Chapter 1
If someone had toldLevi Cade six months ago that he’d be running his father’s company, he would have laughed his ass off.
He wasn’t laughing anymore.
Levi rubbed the stubble on his chin as he listened to his lawyer drone on about Club Tahoe investors. And how many were backing out due to declining profit. Their biggest competitor, Blue Casino, was somehow stealing lucrative business away. Bastards.
The lawyer on Levi’s right glanced at Levi’s boots and his lip curled.
Levi internally sighed. If he was stuck running the luxury resort his father had managed from the grave to strong-arm him and his brothers into operating, he’d damn well dress the way he liked. Jeans, crew T-shirts, and mountain boots. The stuffy lawyers in their designer suits could go screw themselves. Especially when they were giving him crap updates on finances.
“Sir, after your father died, our investors turned elsewhere. The Korean conglomerate interested in Club Tahoe as their United States conference destination could give the resort the capital it needs to remain afloat. The board would be happy to entertain them during their stay and make sure Club Tahoe puts its best foot forward.”
Was that an air of desperation in the man’s tone? Did the lawyers want him behind the scenes because they didn’t think he could act the part?
He’d been a firefighter, before his dream job was torn from him by a five-pound block of cement that had landed in the wrong place. Or the right place, considering he was still standing. But he’d lost a little too much peripheral vision in one eye and the deed was done. It was either desk duty or quit altogether. He’d chosen to quit rather than live out his days as a desk jockey, watching others perform the job he loved. That he’d ended up behind a desk anyway was just plain bad luck.
Levi’s father died a few months after Levi had quit the fire department, and his father’s will stipulated that Levi take over as CEO of Club Tahoe, the family resort. Only one of his four younger brothers was suitable for the job, and he worked for the competition, Blue Casino. None of the others wanted to work here, let alone run the place.
Levi wasn’t the idle type. He’d needed to get out of the house after months of recovery. He just never thought he’d become a suit. Which technically he hadn’t, considering he’d refused thus far to wear the damned things.
He crossed his ankle over his knee, showing off his fine workman’s boots. The lawyers surrounding the small conference table in his father’s old office had higher degrees than Levi’s bachelor’s in mechanical engineering, but he wasn’t an idiot. “First of all,” he said, “it’s Levi, not sir. And second, no, I won’t need your help. We’re going in a different direction. No more relying on investors to keep things afloat. We can pull this off on our own, if we bring in more corporate business and keep the meeting rooms occupied.”
The lawyers, who made more in annual salary than Levi had made his entire five years as a fireman, glanced nervously at each other.
He hadn’t a clue what he was doing, other than going on instinct. And since his father had set this bullshit in motion, the lawyers—and whoever else wanted to be in charge—would have to deal with his decisions. The only question was if Levi could deal with the choices he made.
Twice now, he’d nearly lost everything. When he was young and his mother died, and months ago when his dream career was torn from him. Three times, if he considered the future he’d planned with his ex-girlfriend—before she’d betrayed him. He knew what it was like to almost lose it all, and he’d never forgive himself if he mucked up his father’s company and left his brothers without an inheritance.
The men shuffled their papers and stood to leave. “Yes, sir—ah, Levi,” the head lawyer said, and snapped his fingers at an assistant. The other man brought over a large folder. “Here is the company’s dossier. Shin Electronics is bringing a translator for their business retreat next week, but your new assistant—handpicked by your father, I might add—is also fluent in Korean.”
“He is?”
“She,sir—Levi. Ms. Wright has been shown the grounds and is currently training with Esther, your father’s old assistant.”
Levi dropped his boot to the ground. “Did you just say,Wright?” That name sent a chill down his spine. But there was no way his new assistant was his ex. Not even his father would be that cruel.
One of the lawyers, the one with dark red hair slicked to the side, gestured to a young woman entering on the other end of the room. “Per your father’s will, Ms. Wright will help you through the transition as CEO. He was aware of Esther’s retirement and had planned ahead.”
Esther had been more like a mother to Levi and his brothers after his own mother died when Levi was eight years old. He’d been old enough to know what he’d lost and that his father was never the same. Working long hours, never around, his father had checked out, and Esther had done her best to fill his mother’s place. But Esther had been his father’s assistant, not their mother. Levi filled the role of parent to his brothers more often than not.
He glanced at the girl across the room. Thank God, it wasn’t his ex. “You mean jailbait over there?” he said low. “My father choseherto help me run this place?”
The woman entering his office didn’t look anything like his ex-girlfriend. This Ms. Wright was tall and thin, with long, wavy blond hair, not brunette and curvy. And she looked like she could pass for seventeen if she weren’t wearing business clothes.
Philip—or was it Sam?—coughed into his hand. “Ms. Wright might have a problem with, ah, being referred to in that manner. She possesses a master’s degree from Harvard Business School and recently completed a one-year internship at a popular hotel in Korea. She’s the ideal candidate to assist you with the group you’re to entertain next week. If, that is, you still wish to forgo our assistance?” The man’s hopeful gaze gave away his eagerness.
Not eager—desperate. They really didn’t want Levi handling it.
He scanned the blonde from head to toe. She’d just finished talking to his other lawyer. Why the hell did he have so many lawyers? This guy’s name escaped Levi too. Wasn’t Levi’s fault they all looked alike in their identical suits and polished haircuts. Ms. Wright, on the other hand, had small, pretty features for a girl who had to be five foot ten in heels. Very pretty features. And young. “Listen…Philip?”
“Samuel.”
“There’s no way that girl’s old enough to serve alcohol, let alone be the assistant to a CEO of the finest resort in Lake Tahoe.” He’d been forced into the role—might as well throw around some weight. “Aren’t you people checking IDs before you hire?”
“Ms. Emily Wright is twenty-six, sir.”
Levi blinked.Twenty-six?He narrowed his eyes. “You remember the ages of all our employees?”
