Chapter Two
Drizzle clung to the air, hovering without falling. The impending storm fit the bleak tone of her father’s burial. The gray sky held back its tears just as she did. Lily Harris concentrated on breathing, not wanting to listen to the pretty words as generic as the list of business acquaintances on the memorial guest book the funeral home had insisted on.
No one would ever get the satisfaction of seeing her shoulders slump or a tear fall down her cheek. She pulled in a deep breath and held her head higher. She might dissolve into a puddle of tears eventually, but here they’d see nothing but pride for the man who’d dedicated his life to being a good father. The few people who pretended to care enough to attend a private graveside service were just like the others, waiting for the news headlines, eager for gossip about how she looked and acted today.
The lawyer handling her father’s estate held a black umbrella over them both. The moisture in the air seeped through her clothes, chilling her to the bone. The minister’s words rang empty; everything had for the last month. Pancreatic cancer hit hard and fast and painfully. Each word people spoke seemed filled with morbid curiosity of how a world so tightly woven unraveled so quickly and completely. The life she knew had died with her father. The entire estate needed to be sold to clear his debts, and it might not be enough.
Jake Tolliver’s presence echoed around her like a suffocating aura. She didn’t need to turn to know he’d moved to stand behind her, his hand at her elbow. He’d been the one navigating the financial black hole while she focused on her father. She was grateful for the time it had saved her but wary of what he might expect in return. He’d already taken her father’s portion of their firm.
“Ready?” Jake’s deep timbre resonated through her, but she didn’t turn her head. As much as she’d needed him to be in control of the business since her father’s diagnosis, she couldn’t be indebted to him. She had enough debt already.
If she leaned on him too much, she’d fall when he stepped back. She had to get her bearings, had to stand on her own feet. Whether she knew how or not.
He clasped her elbow before she could respond, taking her from the relative safety of the umbrella. Her vulnerability crested like a wave she nearly choked on as they stepped away from her father’s gravesite. She couldn’t make a scene, even though she wanted to break away, to stay close. Run all the way back to the life she used to have.
“We need to go.” Jake kept walking, propelling her forward.
“Not yet,” she managed to whisper, casting a glance to where workers had stepped in, covering his still-open grave with a tarp. It seemed so undone, so unreal.
“He wouldn’t want you to stay. Not to watch this, to be watched.” His determination dominated her, leading her on when everything in her wanted to stay.
“He wouldn’t want this, either. He would’ve wanted me to do what I feel is right. Haven’t you ever felt anything like this gaping hole tearing me apart? It’s too fast.”
“A little farther, Lily. Almost there.” His fingers tightened on her, his pace quickening, the heels of her shoes sinking into the damp grass with each step. “You can make it to the car.”
She pursed her lips in a firm line, knowing he was right. She saw the reporters at the meeting gate, cars ready to follow wherever they went. A few weeks ago, being in the headlines meant she’d attended a charity event. Now, it symbolized how low her father had sunk before his death, the dozens of people claiming he owed them money. What a legacy to have left.
Rows of black cars waited beyond the marshy grass of the cemetery. With a wave of his hand, Jake dismissed the car she’d arrived in and its driver. Before she could even ask what he was doing, he opened the door of the only car with color in the line, a shimmering emerald green, the signature color of all his businesses. With a firm hand at the small of her back, he urged her inside. Just as the chauffer had acquiesced, so did she. She couldn’t defy Jake Tolliver, the powerful and generous, at least not under the watchful eye of the media.
Jake joined her in the car and turned the key, the feral sound of power echoing in her ears. The car leapt onto the road, racing out of the gate amid flashes of light.
…
Jake’s entire body vibrated with tension; he didn’t want to imagine how it must be for her. Lily sat ramrod straight in the leather seat, her blond hair damp around her shoulders. Even now, with her world crumbling, she looked perfect. She was every inch a woman, but she still radiated an innocence that had him doing things for her he would never even consider doing for someone else. And she resented him for it.
He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and checked the rearview mirror. A few of the reporters had followed, but not all. She was going through enough without having to be watched.
She’d been so composed all through the funeral, the unaffected poise of a woman much older than twenty-three. No one saw cracks in her veneer. If he hadn’t heard her sobbing in her room at night, he might say she was handling it well.
Lily took a shaky breath and let it out slowly. She slid off the sunglasses shielding her eyes and put them carefully on her lap. His glasses. She hadn’t thought to bring any, and he hadn’t wanted to let any of those vultures see her cry. They’d come to pick over the carnage of William Harris. Lily had done her part. Anyone who didn’t know her as well as he did wouldn’t have noticed how she struggled.
