Her Alpha Saviors [The Hot Millionaires #2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Read Online Free Page B

things, but foolish wasn’t one of them.
    “My father didn’t make a single repayment,” she said, trying to keep the bitterness out of her tone.
    “I’m surprised they gave him the loan if his situation here was so bad,” Luke said.
    “Back then the banks fell over each other to lend money. That’s why the world’s in such a mess.”
    “There’s such a thing as responsibility on the borrower’s part,” Jay said coldly. “The world doesn’t owe anyone a living.”
    “Yes, there is.” Skye bit her lower lip so hard that she almost drew blood. His unnecessarily cruel remark brought tears to her eyes, and if she didn’t need him so badly she’d tell him to go to hell. “I negotiated an extension when I took over, but I’ve barely made a dent in the amount owed and the bank is running out of patience.”
    “Trying to cover their butt for making an unwise loan,” Luke remarked.
    “Hardly unwise. They get The Fox out of it, which will more than cover their losses.”
    “And so you’re hoping I’ll bail you out,” Jay said, stretching his arms about his head and flashing her a long-suffering look. “Why would I do that?”
    “Because The Fox is part of the landscape hereabouts. I know that sounds sentimental but English pubs are traditionally at the heart of village life. Since The Fox has been here longer than most of the houses, it’s undeniably true in this case.”
    “If it’s so intrinsic to village life, why are the takings so low?”
    Damn, trust Mr. Smartarse to go straight to the heart of the problem. “Did you know that English pubs are closing at the rate of twenty a week?” By the looks on their faces they very obviously did. “The smoking ban, drinking and driving laws, and the high tax on alcohol that’s pushed prices sky-high have combined to make it cheaper and safer for people to drink at home. That and the fact that most pubs are now glorified restaurants and you can no longer have a quiet drink in a cosy bar without hordes of kids running riot.”
    “But you’ve kept your main bar as a bar,” Jay said, shifting his position and crossing one leg elegantly over the other. “Why is that?”
    Skye smiled. “One thing The Fox has in abundance is space. We have a large restaurant off the main bar, so I decided to try and maintain the pub atmosphere to entice drinkers away from the modern plastic pubs in the area.”
    Jay fastened a fathomless gaze on her profile. She’d give a lot to know what was going on in that intelligent head of his. “With large log fires, old world decorations, and specialist ales?”
    “Yes. We have darts games, quiz nights, all the usual things that pubs do to survive nowadays, but they don’t have to encroach on the diners.”
    “How much did your father borrow from the bank?”
    Skye raised a brow. “You don’t know?”
    “Oh, I know,” Jay said with infuriating calm. “I rather wondered if you did.”
    “I can tell you down to the last penny,” she said with feeling, and proceeded to do so.
    “If it was intended to bail The Fox out of trouble, why didn’t it? What happened to it?”
    Damn, he was good. He’d put his finger straight on her other main problem. “We’ve had a bit of bad luck.” When he suavely hoisted one brow it became obvious that her vague explanation wouldn’t wash, and she had no choice but to come clean. She’d hoped to wow them with her plans before getting down to the nitty-gritty. “The cellar flooded during the summer rains last year, and we lost a lot of stock.”
    “Wasn’t it insured?”
    “I thought so.” She expelled a frustrated sigh. “Then I discovered that my father hadn’t paid the premiums.”
    “What else?”
    “We had a chimney fire that smoked out the main bar. We had to close for a week whilst we cleaned it up and got rid of the smoke.” She paused, wondering whether to tell it all. Hell, why not? They probably wouldn’t want to know about her scheme anyway, not now that she’d