ELEVEN

Elijah's hand rested on the small of my back as we walked through the corridors. Even that small touch made my stomach flutter. 

We reached the receptionist desk and was immediately escorted to Dad's private room.

He looked so much smaller in that hospital bed than I remembered. Now he looked fragile, with tubes and monitors attached to him. 

His eyes lit up when he saw me, and that familiar warm smile spread across his face.

"Bree-bug," he said, using the nickname he'd called me since I was five. "You came."

"Of course I did." I crossed to his bed and hugged him carefully, mindful of the IV. "How are you feeling?”

"Much better. This room is fantastic but the food here is horrible though." He looked past me to Elijah. 

"Dad, this is—" I gestured to Elijah. 

"Logan!" My father gave him a big smile. "Good to see you, son. Though you look a bit different.. did you get taller?"

Oh god.

"Dad, this isn't Logan." This was embarrassing. 

"I know I've been out of it but I'd recognize my son-in-law anywhere here. Come closer."

"Dad.." I tried again.

Elijah's lips twitched making me frown in his direction. He was definitely enjoying this.

"Mr. Jones," Elijah said as he stepped. forward and extended his hand. "I'm Elijah Washington not Logan."

My Dad looked between us in confusion.  "Washington? But I thought…"

"Logan and I broke up," I said quickly, my face was heating up. "The wedding was called off. This is... this is my husband. We just got married."

The confusion on Dad's face would have been funny if I wasn't dying inside.

"Your husband? But you were just engaged to Logan two weeks ago."

"He cheated on me," I finally admitted. "

An angry expression replaced his confused one. "That little twerp!"

"It's fine, Dad, It's over." I grabbed Elijah's hand. "And then I met Elijah and...we just clicked."

 

Dad looked at Elijah for a long moment and sighed. "Well, you're definitely an upgrade from Logan. That boy had the personality of wet cardboard."

I almost choked on a laugh. He never told me he didn't like Logan. 

"Thank you for taking care of Breanna," Dad continued seriously. "And for... all of this." referring to the private room. "I know this wasn't cheap."

"It's nothing," Elijah said. "Family takes care of family."

Dad nodded in approval. 

"I should let you two catch up," Elijah said, releasing my hand. "I'll wait outside." He goes out of the room. 

Dad turns to me. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

"I'm fine." 

"Liar." He reached for my hand and squeezed it gently. "You've got that look you get when you're worried about something. What's going on?"

I couldn't tell Dad anything because of the contract. 

"Just… adjusting to everything," I said. "The wedding happened so fast, and Elijah's world is very different from what I'm used to."

Dad's expression softened. "I wish I could've been there to see you get married.”

I felt so ashamed for lying to my Dad. "

“But I'm just glad you found someone." He studied my face. "You're happy…Right?"

Was I happy? I didn't even know.

"He’s good to me," I said, which wasn't exactly a lie. Even though I was basically a slave to a contract. 

"That's not what I asked."

I looked away. My dad always could see right through me.

"It's complicated, Dad."

"Marriage usually is but as long as he treats you right, that's what matters. And if he treats you like shit. I'll tear him apart and I don't care how rich or powerful he is. Absolutely nobody disrespects my daughter.”

I laughed very loudly at the determined expression on his face. 

Then his expression changed to one of worry. 

"Dad? What's wrong?"

He sighed. "There's something I need to tell you. I didn't want to burden you with this, but…"

My stomach dropped. "What is it?"

"It's the bakery."

I felt all sweaty now. "What about the bakery?"

He turned his head to look at the window. "We got a notice last week. There's a new construction going in the neighborhood." 

What???

"Apparently there's some big project happening, Redwood Grove or something like that and they're buying up all the properties on our block."

My heart rate increased "Buying them.. can they do that??!"

"The own the debt that we owe." Dad's jaw tightened. "And apparently someone bought up all the mortgages on our street including ours."

No no no no.

"What does that mean?" I asked, even though I didn't want to know the answer. 

"It means we either sell to them voluntarily, or they take it by force, either way…" He looked at me with unshed tears. "We're losing the bakery, Bree."

It felt like the walls were caving in on me and I suddenly couldn't breathe properly. 

That bakery was everything to me. It was my mother's legacy before she died. 

"There has to be something we can do. We can fight this." I said desperately.

"With what money, sweetheart?" He shook his head sadly. "We're already drowning in debt and we don't have the resources to fight a big company like that.”

"But the bakery is all we have."

"We have each other and that's what matters." His smile didn't reach his eyes. "It's just a building, Bree."

"It's not just a building!" I raised my voice and my voice cracked. “It's Mom's.” 

"I know." Dad's voice was thick with emotion. "But sometimes you have to know when you're beaten and we're beaten."

I tried to process what he was telling me but it all felt unreal. 

The name of the corporation sounded familiar but I couldn't place why.

"They gave us six months but honestly, with me laid up in here, I don't know how we're going to manage even packing everything up in that time."

"I'll help," I said immediately. "I'll come back, I'll pack everything, I'll—"

"You're married now, Bree. You've got your own life to worry about."

"You're my family. The bakery is my family. That's my life too."

Dad smiled sadly. "I appreciate that, sweetheart. I really do but there's no point in fighting this. They've got all the cards and we've got nothing."

Nothing except a daughter who'd just married a billionaire.

Elijah could help. He had money, connections, resources. If I explained what was happening maybe he could do something. 

But would he even care. He's not obligated to help me.

"Don't look so sad, Bree-bug." Dad squeezed my hand again. "We'll figure it out, we always do."

"I should let you rest," I said, standing up even though I didn't want to leave. "The doctor said you need to keep your energy up."

"Will you come back soon?"

I forced a smile. "Yes."

I kissed his forehead and left the room before he could see the tears in my eyes.

I found Elijah in the hospital courtyard, on his phone.

"I don't care what the board thinks," I felt bad for whoever he was talking too so harshly. He was scary when he went boss mode like that. "Push the meeting to next week... ."

He hung up when he saw me approaching.

"Everything okay?" he asked.

I nodded, but I genuinely felt like shit. 

Part of me wanted to tell him but I didn't want to give him any more power over my life than he already did. 

But I also didn't want to lose the bakery.

"Let's get out of here," he said. "You look like you need a break."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see."