“The reporters are coming anyway, no matter what path you take to the house.” Her voice, thick and unsteady, squeezed his very soul. He never wanted her to ever feel this kind of pain, but there was nothing he could do about it.
“They’re not coming anywhere near you. I’m locking the gate.”
Lily let out a long sigh. “We can’t do that. People expect to visit all day, to pay their respects, though they offer him none. They’ll probably want a look around, searching for what to buy at the estate sale.”
“No one is passing through the house. You don’t need people who claim to be your friends prying for information.”
“That’s not the way it works, Jake. I keep telling myself there are a few of them who actually are sorry.”
“Then where have they been? Any of them could’ve comforted you, could’ve helped you through this.” William and Lily had been so close, father and daughter, but also best of friends. In losing him, she’d lost more than a father, more than a way of life. “Once we arrive, the gate will be locked and guarded.”
“It’s easiest to get it over with. People will be offended if I don’t, and that will bring more speculation.”
“If they’re offended, I have broad shoulders. I’m not a slave to social niceties.” He downshifted as he entered the elite neighborhood. Ten houses set back on sprawling plots of land, as opulent as it was exclusive. Families didn’t move from here. Any change of residence was caused by death and inheritance. He supposed Will’s house was an inheritance of sorts. “Anyone who is truly your friend will understand, and you don’t need the rest of them.”
He swung into the drive, tension easing as two burly men stood at the entrance. What the iron bars couldn’t hold back, he knew these two would.
With a nod to the men, he passed through the gates, relaxing more as they closed. Lily was safe, safe to heal and decide what she wanted for her future.
“What if I want them to come?”
“Why would you? They don’t deserve your hospitality or politeness. Too many of them equate a person’s worth with their bank balance.”
“Then they’ll think I’m nothing.” She stared at the window, her delicate jaw clenched so tightly she might crack a tooth.
“They don’t know you. You’ve lived a sheltered life, angel. You’re going to make it through this. Will was my friend. I promised him I do anything to keep you protected.”
Lily sniffed. “Does that include being protected from you?”
“You’re not afraid of me.” He knew there was a reason for the way she avoided him, never letting him too close, doing her best to avoid touching while still seeming the perfect hostess. But he was through playing Beast to her Beauty.
“When you have nothing to lose, there is nothing to fear. Whatever promises you made my father, I absolve you of them. I don’t need protecting, or someone trying to run my life.”
“You do right now. It’s for your own good.” He parked the car and killed the engine.
“You have no idea what’s good for me. You have no idea what it will be like to dismantle everything my father built and watch it go to the highest bidder. I’m grateful you were here to help while he was ill, but there’s nothing you can do now. The nightmare begins, and you can’t protect me from it.”
“I know nightmares, Lily. I grew up in government housing, went to the best schools on a full scholarship, but what do I know about holding on to pride?”
He pulled his key from the ignition. He hated how she could do this to him, make him feel like he both needed to slay any dragon that came her way and throttle her himself. He never lost his cool, never let emotions rule his actions, but Lily Harris always knew exactly which strings to pull to make him crazy.
“Don’t push me right now. Never show all your cards before you know what game you’re playing.”
She was the most frustrating woman he’d ever known. Anyone else would be grateful. Would be asking him for more. But then if she were anyone else, he would never have bothered.
…
If Jake wanted to protect her privacy, why wouldn’t he leave her alone? She hated the fuzzy blur of emotions rioting through her. Her father had always been healthy and strong until cancer had come into their lives, turning everything upside down and backward until she barely knew how to stand up straight.
Every day of those last weeks with her father, Jake had been there, hovering. Even with familiarity, she hadn’t grown accustomed to the domineering way he took control of all he touched.
“You’re being silly,” her father had said when she’d suggested he should be wary of Jake. “He’s brilliant. I’ve never met someone so smart and talented at the same time. He works harder than three men together. Honestly, there’s no one I trust more.”
Whenever she tried to explain how uneasy he made her, she was treated to another ode to Jake. She’d heard his entire life story, everything he wanted people to know at least. The generous charity donations, working through projects others had deemed impossible, making deals no one could believe.
She never understood what Jake wanted with her father’s architecture firm. He’d had his own, one with projects spanning the globe and partnerships in every facet of the business from manufacturing to construction. Such sharp predatory focus barely contained beneath the patina of sophistication. There was a ruthlessness behind his dark eyes.
One day he would pounce.
