CHAPTER FIVE

He looked breathtaking in a dark business suit, dark hair immaculately styled, not a hair out of place.

The headline was titled, ’The Perfect Blend of Sex Appeal and Success.

Erin flipped open the pages and read the article within, her heart hammering wildly. The feature hailed Ethan as America’s sexiest entrepreneur, starting with a small construction company and turning it into a booming business, worthy of being in the Fortune 500 ranks.

She read till the end then set the magazine back on the table and gazed off in the distance.

At her urging, Nicky had broken up with Ethan a week after that ill-fated dinner. Erin’s lips twisted, recalling Nicky’s report of how easily Ethan had taken the news.

That had only strengthened Erin’s opinion of the man’s true feelings for her cousin. No man, who claimed to be in love, would simply let his woman walk away without so much as a word or an attempt to win her back.

Erin had bid him good riddance and thrown herself into comforting Nicky. Eventually, Nicky had moved on, meeting Ryan Silverton a year later, and after three years, the man had proposed.

She heard her mother gasp, and looked up, alarm washing over her at her mother’s shocked white face.

“Mum?” she called out, rising to her feet and crossing to her mother’s side. “Mum. What’s wrong? What is it?”

Victoria lifted stricken eyes to her daughter trying to force words out from her constricted throat. Finally she managed to gasp out. “Your father, he’s had a heart attack.”

*****

Erin stood by her father’s hospital bed, gazing at him through tear filled eyes.

“What do you mean dad?” she demanded, her voice trembling with the force of her emotions. “We’ve lost control of the company? That’s impossible!”

Harold Gosling looked white and strained, though he put up a brave front for his daughter.

“Not impossible,” he rasped, wincing at the rawness in his throat from the breathing tubes he’d had to endure for the past four days. Even though it had been removed, his throat still hurt when he spoke.

Victoria shot a stern look at Erin. “Leave your father be Erin. He needs to rest, the questions can come later.”

“It’s alright, I need to tell her what’s happened.” Harold waved aside his wife’s admonishment and looked to his daughter again. “Last week, I received a report from our stock brokers saying that someone had been approaching Gosling shareholders and making irresistible offers in return for their shares and had managed to acquire a huge percentage of stock, enough to have a controlling interest in the company. And, I need not tell you how disastrous that is for us.”

Erin listened with a sinking feeling, her mind struggling to process her father’s words. How was it even possible that such a massive buyout had been going on right under their noses and no one had even suspected anything wrong?

The very idea was preposterous! Gosling Hotels belonged to the family and no one could take that away.

She gripped the rails at the foot of the bed till her knuckles turned white and looked at her father. He looked so frail and tired, even worse was the look of defeat in those eyes, so like her own. She had never seen him this way before. Harold Gosling had always been a symbol of strength and determination and to watch him like this filled her with misery.

The door of the private room opened and someone peered in. Erin recognized the craggy pale face and mane of gray hair as belonging to Joseph Young, the company’s lawyer.

His serious eyes took in the small gathering and his boss lying on the bed in one glance. “May I come in?”

Victoria looked like she wanted to refuse but held her tongue and turned her attention back to her husband, taking his limp hand in both of hers. Since her mother was not going to reply, Erin nodded for Joe to come in, moving away to stand by the windows, arms folded across her chest.

“Joe!” Harold said by way of acknowledgment. “What news?”

Joe cast a quick glance in Erin’s direction, unsure if it was proper to bring up the discussion while Harold was still weak. Erin nodded at him to answer, curiosity eating away at her.

Joe cleared his throat. “The good news is, the family still holds a majority of shares, fifty-six percent to be exact, while Holbourn Enterprises managed to gain control of -”

“Holbourn?” Erin cut in, eyes widening in shock. She gaped at the lawyer, distrusting her ears. “Did you just say Holbourn? The Holbourn Enterprises?”

He gave her a searching look, slightly baffled by her reaction to the name. “Yes, Holbourn Enterprises is behind the buyout, cleverly done though -”

Erin blanked out the rest of his words as her brain screamed the same word over and over again.

Holbourn. A tremor ran through her entire body and she felt her legs turn to jelly. Mercifully, there was a seat nearby and she lowered herself onto it, her mind in a daze.

There had to be some sort of mistake, she reasoned, frantically running through the possibilities. Holbourn...Ethan’s company had just all but effected a hostile takeover of Gosling Hotels. Why?

What sort of game was he playing, and why now? Why had he chosen to spring this after nearly five years of virtually no word or indication of a vendetta against her family?

A picture of him- the same one in the magazine rose in her mind and she shivered at the memory of those cold ruthless eyes staring up at her from the cover.

“Erin?” her father’s voice broke into her thoughts and she started in mild shock, looking up to find them all watching her with varying expressions ranging from worry to puzzlement. “Are you alright? You’ve gone pale.”

“I’m fine.” she replied. An idea took root in her mind and she rose, grabbing her purse while aware they were watching her in surprise. “I have to go out, I’ll be back as soon as possible, there’s something important I have to do.”

Ignoring the bewildered looks thrown her way, she hurried out.

Outside the hospital, she hailed a taxi and gave him directions then sat back as the driver pulled into the busy traffic, her mind in turmoil.