Nick walked through the third floor, examining all the new framework for the suites. He glanced at his phone again and wondered what was keeping Silvia. It wasn’t like her to be late, but maybe something had held her up at work.
He bypassed the second floor, where the crew was working for the day, and went down to the main lobby. Still no sign of her, so he headed toward the back of the building and stepped out onto the expansive wraparound deck with breathtaking views. This was where they would host parties and private receptions and even weddings. His mother had created a very detailed packaging plan for guests. He couldn’t wait to see the end result come to fruition.
Out of all the businesses he’d worked on, this was by far his favorite. Unlike those others, which he’d flipped and sold, this one he would keep forever. Perhaps his child would want to take over this resort one day. Maybe this could be the start of a legacy. Nothing would’ve made his mother happier than to know her grandchild would one day take the reins.
A thrill of hope about a future with Silvia burst through him. What would she say if he asked her to create that family, that dynasty? With her architectural skills and his business sense, they could create a hell of a company. Of course, they could stay based out of Green Valley, but traveling with their child and exploring the world and flipping old buildings into something grand would be amazing.
And maybe that’s the dream he’d been waiting for. Maybe that was the life that had been calling to him. He’d just had to find the right woman to share it with.
Nick knew his mother would’ve loved having a grandchild, and she likely would have been gooey and all smiles over how Nick and Silvia had found each other in the most difficult of circumstances. Now he just had to convince Silvia that they were right for each other, that her past didn’t have to dictate her future.
Nick stared out over the mountains and instantly envisioned a wedding here. His wedding to his beautiful bride, glowing with pregnancy.
He smiled, unable to prevent happiness from bursting out. He loved Silvia. Maybe he’d been falling in love from the moment he’d met her, but now he knew he didn’t want to be without her.
Raising their child in the kind of home they’d both missed out on would be their ultimate testimony to love and commitment.
And knowing he was building an even bigger legacy than he’d ever dreamed filled him with a burst of hope. He truly wished his mother could be here to see everything.
“Tell me you didn’t leak the story.”
Nick jerked around. Silvia stood in the open doorway, her wide eyes locked on his.
“What?” he asked.
“The story splashed all over social media.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and held the screen out to him. “Did you do this?”
Confused, Nick closed the distance between them and took her phone. He stared at the photo of them, obviously taken just a while ago outside the doctor’s office when Nick had been easing her hair behind her ears. There was another shot of when he’d kissed her.
The headlines, the comments, the hashtags—all were claiming the business mogul was becoming a father, and Silvia’s name was mentioned, as well as the name of her firm.
His eyes darted back to hers and there was no mistaking she was serious about her accusations.
“I told you I would tell them,” she insisted. “I told you to give me time. Why would you do this?”
“Wait. You truly think I did this?”
He waited for her to deny it, but the way she stared at him with so much hurt and anger, he could see she truly had convinced herself that he’d had a hand in outing them.
Did she immediately think the worst of him because of his confession about his biological father? Rusty was a total bastard, but Nick worked damn hard not to be like that. He’d always tried to be straightforward and honest, even more so now that he knew the genes he fought against.
“Who else even knew we had a secret?” she asked, her arms out wide. “I certainly didn’t have someone ready to take our picture outside my OB’s office. I assume you wanted a valid reason for me to rely on you, a reason for me to let you do everything for me like you wanted to do from the start. You thought a few pics and a clever headline would get the truth out there and speed that process along.”
Nick didn’t know what feeling lay so heavy on his heart, but it certainly wasn’t the happiness and hope that had been there only moments ago.
“And you really believe I did this?” he asked again, giving her another chance to say something else.
“Did you?” she asked.
Nick pulled in a slow breath and glanced around at the mountains. That image he’d had of the two of them pledging their lives to each other had vanished.
He focused his attention back onto her. A fresh new slice of pain hit him hard. Maybe he was fighting a battle inside himself over what it meant to find out he was Rusty Lockwood’s son, but that struggle didn’t mean he would purposely, maliciously hurt someone he loved.
“The fact that you’re even asking me really crumbles every ounce of trust I’ve built with you.”
Her eyes widened, then closed. She blew out a sigh and shook her head.
“My first thought was that you planted someone there so it would pop up on social media and hopefully get back to my boss—which it did, by the way.”
Nick eased his hurt aside for a moment, concerned with her well-being. “What did he say?”
“I was given a week’s paid leave until they see if there’s going to be a scandal or a smear on the firm’s reputation.”
Nick’s fury volleyed between Silvia’s mistrust of him and her dumb-ass boss not believing in her. How dare that man say something to her about the relationship she had outside of work hours? Yes, Clark had a reputation to uphold, but he also had to be considerate to his employees and treat them all equally.
“If you tell me you didn’t do this,” she said, “then I’ll believe you.”
Nick shoved his hands in his pockets and stared back at her. “I don’t have to say anything,” he told her, the hurt growing deeper and deeper. “You either know my character or you don’t. And the fact that my betrayal was your first suspicion says nothing about me, but a lot about you and your fears about us.”
She jerked as if he’d smacked her.
“I didn’t leak anything,” he went on, forcing himself to close down the anguish he was feeling and just be honest. “I’m as blindsided as you are.”
Silvia’s bright blue eyes filled. “You can’t blame me for wondering if you had something to do with those photos. The timing was too perfect.”
