“Morning,” he said, shifting above her.
“Morning.” She smiled.
“I thought that since we both had the day off that we’d take a hike. We can pick Blue up from my grandmother’s and head out to enjoy some of this nice weather,” he suggested.
“I’d like that.” It had been so long since she’d gone up into the hills that surrounded the resort. She desperately wanted to see the view from the top of the ski runs but hadn’t dared to go up there alone.
“If possible, I’d like to head up the hill.” She motioned towards the window. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen the view from above.”
“We can pack a picnic lunch,” he replied. “How about after we order room service, I head into town, grab Blue and my hiking boots, and pack us a lunch? Then I can meet you back here.”
“Sounds like a plan. God, I love living in a hotel,” she admitted.
Since she was feeling particularly pleased, she ordered strawberry French toast with extra whipped cream on top. Cade had one of his usual breakfasts, steel cut oatmeal with fruit and a cup of coffee.
“I’ll eat healthy later,” she joked with a grin.
“You don’t hear me saying a word.” He smiled over his food. “My mother taught me one of the most important lessons ever—once a month, you don’t complain about what a woman eats or wears.” He leaned forward and grinned. “No matter what.”
She couldn’t help it. She laughed. “Smart woman.” She nodded. “Even smarter man for heeding her advice.”
After Cade left, she showered and changed into some hiking clothes. She decided to head down to her office until Cade returned.
She was surprised to see her aunt in the hallway just outside her office door. Temper surfaced quickly. This was the first time she’d seen Roslyn in the resort since she’d threatened her last time.
She pulled out her cell phone to call security, only to have her uncle yank the phone out of her hands.
“I think it’s about time we sat down and had a talk.” Her uncle took her arm and pulled her towards her office. She thought of screaming, but then her uncle warned. “Don’t.”
“You changed the locks,” Roslyn complained as she held out her hand for the keys.
“Go to hell.” Raven narrowed her eyes at her aunt.
“Soon enough,” her aunt replied with a smile. “But not before we get what we’re due.”
“You’re not due anything.”
Her uncle’s hold on her arm tightened, and she cried out slightly at the pain.
“Don’t you think we’d be more comfortable having this conversation inside?” he asked.
She pulled her keys from her pocket, if only to make him loosen his grip.
Colin shoved her inside, and Roslyn shut the door behind her and locked it.
“Now, isn’t this cozy?” Colin asked. He walked around the desk and sat in her chair.
She wanted to bark at him to get out of her seat, but stood there, rubbing her wrist where he’d twisted it instead.
Roslyn walked over to the file cabinet and tried to open a drawer.
“You locked this too?” Her aunt turned to her. “What’s the matter? Don’t trust anyone else?”
“No,” she said, holding her chin up in defiance. “What do you want?”
“Where is the policy?” her uncle said calmly.
“Policy?” she asked, having no clue what he was talking about.
Her uncle’s greyish eyebrows shot up. “The insurance policy?” he answered, as if she knew what he was talking about.
“If you’re talking about the policy with you and Roche as beneficiaries’ if this place goes up, I cancelled it,” she answered easily.
Roslyn’s eyes moved to Colin’s. “What?”
“She’s lying. The policy is in our names.”
“No.” Raven shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t.” She took her keys and unlocked the bottom drawer on the file cabinet. She handed the piece of paper to her aunt and stood back to watch the repercussions of her uncle’s deceit.
After five minutes of listening to them argue, she interrupted them.
“As fun and as entertaining as this is, I have a date.” She tried to look bored and glanced down at her watch.
“Enough of this deceit. Where are the real papers? The ones with our names on it?” Colin shouted.
“There is no such thing,” she said clearly. “Whatever policies you signed up for are gone. I have one policy on this place.” She motioned around them. “And if this place is destroyed, you get nothing.”
“Not this place,” her uncle spat back just as the office door was flung open.
“Are we late?” Cade asked, stepping inside, his uncle in tow. “We thought we’d stop in since Cemal was kind enough to inform us that there was a surprise party going on in here.”
Raven had never been so thankful to see Sean before. Then Blue came trotting in and jumped up on her, demanding attention.
Cade walked over to her, and she saw his eyes darken when he noticed the redness of her arm where her uncle had grabbed her. She grabbed his arm and stopped him from turning on her uncle.
“Don’t. He’s not worth it,” she warned in a soft tone.
“He hurt you,” Cade replied.
“Is that true?” Sean asked, his eyes going to the redness of her wrist.
“I didn’t do anything,” Colin spat out. “Whatever she says, she’s a liar. Besides, if you touch that girl, she turns red.” He pointed a finger in her direction.
She glanced down at her wrist and realized it was now a dark purple. “Yeah,” she motioned, not wanting to deal with her uncle any longer, “he did this.”
Over the next half an hour, her uncle was cuffed and hauled away by one of the other officers while Sean took her official statement. All the while, Roslyn screamed, cursed, and at one point, tried to kick Sean. Sean placed cuffs on her as well.
Shortly after they both were hauled away, Cade, turned to her.
“Are you still up for a hike?” he asked her.
“Even more so now. I have all this…”—she motioned to her chest— “pent up.”
He smiled and then the two of them and Blue stepped outside and headed up the pathway to the top of the ski runs.
It had been too long since she’d been outside in nature, spending her day breathing fresh crisp mountain air.
Halfway up the hillside, she was breathless, her thighs were burning, and she had a stitch in her side. The anger she’d felt towards her family was still burning inside her, but now it was more a slow burn than a raging forest fire. She pushed on with Blue in the lead and Cade directly behind her.
“I’m not slowing you down, am I?” she asked a little winded.
He chuckled. “It’s okay. I’m enjoying the view.”
Since she was completely breathless, she didn’t talk again until they reached the summit.
The view was simply breathtaking. Or maybe it was the climb that had taken her breath away? Either way, she stood for a few moments, just taking it all in.
The three massive buildings were like dark shadows on the beautiful countryside. If they weren’t her entire world, she would have thought that they should have never been there in the first place. In a way, they marred the nature surrounding them, darkened the natural beauty.