The Tycoon's Seductive Revenge

by Kristi Avalon

  Irreconcilable thoughts and feelings smashed together, crumbling into a giant heap inside her. The full weight of the present crashed down. Every cell in her body registered Carter’s absence, her aloneness. She sucked in a wispy breath. Tears filled her eyes and dripped down her cheeks.

  But her anger over his lies, his complete betrayal, quickly filled the raw emptiness that threatened to consume her. She swiped at the dampness on her face, unwilling to acknowledge the repercussions of her actions.

  He was the one who should apologize, not her. He should be begging for her forgiveness, instead of throwing out ultimatums the way he always had.

  Partnership meant compromise—for both people. Clearly, Carter wasn’t willing to accept his share of concessions necessary to make their relationship work. They didn’t stand a chance together.

  Apparently, they never had.

  “Why didn’t you just stay out of my life?” Her voice shook with resentment and desperation. “Do I have to wait another twelve years for you to fade away again?”

  Excruciating pain lanced through her. Her heart felt like a chopping block that Carter had scraped one too many times with the serrated edge of his carelessness.

  As the heat of their fight faded to the agony of aftermath, she went numb with cold. Shivers wracked her body. The dining hall was a vast, empty shell of space darkened by the oncoming storm. She drifted across the room toward the doors like a ghost in fog, stricken and haunted, wandering between worlds, shut out of the past but unable to face the realities of the future.

  “I’m better off without him,” she stated, as if the spoken words could convince her heart they were true.

  For some reason the hotel looked different, felt different. Now the place was hers . No more fighting. No more juggling or scraping to keep everything together. No more hanging on to the final thread of hope that had pulled her through all these years, the lure of ownership that had dazzled her in the distant horizon.

  Ownership had arrived.

  Why don’t I feel happy? Why was there nothing inside her but exhaustion and emptiness?

  “It’s just shock,” she told herself, reaching for the handles of the double-doors. “So much has happened. So much has changed—everything’s changed.”

  Not the least of which included the fact that her windfall of two-million dollars didn’t feel like it belonged to her. She doubted the collection would’ve sold for that much if Carter hadn’t put in his exorbitant bid. Without him, she wouldn’t be here trying to revel in her debt-free homeowner status, trying to override her conscience that was telling her she hasn’t earned the right to possess her dream.

  But I have earned this . All those ye ars of loneliness and sacrifice and barely making ends meet had brought her to this point. She had no reason to feel self-conscious. Just take the money and the hotel and don’t look back. Carter won’t. Neither should you .

  The sound of breaking glass shattered her introspection.

  The noise was followed by screams, a deafening crash and a thud that shook the hotel’s foundation. “Oh, my God.”

  Then the lights went out. She felt the cut in the power as if she’d knocked into an electrical field. Heart thumping against her ribs she flung open the doors and ran into the darkened main corridor.

  She saw the silhouette of someone moving toward her. “What just happened?” she asked into the semi-darkness.

  “Ellie, was that you? Are you okay?” The voice and figure belonged to Carter. Heart-melting concern laced his tone.

  Ellie replied, “I’m okay. I don’t know who screamed.”

  “I’m about to find out.” He dropped his suitcases and raced toward the source of the cries. Ellie was two paces behind him.

  A piercing wail traveled down the hallway. They followed the sound to the Great Room. The smell of smoke from the extinguished fireplace hung in the air. The room felt cold and damp, and Ellie shivered as she moved further into the space. The rain sounded like baseball-sized hail pounding overhead. What she could see of the sky through the windows looked like a giant bruise smeared across the heavens. Sinister clouds rode low on sixty-mile-an-hour winds and debris whipped by. A ripple of fear coursed through her.

  El Dorado hadn’t weathered a storm this intense since she was eleven years old. When her mother died trying to flee the island. Against Daddy’s insistence that it was too dangerous to risk travel, she’d wanted to ferry Ellie to safety. Her father had refused to allow her departure. So she’d left alone and her boat had capsized in the treacherous waves.

