Intoxicated By You_An Exposed Hearts Novel

by Kristin Mayer

  I stripped down to my boxers and went to the couch with my laptop. I wanted to research Montgomery—the lawyer—Chazz, Raquel, Irene, and anyone else connected to Lloyd. At the end of the day, Lloyd was the key to everything.

  I just hoped he hadn’t been involved in whatever had caused all this.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alexa

  I woke up and stretched in bed. Expecting to find Drake’s warm body, I was greeted with cold sheets. That’s odd. I sat up and saw that the stove light was still on. Whenever he had to work late, I always left it on. When he came to bed, he always turned it off. Did Drake not come to bed?

  I threw the heavy gray comforter aside and tiptoed into the living room. When I found him, I stopped and took in the man I loved with all my heart. He lay with his head tilted back on the couch, his computer in his lap. While Drake slept, he had a vulnerability to him that was less apparent when he was awake. A side only I knew. It was when his guard came down, baring his soul. His beard was more than a five-o’clock shadow, and his dark hair was slightly askew.

  Checking the clock, I saw that it was a little past six, which was about the time I normally woke up. Curling up in a chair, I watched Drake sleep. After my bath, I’d fallen asleep reading a magazine. I hadn’t realized how exhausting yesterday’s events had been. Inside, I was still a mixture of emotions—relieved Dad hadn’t written the note, mad someone had sabotaged my relationship with Drake, and scared they weren’t done. Today, things felt a little less daunting. But I still had no idea where to begin.

  I needed to find out who and why.

  Drake shifted and woke up, turned his head toward the clock on the wall opposite me. When he saw the time, he whispered, “Oh man.”

  If I’d had to guess, I’d say he’d wanted to join me in bed last night but fell asleep on the couch. I loved how he wanted me close to him. He sat up, and his eyes met mine. His devilish grin was my greeting. “Morning.”

  “Morning. How’d you sleep?”

  “Like shit. I meant to join you last night.” Irritation flashed across his face. We’d been apart for so long, and I’d hoped to wake up cuddled next to him. I knew he felt the same. Maybe things would progress further than yesterday. I wanted to feel him inside me, have him claim me in a way no one else ever had. Drake had been my first, my only, and hopefully, he would be my last.

  For a few seconds, Drake watched me. He always was clued in to how I was feeling.

  “I want to know who it was. I want to understand why.”

  He put his laptop to one side and scratched his chin. “I was up late, looking into anyone I could think of.”

  My heart stopped. “Did you find anything?”

  “A year ago, Montgomery had a heart attack and died.”

  “What? He was only thirty, maybe a year or two older.”

  “Yeah, his housekeeper found him at home in his office.”

  Dad had used a lawyer from Juneau, which was a ferry ride away. There weren’t any lawyers in Skagway. The total population was over thirty thousand in Juneau, but here, we had fewer than nine hundred people.

  This news put me more on edge. “Did they say anything else?”

  “The autopsy revealed nothing, but his parents were suspicious. Said he’d been a healthy, active man with zero heart issues.”

  The entire situation didn’t sit well with me. A knot formed in the pit of my stomach. “What do you think?”

  “I have no idea. I want to find something so much and figure out who it is that I’m not sure if I’m grasping at straws.”

  “Did you find anything else?”

  Drake yawned and propped his elbows on his knees. “I dug into the Municipality Record of Deeds and found who Raquel sold the land to.”

  At one point, I’d asked Raquel, but she’d refused to answer. It wasn’t something I had cared to look into. “To who?”

  “To some business called Milano Incorporated that has zero online presence.” He’d been up way too long looking into all this. “Did you keep any of the offers for your land?”

  Shaking my head, I said, “No. The bank called me with an offer once. I didn’t want to hear it and told them to reject any they got. That was the last I heard from them.”

  Drake’s eyebrows pinched together. “Can you reach out to Morgan? See if she has a record of any offers received.”

  “Yeah, I’ll reach out to her this morning. Any more thoughts about the letter?”

