price down."
Shane. Would he sacrifice Melissa's reputation to make a buck?
The guy might not be in love with Melissa but clearly they shared a deep friendship. He cared about her.
"I'm sure it's not him, Ash."
"One of your gut feelings?" She paused. "Hmm . . ."
He heard a clicking on the other end of the line, probably Ashley tapping her pen on the side of her computer
monitor, as she tended to do when she was thinking.
The tapping stopped. "I've got an idea."
"What is it?"
"Well, you told me your friend is selling because the cost of maintaining the place is too high. Several expensive repairs and some big-ticket equipment replaced, right?"
"Yeah . . . ?" His words trailed off, as he began to see where she was going with this.
"Okay, so send me the repair log and whatever info you have on who did the repairs, along with a list of the new
assets and where they were purchased."
"What's in that wicked little mind of yours, Ash?"
"Well, I'm thinking maybe the current managers of the place want to be more than that."
Ty's fists clenched. Could Hal and Vanna be behind this whole thing? It was plausible.
"I'l get on that. Anything else?" he asked her.
"Nope, I'm good."
He hung up and glanced at his watch. Almost eleven. If Suzanne didn't return from the pool soon he'd go find
her. He wanted to get that information to Ashley as soon as possible. But first, he had to go after Melissa. See if
she was okay. But what would he tell her?
A knock sounded on the door. Maybe that was her.
He pulled open the door. Before he could react, a solid male fist slammed into his eye. He crashed to the floor.
"Shane, what in heaven's name are you doing?" Suzanne, halfway down the hal , rushed past Shane and into the
room, then knelt beside Ty.
His head ached and his eye stung sharply. Suzanne lifted his head and rested it on a soft towel. Gently, she
prodded at his swel ing eye. Ty pushed himself to a sitting position.
Shane glared at Ty, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"Your husband is some kind of sleaze bucket. If you weren't here, I'd break every bone in his body."
She stared at him, wide-eyed. He turned on his heel and marched away. She turned to Ty.
"I've only been gone twenty minutes. What could you have possibly done to get him so mad?"
He pushed himself to his feet and slowly walked toward the desk.
"I assume it's because Melissa saw the video on my laptop."
He slumped into the chair.
Shane probably thought Ty had posted it, which meant, so did Melissa.
"Ty, you know pacing a hole in the carpet won't make her call any faster."
Ty glanced at Suzanne. She'd gathered together the information Ashley had requested in under twenty minutes,
without tipping off Hal and Vanna. Now all he could do was wait for Ashley to get back to him.
He desperately wanted to go to Melissa to explain, but he knew it was better to finish up this business, then he
could explain the whole story.
"Come lie down, and put the ice pack back on your eye."
He lay on the bed, but fidgeted as she positioned the sack of crushed ice on his black eye.
His cel chimed. He bolted upright. The ice bag dropped to the bed.
"Adams."
"Got it, boss. The repairs were all made by one maintenance company. I checked it out and it doesn't have any
other clients and, get this, no employees. None registered anyway. When I checked out who registered it, it
seems it's this Hal guy's brother. What I can't figure out is, why wouldn't they try to hide it better than that?"
"Simple. They didn't think anyone would suspect them. They've been friends of Suzanne's for years. She trusted
them."
"Some friends. It's the same with the purchases. A different company, but registered to the same guy. No assets,
no employees."
"Thanks, Ash. You deserve a raise."
"I'll hold you to that."
Ty hung up and turned to Suzanne. Her grim face told him she understood the gist of what had happened.
"What now?"
"We've got them on charges of fraud. Before we cal the police, though, we have to get that video off the
network so they don't release it to the world in revenge."
Suzanne picked up the phone and dialed.
"Hi, Vanna. It's Suzanne. Look, I leave tomorrow and I so rarely get to see you and Hal. Are you free for lunch
today? No, I was thinking in town. Yeah, okay. Fifteen minutes."
She hung up the phone. "I'll give you whatever passwords you need to get on the network admin account and
whatever else you need so you can lock those bastards out of everything of importance on this resort.
I assume your assistant can walk you through what needs to be done?"
"Absolutely."
Suzanne's eyes blazed with anger, hiding the pain he knew she must feel at their betrayal.
"Call the local police as soon as you're done."
He nodded.
"We'l be at the Half Shell restaurant in town." She strode to the door. "I'l keep them there until the police arrive." Her fists clenched at her sides. "They wil not set foot on this property again."
The phone rang and Melissa glanced toward Shane as he lifted the receiver.
"We'll be right there." He hung up and glanced at her. "It was the manager's office. They want us to come down there. Something about the video."
He took her hand and together they walked down to the lobby. A tal man at the front desk accompanied them
to an office down a side hall to a large outer office with three desks, then through the door labeled MANAGER.
"Please take a seat. Someone will be right in."
Melissa sank into one of the four chairs facing a round table off to the side of the main desk. She stared out the
window at the view of the ocean as Shane sat down beside her.
A knock sounded at the door and they glanced up as Suzanne entered the office.
"Suzanne!" Shane stood up. "I'm sorry about hitting your husband but—"
She held up her hand, stopping his explanation.
"I know what you thought and I understand."
"So do I." Ty stepped into view and Shane's eyes flared in anger. "I would have done the same thing."
"Get the hell out of here before I—"
Suzanne grasped his arm. "Shane, please listen for a minute." She glanced across the room at Melissa. "You, too, honey."
Warmth and sincerity glittered in her emerald eyes.
"Melissa, I know you saw that video of you and Ty. What you must understand is that Ty didn't record the video,
or post it online."
"Why the hel was it on his computer? A little souvenir?" Shane demanded.
"No, he was trying to find out who posted it. To get it off the Internet."
Melissa's chest tightened.
