Free Only You by Francis Ray Page B

to drive. “The large terrace has a gas fireplace for warmth and romance, and a four-foot-high bricked wall for safety.” The welfare of his son would be foremost in his mind. “The interior can be designed to fit your specifications. You’ll be near Dominique and less than an hour away from your parents’ ranch in Oklahoma.”
    “When can we see the property?” Daniel asked.
    “Is tomorrow too soon?” Sierra tried to contain her excitement, but she knew Daniel had heard it when he chuckled.
    “We’ll all be there around one. Please check to see if the helipad will be available.”
    “I will. Thank you, Daniel. I’ll see you all then. Good-bye.” She hung up the phone and pumped her fist. She was going to win and get that smile from Blade.
     
     
    B lade wasn’t a patient man. He’d wanted to talk to Sierra directly but hadn’t wanted to take the chance that she wouldn’t listen. Sending another person in his place was usual for business, but not in personal matters.
    He paced to the window in his penthouse on the top floor of Navarone Place and looked at the sprawl of buildings going up in Victory Park. Perhaps he should let her go. Perhaps he was as ruthless as some people thought.
    He had good reason to be.
    When he’d lost Mary, he had lost a part of himself. He’d met her while building her parents’ retirement home. She was sweet, kind, and generous to a fault. In short, nothing like him. He had few friends and liked it that way.
    Her adoring parents accepted him because she had. Six months after they met they were married in her parents’ new home. It hadn’t mattered to her that as a kindergarten schoolteacher she had cleared more money than he had. She never stopped encouraging him, believing in him. His fledgling construction business took almost every cent he made. Although he couldn’t take her to the places she deserved, she happily kept their small house and took care of him. She always told him he’d succeed and then they could go wherever the mood struck.
    They’d never gotten to do those things. When his business finally took off, he was too busy. Then she was gone and it was too late. The grief of losing her had nearly driven him insane. His salvation was in knowing she would have hated that. He’d moved from Oklahoma to Tucson and thrown himself into building their dream. People thought him arrogant for using his name, but it had been her dream to see his name on properties around the world. He’d succeeded, but she hadn’t been there to see.
    His heart clenched. His eyes shut. When they opened, he saw a woman with long black hair swirling around her shoulders come out of the W. His hands fisted when he saw the luggage cart. He’d lost. No, he wouldn’t accept defeat. Somehow he’d talk her into staying.
    He was about to turn to the door when he saw Sierra continue toward his building. Was she coming to tell him off before she left? He finally understood why she continued when two other women went to the taxi where the luggage was being loaded.
    Relief swept through him. There was still a chance. For exactly what he wasn’t sure. He pulled his cell phone from his coat pocket. “Shane, I want to leave for Navarone Riviera Maya within the hour. Have the car waiting for me. I’ll be right down.” Disconnecting the call, he headed out of the office.
    The only way he could keep his mind off the competition in Dallas was work. He could certainly do that at his other project on the famed Mexican Caribbean coastline. The exotic setting was unlike any other.
    In the hallway, he started for his private elevator, then veered away. If he saw her, he saw her. He didn’t like to leave with her remembering his anger. Stepping on, he pushed 1, then watched as the floors clicked off. When it reached 3 he was tempted to push 2, the floor with the sales office. He put his hands in his pockets instead.
    It stopped on 2. Steel and chrome glass doors slid open smoothly. The woman he