“Shall we have an argument-free dinner?” he proposed.
“We don’t argue. I simply express my opinion, and you ignore it.”
“So that’s a no,” he said dryly.
“We won’t argue,” she promised. And to prove it she thanked him for dinner.
He took a bite of steak and said, “This is good.”
She agreed. It was delicious. “Tell me about the congressman making you crazy.”
“Not much to tell, and it’s Walker making me crazy.” He then explained what had happened with Rock Point. “Spencer had worked hard on the deal, and the resort would bring that community back to life, but the congressman got greedy and demanded more money.”
“He agreed to one price, then changed his mind.”
Aiden nodded. He wasn’t used to talking about his frustrations with anyone, and it felt good to get it all out. “The guy’s a jerk,” he said. “Know what he said? Giving his word and shaking my hand didn’t mean anything. He hadn’t signed anything, so it wasn’t a done deal.”
“How did Walker get involved, and why did he negotiate with the congressman?”
Aiden shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him yet. I thought I’d get over my anger first, but that’s not happening.”
“When is Armageddon?”
The question made him laugh, and his mood was suddenly lightened. “Tomorrow.”
He then talked about the Houston property and the difficulty getting permits for the expansion. She couldn’t imagine how he kept everything straight in his head. She would have trouble remembering how many hotels there were. Not Aiden. He oversaw every phase, from breaking ground to the grand opening, and he could rattle off numbers faster than a computer.
“How do you stay so organized?” she asked.
“I’ve got a lot of good people I can rely on to get the job done, and Spencer does as much as I do. We split the work,” he explained. “He’s just more laid-back about it.”
She thought about what he had just said and decided she might have unjustly judged Walker as a giant liability and a man who refused responsibility. His older brothers had taken over the running of the business, and he had very little to say about it. Maybe Walker had more to offer than they realized.
“The four of you have an equal vote,” Cordie said. “Isn’t that right? Even though Regan runs the charity foundation, she still has a vote on any new development.”
“That’s right.”
“And so does Walker?”
“Of course.”
“What happens if Walker and Regan vote against you and Spencer?”
He shrugged. “I figure out a way to get what I want.”
She laughed. “You’re arrogant.”
“Yes.”
No apology came with the acknowledgment, but then she didn’t expect he would view arrogance as a flaw. Aiden Madison was the ultimate alpha, and she, supposedly a liberated female, shouldn’t be attracted to him. Should she?
“I’ve got to get some work done tonight,” he told her.
“Are you going down to your office?”
“No, I’ll work on my laptop here.”
She pushed her chair back and stood. “I won’t bother you. I should answer my e-mails. That will take forever.” She hoped that when her fingers weren’t so swollen she would be able to type, but for now she had to use the one-finger technique. Thank goodness Regan had brought over some of her electronics. Cordie would be lost without her laptop and her cell phone charger.
She went into the bedroom for her computer, then returned to the living room to find her phone so she could charge it. After a futile search, she picked up the hotel phone and called her cell. Following the ring, she located the phone under a chair. How had it gotten there?
Aiden leaned against the bar watching her. The living room was beginning to look as though it had been ransacked. The cushions on the sofas were askew; the coffee table was cluttered with Cordie’s laptop, iPad, earbuds, and chargers. One of her robes was draped over a chair, and her e-reader was on the seat. She hadn’t even been in the suite all that long. What would the room look like in a week? She needed to get organized, he decided.
“Do you know how much time you waste looking for things you’ve misplaced?”
Cordie was untangling her charger cord from the laptop. She straightened and asked, “Excuse me?”
He repeated his question.
“No, Aiden, I don’t know how much time I waste looking for things. At home I have a place for my things. Here, I don’t.”
He couldn’t argue with her because his phone rang. “It’s Alec,” he told her.
She waited impatiently for Aiden to finish his conversation and tell her what Alec wanted.
“He’s coming over with the video,” he explained.
“Why didn’t he just e-mail it to us?”
“He wants to talk to you.”
“What else did he say?” She leaned against the arm of the sofa. She didn’t want to sit, afraid she wouldn’t be able to get up. With all the bumps and bruises, by the end of the day moving was exhausting.
“He said it’s official now. Sean and Jayden were on the mark. Someone deliberately pushed you into the path of that car.”
She was astounded and outraged. “So it’s for real. Now there’s proof. Oh my God. Someone actually tried to kill me. I could have died.”
He was surprised by her reaction. “We already knew you were pushed. This is confirmation.”
“You’re awful relaxed about it.”
“No, I’m not.”
He still sounded too calm to her. “I can’t believe it. I should have paid attention. I slacked off. All week I’ve been looking behind me every time I thought someone was following me, and the minute I let my guard down, boom. I almost get killed.”
Jaw clenched, he said her name in a warning tone. “Cordelia, you thought someone was following you?”
“Yes, and apparently I let him sneak right up behind me. I can’t believe it. Do you know who’s behind this? Because I do.”
Aiden wanted to shout at her for not telling him sooner. He decided to wait for Alec to get the entire story out of her. Then he would get to yell.
“It’s Simone,” she announced unequivocally. “She’s trying to dispose of me just like she did with her marriage to my father. That freak of a family in Australia won’t know what hit them when I . . .”
She stopped ranting as soon as Aiden took her into his arms. “You know what this means, Cordelia?”
“What?”
He kissed her forehead. “You’re not going anywhere.”
TWENTY
He decided to wait until the agreed-on time to call Sydney. He wanted to downplay the incident, and for that reason he didn’t make an emergency call.
“Anything to report?”
“Yes,” he said. “As instructed, I’ve continued to follow and observe the woman. I didn’t find anything in her house that would connect you.”
“Good.”
“I’ve been looking for the best time to dispose of the problem.”
“Those were your instructions.”
He cleared his throat. “An opportunity presented itself on a crowded street, and I made the decision to go ahead.”
“What did you do?”
“I pushed the woman into heavy traffic.”
“With witnesses? You said a crowded street. People saw you?”