Five Years Later
The black BMW pulled up to the curb of The Gosling. The chauffeur waited, glancing through the rear mirror at his passenger, who was lost in thought, staring out the window.
A valet, waiting under the awning, sprang forward, holding an umbrella and pulled open the back door, but she still didn’t stir.
“We’re here, Ms. Gosling.” He informed her in a quiet voice.
Erin started slightly, turning from the window and blinked at him in confusion for a few seconds before her brown eyes cleared and she flushed.
“Oh, thanks George.” She busied herself with gathering the huge stack of shopping bags in both arms and got out, shutting the door with her foot then hurrying through the drizzling rain into the hotel lobby.
She smiled at the busboy, who hurried forward to take the bags from her.
“Hello James,” she said, glad to finally be rid of the bags. “Is my mother here yet?”
“Yes Ms. Gosling, she’s waiting in the open cafe. Shall I take these up to the penthouse?”
“Yes, please. Thanks.”
Erin turned and headed off towards the cafe at the southern part of the hotel.
The Gosling was an ultramodern edifice of glass and marble rising fifty stories high and was her family’s pride and joy. She followed a succession of exquisite walkways and escalators until she came to the open dome right in the heart of the structure that was the open cafe.
The hostess smiled, and nodded towards where Erin’s mother sat, next to the marble mini waterfall.
“Hi Mom, sorry I’m late,” she bent and placed a fond kiss on her mother’s made up cheeks then flopped into the vacant seat opposite. “Nicky insisted on visiting every single shop we passed and time got away from me.”
Victoria Gosling leveled a fond smile at her daughter. “Hello darling. I just got here myself anyway so no need to apologize. How is Nicola?”
Erin was momentarily distracted by a waiter who appeared at her elbow. She ordered an iced tea then turned back to her mother.
“Nicky is fine, bridal nerves and all.” She grimaced as she recalled the torment of following her cousin from shop to shop, watching her try on a dozen outfits, all the while Nicky had kept up an excited chatter, while Erin had listened absently, wishing she could leave and return to the blessed seclusion of her hotel room.
Fortunately, the outing had been cut short by a call from Nicky’s fiance, Ryan, asking her out to lunch.
“The wedding is next month, isn’t it?” Victoria asked, taking a sip of orange juice while studying her daughter, noting the tired circles under her eyes and the tense shoulders. “You look tired darling. Have you been overworking yourself again?”
“Mum, you say that every time you see me,” Erin said, amused. “And like I keep telling you, I’m fine. Besides I have been on my feet all morning, so I should look tired anyway.”
“There are circles around your eyes and you look like you’re about to snap in two, you’re that tense.” Her mother pursed her lips in disapproval. “I am going to have a word with your father when I get home tonight, see about cutting down the responsibilities at the hotel.”
Erin sighed, drumming her fingertips on the table. Sometimes her mother treated her like she was still sixteen rather than a full grown woman of twenty seven.
“I don’t need a cut in my responsibilities mum. As it is all I do is oversee the kitchen staff, not much work is it? Look, I promise to take a week off after Nicky’s wedding, does that make you happy?”
“I suppose it will have to do,” Victoria heaved a long suffering sigh. “How is that man of yours anyway, Luke was it?” She watched the flush of anger that suffused Erin’s cheeks at the mention of his name. “Uh oh. Trouble in paradise?”
Erin fought down the swell of emotions that filled her insides as she recalled the scene with Luke last night in his apartment. Pain and anger struggled for control, the memory of the hurtful words he’d flung at her still felt like a knife in her gut each time she remembered it.
Granted, he had had every right to be furious- that was the second time she’d cried off dinner with his parents in the past year, but in her defense, she’d been swamped with work as the hotel had been playing host to a group of top business men from Japan, and Erin had needed to make sure the meals served had been nothing less than perfect.
Her two year relationship had paid the price for her dedication, but she did not regret her decision for one minute. Her family always came first and if Luke did not understand, oh well. Still, it hurt to know a two year relationship had ended that way.
“We decided things weren’t working out.” She finally replied, taking a deep sip of her iced tea, glad to have something to distract her from the condemnation she was sure to find if she looked at her mother.
“Oh Erin, really darling?” Victoria sighed in despair. “You need to settle down soon dear. Look at Nicky, you two are the same age and yet she’s already getting married. Time waits for -”
“Please don’t start, Mum,” Erin cut in. “I am not Nicky and getting married isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. We all can’t have perfect marriages like you and dad. Speaking of dad, how is he?”