“Maybe it was perfect,” he agreed, a gnawing ache settling deep. That fear that maybe he wouldn’t ever be good enough for long-term, that he and Silvia weren’t meant for each other, consumed him. “But if you’d taken just a few seconds to think before jumping to a damning conclusion, we wouldn’t be in this spot now.”
“And what’s that spot?” she whispered, one tear spilling down her cheek.
Unable to stop himself, Nick reached out and swiped away the moisture. He hadn’t known it possible to physically hurt so badly from being heartbroken. The loss of his mother, the discovery of his father, now this. It was all too much.
“Back at the beginning, where we don’t fully trust each other,” he answered, dropping his hand. “Go take that week of vacation, but I can’t be part of it. I can’t make you happy. I’ll be around if you need to tell me anything about the baby, but other than that, I can’t be with you, Sil. It’s too painful to love you and know you don’t believe I’m the man you deserve.”
He moved around her and walked through the lobby and out the front door. He bounded down the steps and straight to his truck. His vision blurred as tears pricked his eyes, and he blinked them away.
Over the past few weeks, there had been so many emotions that had completely taken over. He had no idea when he’d ever feel completely whole again or how he’d get his life back on the track he needed it to be.
All he knew was he’d never hurt like this. Between his mother and now Silvia, there was only so much pain he could handle.
Nick pulled away from the site and gripped the wheel as he tried to keep his emotions in check. How could she believe he’d ever do such a thing, especially after she’d told him how important it was for her to keep things secret?
All he could assume was that she truly didn’t know him, and having such a vengeful, wicked man as his father didn’t help his case. Hadn’t Nick believed all along that he wasn’t good enough for her? He’d wanted to prove himself—he’d even gotten his damn heart involved when he’d known good and well that was a mistake.
Nick found himself driving toward Silvia’s firm before he realized what he was doing, but since she’d had her say with them, Nick figured he wanted his, too. He was their client, after all, and his working relationship with Silvia was the reason for her paid time off.
As Nick pulled into a parking spot, his cell chimed. He killed the engine and picked up his phone. Rusty’s name lit up the screen, and Nick swiped open the message.
Immediately the photo that had surfaced on social media filled the screen, and Rusty’s message read, Like father like son.
Rage bubbled within Nick, and he shot off a reply.
I take responsibility...like mother like son.
He put his cell on silent and stepped from his truck. He didn’t need that reminder that there could be any of Rusty’s negative traits inside Nick. He’d been raised by the strongest, most amazing woman ever. She had done all the parenting, so there should be no trace of Rusty inside of Nick.
Ignoring his niggle of worry about somehow ending up like his father, Nick went straight in the main doors of the office and requested to see Clark immediately. The receptionist—Kevin, if Nick recalled—fumbled with the phone and made a quick call. Apparently, Nick’s face gave him away. It must have revealed that he wasn’t going to wait and he wasn’t here for small talk.
“You can go on up,” Kevin stated as he hung up the phone.
Nick nodded his thanks and moved to the elevators. Moments later, he marched through the fourth floor of the firm and straight to Clark’s office, where the doors were open.
“Nick,” Clark greeted as he came to his feet. “Great to see you. Come on in.”
Nick stepped in and shook the man’s hand. “I’m sure you know why I’m here.”
“I can guess,” Clark replied, then gestured toward the bar along the wall. “Can I offer you a drink?”
“I won’t be long,” Nick stated. “I just want to make it clear that if Silvia is taken off this project or if she is removed from her position here, I promise, I will take my business on this project and all future projects elsewhere.”
Clark’s smile vanished. “I gave Silvia a week off with paid leave.”
“I’m aware of that,” Nick stated, refusing to back down on this topic. “I’m also aware that’s your way of figuring out what to do with her. It’s your business, of course, and you can do what you want, but I’m just making my position clear. So you know where my business stands on the matter. I’m positive you could find another employee who had an outside relationship with a client. Your firm is too large—you’ve done too many projects. Silvia’s not your first.”
Clark’s jaw clenched. “I’ll take your words under advisement. Thanks for stopping in.”
Nick knew that was his cue to go, which was fine. He’d come for what he wanted, and he’d made his case clear. He also knew Silvia wouldn’t like that he had come to her defense here, but he didn’t give a damn. His name was associated with this story as well as hers, and even though he was angry with her, she still deserved to have someone standing in her corner. She’d never had that, and damn it, he loved her.
No matter what went down between them or where they landed, he couldn’t just turn off his emotions.
Besides that, she’d worked too hard for her career, and she deserved to do the job she excelled at.
As Nick marched back to his car, the message from Rusty slid to the front of his mind, and Nick knew in that instant who had leaked the story. That’s something Rusty would do—underhanded, scheming, having Nick followed to look for dirt.
Nick didn’t care, though. The truth would have come out eventually, and if Rusty thought this would make Nick back down, Rusty was an even bigger fool than Nick had thought.
He headed back to his house. With his heart so heavy, he’d rather work from home than deal with any employees or questions...especially today. No doubt if any of his staff had popped onto social media, they would’ve seen the pictures.
Right now, all he could do was focus on the resort, like his mother wanted. Silvia and that stab of betrayal would have to take a back seat in his mind—and in his heart.