Page 75 of Billionaire's Coastal Haven

Chapter 20

Landon

I’m walking around in a dream. There’s no way last night and this morning happened. Zoe didn’t let me into her house or into her heart. After all of our fights, all of her hesitation, there’s no way she finally agreed to be with me.

But she did.

She let me in, and now I need to make sure she realizes I amall in.

Because I have fallen in love with Zoe Winslow. There’s no going back to my life before. Board meetings and mergers are pointless when compared to the prospect of exploring this relationship with Zoe.

It sounds so sappy and cliché to think that way, but there’s no other explanation besides love for the warmth in my chest, the tingling in my fingers, in the single-minded certainty that the best use of my days is to help Zoe shine.

Zoe isn’t the kind of woman to do anything casually. She dives in with her whole heart. And I have to protect her heart.

That’s my burden and my honor.

I park my SUV outside the Reeves estate. Collin’s team should be here any minute, but I want to walk the property in solitude before they arrive. There’s a connection here towhat makes Zoe so amazing, and I need to make sure everything we do to the estate makes it better. I need to bring Zoe’s mom’s vision to life as a gift to show her my dedication.

My thoughts pull me to the library where we spent that fateful night together. This space has always felt a little off to me, like something is missing or misplaced, but I’m not sure what it is.

I run my fingers along the smooth wooden walls until I reach the closet along the western wall. I’ve never opened this door before, so I peek inside. Cobwebs coat a broom, dustpan, and empty bucket that have probably been here since the Reeveses moved out.

The plan is to demolish this entire wall and extend the library into a multipurpose room. I pull the broom out and dust it clean, swiping away the remnants of disuse. Arcing scratches in the wooden floor grab my attention. I press my fingers into the grooves. Weird, but I’ve seen scratches like this before in other old homes. Ones with secret passages and hidden rooms.

I press my fingers along the seam between the back wall of the closet and the floor, up the side of the wall, to the ceiling. Nothing. My fingers slide across the top of the door. A raised bump pushes back. I press it down and a soft hiss emanates from the wall behind me. I dig my nails in and slide the bucket out of the way so I can open the back wall of the closet fully. Anticipation flutters in my gut.

What is this? Who was the last person to open this door?

An empty black hole meets me. I pull my phone from my pocket and turn on the flashlight. In the dim haze, rough stone steps appear and descend into the ground.

“What secrets are you hiding?” Adventure grabs me by the gut and tugs me toward the stairs. Everything about the Reeves house is a mystery, so it doesn’t surprise me that there is a hidden passage beneath the estate.

Did Zoe’s mom know?

The air chills as I descend the steps. The walls transform from light gray stone to roughhewn wood. The steps are jagged from disuse. The scent of stagnant air mixes with the salty tang of the ocean.

After approximately 150 steps, a medieval metal door blocks my path. Salt has corroded the hinges and lock. I need to know what’s on the other side of this door. Can I open it without breaking the antique hasp? Or will it be a casualty of my exploration?

I scramble back up the stairs and search the house for a sledgehammer, a crowbar—anything to leverage the door open, but I come away empty handed. Collin’s team cleans up after themselves too well. They never leave a toolbox unattended.

I need to find Zoe anyway. We need to share this discovery. It will bring her closer to her mom.

I open my phone and navigate to her contact. The phone rings four times before she picks up. “I can’t talk right now.” Her voice is thick and stilted like she’s been crying.

Fuck.Anticipation transforms into a boulder sitting on my chest. “What happened?”

“Lucky. Elsbeth. My dad.” The words wobble like she’s trying to hold everything together.

I shouldn’t have left her. My place is by her side, protecting her. “What did they do?” Rage pulses from my hands.

“I’m facing the consequences.”

What the hell does that mean? The consequences of what? What would her dad have to do with Lucky and Elsbeth?

The background noise changes. Something like the sound of an ambulance whizzing by. “Where are you?”

“Headed to Town Hall for my reckoning.”