  Ellie shook off the painful memory. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she gasped, “Carter, look over there, by the fireplace.”

  An enormous tree branch the size of a Grecian pillar had crashed through the far left window and toppled a bookshelf with its force. The last of its fall leaves rattled like dry bones as wind sailed through the broken window and rain sheeted inside. Books were strewn everywhere, torn pages flying. She tripped over wet leather book bindings, trying to gain her footing and determine the extent of the damage.

  “Help,” came a whimper beneath the rubble.

  “Matilda?” Ellie scrambled toward the woman’s weak voice. Without decent light she stabbed herself on twigs. Muddy leaves smeared over her skin and branches gouged her arms.

  Ellie tore through the debris. “Matilda, where are you?”

  “Here…”

  Ellie wrenched back the tangle of branches until she saw two glittering blue orbs staring up at her. “Hold on—I’ll get you out of there.”

  “You can’t lift it yourself,” Carter said opposite her. “Here, we’ll do it together. You push, I’ll pull.”

  “Okay.”

  “Ready? One, two, three .”

  The thick trunk lifted several feet, allowing Ellie to grasp Matilda’s arm. She untangled the woman from the pile of fallen debris, pulling her to safety. The trunk fell with a thud.

  Raindrops spattered Ellie’s face. She shoved her hair back and threw her arms around the housekeeper. “Are you okay?”

  “My leg isn’t too happy right now,” Matilda said sounding out of breath. This was the first time Ellie had ever heard the woman admit weakness.

  The damage must be bad , Ellie thought, her mind racing. “Carter, there’s a kerosene lantern in the speakeasy cellar,” she recalled from her run-in with Arnoff. “Could you grab—”

  “I’m one step ahead of you, sweetheart.” The lamp flickered to life. When he held it up, the glow shed enough light to see within a four-foot radius.

  “Oh, Matilda,” Ellie gasped.

  The woman’s ankle twisted at a horrible angle, swollen three times its normal size. “That’s what I get for trying to close the chimney flue and shutter the windows before the hurricane hit,” she admitted trying to sound upbeat despite the excruciating pain she must’ve been experiencing.

  “You should be concerned about your safety,” Ellie chided, “not saving the hotel.”

  “This is where my heart is, Ellie.” Matilda sniffed. “I don’t know what I’d do without this place.”

  “I know.” She hugged the woman. “I know. I’ll finish battening down the hatches. Don’t worry about a thing.”

  “Ellie,” Carter cut in, “we need to get Matilda to the hospital. My pilot is waiting outside with a helicopter. Grab a pack of ice and some blankets, and I’ll carry Matilda to the chopper.”

  Nodding, Ellie dashed to the kitchen for ice. She packed the cubes in a plastic bag, grabbed some blankets out of an old luggage trunk, and met Carter at the front door. “You’ll make sure she’s safe?”

  “That’s what I do,” he said with a reassuring smile, but the curve dipped to a frown. “You can still come with us, Ellie.”

  Biting her lip, she felt her heart throb painfully. He’d said there would be no more chances yet he’d offered her one last opportunity to choose him over the hotel. “But who’ll close the shutters and nail down the pantry?”

  “Count me in
,” said a voice behind her.

  “James!” Matilda’s voice wobbled.

  “Love,” James said to his wife, “I want to be by your side. But Ellie needs me here.”

  Matilda sent him a wistful look. “I understand.” The two shared a tender embrace. “Stay with Ellie. I’ll be back to the island soon, all patched up. Be careful, James.”

  “I will, darling.”

  A lump formed in Ellie’s throat observing the flame these two had carried for each other over a lifetime. When Ellie looked up Carter was staring at her with the oddest expression, a cross between stubbornness, frustration and longing.

  Then his glance flicked away. “James,” he said to the elder man, “you should head to the mainland with your wife. If this damage is only the beginning then the hurricane has reached category two status, even category three. If that happens, the hotel will be under water and no amount of shutters or nails or good intentions will save it.”

