Bound For Me (26 page)

“Leaving Summerhill.”

“Not yet you’re not.”

“You’re not the boss of me.”

“Now is not the time for drama. You’re not leaving. Look last night was—”

“I’m sorry if this is a bad time.” Another voice chimed in.

Connor froze. He hadn’t realized his manager had let the guy wait in
here
.

“Of course not.” Connor span towards the sound of the voice, automatically switched into hotel mode.

He sent Savannah a quick glance. Her eyes widened at the sight of the younger man rising from one of the large armchairs. A bad feeling surged in Connor’s gut.

“How can I help you?” Connor asked the guy, but kept watching Savannah.
 

Had she gone pale?

“You okay Savannah?” He frowned.

“I’m fine. You deal with… your meeting.”

No thanks. He wanted to deal with her. But she was staring at the other man again and looking like she’d seen a ghost.
 

“You found who you were looking for,” she said.

“Looks like it.”

What did that mean? Connor turned to face the newcomer and flinched. He was the guy Savannah had served at the bar last night. The one she’d smiled at. “How can I help you?”

He heard Savannah close the door behind her and inwardly cursed.

But the man was looking at him with a curiously fixed expression. “My…” He cleared his throat. “My name’s Jack Gibbs. My mom was Mary-Jo Gibbs.”

Connor felt frozen to the spot. “Is that supposed to mean something to me?” He didn’t want to admit to the resemblance. But it was so there.

“Not to you. But it might to your father.” Jack’s gaze grew more intense. “
Our
father.”

For a moment Connor didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve been in town a few days,” Jack added. “Figuring out how to approach him.”

Rex. Who wasn’t here.
 

But here was another person looking for him. Looking for answers. Looking for—what, money? Payback?

“I spoke to one of your former employees.” Jack added.

“Oh?”

“She got a large severance package recently.”

Cynthia. And it hadn’t been a severance package. It had been a… a… he didn’t know what. Connor’s blood chilled. She’d been in the bar last night. With this guy. And with Savannah. Savannah who’d just told him she was leaving. Who wouldn’t look at him.

Who wouldn’t kiss him this morning.

Connor’s stomach churned. “So you’ve spoken with some people. What, you want money? Like Cynthia?”

Anger flashed on Jack’s face. “What?”

He couldn’t be feeling half as angry as Connor.

Had Savannah known? Is that why she’d been in such a hurry to leave? Was she part of an unholy trinity sent to bring him down?

Jeez, he’d been played.
Beautifully
.

His original plan had been to distract her He’d only distracted himself. He hadn’t even seen this coming. He’d been such a fool. Falling for her. Talking to her.
Trusting
her. Wanting more. But she’d betrayed him. Used him.

He’d screwed up by screwing around. Just like his father. Letting his lust blind him. Letting it become uncontrollable. Leaving him exposed and vulnerable.

What the hell did she think she could do—throw a grenade and run? Was she going to watch the avalanche from a distance?

Like hell.

He held up his hand. “I need a minute.” He turned and walked before the guy could reply.

But as he slammed the door, he heard the mutter. “You need more than a minute.”
 

Connor didn’t give a monkey’s. He needed to talk to Savannah.
Now
.

A lifetime of walking on iced-up, snow slippery paths gave him the advantage. Stubborn woman wouldn’t take a freaking hotel courtesy car home. No. She had to walk in her goddamn ride-him-hard boots. She wasn’t even halfway down the curved private road.

“Savannah!” he shouted.

She turned, so surprised she slipped. What? Had she thought he was going to be waylaid for a decent amount of time arguing over dollar amounts with his new found half brother?

“Where the fuck are you going?” he yelled at her.

“Where the fuck do you think?” she roared right back at him, straightening, spreading her feet to fight stance.

And of all the freaking things, that just turned his stupid cock hard again. And that made him angrier than he’d been in his entire life. “I thought it was going to be a media beat-up. But it was worse.”

“What do you mean?”

“You brought him here, didn’t you?” He stomped up to within a breath of her.

“Who?”

“Jack Whatever-the-fuck his other name is. My father’s bastard.”
 

Her cheeks suddenly flushed, but he didn’t give her the chance to speak.
 

“You let me think you were over it,” he said. “But you’re not. You’ve set me up. You’re so warped it’s unbelievable.”

Her jaw dropped. “You think that guy has anything to do with me?”

Of course he did. She was the one walking away. Not talking to him. Not touching him. The one who’d come here wanting to make him and his father pay somehow… the one who’d gone pale at the sight of him moments before. And who’d gone guilty red now.

“How can you think that?” she demanded.

“He was with Cynthia last night. And he was talking to you at the bar. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid.”

“I can’t believe it either. Paranoid, much?” She gaped at him. “Who the hell is Cynthia?”

“My father’s assistant.” Connor’s brain scrambled through the last few months of nightmares—of his father’s financial losses, his latest, most tortured indiscretion with his assistant. “She obviously wants more money—”

“More money?” Savannah stepped closer, her eyes narrowing. “So you paid her off? And by your father’s ‘assistant’, you mean ex-lover?”

“So you
have
talked to her.”

“
You’re
the one who told me about your father’s assistants.” Her expression changed, she wrinkled her nose. “You really paid her off?”

“She… resigned.” He stepped back, aware of the revulsion in her eyes.

“Very conveniently,” she said sarcastically. “I’d not seen that guy until he first walked into the bar a couple days ago and it was only a moment ago that I saw…”

“What?”

