Page 9 of His Haunted Desire

“Don’t dothis,” I say, imitating his shrug. “Don’t you dare drive my grandmother to a stroke through stress, then swagger in here like you own the place, then dothis.” I shrug again. “Like it’s no big deal. Why are you here?”

“Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. Allow me to introduce myself.”

“I think we got off on the perfect foot. I know who you are, and I know what sort of man you are. What else is there to say?”

“I’m Simon Kerkenwall, and I represent Goliath Properties. You claim I want to make her homeless, but nothing could be further from the truth. I’m here because I’d like to make your grandmother a very rich lady.”

“She’s rejected your offers.”

“Yes.”

“And now you’re using the legal system to bankrupt her.”

“I must say I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, yousaythat because what you’re doing is probably illegal. If not, it’s unethical. Not that you’d care about that. Anyway, the answer is no.”

“You haven’t heard the figure.”

“I already have the figure,” I tell him.

He raises his eyebrows. “You do?”

“I’ve written it down. Wait a second.”

I root around under the counter, then aim my middle finger at him. “Ah, there it is.”

“That’s very amusing,” he says. “You’re a funny girl…” He leans forward, making a show of looking at my name tag. “Aurora. A funny girl with a unique and pretty name.”

“You’ve gone from unwelcome to actively giving me the creeps now. Now get the hell out of my shop.”

“It won’t be your shop for long,” he says, pointing at the ceiling. “This will be the lobby. And above us, that will be apartment number one. And above that, it will go on and on and on, reaching to the heavens. Have agreatday.”

Simon turns and leaves, whistling a tune as he goes. I look around for something to throw at him. Luckily, by the time I pick up the paperweight, he’s already gone.

I hurry upstairs when the bell rings.

“Is everything all right?” Grandma asks. “I heard raised voices.”

“Everything’s fine,” I call back.

I need to shield her from this as best as I can. It’s my responsibility, my weight to carry.

Sometimes I hate being a grownup.

CHAPTER 4

RAIDEN

“Grandma gave me the same ultimatum,” Julian says on the phone as I drive up Main Street. “If I don’t appearsettled and happy–whatever the hell that means–she’s cutting me out of the will. What’s gotten into her?”

“No idea,” I tell him. “She’s getting older, misses our dads. She wants family. All of that’s true. But this scheme just doesn’t make any goddamn sense. No one can fall in love in a week, which is what she seems to want. And if it was possible, I’m not the man to do it.”

“Me neither,” Julian replies. “But if it means risking all the money in the world, I’m going to have to bite the bullet. What are you going to do?”

“No idea,” I answer honestly. “Not long until the Retreat. I’ll figure something out. Or just accept I’ll have to live like everyone else. Make my own way like I’ve done so far.”

“This is our legacy, Raiden,” Julian says, sounding disgusted. “The Blackwell name, our fathers and their fathers and theirfathers… andtheirfathers. This is what we’re owed. I will not lie down and take this.”