Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(14)

Her answer should have been “No, I don’t need a freaking heart monitor that’s the equivalent of a smart watch but engraved with HEAT on it like I was suddenly somebody worthy.”

Yet, people truly believed it was a status symbol. They all wanted to be a part of HEAT. She nodded vigorously and then scanned the kiosk next to our marble counter. “Give me a pin, too, would you, dear?”

She grabbed for the gold-and-sapphire emblem with HEAT molded there and pinned it to her white collar immediately with a smile on her face. “Now, don’t sell Lucy one when she comes in. I want to have more HEAT gear than her today.” She chuckled at her own joke. “I’ll be at the tennis courts if you want to tell Carl to stop by and say hi. I need to give him a bit of hell again for having me on a wait list for two years even after Declan took over before he accepted me.”

There it was. The underlying truth of why everyone wanted to be a part of HEAT Health and Fitness. They thought Declan might grace them with his presence, like he was a god here amongst mere men.

The sad part of it all was I was starting to want his presence around too.

He hadn’t lingered by the front desk, hadn’t texted me, hadn’t really looked my way since our locker room encounter. He’d stopped by a self-defense class for the kids and even lingered to throw a few balls with them. Yet, he’d only nodded at me like I was any another employee.

Which I was. Which was what I wanted to be. It was for the best.

“Give him all the hell you want, Mrs. Johnson.” I smiled at her.

She chuckled. “Oh, you know I never would. Carl and that goy, Declan, have done so much for all of us. You know Declan had every opportunity right out of college, right?”

I nodded. I was well aware of his story considering my father would drone on and on about how America loved Declan, about how he played both defense and offense in college, how he was first-round draft pick his senior year, how he played for a total of twelve years and could have kept playing.

“Declan made a name for himself, and then, well, you know your father wasn’t doing too hot with everything. I’m his lawyer, you know?” She preened at mentioning that. “I always tell Carl that stamping Declan’s face and last name on everything when he let Declan invest in the business years ago was the smartest move he made, even if he had to dole out some of the shares to Declan’s brothers. Those Hardy brothers are a dream.”

She sighed and I ground my teeth together trying not to think about the man who’d kissed me senseless in the locker room and then had avoided me ever since. He’d been at the gym since seven this morning and had greeted everyone with a hello except me. The only remnant of him in my life now seemed to be that a car still idled in front of my apartment daily and followed me to work, although I tried not to pay any attention.

“You’d know better than me, Mrs. Johnson,” I said because the woman had known my dad for years.

“Oh, right. Right.” She patted my hand with a smile on her face. “But you’re all getting along fine, it seems? I know your father loves you so much, and Declan’s wonderful with everyone right?”

The woman was as nosy as she was gossipy so I stayed quiet.

“Well, even if you’ve only come to live here just recently, you’ll be one of us in no time. Which reminds me, can you go grab him, actually? I need to tell him all the changes he made last week are worked out.”

“Okay.” I tried not to sigh as I waved Juna over so that I could go bring my father back out to the front desk but just as I was rounding the corner, an alarm on my HEAT watch went off.

I took off at a sprint toward the sauna.





6


EVERLY





EVEN IN THE HOT SAUNA, his body was cold. Lifeless.

Dead.

Carl was dead.

The alarm from a HEAT watch must have alerted the medical staff because people streamed in but nothing registered.

I know I rattled off instructions as I stood there while people moved around me like a swarm of angry bees, furiously trying to protect their queen. In this case, their queen was my dad.

Carl Milton.

Deceased in the sauna.

Someone said it had to be a heart attack. I said someone should administer CPR, pointed at coworkers, gave directions.

None of it mattered. The buzzing and the talking and the screaming of employees all seemed to fade away to silence.

They laid him down to do chest compressions, but he didn’t gasp for air. His body remained lifeless in his HEAT shorts and sweat-soaked T-shirt.

I fell to my knees and whispered to wake up. This time I called him Dad, this time tears fell for my father, praying he’d come back. I crumbled as my breath came faster and faster, but no oxygen filled my lungs. It was brutal, ugly, and pathetic the way I wanted it to not be real. We weren’t close, but he was family. He’d been my saving grace when my world fell apart months ago.

“What the hell is going on?” The growl from behind me was full of authority, like he owned the place and we were all inconveniencing him. I turned my tear-stained face toward him and found myself face-to-face with Declan. “Everly?” he whispered in confusion.

I saw when he realized. I saw it in the way his face paled as he looked over my shoulder, how his cheeks hollowed. He let out a breath and then barked orders. “Resuscitate him.”