  “It’s likely whoever did this wanted you isolated. You said Montgomery told you Lloyd brought the letter to him a couple of weeks before he died?”

  A sense of dread settled over me. Last night in the tub, I’d had similar thoughts and hadn’t been able to fully process them. “Yes, that’s what he said. I know where you’re going with this.”

  Drake waited for me to continue.

  “Montgomery lied and was definitely in on it.”

  “Yeah.” Drake stared into the distance, thinking. There were so many moving parts it was hard to wrap my head around them.

  It was hard to believe Raquel had sold the land that had been in our family for generations. There were contingencies in the estate setup that stipulated only blood relatives of the family could inherit the land. That was why Mom only got the B&B—Dad had purchased it on his own before they got married.

  How could she? Why would she? It had to be money related. Maybe that was why Mom had received all the “upgrades” to the house.

  Yes, Chazz was well off, but having that kind of cash would give Raquel the opportunity to do whatever she wanted, unchecked. Dad would have been so disappointed, and it hurt my heart. “Do you think Raquel knows who Milano Incorporated is?”

  If she did, I was certain she wouldn’t tell me.

  “I don’t know, baby. All I’ve got is straws to grasp at.” Drake’s phone vibrated, and he looked at it. “Fuck. It’s Reeser. He’s come into town to go over the contracts. He needs them for liability reasons before he can transport my inventory.”

  I stood. “Go. Take care of that. I’m going to take a shower and head to the clinic. Hollis and I were going to go over the last of the arrangements.”

  Drake pulled me into his arms. “I want some time alone with you.”

  “I want that, too.”

  Drake must have gotten the answer he was looking for, and he gave me a smile before kissing me on the lips. My lips wanted more. My body craved him.

  Drake went to his room and came out dressed less than two minutes later. He looked good, really good. I was nearly salivating when he gave me a wink.

  I was having a hard time keeping my hormones under control. It had been too long since I’d been in Drake’s arms. We needed to find some time for us to be together.

  “Bye, baby. I’ll see you at the clinic.”

  “See you then.”

  He was off. And I needed a cold shower.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Alexa

  About an hour and a half later, I was dressed and ready to head out the door to the clinic when my phone vibrated with a text from Hollis.

  Hollis: You available to talk?

  That was strange. He always just called if he needed something. I dialed his number. “What’s going on?”

  “There’s a woman named Morgan here. She says she’s your loan officer and needs to talk to you immediately.” There was a distinctly worried sound in his tone.

  Oh shit, I forgot to call her. “I’ll come right away. Did she say what it’s about?”

  He sighed. “No, she won’t say a word to me since I’m not on the paperwork.”

  These types of mundane things aggravated Hollis since he had originally wanted to be on the mortgage. If I’d added him, this could have been handled quickly. He was used to being able to pay a price to make things happen. Getting medical equipment up here was cumbersome, to say the least, and it had been entertaining when Hollis asked for a confirmation on the delivery date. The slower pace was definitely an adjustment
for him.

  “I’m coming right away. We’ll get it all cleared up. This is good practice for patience in domesticated life.”

  He huffed, and I heard footsteps on the other end and a door closing. “You know me so well. Are you still good with me buying the place?”

  “Of course. We’ll get it started when I get there.” I grabbed my keys, locked up, and started down the steps.

  “Good. And I need your help with something.”

  That sounded ominous. Cautiously, I answered, “What’s that?”

  “Did Drake mention I’m going to build a cabin?”

  I almost stumbled at his words. “What?”

  “Yeah, well, I’m not going to build it. I mean, hello, I can barely hold a hammer. But it seems all Alaskan men have cabins. It’s like a rite of passage.”

  It was true, which made me laugh. “Well, not all Alaskans have them.”

  “Do all the Fosters?”

  The Fosters had become Hollis’s official benchmark for true Alaskans. Heaven help us. “All of them but Drake do. Hayden’s is smaller and more of a bachelor pad. Kane’s is bigger and up in the mountains.”

