Page 76 of The Irresistible One
I sighed. “Because we decided, as a family, that we didn’t want to raise any concern and bring attention to the situation and answer questions on why the changes had been made.” I stalled just long enough to bang my head onto the glass. “Now, we have no choice. We have to say something.”
“I’ve already drafted a statement,” Eden mentioned. “It’s with Troy and Jenner as well as our publicist. Once it’s approved by the three of them, it’ll be in your inboxes for a final scan before I send it to the press.”
Sophie had known this whole fucking time that this was the Gordons’ motive. So, she got as much money as she could from us to fund their new endeavor.
Our money bought the building for the Gordons.
Our money paid for the renovations.
Our money fueled their marketing.
And she had known that, once the paperwork was signed, they were going to try to ruin our reputation by outing us to the fucking public.
Is it that difficult for her to admit when she is wrong? Or is something else happening that I’m not privy to?
When she had run away from me this morning, that was an answer I hadn’t been sure I’d ever get.
But it had just fallen in my lap.
Did the guilt thrash at her like one of the whips that hung from the walls of Lush? Did it keep her up at night?
Or did it convince her that she hated me because, for a shark like her, that was an easier reaction?
After my separation from Lindsey, there were many reasons I preferred Lush. The woman I dated following my split was one. She had turned me off from relationships, and I didn’t think anyone could be worse than her.
And then I had met Sophie.
“I checked our website stats this morning.” Hart released a painfully loud exhale. “I’m afraid to admit how many hits the online menus of Horned and Charred have gotten since their press release went out.”
“Our new menus have been updated on our websites, correct?” I pressed.
“Yes,” Hart replied.
Fuck. All that did was give the public more proof that we had stolen from the Gordons and had to change our offerings.
“What’s the number, Hart?”
Several seconds passed before he responded, “We’re currently at eight million.”
“Fuck!” Walker yelled.
“Our server has crashed. Twice,” Hart continued.
Eight million?
My knees bent, and I slid down the window until my ass hit the floor.
This wasn’t a mess. This was a nightmare.
With word spreading, the hate would come next. If it wasn’t already pouring in, it would be soon. Through email. Across each of our social media channels. In online reviews. Influencers would pick up on it and make it a trend; the harder they berated us, the more views they would get.
“Send the plane,” I told them. “I’ll be there by the end of the day.”
“No, no,” Eden said. “You’re scheduled to come back in two days. That’s fine. There’s nothing you can do here. We’ll keep you posted withupdates.”
I couldn’t put this all on them. Nothing about that was fair. And I certainly couldn’t spend the day on the water with Hayden, acting like his sister hadn’t just buried us while my family was dealing with this fire.
“I don’t like that answer, Eden.”
