9
Of all the places Kollette could’ve run off to hide, he was glad she’d picked Hawaii. Not because it was a place he enjoyed, but seeing how much time she had spent on the balcony looking at the ocean, it was good for her. However, it made traveling back to the east coast a bit more challenging. Thankfully he had use of the company jet, otherwise there was no way he’d be able to meet Ralph for dinner on such short notice.
His head was pounding and suffering from jetlag, but he had no choice. If he thought for one minute he could’ve pulled this off over the phone, he wouldn’t have left Kollette to be in Miami right now. But he’d done his research on Ralph, and Kollette was telling the truth. Her father wasn’t easily manipulated. A good trait when it came to business. Not something you wanted in your adversary.
It was hard for Ethan to view Ralph as anything but an adversary. He was after the Potters property. If Ethan didn’t know what that place meant to the Potters, he might be here to negotiate a higher offer. But if they wouldn’t take Ethan’s money, they sure as hell weren’t going to take Ralph’s.
He looked at his watch and saw he was running late. That wasn’t the way to start the meeting, but it couldn’t be helped. No way was he going to sneak out on Kollette in the middle of the night while she slept. Not after what they shared.
Ethan hadn’t planned on sleeping with her. He’d wanted to, but the timing of it sucked. He hadn’t told her about the phone call with her father, and she didn’t know he was about to meet with him now. There was guilt regarding that omission. But if he was going to pull this off, she needed to stay out of it. At least for now. Once this meeting was over and he knew what Ralph was going to do going forward, he’d update Kollette. That last thing he wanted was to keep secrets from her. And yet, he was doing just that.
There was time. He could pull his cell phone out and call her. It wasn’t like she was in a place without any cell service. Kollette probably was waiting to hear from him. But as long as he didn’t talk to her, then not telling her didn’t feel so…deceitful.
He shook his head. Who was he fooling? The reason he didn’t tell her was he was afraid she’d try to stop him. Although he knew Kollette cared deeply about the Potters, this was her father. That’s where her loyalty stood. It wasn’t like Ethan was going there to threaten Ralph. He strictly wanted to express the reasons why Ralph shouldn’t move forward with his plan, at least not on the Potters land.
The limo pulled into the parking lot and Ethan got out. There was no question that Ralph was there and impatiently waiting. Not delaying, he entered restaurant and was directed to where Ralph was seated.
He walked over and extended his hand, “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”
Ralph shook his hand, but replied, “You’re not off to a good start. Sit. Let’s cut through the pleasantries and tell me why you wanted to meet.”
Cutting through the bullshit was okay with him. He wasn’t here to talk about the weather or to make friends. One goal only and the quicker he addressed it, the faster he could return to Kollette.
“I wanted to talk to you about a property you seem to be interested in,” Ethan stated.
Ralph took a sip of his wine, then said, “I didn’t realize Lawson Steel was into real estate.”
“We’re not,” he replied.
“Then what exactly is this about?” he asked.
“The property in West Virginia. My understanding is you’re interested in acquiring it. I’m here to ask that you don’t.”
Ralph put his glass of wine down, leaned back and eyed Ethan as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. When he spoke it wasn’t about the Potters.
“What is your relationship with my daughter?”
Ethan had no idea how Ralph knew about it, but it didn’t matter. “I’m not here to discuss Kollette. I’m here to talk about the Potters,” he said firmly.
“Is that where you met?”
“Mr. Sommers, my personal life is just that,” he declared.
“And so is my business, yet here we are, discussing them both. Now I ask you again, what is your connection to my daughter?”
Did it matter at this point? It was possible he was having his daughter watched. Ralph seemed to be that controlling. Or Kollette may have called Ralph and let it slip as well. The only issue was Ethan and Kollette hadn’t put a label on it. There really wasn’t a need to. He definitely wasn’t about to do so for Ralph’s sake either.
“Dating. Now about the Potters, I appreciate it if you looked elsewhere to build.”
“I’m not sure I trust you, Lawson,” he said.
You probably shouldn’t.
“Are we talking about the Potters, or your daughter?” he asked.
“Both. You see one of my hotel managers called me regarding a man who had been inquiring about Kollette. John said the man had been asking too many questions that had nothing to do with the hotel, and all about Kollette. Of course, he didn’t catch your name. I reached out to my daughter who confirmed she had no idea who would be looking for her and she was safe and sound at our hotel in Hawaii.”
“We had not discussed her change in employment at that time,” he said.