Page 5 of Forbidden Kiss

He looks down at his desk. “Ava, I was diagnosed over six months ago. They’ve been trying to—”

“Wait a minute.” I flash a palm in front of him. “You’ve known about this for months and you’re just now telling me?”

Adrenaline plunders through my veins. Hastily, I rush to the window of his office, only to halt when I nearly collide with the wall. I turn to face him. “What’s this surgery?”

He sighs. “It’s a high-risk surgery to improve circulation. Perhaps it will give me a few more years. Or maybe not.”

With weak legs, I stumble back and eventually collapse into a chair. “No. This can’t be happening.”

He takes a quick glance at me. “I’m sorry, Ava. The doctors are doing everything they can. You need to decide whether you will be in or out.”

From the corner of my eye, I see a business card with Ethan Wolfe’s name in the center. I wait until my father turns his back to slip the card into my hand before returning to meet my father’s feeble eyes. “In or out of what?”

A grimace takes over his features. “Lane Entertainment Group, dammit.”

“You’re just like Mom,” I seethe, my voice shaking. “Leaving me. Abandoning me.”

He scoffs. “Don’t be silly. You think I want to have a heart condition and die? This isn’t a choice.”

His response is lukewarm and matter of fact.

While I glare at him, my fingernails dig into the heels of my palms. “No, but you’ve chosen to keep me in the dark, and now you’re letting some guy I don’t even know run the family company.”

“This isn’t the family company.” My dad’s frail jaw tightens, his tone turning frosty. “It’smycompany. I built it, and you merely work in it.”

As tears form in my eyes, a rush of emotion burns through my chest. Even given a few years to live, he’s still hurtful. I can’t deal with this, but I can’t ignore it either. It could be his last day alive. I finally open my mouth to breathe. “Okay. What time’s the surgery?”

He looks down at his desk, his eyes full of dread. “9 am.”

I nod, concealing Ethan’s business card into my pocket and allowing my feet to take me out of my dad’s office. While I march along the corridor, I can feel my father’s eyes on me, but I don’t care.

There’s only one person who has answers now.

With the card in hand, I dial Ethan Wolfe’s phone number.

The familiar deep voice answers right away. “Ethan here.”

My mouth fills with the bitterness of anger. Without wasting time, I interrogate him. “You knew, didn’t you?” I don’t bother waiting for a response. “Is this why you’re taking over the company? So you can leech off my dad’s empire?”

He takes a quick, sharp breath over the phone. “Whoa, Ava. I’m notleechingoff of anyone. I agreed to take over your father’s company to keep him out of bankruptcy. The company is worthless. He hasn’t paid himself in years.”

A guttural laugh escapes my lips, and it’s laced with bitter venom. “Don’t even try to spin this, Ethan. You’re just a vulture circling the company, waiting to swoop down to feed on whatever you can find. Oh, but you’re just trying to help, right?”

With my hand trembling, I slam the phone down, refusing to hear any more of Ethan Wolfe’s deceitful lies. He may have fooled my father, but I won’t let him destroy everything we’ve worked for. Not without a fight.

Chapter 3

Ethan

AstheblazingVegassun streams through the window, it shines a blinding light onto the signed contract in front of me. The last couple of days have been crazy, with Christopher Lane approaching me about buying his company and meeting his daughter.

Ava. God, how she captivates me and leads me to a place I can’t return from. It’s odd because I’ve never seen her before, yet every ounce of me wants to know her.

She’d sounded so pissed on the phone yesterday, yet I almost feel like I signed the contractbecauseof her.

A knock resonates through my office door, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Yes?”

“Sir,” my assistant Ian begins, removing his glasses and bringing an unsteady hand to his forehead. “I have some unfortunate news.”

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