Wisely, Victoria let the matter drop. Her daughter could be headstrong when she chose to be and it would not do to push her buttons. Victoria would bring up the matter later, when Erin was in a better frame of mind.
“Your father is doing well.” she replied with a smile. “He had to leave for Chicago on business..something to do with the shareholders. It seemed urgent anyway.”
Erin leaned forward, her curiosity awakened. “Is there a problem with the stock market? I haven’t heard anything on the news about it.”
Victoria shrugged. “I don’t know, all he said was that someone was persuading shareholders to sell and buying them up when they did, nothing else.”
Her phone rang, and she dug in her bag for it, taking out the copy of The Cosmopolitan she’d stuffed in there earlier and laid it face up on the table.
Erin glanced at the magazine then did a double take and reaches for it, staring at the man on the cover.
Her eyes widened as Ethan Lachlan’s face stared back at her with an implacable look, those eyes hauntingly familiar, even though it had been five years since Erin had seen that face.
He looked breathtaking in a dark business suit, dark hair immaculately styled, not a hair out of place.
The headline was titled, ’The Perfect Blend of Sex Appeal and Success.
Erin flipped open the pages and read the article within, her heart hammering wildly. The feature hailed Ethan as America’s sexiest entrepreneur, starting with a small construction company and turning it into a booming business, worthy of being in the Fortune 500 ranks.
She read till the end then set the magazine back on the table and gazed off in the distance.
At her urging, Nicky had broken up with Ethan a week after that ill-fated dinner. Erin’s lips twisted, recalling Nicky’s report of how easily Ethan had taken the news.
That had only strengthened Erin’s opinion of the man’s true feelings for her cousin. No man, who claimed to be in love, would simply let his woman walk away without so much as a word or an attempt to win her back.
Erin had bid him good riddance and thrown herself into comforting Nicky. Eventually, Nicky had moved on, meeting Ryan Silverton a year later, and after three years, the man had proposed.
She heard her mother gasp, and looked up, alarm washing over her at her mother’s shocked white face.
“Mum?” she called out, rising to her feet and crossing to her mother’s side. “Mum. What’s wrong? What is it?”
Victoria lifted stricken eyes to her daughter trying to force words out from her constricted throat. Finally she managed to gasp out. “Your father, he’s had a heart attack.”
*****
Erin stood by her father’s hospital bed, gazing at him through tear filled eyes.
“What do you mean dad?” she demanded, her voice trembling with the force of her emotions. “We’ve lost control of the company? That’s impossible!”
Harold Gosling looked white and strained, though he put up a brave front for his daughter.
“Not impossible,” he rasped, wincing at the rawness in his throat from the breathing tubes he’d had to endure for the past four days. Even though it had been removed, his throat still hurt when he spoke.
Victoria shot a stern look at Erin. “Leave your father be Erin. He needs to rest, the questions can come later.”
“It’s alright, I need to tell her what’s happened.” Harold waved aside his wife’s admonishment and looked to his daughter again. “Last week, I received a report from our stock brokers saying that someone had been approaching Gosling shareholders and making irresistible offers in return for their shares and had managed to acquire a huge percentage of stock, enough to have a controlling interest in the company. And, I need not tell you how disastrous that is for us.”
Erin listened with a sinking feeling, her mind struggling to process her father’s words. How was it even possible that such a massive buyout had been going on right under their noses and no one had even suspected anything wrong?
The very idea was preposterous! Gosling Hotels belonged to the family and no one could take that away.
She gripped the rails at the foot of the bed till her knuckles turned white and looked at her father. He looked so frail and tired, even worse was the look of defeat in those eyes, so like her own. She had never seen him this way before. Harold Gosling had always been a symbol of strength and determination and to watch him like this filled her with misery.
The door of the private room opened and someone peered in. Erin recognized the craggy pale face and mane of gray hair as belonging to Joseph Young, the company’s lawyer.
His serious eyes took in the small gathering and his boss lying on the bed in one glance. “May I come in?”
Victoria looked like she wanted to refuse but held her tongue and turned her attention back to her husband, taking his limp hand in both of hers. Since her mother was not going to reply, Erin nodded for Joe to come in, moving away to stand by the windows, arms folded across her chest.
