Page 46 of Never Finished

"Excuse me, gentlemen, what are you doing?"

The two men stopped and turned, looking confused.

"We were contracted by Pine Crest Resorts to survey the land. We have permits."

"And who signed those contracts? I know the woman who owns this land, and there's no way she would hire surveyors."

One of the men produced a folded piece of paper from his work vest. I looked down at the permit, which had a bunch of legal gibberish, but it clearly stated John Carter had hired them.

Charlie must have been reading over my shoulder. "Fuck," I bit off.

"I'm guessing Emma doesn't know?"

I shook my head. "I can guarantee she has no idea," I seethed as I handed the permit back to the surveyor and turned to Charlie. "Please don't say anything about this to the staff. I need to sort this out first—and I need to talk to Emma."

"Better make that sooner rather than later," Charlie suggested, "I’ll hold down the fort here while you go talk to her."

I didn’t need to be told twice.

I raced to the elevator, cursing every drawn-out second it took to arrive, and I only let out a breath when I got to Emma's floor. When I arrived at her door, there was a do not disturb sign hung on the handle, but that would not stop me.

I knocked on the door, and when there was no answer, I called through the door, "Emma? It's Jaime. I need to see you."

I let out a sigh of relief when she answered, but my chest clenched when I saw her face and the dark rings around her eyes.

I rushed in, taking her into my arms. "Come here baby, are you okay?" I asked into her hair.

She gently pushed off me, shrugging off my concern. "I'm fine… but what’s wrong with you? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Do I look that bad?"

"You’re always the most beautiful woman in the room," I responded as I followed her through the room. "I heard about last night and needed to make sure you were alright."

She had a tight smile on her lips when she turned back to me. "He just had too much to drink. It's no big deal. "

"The man put his hands on you and had you cornered. That’s a big fucking deal."

She looked at me, determination in her eyes. "I appreciate your concern, Jaime, but I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself."

I hesitated before responding, realizing I might be on thin ice here. Emma was so used to taking care of everything herself that it was hard for her to accept help. "I know you can, I just… tell me you're not going to be alone with this guy anymore, please?"

She huffed out a laugh. "I will do my best." Her face softened when she took into my expression. "I’ll be careful, Jaime, I promise, and I’m going to do everything I can to wrap this thing up because.…"

"Because?"

She shook her head. "Because it's been a pain in my ass and, frankly, it’s time to move on."

I wasn't sure if she was referring to the business deal or being in Silverpine, but I didn’t have time to overthink her comment.

"Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but when I got to work this morning, we found surveyors assessing the land behind the resort."

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "I confronted them and they showed me the permit—it was authorized by your dad."

"Fuck," Emma cursed, something I didn’t hear her do often, and then she looked at me with a strained smile. "I'm sure it's nothing. I'll talk to him about it," she said a little too casually.

"Emma, you know if there's something going on, you can talk to me about it."

"I appreciate the offer, but I've got this covered. Don't worry Jaime."

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