“Oh, I’m not here for an inspection.”
The young woman’s cheeks flushed as she reached up and nervously wiped at her short bangs.
He knew the feminine equivalent of flirting and, for the next few minutes, he allowed the girl to drone on about how boring her job was.
Indeed, the phone didn’t ring the entire time he stood there, nor did he see a single soul around the massive lobby area.
“Oh.” She glanced around and leaned a little closer to him. “Did you hear the news?”
“No.” He mirrored her move and leaned closer. “What news?”
“Raven Brooks is back. I, of course, had no clue who she was until yesterday.” She shook her head and sighed. “I had no clue that she owned the resort.”
“She does?” This wasn’t surprising news to him. After all, it had been her parents that had started and owned the resort years ago. He understood that her uncle and aunt had been running the business for her over the past ten years.
“Yes, she checked in late yesterday afternoon.” Christina leaned back, then smiled a little. “She seems nice, even asked me for my…” She dropped off and looked around.
“Your…?” he asked, curious why the girl suddenly looked nervous.
“My real name,” she whispered.
His eyebrows jumped up in question. “Christina isn’t your real name?”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s the name Mrs. Brooks, Roslyn,” she added quickly to clarify, “demanded I use. She claimed that no one was going to be able to pronounce my real name.”
“What is your real name?” he asked, curious.
“Cemal Rahim.” She glanced around again.
“It’s a beautiful name, Cemal. And suits you much more than Christina,” he added with a smile.
Her smile grew. “Thank you.”
It was then that he noticed that her normal dull attire had been replaced by a crisp pressed red button-up shirt and black slacks. He could tell that she’d put a lot more effort into her attire than she had the past few times he’d seen her.
He wondered if that was Raven’s doing as well. Was she intimidating enough to scare the girl into wearing different clothes?
“Is she around?” he asked. “Raven Brooks, I mean.” He glanced around the empty lobby.
“Oh, she’s inspecting the property today.” Cemal motioned to the long hallway that led to several offices and conference rooms.
“She is?” he asked. “Hm, I probably should go check and see if she has any concerns as far as the fire safety around here.” He stood up straight. “Happen to know which room she’s in?”
“I think she’s in Mr. Brooks's office,” Cemal said.
He turned his attention back to her. “Thank you, Cemal,” he said, earning a bright smile in return.
As he made his way down the hallway, he could hear yelling from the office when he was still fifteen feet away, even though it was shut.
When he stood right outside, he eavesdropped and heard Colin Brooks’ raised voice.
“I don’t give a damn what you think,” Colin practically screamed. “You are not coming in here after I have given this place everything in the past decade. This was my brother’s place. He may have left it to you, but I’ve run it. I’ve worked hard to make it what it is now.”
Cade glanced around at the worn-down furnishings. He knew who Colin and Roslyn Brooks were, knew their problems, as did most people in town. Colin’s many affairs and gambling debts were well known, as were Roslyn’s drinking issues. She got kicked out of the town bar on a weekly basis. Rumors were that she had a few DUIs that kept her from driving. Her husband’s money and power had apparently kept her out of jail so far.
“I’m not going to let some young girl come in here with zero experience and destroy everything I’ve worked hard on. Your father may have wanted you to own this resort, but he had no intentions of having you run it.” Colin continued to yell. “Besides, everyone in town knows you are the reason he’s dead.” Cade leaned a little closer to see if he could hear Raven’s response. Her voice was too low and soft to hear her response.
“I don’t give a shit,” Colin yelled in response to whatever she’d said. “I won’t hand over this business. You can go to hell.”
At this point, Colin heard something that had him moving quickly—a loud bang just before a woman’s yelp. Cade recognized those sounds. He knew what they meant.
He never spoke ill of his father. After all, he’d been a colonel in the military and had died for his country. But whenever the man had returned home from duty, his mother had paid the price.
Moving quickly, Cade yanked open the door and charged into the office.
Colin Brooks was standing alone on one side of the desk, face red and full of anger, his hands lying down by his sides, balled into fists.
Cade’s eyes skimmed over to where a red-haired beauty sat behind the desk, concern and confusion flooding her eyes. Raven Brooks looked nothing like what he remembered.
The woman had pale almost flawless skin, except for some soft freckles that dotted her nose. Her long red hair lay in soft curls over her shoulders, perfectly in place. She was wearing a soft white sweater that somehow made her look almost untouchable.
Her crystal blue eyes were watching him with interest and a hint of concern.
“I, uh.” He cleared his throat, unsure of what to say now that he’d just barged in, having obviously misunderstood what had transpired in the office. “Heard a bang?” he said, feeling slightly stupid.
Raven stood up and motioned to the chair. “The chair,” she said before turning to her uncle, “is broken.”
Colin Brooks sighed deeply. “We’ll finish this discussion later,” he said, then he turned and stormed out, but not before nodding to him. “Cade.”
“Brooks,” he replied. It wasn’t as if he hated the man. Cade just knew his type.
When Colin left, he slammed the door behind him, leaving Cade in the room alone with the person responsible for his brother’s death.
Cade didn’t know what to expect. If he’d had a moment to think about it, he would have said one of the millions of things he’d come up with over the years. Instead, he stood there in silence as they assessed one another.
He watched several emotions flash behind those crystal eyes of hers and knew that he was feeling much of the same. But he could easily add anger to his list, where she had none.
“Can I help you?” she finally broke the silence.
“I’m Cade…” he started.
“I know who you are,” she broke in. “What can I do for you?”
He took a step forward. “I have some questions.”
Her eyebrows arched up.
“About?” She wheeled the chair away from the desk and motioned for him to sit in one of the chairs before pushing a different chair behind the desk and sitting down.
“Ten years ago,” he finally said after she sat down in the new office chair.
She tensed, her lips going very thin and her eyes growing blank. She stood again quickly.
“I have no answers for you. I think, Mr. Stone, you’d be better off…” She motioned towards the door.