  “But, sir—”

  “Take her.” Carter handed Matilda to James. “I’ll help you get her to the helicopter. I just need to grab my suitcases.”

  Then Carter turned to Ellie. “For once in your life, would you forget this hotel and be with the people who matter most?”

  Her chin trembled. “I can’t.”

  “Why?” His expression, illuminated by flashes of lightening, looked stricken with grief.

  When James opened the front door the elements blasted inside. The combination of spinning helicopter blades and treacherous winds hurled leaves and sticks and rain into the foyer. Ellie threw up her arm to shield her face. She backed away to remove herself from the path of the wind. Carter followed her.

  “I can’t,” she reiterated, staring out at the blustery, frightening scene. Tears gathered along her lower lashes. “My mother tried to leave once, before a storm like this hit the island. But she…” Ellie pulled in a quivering breath. “She didn’t make it.”

  Carter’s gaze held anguish. “I know you’re scared, Ellie. I told you before I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me, for once. Come with us to the mainland.”

  Anxiety tied her nerves into knots that festered within. “I can’t. I can’t…”

  “Yes, you can. But you won’t.” He shook his head, his expression hard as stone. “Good luck. Have a nice life, Ellie.” His gaze pinned her to the wall as he backed away.

  Guilt, shame and sadness rained down on her. He turned away, and Ellie felt the truth in the marrow of her bones—this was the last time they would see each other. Carter helped James get Matilda onto the front porch, and then he slammed the front door shut.

  The breeze died abruptly leaving Ellie limp, wet and deserted in the dark foyer. A shudder of isolation shook her to her core. She felt more alone than she ever had in her life.

  Chapter 12

  The hotel needs you—don’t stand here paralyzed like you just lost everything . Ellie’s fierce pride kicked into gear. Embracing a burst of energy from within, she flew into action.

  She ran to the butler’s pantry, grabbed a hammer and box of nails, and went to work. She nailed shut as many cupboards as she could to protect the dishes, china and silverware from shattering. Then she moved on to the shutters on the first floor, slapping them closed and driving a nail over the latch.

  The rush of activity and adrenaline charging through her veins lasted about ten minutes. As she reached the Senate Room her gaze fell to gigantic old desk where she and Carter had unfurled the blueprints that led them to their speakeasy discovery. An image flashed in her mind of Carter standing behind her at the desk, palms spread on the crinkled pages, excitement rippling from him.

  Ellie hadn’t experienced that depth of connection or companionship since Carter left twelve years ago. He was adventurous, daring, filled with passion over life’s small wonders as equally as he embraced grand moments of possibility. He accepted every tide of opportunity with his arms open wide, ready to take on the world. He challenged her, excited her, drove her crazy on every level. Yet he caught her every time she was about to fall into a tough situation. He consistently anticipated her needs, and pushed her beyond her anxiety and fears, so she’d gain confidence in herself to face whatever the future held.

  She’d desperately missed his protectiveness, as much as his adventurous spirit, his sharp mind, and the way he could puzzle out anything with patience and perseverance. He stuck with his ideas and strategies, no matter how far-fetched or unlikely, and embraced every challenge as an opportunity. And always, he was a man of his word. The strength of his character shone in all his accomplishments. He’d achieved all he vowed to obtain, and became a very wealthy man in the process, defying his difficult past to claim a future of unlimited success.

  Carter embodied everything a man ought to be—everything her father had once been before he succumbed to the depths of depression and desperation. Then Carter stole her heart a second time when he returned to the island this week. She hadn’t even been looking for love. But, as always, he opened her eyes and her heart to accept the unexpected.

  Would she— could she —ever find all that he encompassed in anyone else?

  No , her heart told her, pounding hard against her ribs.

  And she’d let him go. Let him walk right out of her life again. After he’d given her more than enough chances to take stock of reality, take a second chance on love, and accept all that he had to offer her.

