The Tycoon's Seductive Revenge (18 page)

Neither she nor Carter budged. They’d waited too long for this moment, for this chance to reclaim what they’d lost and found again. Footsteps faded away, until all fell silent around them except for the wind and rain pounding against the roof, rivaling the sound of her heart hammering in her chest.

The emotion Carter poured into the kiss made her tingle from head to toe. Her heart ached with joy. She felt his devotion surrounding her, swirling inside her, filling her soul. She met his intensity, kissing him back with everything she had in her heart to give.

But despite the depth of intimacy, Ellie sensed a shadow of hesitation from Carter. The same doubt lurked in the back of her mind, too.

Eventually, he broke the kiss. He grinned, grabbed her hand and pulled her into the dining hall. “I bought something to celebrate your success.”

When they reached the bar he pulled out a stool for her. Taking a seat she wondered why the tribute was singular. She gazed at him curiously. “My success?”

“Sure, isn’t that worth celebrating?” He reached over the bar, pulled out a bottle of champagne that had been sitting over ice, and grabbed the two long-stemmed glasses beside it. As though he’d already prepared for this outcome.

“What about
our
success? We’ve been through hell and back to get to a good place with each other.”

“I think that’ll work itself out.” The hint of a frown settled between his eyebrows, but the crease smoothed away when he smiled. “This is a huge moment for you, Ellie.” He popped the cork. White foam frothed down the neck of the bottle. He filled their glasses half-way. “You have your dreams, everything you wanted. Cheers to you, baby.”

She sent him a meaningful smile. “Well, not quite everything…but cheers.”

At her response he looked away and took a sip of champagne. A shadow of disappointment passed over his features. She peered at him above the rim of her glass as she drank to their toast.

No, it wasn’t disappointment, she thought. It was hesitation. Was there something he wasn’t telling her? Whatever it was, something didn’t feel right. She couldn’t pinpoint the source of her wariness, but her instincts triggered warning bells in her mind.

Champagne bubbles tickled her nose and the carbonation made her eyes water as the liquid slid down her throat. She set her glass down. “Carter—”

His cell phone buzzed. “Hang on a sec.” He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up. “My broker. Probably telling me the funds transferred.”

As he thumb-typed a text in reply, her shoulders sank with the recognition that Carter had gone to so much trouble to pull his bid together at the last minute. All for nothing.

True, he was toasting to her win, but if she knew anything about Carter, he was not the type to accept second place. When he pressed send, his phone went back to its home display. The screen had a blue background, and written across the center in bright yellow letters read,
Beachfront Properties, Inc.

Ellie sat up straight. Where had she seen that name before?

Carter hit the lock button. The screen went black. He shoved his phone back in his pocket and reached for his champagne.

Suddenly, the truth smacked her upside the head.
Oh, my God.
The fax from Neville, her broker—the funds had transferred from an account belonging to Beachfront Properties, Inc.

Reeling, she set her glass down in disbelief. “Carter, that’s your company. Beachfront Properties.”

He nodded. “For the past ten years.”

As the connections started falling into place she experienced a whirlwind of emotional fallout that left her disoriented, baffled. “That’s where my funds transferred from. Neville faxed me the confirmation this morning, and your company’s name was at the bottom.”

Carter froze with the glass halfway to his mouth. His pupils dilated a fraction. “Must be a mistake.”

Ellie scooted her stool back and stood. “A mistake? That’s a load of crap, Carter, and you know it. You were behind this,” she hissed, emotions writhing inside her.

“Honey, take a step back for a minute—”

“You manipulated everything from the start.”

Gripping the edge of the bar he pivoted to face her. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I didn’t plan for things to go down like this.”

“I’m right.” Disgust built at the back of her throat. “You had an agenda the second you set foot on the island. You still do, despite everything we’ve been through this week.”

A muscle rippled in his jaw. “And you didn’t have an agenda when we were screwing each other’s brains out in the lighthouse? You went from frigid to on-fire in less than a day. You’re saying you were innocent that whole time?”