"So it was posted to the Internet?" she asked.
Ty stepped forward. When Shane moved to stop him, Suzanne clutched his arm. At her pleading expression, he
backed off, but kept his gaze firmly on Ty as he strode toward Melissa.
He sat in the chair next to hers and spoke directly to her.
"It was never posted worldwide. It was only accessible to the local network here at the resort."
Relief swooped through her. So she wouldn't have to contend with leering men recognizing her on the street. It
was one thing to perform here in the safety of the resort, in front of people who understood and shared in the
sexual openness, but quite another to be displayed on the Internet as a piece of pornography.
"'Was'?" she asked
"I removed it from the network and deleted it." He took her hand in the warmth of his. "No one can see it now."
"Why are you tel ing us this and not Hal or Vanna?" Shane demanded. "We have no reason to believe what you say is true."
"It is true," Suzanne said.
"I am a private investigator and I was hired by the owner of the resort," Ty continued. "Hal and Vanna aren't here to tell you about this because they've just been arrested." He tightened his fingers around Melissa's, his
warmth soothing her. "They were the ones who posted the video."
"What?" Melissa didn't understand. "But why would they want to embarrass me . . . or you . . . like that?"
"It wasn't about embarrassing us. It was about scaring off a buyer who'd come here to check out the resort.
They wanted to ensure that the owner believed the resort's reputation had been trashed and that the clientele
would disappear because videos of clients were being posted to the Internet. That way, the owner would panic
and drop the price, then they could buy the place for a song—going from managers to owners. They'd already
been siphoning off most of the profits."
"But if the video is only accessible at the resort, why would the owner believe it? If he's not at the resort, then he wouldn't see it on the Internet."
Ty released Melissa's hand and turned to face Shane.
"The owner is at the resort, because she knew that you, Shane Mason, owner of the Mason Group, were here to
check out the resort before making an offer."
"To be total y honest, I only knew that you were sending someone to check on the resort. I didn't know you
were coming yourself," Suzanne said.
"You're the owner of the resort?" Melissa asked.
Suzanne nodded. Shane's mouth flattened into a thin line as he glared at her.
His glower seemed to unnerve Suzanne and she kept talking. "Actually, at first we thought you had been sent
here to investigate the resort, Melissa. Then when Ty found out you worked for a news station, he thought you
might be doing an exposé on the place. Especially since you hid the fact you're a reporter."
"I'm not a reporter. I work as a production assistant," Melissa said, puzzlement cascading through her. "And that's why I said I was a freelance writer, because I was afraid people here might be nervous around someone
working for a news station."
Melissa turned to Ty. "So you're a private investigator and you're married to the owner of the resort?"
"No," he responded.
"But you said—"
"I mean, yes, I'm a private investigator, but I'm not married to Suzanne. I'm her friend."
Her friend. Not her husband.
"As Suzanne said, she believed the buyer . . . Shane . . . would secretly send someone to evaluate the club," Ty continued, "and I was here to identify that person and keep an eye on them. To ensure things went wel ."
Melissa's face flooded with heat. To ensure things went well. He certainly had gone above and beyond the call of
duty there! Had he intended to have sex with her al along? To gain her trust, then draw her into his sexual web,
mesmerizing her with his potent masculinity? Had he anticipated her falling for him, too?
Her stomach burned and her heart compressed. He must have known it would be easy to manipulate a woman
smitten with him. To convince her this was a fabulous place when in reality it was a place that stripped a person
of all self-respect.
She opened her mouth to speak, to deride Ty for tricking her. For making love to her. But no words would come.
She sucked in a breath of air and clamped back on the tears pushing at her eyes, spun on her heel, and strode
out.
Shane's first instinct was to fol ow Melissa, but his gaze stayed fixed on Suzanne. He had to ask.
"How long have you known I was the buyer?"
"Since yesterday afternoon."
"Before or after you seduced me?"
"Before." Her eyes widened. "You don't think . . . ?"
He turned his back on her, then strode from the room.
"No, Shane. Please."
He kept walking. Despite her plea. Despite the desperate pain inside him. She had only been using him to ensure
he would buy her resort.
He should have known better than to trust any woman aside from Melissa. She was the one woman he knew he
could trust with his heart.
Why had he been so blind for so long?
Chapter 17
TY HELD SUZANNE's ARM, PREVENTING HER FROM RACING AFTER Shane.
"He won't listen to you now. Give him time to take it all in. He'll come around."
Her head shook back and forth. "No, he won't. I can feel it."
He took her in his arms and held her close, stroking her back, comforting her.
"If he doesn't, he's an idiot."
He felt her tears on his collar and her small sobs as her chest vibrated against his. He stroked her hair.
"Suzanne, it'll be all right. I promise."
Now al he had to do was find a way to make that promise come true. And he would. Suzanne was very
important to him and he would ensure she got her happy ending.
His lips compressed at the image burned into his brain of Melissa's betrayed expression when she'd stared at
him, believing he'd cal ously used her.
Since he would have done what he did whether he'd fallen for her or not, he couldn't see any way to convince
her otherwise. So the fact he had fal en for her didn't change a thing.
This was better anyway. Their relationship had already gone too far. It was smarter to end it now and avoid
more heartache down the road.
If only it didn't hurt so bad.
Melissa and Shane spent most of the cab trip to the airport in silence. Once they'd boarded the flight and it had
taken off, Shane finally turned to her. "Melissa, I'm sorry about how this turned out."
She nodded, trying to stop the tears from wel ing up.
"I just feel like such an idiot. The things I did . . ."
He rested his hand on her arm. "Liss, you enjoyed yourself, something you rarely allow yourself to do. There's
nothing wrong with that."
She gazed at him. His warm sea-blue eyes, his familiar smile, reassured her. The tightness in her stomach
released a little.