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and always brought in his jobs on time and on budget. He got along well with the other

contractors, too. So who would want to ruin him, to shut his business down, to make him

look like a fool?

There was only one person he could think of who hated him enough, and who had the power and muscle to do all that had been done to him.

Raymond Fairchild.

“I’ll be back.” He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair.

“Where are you going?” Bob asked.

“To put an end to this.”

“You know who’s behind this?”

He slipped his jacket on. “Oh yeah. I definitely know who’s behind this. I’ll have it fixed by this afternoon. Send the guys home with a full day’s pay. They’ll be back on the

jobsite by tomorrow morning.”

He threw open the door to the trailer and stormed down the steps. He could take the

truck over to the Fairchild law firm, but he figured he should walk, let the cool air calm

him down.

Because right now he didn’t want to talk to Raymond Fairchild.

He wanted to kill him. And if he killed the old man, he’d never get his business back

up and running again.

Lucy tried her best to concentrate on strategy with her father, when all she really wanted to do was blurt out that she was in love with Jake, and her father had better get

used to the idea of having Jake in her life because the two of them were going to be

together.

But over the past couple weeks things between Lucy and her father had been strangely…silent. Nice, almost. Her father had to know where she’d been spending her

nights, and he hadn’t complained, hadn’t tried to insinuate his opinion on the matter,

hadn’t said or done anything, as a matter of fact. Maybe he was finally resolved to the

situation. Lucy was calmed by the peace between them, so she was afraid to rock the

boat.

Yes, she was a coward. Besides, she really didn’t know what her situation was with

Jake. It was too new, too…private. They were enjoying their time together. It was blissful

and perfect and she wasn’t ready to share that with anyone. Not even if it meant telling

her father that from now on he’d have to butt out of her personal life.

Besides, she figured he’d probably already gotten the idea that her relationship with

Jake was off limits, so why beat a dead horse? If things continued on as they had been

between her and Jake, and maybe in the future, if they decided to move in together…

The idea gave her chills of excitement. Living with Jake. She’d really like that. A lot.

It was a step toward her future, a future that included Jake in her life. She couldn’t

imagine one without him now. The past couple weeks had been so incredible. Just being

with him calmed her and thrilled her at the same time.

She loved him so much her heart ached.

“Lucille. Are you paying attention?”

No, she hadn’t been. Not at all. She’d been thinking about Jake. The thought made

her smile. “Sorry, Father. What were you saying?”

“I said on the Macarthur versus Langton Industries case, I think we should bring in a

couple of the new associates. Let them get their feet wet.” She nodded. “Good idea. I suggest Keller and Chen. They’re both extremely bright and would handle the details well.”

“I’ll let you decide on that one. Now on Sanderson versus Idea Technologies—” The sound of shouting outside the boardroom interrupted her father. Lucy quirked a

brow. “What’s that?”

“I don’t know.” Her father stood and turned just as the door to the board room was

thrown open. Jake stalked in, his hands curled into fists, a murderous expression on his

face. He pointed to her father.

“You!”

Lucy stood and hurried to insinuate herself between Jake and her father. “Jake, what’s wrong?”

He spared her only a brief glance before skirting around her and heading toward her

father. “Get out of my way, Lucy. I need to have a conversation with your dad.” Lucy’s secretary, Maggie, and several of the employees craned their heads through

the doorway. Mortified, Lucy shooed them out and shut the door, whispering for them to

get back to work. It was embarrassing enough that they’d seen this much. She turned

back toward the room. “Jake, what’s going on?”

He whirled on her. “Your father is what’s going on. He pulled the permits on my project.”

“What?” Lucy turned to her father.

Her father held his hands in the air. “I have no idea what he’s talking about. You are

out of line, Mr. Dalton.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about.” Jake advanced and her father backed up until he hit the wall. “You are the only one I know who has the muscle

to plant fake safety violations, faulty building materials and shoddy engineering specs.”

Could it be true? Her gaze shifted from Jake to her father. “Did you do this?” Her father went pale. “Of course not. I’d never—”

“Bullshit!” Jake slammed his fist against the wall right next to her father.

“Now see here.” Her father made a move toward Jake.

“No, you see here.” Jake’s voice was filled with fury as he grabbed a handful of her

father’s shirt and pushed him back against the wall. “Quit lying to cover your ass, Fairchild. I want my permits restored by the end of the day, and I want you to stop

interfering in my business. It’s bad enough you stick your nose into my personal life, but

if you try to ruin me I will lay you flat.”

Sweat poured down her father’s face, and his paleness turned pure white.

Not good.

“Jake, stop. My father’s not well…”

Jake, still pinning her father with a forearm across his chest, shot her a glare. “And you’re even worse than he is, automatically taking his side. You’re so blind to your daddy’s every fault you can’t see him for what he really is—a lying, manipulative bastard

who’d do anything to keep you shackled to his side.”

“Lucille,” her father croaked, reaching for his chest.

Oh, no. Couldn’t Jake see what was happening? “Jake. Stop this now.” Lucy