Page 61 of The Naughty Or Nice Clause

Lou looked disappointed, clicking her fingernail against the edge of her coffee cup.

“It’s not because I don’t love it here. This place is like a dream come true – except for the wolves that tried to eat me.”

Lou chuckled at that, and the tension between them dissolved.

“Back home, there’s never been much for me except for the legacy of the family company. I was so focused on carrying on that legacy, making my own name in it, that I put it before everything else. To leave it behind, leave my friends, and have to lie to them… Giving up the home my mum raised me in…”

Lyla realised how much of what she was saying sounded like a no. Yet, despite it all, she would do any of those things if Mason forgave her.

Chapter Twenty-Four

THE CONVERSATION WITH Lou turned to less fraught topics, such as how she’d met Sara, but she soon had to head back to work. Lyla asked whether she could join her in the workshop in the hope of seeing Mason, only to discover that the mechanics worked on the sleighs in another part of Yule.

She decided to wander around the village for a while, if only to prevent herself from eating more cake. Eventually she stopped by the workshop, determined to face her problems. Inside, she searched for any familiar face amongst the bustle, and found Ian fixing a tap on the hourglass.

“Ian, sorry to disturb you,” she said, tapping his shoulder. He jumped and she apologised.

“Lost in my own world,” he said, putting down his wrench. “What can I do for you?”

“I was looking for Mason,” she began, glancing around the busy workshop. Everyone was too busy preparing for the last dash of the season to even notice she had come in. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you…”

“Not at all – I’ve been working on this tap for a bloody hour. It won’t budge, and I could do with a break.” He scratched the back of his head and looked up at the office. “But it’s not me you want to see. Sorry to say, but Mason already left for the day. Said something about checking the sleighs.”

“Oh. I must have passed him,” Lyla said, trying not to sound too disappointed.

“Is everything all right? I can tell him you were here when he returns,” he offered.

“Fine, nothing to worry about. Just wanted to see him. There’s no need to mention.” She turned to leave, but she had to ask. “Do you know where he might be?”

Ian picked up his wrench. “I can’t say I do.” He gave her a sympathetic look before going back to the tap.

“Thank you. I won’t keep you any longer,” she said, leaving him to his work. The last thing she wanted was for Mason to think she was involving others in their drama.

By the time she reached the house, she was frozen through and desperate for a seat by the fire and a cup of tea. The rest of the family were out, and there was still no sign of Mason having been in the office or the spare room.

When she reached their bedroom, the room had been cleaned and her suitcase sat on the bed.

Lyla wrapped her arms around herself, as though trying to protect herself from what the gesture meant.He wants me gone.She suppressed the urge to cry, afraid that if she let the tears fall, they would never stop. Picking up a pillow, she hugged it to her chest. Last night they’d shared a bed, and today he was telling her to leave.

She lifted the lid of the case to find the dress she had worn last night, and a sheaf of papers on top. She picked them up, confused, and realised it was a new contract.He must have drawn it up and left it here while I was out.She picked up the pages and brought them towards the fire, ready to destroy them, then caught sight of Mason’s signature. Flicking through the pages, she realised that the company shares were hers – but this wasn’t how she wanted to earn her legacy. She wanted to save the company, and she needed his help, needed him. She couldn’t do everything herself, nor did she want to anymore. She threw the contract into the fire and picked up the suitcase, ready to put it under her bed. To hide it, before anyone else saw.

He thinks I’m that easy to get rid of?I’m not leaving. He’ll talk to me whether he wants to or not.Lyla heard the door open behind her, and hope swelled in her chest.

“Mason?” she asked, but something hard struck the side of her head, and the room went dark.

Lyla woke on a wooden floor with a blinding headache. Instantly, she checked her head for bleeding, but there was only a bump. She picked up her glasses, which were lying beside her, before looking up to find she was sitting in the town hall. Gone was any trace of the gala. The council sat before her, all looking either murderous or sympathetic.

“The accused was packing a suitcase. She was going to flee, and who knows what she would have said if I had let her leave! I did what I had to in order to bring her here.” Standing next to her, Natalie addressed the council.

Now it was Lyla’s turn to look murderous.The bitch knocked me out? What type of person bashes someone over the head? She could have asked to talk, like a sane person.Lyla struggled to her feet, a little dizzier than she’d expected to be.

“Was such force necessary?” a familiar voice asked, and Lyla searched the council to find Mrs Klaus sitting amongst them. To Lyla’s relief, she looked more sympathetic than the rest. In fact, when Mrs Klaus’s gaze flicked to Natalie, she looked horrified.

“You couldn’t kill me with the strawberries, so you want to force the council to wipe my memory? Because if I forget about what happened here, I’ll forget my feelings for Mason. Is a guy really worth it?” Lyla demanded.

“This has nothing to do with Mason,” Natalie declared, stamping her foot on the hardwood floor like a petulant child.

“Killing you with strawberries? Attempting to force the council’s hand? Those are some strong accusations,” Frederick said, and Lyla felt utterly doomed. Now that Mason was going to take his father’s seat, it meant Frederick wouldn’t be the next Klaus. He didn’t look pleased about it.

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