into the kitchen instead of the dining room. The din and clamor of pots and pans enveloped me, but I barely noticed it. Cherie was shouting directions at the staff above the sizzling of the stove and clatter of dishes, water running, but it all disappeared into the background as I wound my way through the kitchen to stand in front of the door to the dining room, looking through the small window to find where Roland was being seated across the room, his stupid fucking date pulling out his chair for him.

Cherie sidled up beside me, trying to get a peek at what I was looking at. "Holy shit, is Roland on a date? Good for him." When I snarled at her, she smirked and bumped me with her shoulder. "You snooze, you lose." I didn't even bother trying to deny it. She snickered and headed back to the grill, but I planted myself right there. I wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

I wasn't snoozing, and I sure as hell refused to lose.