“He has your jaw-line… and your… you share a look. And he’d told me he was looking for someone. My bet was Rex.”

“Your ‘bet’?” He scoffed disbelievingly. “You knew all along.”

“You’re
crazy
. You probably think I poisoned your florist or something as well.”

He wasn’t crazy. He was—

“You pride yourself on your honor. You’re every bit as dishonorable as your father.”
 

“
I’ve
done nothing wrong.”

“
Enabling
Rex is wrong. He screws around and you quietly come along after him with your hush money.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?” Her temper flared. “I can’t believe I fell for it. The whole Connor-fly-in-and-rescue, or fundraise-for-sick-kids shtick? It’s an act. You ‘save’ people only for the corporate goodwill it gives you. To make yourself look human. You’re just trying to hide the corrupt foundations of your crap company. But there’s no heart in it, because
you
have no heart.”

He stared at her, his brain starting to click on. He realized his mistake—that his own fears might have led him down a very slippery slope.

But Savannah was on a roll now. And she wasn’t stopping.

“The only reason you first took care of me was because you wanted to water down the drugging incident. You didn’t want Summerhill getting any bad press. This has only ever been about minimising risk for you.”

“Minimising
risk
?” He glared at her, stung. “So that’s why I ended up in a brawl with the asshole?”

“Damage control.” She snapped. “You come off as the hero. You’re so fucking manipulative.”

“What? So why did I have sex with you in public places, several times? Was that
all
about reducing risk too?”

“That was
all
about you getting off.”

“Like you didn’t?”

“Of course I did. But I began to
trust
you. I let go of my resentment and told you things I’ve never told anyone.” She flung her hand wide with an angry swipe. “You were telling me to trust you just last night. You challenged me to. You
made
me. And now you’re turning on me? You don’t trust
me
. You’ve only been with me to keep an eye on me. Can you deny that?”

“I—”

“From the first night.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “You have some self-ordained sense of responsibility for this mountain and all the people on it? The sheer arrogance is breath-taking. But what are
you
without your precious mountain, Connor? Without your billions and your exclusive company?”

Connor stilled, his heart stopped. Horror hit low in his gut as he realized what she was going to say. And he already knew she was right.

“You’re nothing but a shell. You project a perfect appearance, but there’s
nothing
underneath. There’s no real emotion. No desire. No love—other than for your precious white snow and your piles of dough and your stupid status. Well you can keep it all to yourself and your snobby set. I’m gone. No nasty little threat here anymore,” she sneered at him. “Stay frozen Connor.”

Chapter Nineteen

She was gone. Fucking
gone
.

She’d turned and marched off, sheer anger and force of will helping her walk quickly. Furiously.

It had taken him much longer to catch his breath. To force himself to turn back to face the latest Rex Hughes disaster. Because for a moment he’d just wanted to bury himself in the snow. What she’d said was true. It had always been true. Without the mountain, he was nothing.

But he’d gone back to the Lodge and briefly talked to Jack. And even though he knew she’d been telling the truth, the damaged, hurt part of him had sought proof.

“Did you talk to her?” he’d asked his new-found half-brother.

“Who?”

“Savannah. The woman who came down with me just before. The bartender at St Clair’s.”

“Only to ask about a good place to stay. And by the way, I don’t want your fucking money.”

Yeah. Jack’s answer had made him feel like asshole central. He should’ve engaged brain before hurling his accusations.

He’d apologized and asked if they could talk later—because he owed someone else an apology as well, and he wanted to give Jack the time a brother deserved. And now he’d had a couple minutes with a brain that was actually working, he realized he really wanted to talk to the guy. Soon.

Connor then went straight to her apartment. Savannah didn’t answer the door. He abused his Hughes’ town standing to get the building caretaker to open the place up.
 

All her stuff was gone.
 

She
was gone. Faster than a pro-skier out of the gate. He went straight from her silent unit, to St Clair’s.
 

Luca looked daggers at him. “Best bartender ever. And you go and scare her off.”

Scare her?

“Connor,” Krista hurried up to him. “What did you say to her?”

“Why? What did she say to you? Did she say where she was going?”

Krista shook her head, the anxious look in her eyes making Connor feel even more of a jerk. “She was a closed book. Totally. Just phoned and said she was sorry, but that she wasn’t coming back.”

She hadn’t been answering her phone at all since. He’d left a million messages already.

“Do you know where she’d go?” Krista asked.

Connor didn’t answer. He leaned his elbows on the bar and rubbed his temples.
 

He’d screwed up so bad. In so many ways. And for once in his life he didn’t know how he was gonna make any of it right.

After two cramped, boring plane rides, Savannah finally climbed the steps into the bus heading to the outskirts of Belle, Louisiana. She checked the address she’d scrawled into her notebook one more time and tried to push down the anxiety rising in her throat.

The state her father must be in? Trailer park meant no money. Her mom’s baby news probably meant drinking. Meant rock bottom ugly.
 

But she’d deal with it, as she had before. She’d help him out. Then she’d get herself a job. She’d make good tips. She’d save. Then she’d get herself a better education and get to building her own damn empire.

She’d make a better life for herself. And be utterly independent.

She hefted her big bag onto her back and got off when the bus pulled into the last stop. Ten more minutes of walking. Which was good because it helped stretch out her stiffened muscles… and she could mentally prepare herself one last time.