Page 41 of Love and Loathing

She came out of the building into the sun and looked around the crowd for him. A low whistle came from the side of the building. He leaned against the stone facade. She marched over to him, grabbed his lapel, and dragged him back, away from any audience.

“Jessie,” he said in a flirtatious tone. “What’s gotten into you?”

She spun around, opened her phone to Daniel’s picture, and held it up. “Now, I’ll be honest. I can’t tell which pair of these ugly feet is yours—I’m assuming the smaller of the two—but I know one of them is.”

Jacob’s face fell. Then he smirked. “You trying to ID me in a photo by my feet?”

She quoted the caption. “‘White beaches and best buds. Living the good life.’”

He kept his smile, but now it didn’t extend to his eyes. “So?”

“When you first came back, you told me after church that you and Daniel used to be ‘best buds.’ In fact, that was something he used to say about you a lot when we were kids. Now, I don’t know if you remember, but I dated your brother for four years. I know him, and I know you.” She poked him in the chest. “You were there, and now we both know it.”

She stepped around him and headed off.

He called out. “Is that a threat?”

She glanced over her shoulder. “While you’ve been back, you’ve been laying your lying, twisted web of deceit, you used me to gain trust and to hurt, and you made serious chinks in the reputation of a good man. You’d better believe it’s a threat.”

He chuckled. “Typical. You fell in love with him. You and every other woman in the world. Trust me, Jessie, you’re not special to him. You’re just a notch on his belt.”

“That’s rich coming from you.” She stepped toward him a step and lowered her voice. “At least he isn’t going around seducing young, naive girls like Alex’s sister.”

His gaze hardened, and for the first time, she saw the truly ugly man he was.

“You disgust me,” she said. “And soon, everyone will see you for who you really are.” With that parting shot, she turned and left.

Chapter 16

“We’re making them an offer today,” Kevin said. “We’d like to keep working with you, but we’ll go it alone. You were right: this is prime land. It’s too good to pass up.”

Alex leaned back in his leather chair at his desk in the office, talking to Kevin and Steven on speaker. “The townsfolk are not on board with this. And trust me, the last thing you want to do is alienate yourself from them.” The people in Harvest Ranch were some of the nicest folk Alex had had the opportunity of meeting, but one thing he knew for sure was that they were stubborn and they were fighters.

“They’ll get over it, I’m sure. And besides, we’re confident you can smooth things over,” Steve said.

Over the last three weeks, Alex had explored every option open to him and Charlie. As it had from the beginning of their coup, they’d only had two that Alex could see, and he didn’t like either. One, they could work with them and try to maneuver things in a more favorable light, or two, they could jump ship. He’d tried negotiating, but Kevin and Steve were immovable, so despite Charlie’s hopes that they could fix things from within, Alex now knew that was no longer an option.

“No,” Alex said.

“No?” Kevin laughed.

“No.” He was firmer this time. “Young and Beaumont aren’t helping you with this. We’re out.”

“You can’t be out,” Kevin said. “Without us, your little eight-house project goes down the drain.”

Alex’s heart clenched. He wanted this project badly. He’d been more excited about it than anything else he and Charlie had done. And he had to admit that he was starting to love Harvest Ranch. Not just the beauty of the land, but the people too. “Maybe it will, maybe it won’t.”

“Don’t mess with us, Alex. We can make sure no one in Virginia will ever work with you again,” Steve said.

Alex believed him. It was part of the reason they’d partnered with them to begin with. They were powerful in the state, as Charlie said, and had all the right connections. It was also why backing out was so risky. It was part of the reason why Charlie had been adamantly against cutting ties with them even though working with them had thrown his personal life into chaos. “And yet, I remain unmoved.”

Someone cleared their throat; then Steve spoke again. “Where’s Charlie? We want to talk to him.”

“I don’t see why. I own controlling interest in Young and Beaumont. I started this company and made the first two big deals,” Alex said. “I know you’ve been under the impression that I’m solely the face of this company, a washed-up celebrity with no business sense, but that’s not the case. I worked for a construction all through my teens, I have a master’s in business, and now, I have a chip on my shoulder. So when I tell you we won’t work with you, that is the official stance of Young and Beaumont.”

“Alex—”

“And by the way, as of now, Young and Beaumont will do whatever is necessary to protect the best interests of Harvest Ranch.” He let that sit a minute. “Goodbye, gentlemen.”

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