One Woman (Naked Trilogy 2)

“I’ve been called to an emergency meeting,” he states. “But we need to talk.”

“I assumed as much since you surprised me with the visit.”

“Why is Emma Knight here?” he demands.

“Because I invited her here. Just as I invited you to the festival and you declined.”

“Emma Knight is a problem for me, and you know it.”

I do, but I’m going to make him say what we’ve talked around, a once mutual need to hurt the Knight family, that I no longer share. “Why exactly is she a problem for you?”

“You’re with my brand or theirs. The end. And you can’t be with my brand in her bed unless you’re using her to destroy her brand.”

I open my mouth to tell him that I’m not trying to destroy the Knights, but he is, and that’s now a problem for me. Keep your enemies closer. He’s the enemy. “Losing my business doesn’t destroy them,” I comment, stating the obvious. “I need them if I don’t have you. I have yet to hear you commit to me or provide me with an end game.”

“Because you have yet to prove to me that I can trust you.” His phone starts ringing in his hand. “I’ll be at the festival. Invitation accepted.” He steps around me and heads for the door.

I rotate and watch him exit, shutting the doors behind him once he’s gone, holding them as I contemplate my next move.

I can’t walk away from Sawyer until I know his plan to hurt the Knight empire. I can’t walk away from him until I know Emma’s brother doesn’t plan to hurt the North empire. Losing that business would hurt our core business. Unless—

An idea hits me and I push off the door. I know Chance has smartly aligned himself with Grayson Bennett’s investment pool, two hotel brands partnering for a future that might lead to a merger, or Bennett buying out the Knight brand. I’m now a part of that investment pool, and my brand is already all over the Bennett brand.

There’s a way to make this work.

There’s a way to strip Chance of his power and take it for myself.

No.

For Emma.

This is no longer about me. It’s about her. It’s about us.

Which is why I need to tread cautiously. I need to know if Chance is dirty. That means I set a trap for Chance, and if he takes the bait, I’ll know to make my move.

I pull my phone from my pocket to do just that: set a trap.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Emma…

I don’t know how long I stand in Jax’s closet, staring at his clothes and imagining mine there with his. I don’t even know how we make that possible. I live in San Francisco. He lives here. We’re enemies by birthright; we were always going to be temporary, but as I run my hand over his suit jackets and inhale the scent of him everywhere around me, I start to consider ways it might work.

By the time I’m in the marvelous kitchen that was once his mothers, I have so many thoughts and emotions. She left him when he was a young teen. In my youth, my mother was the consummate mom; she lived to parent, and my father seemed like the perfect father. I now know there was nothing perfect about my life. Is it better to know the truth as a young child or when you’re an adult as I am now? I don’t know the answer to that question. I only know that Jax is so many things that he doesn’t appear on the outside, and I want to know every part of him.

With coffee in hand and that mission in mind, I walk into the stunning living room, with leather furnishings, and find the double patio doors. Once outside, the chill of the fall washes over me, but I don’t run for the coat I packed. I embrace the season, eager to view the castle’s grounds in the daylight. I step to the wide white railing, staring out at the ocean that is, indeed, right below us, jolting me with memories that I don’t want to entertain right now. I swallow hard at the sight of the rocks where I might have tumbled last night, where Jax’s brother most certainly died. Bile rises in my throat. How can I live here? I can’t fall in love with a man who believes my family killed his brother.

Love.

I’m falling in love.

I’m probably already in love.

Suddenly, everything between our families that remains unanswered becomes bigger than just moments before. I’m suffocating in the sins of my father. What did he do? Why did he want this castle so badly? I hurry inside, shut the doors, and rush back to the kitchen where I left my phone. The display on my cellphone has a missed call from my brother. I set my cup down and hit redial.