“I take it you didn’t know that either.”
“They didn’t want to worry me,” she said flatly, but it didn’t take the sting from the truth. They’d kept everything from her.
Her pie-in-the-sky parents who loved that building arguably as much as they loved each other had to have gone to Big Crane as a last resort. They’d overlooked he had Satan for a son.
“They trusted your father to take care of them,” she said, her anger blooming anew. “Then you waltz in and wipe them out.”
“My father likes your parents, but this isn’t about what nice people they are,” Satan continued. “He mentioned how well they’d maintained the local landmark with what funds they had available.”
Merina’s nostrils flared as she inhaled some much-needed oxygen. Her parents had cared for and upgraded the Van Heusen as best they could, but face it, her family didn’t have the billion-dollar bankroll the Cranes had.
“Your father is a wise man,” she said, pitting the two men against each other. Sure enough, a flicker of challenge shone in Reese’s navy eyes. “I doubt his intention when he purchased the Van Heusen was to turn it into a mini-me of the Crane.”
“My father is retiring in a few months. He’s made it clear the future of the Van Heusen is in my hands.” Reese shrugged, which made him look relaxed and made her pulse skyrocket. “I fail to see the charm in the funky, run-down boutique hotel, and I assume most visitors do as well.”
Funky? Just who did this jerk-off think he was?
“Do you know how many Hollywood actors have dined in our restaurant?” she blurted. “Hemingway wrote part of his memoir sitting on the velvet chair in the lobby!”
“I thought he mostly wrote in Key West.”
“Rumors,” she hissed.
A smirk slid over his lips in a look that likely melted his fan club’s collective underpants, but it had no effect on her. Not now that she knew how far he was taking this.
“You have outdated heating and air,” he said, “elevators that are so close to violating safety codes, you may as well install ladders for the guests on the upper floors, and the wood putty isn’t fooling anyone, Merina.”
At the cool pronouncement of her name, she sat straighter. She’d been told last month that the building inspector had come by for a reassessment for property value, not that he’d be feeding information to the vulture sitting across from her now.
She’d clearly been left out of a lot of discussions.
“The elevators are original to the building.”
“It shows.” He offered a slow blink. “The Van Heusen is stodgy and outdated, and revenue is falling more each quarter. I’m doing your parents a favor by offering them a way out of what will be nothing but a future of headaches.” Reese folded his hands on the desk blotter, expertly avoiding the water gathered there. A large-faced watch peeked out from the edge of his shirt, the sleeves adorned with a pair of onyx and platinum cuff links. “The Crane branding is strong, our business plan seamless. If you love the building as much as you claim to, you’d support the efforts to increase the traffic. We’ll see profits double with an upgrade.” He shook his head. “But not with your parents there. And not with you there.”
A shiver climbed her spine, the rain and Reese’s words having sunk right into her bone marrow. Wait. Was he suggesting…
“You’re…firing…me?”
He remained stoically silent.
“My family’s goddamn name is on the marquee, Crane!” She shot out of her seat and pressed her fingertips onto his desk. Shining, perfect, unscarred. No character. No soul. No history.
Like Reese Crane himself.
“Your family’s name will remain on the building,” he stated calmly. And while those words tumbled around her brain and set fire to the fury that he’d put on to sear, he added, “Your parents are getting close to retirement age. Are you sure you swam over here on their behalf? Or is this about you?”
“Of course I’m sure,” she said too quickly. She wasn’t sure at all. Her world had been upended. Like when she’d learned there was no Santa Claus and that her dad had been sneaking downstairs to eat the Oreos all those years. She thought back to her mom telling her about the sale of the Van Heusen and recalled the dash of hope in Jolie’s expression.
Did they want out?
“Think about it, Merina. What I’m offering is more than retirement, and at their age I’m sure they don’t want to find work,” Reese stated. “Running the Van Heusen is all they’ve known.”
If she had said that, the sentence would have been infused with passion hinting at the fairy tale by which they came to own the Van Heusen. When Reese said it, he made the hotel sound like it was a lame, deaf, blind dog needing to be put down.
No. She would not accept this. Not from Reese. Not from her parents. It was possible they’d forgotten how much the hotel meant to them. Not having money created desperate feelings. Her father wasn’t as spry as he once was given his heart condition. Maybe they needed her intrusion.
Reese’s phone buzzed and Bobbie stated, “Ms. Van Heusen’s town car is here, sir.”
“I don’t want it,” Merina bit out, still leaning over his desk.
He angled his eyes up to her and they stayed locked in a heated staring contest until “Very well” came from the phone’s speaker, then clicked off again.
Merina straightened. Outside, the rain started coming down in sheets. Didn’t it figure? An involuntary shiver racked her spine, and possibly her lips were turning blue from her wet hair, but she kept her knees locked and her arms folded securely over her peek-a-boo breasts.
“I have an appointment I can’t miss, but I won’t leave you in suspense.” Reese stood, deftly unbuttoned his jacket, and shrugged out of it. Those shoulders. My God. He was a mountain of a man. Tall and broad and the absolute opposite of what anyone might expect a hotel owner-slash-billionaire to look like.
“Suspense?” she repeated, her voice dipping low when he came out from behind the desk. Her eyes screwed up to meet his as he draped his suit jacket over her shoulders.
“I’m not going to put you out on your fantastic ass, Merina.” His lips tipped—lush lips. His was a mouth made for sin. But then, Satan. So it made sense.
She gripped the jacket when he let go. She should be throwing it at him, but it was warm and she was freezing. And it smelled of leather and money and power. Three things she wished didn’t make her feel safe. What was it about this man? She’d seen pictures of him before, and yes, noticed he was attractive, but in the flesh there was something about him that made her feel utterly feminine. Even at the worst possible times. Like when he was dangling her job over a lava-filled pit and daring her to grab for it.
“I appreciate your reconsidering. I belong at the Van Heusen.” Until she figured out a way to get the hotel back, at least she could be there. She would come up with a way to delay the remodel.
“No, you misunderstand me. I can’t keep you there,” he said, a frown marring his otherwise perfect brow. “But I can offer you almost any position you’d like at Crane Hotels. We have openings in Wisconsin, Virginia, and Ohio. I know it’s not Chicago, but chances are you can stay in the Midwest.”