With her father gone and his every asset swallowed up by the yawning maw of his creditors, there was only one way to settle the rest. She hated the idea of selling the house, but her master’s degree wasn’t complete, and she’d never held a job. Her father always had somewhere he needed her to be without any notice, making it difficult to keep up with her coursework, let alone a job. She should have completed her program by now, be halfway to her doctorate. But there had never been a rush to finish. And now, a degree in English literature seem terribly impractical. What she needed was a business degree and tangible skills, not a plethora of knowledge on the historical significance of the works of Jane Austen.
She had to find some way to support herself. She’d been able to put it off while her father had been ill, but she needed to face the situation head-on. Tomorrow. She’d been through enough today.
She’d find a way to remember her father without all the indiscretions he’d admitted to. He’d apologized profusely for the risky investments, gambling, and women. All things she had never realized were a part of his life. She’d forgiven him everything, because really, what good would it do to blame a dying man for mistakes that were hers as well?
Jake acted as if he’d predicted the downfall. Maybe that’s what she’d sensed in him all along, his knowledge of her father’s issues, probably using them to his advantage to take control of the firm. If he’d truly been her father’s friend, he would’ve told her, would’ve helped her father get the help he needed before things were so far gone no one could rectify the situation. Instead, he’d lain in wait, ready to tear it all to pieces like a marauder.
She gazed out the window of the car, her eyes heavy as she took in the planes and angles of the home she loved. Her father had designed and built it as a wedding present to her mother. Her own personal Taj Mahal. Both her parents had died within its walls, and too soon, she’d have to leave her memories of them here. She prayed selling it would cover the debt. But she knew she’d never get enough money to make up for what the house was worth to her.
Jake pulled open the car door, startling her from her trance. She’d been doing that too much lately, her mind never staying clear long enough for her to move forward without getting stuck.
“It’s a beautiful home, Lily. I know you love it.”
She climbed from the car and shrugged. “I don’t know anything else. It’ll be gone soon. Gone to me, at least.”
“If that’s what you want,” he said, as if she had any choice in the matter.
She followed him up the stone steps, steps she’d waited on every day as a little girl for her father to come home from work. “If I could, I would keep the house. All of my memories are here.”
“Memories live in your heart, angel, not in the house.” He slid a key she didn’t know he had into the lock and opened the door.
“I hope you’re right. But please, don’t talk to me about the house. Not today. If you have any heart at all, not today.”
“You don’t think I’m heartless.” He held the door open, a wicked grin playing on his handsome face.
“Honestly, I don’t think of you at all.” She stepped past him, wishing he would go away. She shrugged out of her coat and laid it on the upholstered bench in the foyer. She’d sat on that bench her entire life when putting on her shoes.
“You only wish that were true.”
She turned to face him and saw the corner of his mouth quivering as if he were trying not to laugh at her. Just like everyone else. “What I wish is for—”
“Lily, you’re home.”
She spun at the sound of the warm voice, watching another of her home’s fixtures come toward her. Emmaline had a kind smile and a helmet of gray curls. She’d come to the family as a baby nurse and had never left. But now, Emmaline was another thing Lily couldn’t afford to keep.
The older woman’s eyes were reddened, her lips chapped. Lily went to her instinctively and held her close. She needed to be near someone who understood what she’d lost wasn’t a game, but an entire life. Her throat began to ache, and tears prickled her lids, but she wouldn’t let a tear fall where anyone could see.
“Emmaline, will you bring some coffee into the den and a sandwich for Lily?” Jake hung both of their coats in the coat closet, as if he planned to stay. “I don’t think she’s eaten anything today.”
Lily turned back to Jake, her fingers itching to slap him. He had to know she wanted to be left alone. Couldn’t he see Emmaline was grieving and didn’t need to be fetching anything.
“Of course, Mr. Tolliver.” Emmaline smiled at him as she always did. For some reason, she’d taken a liking to Jake from the beginning.
Once they were alone again, she spoke her mind. “What I eat is none of your business. And I don’t want you ordering Emmaline about. Not today. She hates funerals, or she would’ve been with me. And I have no intention of going into the den.”
The den had been her father’s sanctuary. Part home office, part study, and generally his favorite place to be. She hadn’t gone in there since the day he’d collapsed and she realized everything had changed.
“There are things we need to discuss. Alone.”
“I don’t want to be alone with you. And I trust Emmaline completely.”
“As do I. But there are things she does not need to know, things you may not want her to.” He stepped closer, his expression darkening. Her breath caught in her throat, and she fought the urge to back up. Enough people gave in to him. She would not be another.
He shook his head and walked faster, down the hall and into the den, leaving her the choice to follow or not.