Page 33 of The Monster I Loved
“That damn girl who killed your mother is sabotaging the deal.”
Confusion swam in my mind.Summer didn’t kill anyone, I thought. The wording startled me for a moment before I shot to my feet, finally catching onto the fact that she was trying to outmaneuver me.
“How? The town would rather let those people die?”
Henry left the room as my father sat and explained. “She got the Jonas family involved.”
My stomach twisted. Oh no, not them again. They were so rich that they wasted loads of moneyfor the greater good.“Didn’t you have a deal?”
“Not a firm one. The town hasn’t sold the damn building to me yet. Nothing is guaranteed until the dotted line is signed.”
The drive to the office was frosty. The rest of the morning was no different. It made me realize just how out of my depth I was. I sat and watched my father attempt to pull all the strings at his disposal to get Jonas to back out.
A meeting was set for after lunch with Summer, who was representing the building’s tenants.
When I entered the government building, I spotted Melissa waiting for me. “Do you have a plan?” I asked, skipping hellos.
She held her shoulders back and looked confident enough, but the cracks in her smile were easy to spot.Shit!Would I still need to marry Mimi if this deal didn’t go through? I wasn’t rushing to the altar for love.
“Let’s go. They’re waiting,” she said.
Inside the closed room, the meeting immediately became heated, with Summer leading the charge.
“The town claimed it was about safety. Now, the residents can stay and will be safe. Plus, the Jonas family is powerful. They’re not the kind of family you want to go against.” She tried to school her expression into something professional, but I saw the smug look hiding beneath.
Looking at her face, I decided I’d rather level the whole damn building to the ground than let Clive Cohen’s daughter beat my family. This was personal.
Melissa looked around before she spoke. “Are the residents safely out of the building?”
“Temporarily,” Summer said.
Before Melissa could reply, I jumped in. “Obviously, this meeting is going nowhere. We’ve both stated our cases, so let’s end it here.” We’d gone around in circles for too long. I couldn’t think in here. I couldn’t come up with a plan. I didn’t want to give Summer any more satisfaction.
The mediator nodded, and my shoulders relaxed an inch. I leaned close to Mimi and whispered, “Go and check on the purchase offer. See where we’re at with that.”
The purchase offer had been sent weeks ago, and my father was likely still nudging and bribing all the government officials he needed to get the deal to go through. Mimi nodded and made her way out. The mediator followed, leaving me alone with Summer. She collected her things, and I blocked the door. I couldn’t resist. I had to let her know she hadn’t won. “You look pretty pleased with yourself, don’t you? This little ploy won’t stop Fitzgerald.” I narrowed my eyes.
Summer spun around quickly. She hadn’t expected me to be so close to her. In an attempt to prevent herself from falling, she reached out to steady herself. Her hand lay flat against my chest. Instinctively, I reached forward to stop her from falling into me, and my hand landed on her waist.
Neither of us moved.
It felt so familiar, even after all those years. Ten years ago, I’d have pulled her against me.
I looked at her. Really looked. It had been years since we were this close.
Something changed in Summer’s eyes. They were less sharp, more . . . surprised.
She stepped back and cleared her throat.
“It already has stopped Fitzgerald. You just don’t know it yet.”
I let her go. My hand remained molded to the shape of her waist.
Laughter spilled from my lips. “Summer. I’d rather fucking toss Mimi aside, marry Brit tomorrow, and plow a wrecking ball through that building than let you, a fucking Cohen, beat us.” I ignored the tightness in my chest and held strong. Fire spread up my body from where Summer and I touched. One bump, and I was acting like a fucking teenager, like she’d dry-humped me.
Summer’s mouth fell into an ‘O,’ and I ignored the dirty thought that flickered into my mind. This time, she didn’t have a witty reply ready. She gripped the folder tighter and stared at me in what looked to be disbelief. Brit had been a contentious subject in our relationship. Summer hated her. She’d always said that when I wasn’t there, Brit treated her like shit. We’d argued about that, but, deep down, I liked that she was jealous. It had been a low blow to bring her up again now, but we were playing dirty.
I left her gawking, marched down the hall, and took out my phone. Mentioning Brit had sparked an idea. She and I attended the prestigious Hackley School as kids. If she’d gotten married, I’d have heard about it. Brit’s longstanding crush on me wasn’t reciprocated, but I was banking on her still having the same soft spot, which was both vain and hopeful. If she did, it could work in my favor. Inside my car, I called Henry, asked for her number, then wasted no time in calling Brit.