  There was an awkward pause. “Well, Drake needs one, and I need your advice.”

  What was that about? Maybe Morgan had walked into the room as he was speaking.

  “I can take you to my dad’s if you wanted to see a medium-sized one. Hayden and Kane would show you theirs, as well.”

  “Oh, yes. I like this idea. I can see myself standing on the porch with an ax. It’ll have a lumberjack feel.”

  I nearly choked but managed to say, “I’m getting in my truck. Be there in five minutes.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Hollis and lumberjacks were about as opposite as anything could get. This idea had disaster written all over it.

  The drive over to the clinic took no time at all, and when I got there, Hollis was leaning against the porch rail, talking to Morgan. I was afraid to ask why he had on a plaid shirt and cargo pants. He must have thought it was some sort of Alaskan uniform.

  Suppressing my laughter, I managed to say in an even tone, “Good morning. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you back, Morgan. It’s been crazy since I got back into town.”

  Morgan fidgeted with her dress. “Hey, Alexa. It’s good to have you back.”

  We’d gone to high school together but hadn’t really hung out. For the most part, I’d gotten along with all the kids but kept to myself. Raquel would always cause issues, so it was just easier to stay out of the drama. “How’s Greg? I heard you guys got married.”

  “He’s good. Really good. It’ll be a year this December.” Again, she fidgeted. “I’m sorry to have to say this, but the bank has called in your note.”

  It took me a moment to process her words. “What? They called in my loan?”

  “Yes, someone purchased it from the bank. Your collateral mortgage had a demand clause in it. There wasn’t a term call option added, so this can be done at any time. Since you didn’t have an income, this was the only type of loan I could get you approved for.”

  I vaguely remembered us talking about it. Morgan had been shocked and unsure why this was the only type I qualified for. But I hadn’t thought it would be done. “How long do I have?”

  “You have thirty days to pay it in full or you’ll be in default. At that point, the new lender would take ownership and can use the collateral against the property for the principal still owed if they aren’t able to sell this property within a reasonable amount of time. I’m so sorry, Alexa. I tried to get you more time. I just don’t get it. I’ve never had this happen before.”

  It still stunned me that someone had called in my loan, even if Hollis was about to pay it off. The whole situation rubbed me the wrong way. And from Morgan’s scrunched eyebrows, I doubted it made much sense to her either. “Who bought my loan?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say anything. It’s why I called the other day.”

  I felt like I’d been sucker-punched. Who would do that?

  Hollis got my attention and inclined his head toward Morgan.

  “Oh, yes. Umm… Hollis is going to buy the place. He’ll be paying the loan in full.”

  Morgan was at a loss for words for a second. “You’re going to pay off the loan?”

  In Skagway, it wasn’t often someone had that much cash on hand. The Fosters might have. Raquel most likely would.

  “Yes, I can have my bank wire the funds today. I’ll need your ABA number and the payoff amount as well as any title change fees. Alexa’s collateral won’t be an issue.”

  Morgan smiled, apparently still shocked as she smoothed her hair. “I’m so glad this will work out. I know how much the property that your dad left you means to you. I remember you guys did a lot of work on his cabin.”

  Hollis’s eyes grew wide, and he mouthed the words See? Cabin. I laughed.

  “Yes, it does. Thanks, Morgan.”

  While Hollis got the details for wiring the money, my thoughts wandered to why my loan had been called in. It felt dirty, especially on the heels of the letter.

  “You good with that, Alexa?” Hollis asked.

  “Huh?”

  “It’ll be easier to pay off the loan, then title the deed over to me.”

  “Perfect.”

  The final details were arranged. Before Morgan left, she asked to use the restroom, and I showed her the way. On her way out of the bathroom, she commented, “This is such a wonderful thing you’re doing for Skagway. The clinic is looking amazing.”

  “Thank you. Hollis is a wonderful doctor. We’re very lucky to have him.” As we made our way to the front door, I remembered what Drake and I had talked about this morning. “Hey, Morgan, I have a favor to ask.”

