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“There you are.” Angelica stood from my desk once I entered. “I was worried about you.”
“Why?” I stared at my chair until she vacated the area behind my desk.
“You’re never this late.”
“I told you I’d be splitting my time between here and Connecticut, especially during the holidays.”
“I just figured with you being so close to getting this project off the ground, you would be here this morning.”
“I’m here now.” I leaned against my desk. “Anything urgent I need to deal with?”
“Travis Girardi called,” she said.
“What did he want?” I had made it clear last night that I wasn’t ready to discuss potential business associates. I didn’t like the vibe I got when it came to the way he treated Ivy.
“He and his brother are curious about what you plan to do with the lake access?”
“Why is that their concern?” I rummaged through my filing cabinet, looking for the land survey of Ivy’s property. I had a feeling it wouldn’t take the brothers long to figure out what I wanted with their mother’s property. “The last time I checked, Ivy owns the house and the lake access. It doesn’t have anything to do with them.”
“Maybe her uncles know what she’s sitting on and they realized your offer wasn’t as fair as you seem to think it was.”
“Whose side are you on?”
“Do you really have to ask me that question?” She joined me by the cabinet. “I have been by your side from the beginning of this thing, and it hurts me to see you screwing it up this close to the finish line.”
“I’m not screwing anything up.” I tossed the file on the conference table. “I’ve already told you I don’t need you trying to assist me because you don’t approve of what I’m doing.”
“This girl is going to ruin everything for you.” She clasped my bicep. “Why can’t you see that?”
“I get that you don’t like her, but you don’t get a say in my personal life.” I yanked out of her hold. “And the stunt you pulled last night was unacceptable. If it wasn’t for your grandfather, you wouldn’t be here today.”
“Huxley, you don’t understand.” She moved toward me. “Ivy is using you.”
“How is she using me?”
“I don’t know! She just is.” She paced my office like a wounded animal. “Last night she threw it in my face that she was going home to your bed and you would be the one taking her dress off for her.”
She wasn’t wrong.
“I have to wonder what you said to provoke her.”
“Do you know how crude and low-class she is?” She raised her voice. “She’s an immature girl who is beneath you.”
“Hey.” I held my hand up. “Don’t talk about her that way. You don’t have any idea who she is or what I see in her.”
“I don’t get it.” Angelica pushed her hair from her face. “You just met her. You don’t know anything about her. I’m trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what? A twenty-three-year-old girl who has something I want?”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I know what you want.”
“That isn’t what I meant, and I find it inappropriate for you to bring that up.” It was time I told her grandfather this arrangement was no longer working for me. “I can move forward without her property, but it would be in her best interest to take my offer. Deep down she knows that. She’s not looking for more money.”
“Sure.”
“She needs guidance, and I can help her make a better life for herself, but she’s not ready to hear that.”
Ivy needed to trust me before I could make her see that selling to me was best for her. I could be patient and wait for her to accept that I wanted to help her. In the meantime, I would go about my business. There were plenty of other things I had to do to get this project ready.