  A heavy shroud of remorse, of missed opportunity, smothered her until she couldn’t breathe. Her fingers shook. She dropped the box, and hundreds of nails clattered across the wooden floor. She stared at the hammer in her hand, then out the window at the storm, feeling an overwhelming sense of futility. Like she’d brought a bucket of water to battle a forest fire.

  A reckless thought entered her mind.

  What if I lost everything?

  The last time a hurricane swept up the east coast, the island was without power for weeks. The Montgomery Hotel had required months of repairs for the extensive damage. Would the aging structure withstand a category three or four hurricane?

  Doubt dropped into the pit of her stomach like a lead ball.

  What would she do if the entire hotel was swept away? What would she have left? Who would be standing by her side when all she’d lived for was gone?

  What was the worst that could happen?

  If the walls around her disappeared tomorrow, she would still be standing here. The hotel, and the heritage it represented, was only a sentiment.

  Ellie could no longer escape the facts.

  Carter was right. The hotel couldn’t love her back, couldn’t comfort her during tragedy, couldn’t give her companionship, couldn’t hold her through the night or fulfill her emotional needs.

  She finally understood.

  The hotel didn’t define her. Only she could define herself.

  The hurricane could rip the place to shreds, but if she still had Carter, she knew her life, her future, would go on.

  That’s what made life so precious—the people she shared it with. Not the things she possessed. No matter how meaningful. She would always have her memories. But she wouldn’t always have Carter.

  Alarm whipped through her. She’d let the most important person in her life slip away.

  Leaping to her feet, Ellie tossed away the hammer. She ran to the front door, dragged it open and dashed out onto the porch. She ignored the deluge of rain and debris, shielding the wind from her eyes as she scanned the landscape searching for the helicopter.

  Forty feet away, the rails of the chopper were just lifting off the ground. Without pausing to think, she raced across the path toward the air-born vehicle.

  “Wait! Carter, wait—I’m coming with you!”

  But the wind snatched her words as they left her lips. Her voice dissolved in the pouring rain and deafening whoosh of helicopter blades. The wind from the blades and the storm fought her progress at every step. She leaned into the strong winds and sloshed through ankle-d
eep puddles, sprinting to reach the love of her life before she lost him forever.

  The chopper rose ten feet off the ground, hovering there a few seconds. A spark of hope ignited her determination.

  Trudging forth, her movements picked up speed. When she was less than ten feet from her last opportunity, the helicopter dipped its nose and steered its course away from the island.

  “No! Carter, I love you. I want to be with you. The hotel doesn’t matter anymore.” She ran faster. “Wait—wait!” she screamed.

  But the chopper sped forward on a steady course toward the mainland.

  “Please, no. This can’t be happening.”

  Despite the imminent dangers, she ran after the helicopter. She plunged into the murky water that flooded the street. The rapids fought her every move, gaining force as the water level climbed above her knees.

  She was losing her footing, as rocks and sand washed away beneath her feet. It was a matter of moments before she’d be unable to maintain her stance against the torrents. She glanced upstream and inhaled sharply.

  A huge tree branch was headed right for her, its ragged point careening through the water like a weapon bent on death. Ellie shrieked, dodging it just in time. The weight and speed of the branch would’ve torn her to shreds. She grabbed onto the branch as it passed, letting it buoy her while she traveled the currents toward the opposite side of the road.

  Suddenly the branch spiraled, plunging her into the rapids. She coughed and spluttered, pulling herself back up onto the makeshift floating device. She advanced quickly toward the mound of earth on the other side.

  “You can do this,” she repeated several times, forcing herself to believe it.

  At the last second, she let go and leaped up onto the marshy ground, clinging to tree roots and cattail reeds. Gasping for breath, she watched the branch tumble through the rapids, submerge, then reemerge just in time to collide with a stone wall. The branch splintered into a hundred pieces, and the entire wreckage was washed away.

  Cold and drenched, Ellie dragged herself up to standing. The slight incline gave her a clearer view. She watched the helicopter that carried her dreams speed off toward the shoreline.