“Joe!” Harold said by way of acknowledgment. “What news?”
Joe cast a quick glance in Erin’s direction, unsure if it was proper to bring up the discussion while Harold was still weak. Erin nodded at him to answer, curiosity eating away at her.
Joe cleared his throat. “The good news is, the family still holds a majority of shares, fifty-six percent to be exact, while Holbourn Enterprises managed to gain control of -”
“Holbourn?” Erin cut in, eyes widening in shock. She gaped at the lawyer, distrusting her ears. “Did you just say Holbourn? The Holbourn Enterprises?”
He gave her a searching look, slightly baffled by her reaction to the name. “Yes, Holbourn Enterprises is behind the buyout, cleverly done though -”
Erin blanked out the rest of his words as her brain screamed the same word over and over again.
Holbourn. A tremor ran through her entire body and she felt her legs turn to jelly. Mercifully, there was a seat nearby and she lowered herself onto it, her mind in a daze.
There had to be some sort of mistake, she reasoned, frantically running through the possibilities. Holbourn...Ethan’s company had just all but effected a hostile takeover of Gosling Hotels. Why?
What sort of game was he playing, and why now? Why had he chosen to spring this after nearly five years of virtually no word or indication of a vendetta against her family?
A picture of him- the same one in the magazine rose in her mind and she shivered at the memory of those cold ruthless eyes staring up at her from the cover.
“Erin?” her father’s voice broke into her thoughts and she started in mild shock, looking up to find them all watching her with varying expressions ranging from worry to puzzlement. “Are you alright? You’ve gone pale.”
“I’m fine.” she replied. An idea took root in her mind and she rose, grabbing her purse while aware they were watching her in surprise. “I have to go out, I’ll be back as soon as possible, there’s something important I have to do.”
Ignoring the bewildered looks thrown her way, she hurried out.
Outside the hospital, she hailed a taxi and gave him directions then sat back as the driver pulled into the busy traffic, her mind in turmoil.
“Excuse me, Sir.” Ethan’s personal assistant’s voice came over the intercom. “I know you don’t wish to be disturbed, but the reception just called up saying there’s someone who’s insisting on a meeting with you. She’s causing a scene, Sir. Should we call security?”Ethan looked up from the plans spread out on the work desk and scowled at the phone.“I pay you to handle such matters, Laura” He snapped at the invisible personal assistant, his voice the quality of a frosty winter’s air. “If there is a woman there, then go the hell down and sort it out.”Her contrite voice came over the phone.“I’m sorry sir.” The line went dead and Ethan looked round the room at the small group gathered round the desk.His eyes met Peter’s, and the former secretary, now senior vice president, nodded and slipped from the room.Ethan returned his attention to the plans and addressed the group of engineers.“Right. We have to speed up work on the center if we want to meet the six month deadline. Mendez, how
“I think we should put off the wedding.”Erin paused mid-stride and turned to stare at Nicky. “What?”Nicky shifted from her perch on the sofa and met her cousin’s gaze.“I think we should put off the wedding,” she repeated in hushed tones, face scrunched in worry. “With your dad in the hospital and this thing with Ethan -”“No!” Erin’s voice was firm as she crossed the room to the sofa where her cousin sat.She grasped Nicky’s shoulders and gave her a firm shake, determination glinting in her eyes. “The wedding will go on as planned. If we put it off, you can be damned sure that bastard will think he has won and I’ll be damned before I let that happen.”That was the last thing Erin wanted. For Ethan Lachlan to think that he had succeeded in throwing the family into a panic. Her jaw set as she recalled the scene at his office yesterday and once more her blood boiled at the memory of that arrogant bastard throwing those words at her. She let go of Nicky and returned to the French doors
The inside of the limo was silent except for the sound of the traffic filtering through the windows.Ethan studied the woman sitting across from him staring through the tinted window. He noted the tense shoulders and the worry in those green eyes, the same ones that had once enchanted him beyond reasonable thought.That is, until she had shown herself for the shallow woman she really was, by breaking their relationship simply on a whim.Nicky’s sleek bob framed a face that hadn’t changed much in the past five years, except for a certain self assured maturity in her features. Ethan allowed his gaze to travel down the flattering green blouse that brought out the color of her eyes, the short, black skirt that showed off her legs to advantage.His eyes came to rest on her hands, clasped primly on her laps, showing off a nice looking, diamond engagement ring - simple yet undoubtedly worth a small fortune. The engagement to Ryan Silverton, of the New York Silvertons, and heir to a large for