  “Of course.”

  “Would you mind seeing if the bank has a history of offers for my land?”

  She tipped her head to the side for a moment before nodding. “Yes, we keep all those. Would you like a copy? It’s not my department, but I can get them for you.”

  “If you don’t mind. You can email them to me.”

  At the door, she paused. “Are you thinking about selling?”

  “No, not at all. Just curious.”

  On the front porch, Morgan picked up the folder of papers she’d left. “Welcome back, Alexa. Thank you for coming to our town, Dr. Fritz.”

  We said goodbye, and Morgan left. When I looked at the time, I realized that somehow, another hour had passed since I’d arrived. Part of me was just drained. But almost everything at the clinic was done, and now we waited until the equipment arrived.

  Hollis took a call while I walked inside. It looked like a whole new place. The floors had been sanded and stained. The walls were a delicate light gray. New fixtures had been ordered, but the current brass ones would do until those arrived. The office furniture would arrive the day after the equipment. I ran my hands along the chair rail in the reception area. Soon this would be a place of healing… a place of hope. I was filled with pride at how much we’d accomplished.

  I walked back outside as Hollis was ending his call.

  “Why would someone call in your loan?” Hollis asked, bringing my concerns to the surface. It felt too coincidental.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. If they’d done it yesterday or today, it would make sense because of Raquel and Chazz. I’m sure Chazz could make that happen. But Morgan tried to reach me the day I came back to Skagway. It had been called in before all the newsletter drama.”

  Hollis’s eyebrows pinched together. “And your father’s land was the collateral? Why would they need collateral on a mortgage?”

  “The whole thing feels off to me. Even the type of loan the bank approved.”

  Taking out his phone, Hollis looked at something. “Does Milano Incorporated mean anything to you?”

  I froze, and he tilted his head. “It does, doesn’t it?”

  “Why do you ask?” I asked hesitantly.

  “That’s
who called in your loan. When Morgan left to use the restroom, I snooped through her papers.”

  My mouth dropped open. That wasn’t like Hollis at all.

  He shrugged. “What? We needed to know. People just don’t call in loans for the fun of it. What do they want?”

  “Milano Incorporated bought Raquel’s land. It seems a little odd they would go through the trouble to call in my loan, which was guaranteed by the land I inherited from Dad.”

  “Have you ever heard of Milano?”

  “Not until Drake found them last night.” I filled Hollis in on everything Drake and I had talked about. I tried to think of anyone Dad may have had an issue with but couldn’t. Dad loved his land. His belief was land was a priceless commodity. You couldn’t make more. What we had here on Earth was it. Apparently, someone else wanted it, too.

  “Raquel got some as well. Mom got the land the B&B was on. We were all surprised her name wasn’t on the deed. Dad bought the place before he married Mom and never added her to the deed. The piece I inherited has been in the family for over a hundred years. It’s about three hundred acres. Raquel got the piece our grandparents had bought. Those two parcels of land can only be passed down to blood relatives. It’s why Mom only received the B&B in the will.”

  At that point, Drake’s truck pulled in the driveway. He was freshly showered. But I could tell by the way his mouth flattened he knew something was up.

  “You guys look like you’re in deep thought.” Drake gave me a quick kiss before putting his hand in his pocket and leaning against the rail.

  Hollis nodded at me, and I explained to Drake what we’d talked about.

  Afterward, he was quiet. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”

  “Me either,” I responded. “But why—" I stopped talking as a shiny new black sports car with dark tinted windows pulled in behind Drake’s truck. This place was becoming Grand Central Station by Skagway standards.

  Who’s that?

  “Fuck, when it rains, it pours,” muttered Drake.

  That put me more on edge, and I straightened up. Drake put his arm around my waist protectively, which wasn’t a good sign. It only heightened my anxiety as I waited for the car door to open. The flashy car wouldn’t be very useful in the winter. Or the fall. Or the spring, for that matter. It made no sense to have a sports car in Alaska when there was snow on the ground most of the year.