‘Which are what, exactly?’ she demanded, although a part of her didn’t want to know.
‘You know him better than I do. How well do you think he’ll take the idea that you and I are involved, that I intend to make you mine, if I haven’t done so already?’
It wasn’t difficult to imagine Ben’s reaction to news like that. Her overprotective brother would hate the idea. Xandro epitomised everything Ben was struggling with. ‘This was what you wanted all along, wasn’t it? To use me to push his buttons?’ she declared with bitterness she’d hoped never to experience again.
‘It was a contingency plan, yes. Do you agree?’
Refusal was immediate. ‘No, of course I don’t. I won’t be bullied into giving you what you want.’
He stood and walked to the window and stood there with his back to her. One minute passed, then two. The throbbing silence jangled her nerves, forcing her to her feet.
‘Did you hear me?’ she prompted when he made no move to reply.
Slowly, he turned to face her. The flint-hard, ruthless expression on his face sent a chill down her spine. ‘I did. And here’s where I too play dirty, Sage. I know you haven’t been in touch with your parents for a while. Allow me to update you on what they’ve been up to this past year. They’ve made some...unfortunate business and personal decisions that aren’t turning out so great for them. Put simply, they’re in dire straits and the loan shark they’ve gotten into bed with has reached the end of his patience.
‘By this time tomorrow their debts will be mine to enforce or renegotiate. How it goes depends entirely on you. Unless you agree to help me, not only will your brother end up in jail whenever he eventually turns up, your parents will also lose their precious lifestyle and their status in that charming little town they love so much, as they’ll be forced into bankruptcy. So what’s it to be?’
CHAPTER SEVEN
SAGE WASN’T SURE how she managed to withstand the series of emotions charging through her. Disbelief. Shock. Anger. Back to disbelief.
A thousand questions crowded the back of her throat, but she couldn’t immediately form the words to challenge everything he’d said.
Her parents lived and breathed Havenwoods, the grand hotel situated in its namesake town in the middle of rural Virginia that had been in her father’s family for generations. For as long as Sage could remember, it was the one thing her parents cared about. There’d been times during her darker moments of despair when she’d wondered if they’d even notice if she disappeared from their lives. She knew Ben had felt the same. It was partly why he’d enlisted at twenty-one. And again, her parents had thought it was a whim Ben would grow out of. When he’d made his intention clear by re-enlisting for a second tour in the Middle East they’d issued him with the same ultimatum: Come home or be cut off. He’d chosen to be cut off.
That was when they’d turned their full focus on getting her to bow to their will.
That and the fact that ten years ago they’d added four Bed and Breakfast establishments to the hotel with a long-term business plan that included her role as eventual manager of the portfolio. Their single-mindedness hadn’t allowed them to entertain the possibility that she wouldn’t be in a position to fulfil that obligation. That the sustained barrage on her spirit and self-esteem by her bullies, the same bullies they were refusing to acknowledge, would draw her deeper into her dancing, her only solace in a dark landscape.
But, despite their blindness where their children’s needs were concerned, Sage doubted her parents would’ve been blindsided when it came to their ambition to put Havenwoods on the boutique hotels map, never mind fall prey to the clutches of a loan shark in so doing.
That bitter certainty made her laugh. ‘You’re wrong. My parents wouldn’t allow a loan shark within ten miles of Havenwoods.’
‘I assure you I’ve done my homework. They took on a business partner eighteen months ago. A maverick who convinced them to spend money they could ill afford, considering the business was already struggling.’
It was only because everything he’d told her so far had turned out to be true that her conviction wavered. That and the glaring, painful fact that, not having spoken to her parents in years, she had no clue what was going on in their lives. ‘But...why...how...?’
‘Total renovation of Havenwoods and the smaller establishments with material more suited to a six-star global chain than a boutique hotel. Extensive advertising to drum up business. The usual pitfalls that overextending can create if undertaken too quickly. They probably could’ve achieved all that if they hadn’t tried to do it in months rather than years. In the last three months they’ve been forced to take out another mortgage on their home just to keep afloat. If you don’t believe me feel free to call and ask them.’
They wouldn’t tell her even if she did. As far as they were concerned, she owed them the apology for letting them down, not the other way around.
Still, it took every ounce of strength not to crumple into the chair she’d vacated minutes ago. ‘You’ve done all of this...dug up all this dirt on my family...for what, exactly? What did Ben take from you that’s so important you had to do this? And don’t say it’s the money. You brushed that off the first time we met
.’
His face tightened even further as he prowled towards her, deadly intent stamped on his face. ‘What my possession means to me is not your concern. What should concern you is how precarious your family’s position is. It’s time to wake up, Sage. Your ambition seems to have blinded you to what’s happening with your family. You have a chance to stop things from getting worse for them. Do you really want your brother to end up in jail? Or your parents to lose everything?’
Bitterness dredged through her at the thought that she was being asked to become the saviour of her parents when they’d closed their hearts and minds to her when she’d needed them. But the feeling was not enough to overcome the pain his words caused. Regardless of their indifference, she wouldn’t be able to abide it if the legacy they’d worked so hard to preserve crumbled to nothing. She might not have wanted it for herself, but Havenwoods was still their home.
As for Ben, the thought of him in jail was unimaginable. Her brother needed counselling for his gambling problem. Possible psychiatric assistance after experiencing the trauma of war, not the cold harshness of imprisonment. ‘He can’t go to jail,’ she muttered, almost to herself.
But he heard her. Heard and pounced on it. ‘That is entirely in your power now.’
She opened her mouth, not entirely sure what she was going to say. The insistent trill of a phone in the charged atmosphere made her jump. It took a moment to realise the sound was coming from her handbag.
‘I’m guessing that’s your brother now, checking to see if there’s any truth behind the rumours,’ Xandro murmured into the silence.
The uncanny way everything Xandro had predicted was playing out kept her frozen for a moment.