"What the hell did you think you were doing getting into that car with him?" Erin demanded, the minute Nicky finally picked up her call.She could hear the sounds of passing traffic in the background, and wondered just where they where."I wanted to talk to Ethan, what do you think?" Nicky replied, her tone snappy and strained and Erin wondered what had happened to rile her normally cool cousin."We agreed you should stay away from him." Erin forced the irritation from her voice, keeping it mellow. Nicky was obviously in a bad mood, no need to annoy her with demands."You said I shouldn't talk to him," Nicky emphasized the 'you' with a tinge of resentment. "I only agreed because you were obviously upset about your dad. But I couldn't just sit back and let you fight my battles for me. I had to do something."What was with the anger at her? Erin pinched the bridge of her nose, as concern for her cousin flooded her."Are you okay, Nicks? Did that bastard do something to upset you?"See,
"So, you're going on a date with a guy you met less than three hours ago?"Erin peeked out the huge walk in closet where she was busy hunting for her shoes and peered at the woman perched on her bed, legs, encased in designer jeans, tucked beneath her lithe frame."Is something wrong with that?" Erin asked, adjusting the towel wrapped turban style around her head. "It's just dinner, Kim, not like I'm gearing up for a night of wild sex."Kim shrugged slim shoulders and bit into a chip, chewing for a moment before she replied."Not wrong for me. But it's so completely out of character for you. I mean, you're always so cautious and over analyze every single thing. For heaven's sake, it takes you a good fifteen minutes to decide on what flavor of ice cream you want. Now you're going out with a total stranger on a whim.""I do not analyze everything," Erin huffed, indignant. "I simply like to make sure I'm making good decisions. And Todd's not a total stranger. He's my dad's surgeon and we
Imogen Holland sauntered towards Ethan, stunning in a short, red dress that hugged her body and drew the eye of every red blooded male (and female) in the restaurant to an impressive cleavage and shapely ass.Fully aware of the effect she had on men, she gave Ethan a smile that brimmed with confidence in her body and sex appeal.Under the combined force of that body and smile, Ethan mentally revised his earlier plans for the evening. He let his gaze sweep boldly over Imogen, frank male appreciation glittering in his eyes, lips curved in a devilish smile."Wow!" He drawled out the word, rising from his spot by the bar, where he'd spent a half hour waiting and approached her, not missing the way her body instinctively arched towards him, as if offering him a taste of heaven right there and then."Hey handsome," Imogen's voice was soft, filled with sultry promise. Her own gaze raked over him, lips curving in approval at the pale blue dress shirt tucked in to black chinos, a tailored, bla
Erin stared at her untouched plate, mind still very much on the scene in the hallway.Ethan's scent - a warm earthy fragrance - still permeated her nostrils, making every breath impossible to take without inhaling the very essence of him that brought to mind hot steamy nights and writhing bodies atop silk sheets.She frowned and stabbed at a piece of food with her fork, wishing it was Ethan Lachlan's head. He was the enemy and she was not supposed to be having lustful thoughts about a man who had brought nothing but misery her way.Erin lifted her eyes and risked another glance at the object of her thoughts. Ethan seemed unaffected by their earlier encounter.If anything, the bastard looked to be having a good time, flirting shamelessly with his stunning date who was hanging on his every word and flirting right back. Did the poor woman have any inkling of how deadly and vindictive Ethan was? She guessed not.Unconsciously, her fingers tightened over her fork, jealous at how much a goo
A wave of anger surged through Ethan as he stared at the annoying minx. In all his thirty-four years, and numerous encounters with women of every kind, he had never met a woman who could get his temper burning as quickly as Erin.Even more exasperating was how little control he had over his body when it came to her.For fuck's sake, he'd been with women far lovelier and certainly better behaved, but none of them had eroded his self control or ignited his desire the way Erin did. He was supposed to despise her, bring about her complete and utter humiliation and yet, here he was, offering to give her a lift and having to watch her throw his offer back in his face.Foolish woman.A valet handed him his car keys, and Ethan took it without taking his eyes off her.Even acting like a spoiled little brat, she still looked utterly stunning and his groin responded accordingly, much to his disgust. He gritted his teeth and moved closer, each step slow and intimidating and he had the satisfactio