“I was acting out of self-preservation. You were motivated by...what, Carter?” She ticked off his sins on her fingers. “Lust? Revenge? Getting me back for how I shut you out years ago?”

“Something like that,” he retorted. Then, rubbing his forehead, he lightened his tone. “Look, maybe I didn’t have the best of intentions at first. I admit that. I’m sorry, Ellie. Okay? I realized my mistake and I tried to make it right.”

“By treating me like a possession you wanted to own? And then handing me money secretly like some pathetic charity case?”

He reached for her arm. “Ellie, calm down.”

“I have every right to be furious!” She knocked his hand from her shoulder. “I’m sick of you—and every other man I’ve known—thinking you can bulldoze through my life. You tear down whatever stands in your way and then leave me to deal with the wreckage.”

He vowed, “I want to make it right.”

“How?” Her cheeks burned with rage. “How did you think you could make all your manipulations disappear? I would’ve found out, Carter. Sooner or later.”

Anger glittered in his gaze. “At least I came back. That’s more than you ever did for me.”

“Now we’re stuck in the past again.” Her hands flew to her hips. “What you didn’t know, back then, was that my father threatened to revoke my inheritance if I went with you.”

“Would that have been the worst thing in the world? Obviously, I succeeded. Here I am, handing you millionaires. But you didn’t trust me to take care of you.”

“That’s not true.” Her voice trembled with sincerity. “I wanted to be with you, I trusted you. But Daddy threatened to ruin you, swearing he’d destroy any career you pursued if I left with you that night. I told you what you needed to hear to protect you, Carter.”

His cheeks hollowed against his tight jaw. “So you’re the hero in all this. Is that what you’re trying to sell me?” He crossed his arms. “Not buying it, sweetheart. You’ve stayed on your small island, in your small life, devoted to small dreams because you’ve never taken a chance on anything bigger.”

Her eyes flashed. “How dare you judge the worth of my dreams?”

He spread his arms to encompass the room. “Is this really
your
dream? To own this crumbling heap that’s become your obsession? Can you separate yourself from it, Ellie? Do you even recognize that this hotel is not
you
?”

“It’s a part of me,” she defended.

“Sorry, but I can’t love a hotel. I can’t build a relationship or create a future with a building as haunted as this one.” He stood looking ready to bolt.

“Leaving so soon?” she huffed. “I’m not surprised. When the going gets tough, you take off.”

“Then come with me, Ellie. This is my final invitation.”

“You’re so damn good at ultimatums, aren’t you? No compromise. No discussion. You call the shots and expect me to follow.” She shook her head, hurt and frustrated. “It seems some things never change.”

“And once again, you reject my offer.” He turned his back, shoved his hands in his pockets and walked away. “You’re right, Ellie. Some things never change.”

Body humming with adrenaline from their fight, and with plenty more to say, she demanded, “Where are you going?”

“To finish packing,” he said over his shoulder. “I’m getting the fuck out of here. Before your hotel and your curse drag me down with you.”

The double-doors slammed behind him. Ellie winced, feeling the impact in her bones. That only made her more determined to shut him out of her life, her memories, and her soul.

“I hope I never see you again!” Her voice bounced off the exposed beams high above.

Then the reality of that statement set in.
I’ll never see Carter again
.

Every second they’d shared swamped her mind like a muddy deluge sucking her in and holding her captive. Moments of time trickled through the hourglass of her mind. The day he rescued her from the ocean, their first kiss, the night they weathered the storm in the attic and made love until dawn. The day her father warned her about Carter, Daddy’s vicious threats, and how he cruelly used her mother’s memory to bring her to her knees. Then later that night on the dock, the boat ready in the water, Carter on the weathered planks waiting for her. The way the rain soaked them through. The way her heart broke as she strung together fabrications, convincing Carter that he meant nothing to her, while she died a little more inside with each lie. Watching the love of her life jet away in the speedboat, while she shook and sobbed alone, believing she’d never see him again.

