Goodbye Gifts: (The Steamy Version) (A 'HOT' Castle Mountain Lodge Romance Book 5) by Elena Aitken Page A

“I’ll tell you. When I got your message, I tried to call you back to tell you Sam Braxton had a few more questions.” Trent may as well have punched him for the nausea that immediately began to swirl in his gut as he listened.
    “What do you—”
    Trent held up a hand. “Just wait,” he said, ice in his voice. “It gets better. When I couldn’t get a hold of you, I went looking for you. I didn’t find you, obviously.” Trent sneered. “But what I did find was a note with your doodling on it.” He held up a page from Dylan’s notepad and Dylan instantly knew what Trent was going to say. To some, the note might look like a bunch of scribbles, but when you looked carefully, you could make out the dollar signs and Jake Mentz’s name, and both of those things had big, scrawling Xs through them.
    “Trent, it’s just a doodle.” Even as he protested, Dylan knew it was pointless. The look on Trent’s face told him his brother had figured out exactly what was going on.
    “That’s what I thought at first, too,” Trent said. “And then I remembered that you tend to doodle about whatever it is you’re talking about. So I phoned.”
    “Jake?”
    Trent nodded. “And that was interesting.”
    Dylan knew exactly what was coming.
    “Why exactly hasn’t he been paid for the last few months, Dylan? Why exactly did he ask me for confirmation of funds that need to be in place before he continues work? What the hell is going on?”
    Dylan shook his head. “It’s all going to be okay,” he said. “There was a little hiccup with financing, but with the Braxton investment, we’re right on track.” As he spoke, something Trent had said earlier flashed through his head. “Wait. Did you answer their questions? Did they sign?”
    “They didn’t.”
    Icy fear pricked at the back of Dylan’s neck. “What? Why?”
    “You weren’t here,” Trent continued, as if Dylan hadn’t spoken. “After my chat with Jake, I knew something was up and I couldn’t get a hold of you.” He glared at Dylan. “And then I got a call from Sam Braxton. He said you didn’t meet him for your lunch meeting, so he couldn’t get his questions answered.”
    Dylan ran his hands through his hair, trying to control the spinning that was taking over his mind. “No,” he said. “No. I totally forgot.” He’d been so preoccupied with Carmen, he’d completely spaced on the most important business meeting of his career. He looked up. “Tell me he’s still here.”
    Trent shook his head. “They left.”
    “No.”
    “I did my best to answer his questions, but they were specific to the build. And that’s your—“
    “Wait.” A knot of ice formed in Dylan’s chest. They needed that money or the Springs project would be in serious jeopardy. “We need…I need…dammit.”
    “They’re expecting your call,” Trent said. “I told them you weren’t feeling well. A stomach thing. It’s not over yet.”
    It took a second for Trent’s words to register. “You what?”
    “Well, I couldn’t very well tell them you were off screwing around with a girl, could I?”
    Anger flared in him at his brother’s choice of words, but Dylan bit back a response and focused instead on the problem at hand. “I’ll call them.”
    “Do that.” Trent took a moment to straighten his suit jacket and compose himself before he added, “Fix this, Dylan. This is a partnership and if you aren’t focused on the Springs project, it’s not going to work.”
    “I’m focused.”
    “Are you?”
    Dylan didn’t miss the implication behind his words.
    “I am.”
    Trent assessed him for a moment before nodding. “Good. Then I’ll tell Carmen to back off. I can see now that it wasn’t a good idea.”
    “Wait. What?” Dylan grabbed Trent’s arm before he could leave. “What did you say about Carmen?”
    He had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what Trent had to say, but he needed to know.
    “I’m going to tell Carmen to back off,” Trent