Then, suddenly, the unexpected. Carter had returned—was it only six days ago?—revenge blazing in his eyes. That fire had turned to passion with her in the lighthouse, and Carter had followed her into a burning building to save her life. He’d stood up to Marquell to ensure her freedom. He’d made an anonymous bid to save her dream. And he’d admitted to the trail of manipulation that had guided his actions at the beginning.

Irreconcilable thoughts and feelings smashed together, crumbling into a giant heap inside her. The full weight of the present crashed down. Every cell in her body registered Carter’s absence, her aloneness. She sucked in a wispy breath. Tears filled her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.

But her anger over his lies, his complete betrayal, quickly filled the raw emptiness that threatened to consume her. She swiped at the dampness on her face, unwilling to acknowledge the repercussions of her actions.

He
was the one who should apologize, not her. He should be begging for her forgiveness, instead of throwing out ultimatums the way he always had.

Partnership meant compromise—for both people. Clearly, Carter wasn’t willing to accept his share of concessions necessary to make their relationship work. They didn’t stand a chance together.

Apparently, they never had.

“Why didn’t you just stay out of my life?” Her voice shook with resentment and desperation. “Do I have to wait another twelve years for you to fade away again?”

Excruciating pain lanced through her. Her heart felt like a chopping block that Carter had scraped one too many times with the serrated edge of his carelessness.

As the heat of their fight faded to the agony of aftermath, she went numb with cold. Shivers wracked her body. The dining hall was a vast, empty shell of space darkened by the oncoming storm. She drifted across the room toward the doors like a ghost in fog, stricken and haunted, wandering between worlds, shut out of the past but unable to face the realities of the future.

“I’m better off without him,” she stated, as if the spoken words could convince her heart they were true.

For some reason the hotel looked different, felt different. Now the place was
hers
. No more fighting. No more juggling or scraping to keep everything together. No more hanging on to the final thread of hope that had pulled her through all these years, the lure of ownership that had dazzled her in the distant horizon.

Ownership had arrived.

Why don’t I feel happy?
Why was there nothing inside her but exhaustion and emptiness?

“It’s just shock,” she told herself, reaching for the handles of the double-doors. “So much has happened. So much has changed—everything’s changed.”

Not the least of which included the fact that her windfall of two-million dollars didn’t feel like it belonged to her. She doubted the collection would’ve sold for that much if Carter hadn’t put in his exorbitant bid. Without him, she wouldn’t be here trying to revel in her debt-free homeowner status, trying to override her conscience that was telling her she hasn’t earned the right to possess her dream.

But I have
earned
this
. All those ye ars of loneliness and sacrifice and barely making ends meet had brought her to this point. She had no reason to feel self-conscious.
Just take the money and the hotel and don’t look back. Carter won’t. Neither should you
.

The sound of breaking glass shattered her introspection.

The noise was followed by screams, a deafening crash and a thud that shook the hotel’s foundation. “Oh, my God.”

Then the lights went out. She felt the cut in the power as if she’d knocked into an electrical field. Heart thumping against her ribs she flung open the doors and ran into the darkened main corridor.

She saw the silhouette of someone moving toward her. “What just happened?” she asked into the semi-darkness.

“Ellie, was that you? Are you okay?” The voice and figure belonged to Carter. Heart-melting concern laced his tone.

Ellie replied, “I’m okay. I don’t know who screamed.”

“I’m about to find out.” He dropped his suitcases and raced toward the source of the cries.  Ellie was two paces behind him.

A piercing wail traveled down the hallway. They followed the sound to the Great Room. The smell of smoke from the extinguished fireplace hung in the air. The room felt cold and damp, and Ellie shivered as she moved further into the space. The rain sounded like baseball-sized hail pounding overhead. What she could see of the sky through the windows looked like a giant bruise smeared across the heavens. Sinister clouds rode low on sixty-mile-an-hour winds and debris whipped by. A ripple of fear coursed through her.

El Dorado hadn’t weathered a storm this intense since she was eleven years old. When her mother died trying to flee the island. Against Daddy’s insistence that it was too dangerous to risk travel, she’d wanted to ferry Ellie to safety. Her father had refused to allow her departure. So she’d left alone and her boat had capsized in the treacherous waves.