love affair with Alyessa. The crowd loved it, especially the ending, which Solomon had described as yet to be written. As the credits rolled, heâd dropped to one knee in the crowded theatre and asked her to marry him. When sheâd said yes, Solomon had been ready to give Alyessa her happily ever after and lots of babies. His family had been slow to warm to Alyessa, however, feeling that she was too common to be a Crawford. But Alyessa had been anything but common. She was of British decent and had come to New York to escape her domineering family. Had it not been for the headlines of her engagement crossing the pond, Alyessa and Solomon wouldâve been able to have the dream wedding that theyâd planned.
But on the coupleâs wedding day, a man showed up at the church claiming to be Alyessaâs husband.
âHusband?â Solomon had demanded. âHow in the hell can you be married when we just took our vows?â
âSolomon, Iâm sorry, I didnât think it would matter,â sheâd said as she attempted to close the space between them. âI donât love him.â
Heâd pushed her away from him. âGet the hell away from me, you lying bitch. So, was I just the means to an end for you? You wanted to get away from your terrible family life and I was your sucker? Hey, man,â Solomon said, âtake your wife and get the fuck out of here.â
Right then, Solomon had sworn that heâd never trust another woman again. One of the first cases heâd given Danny had been to track down Alyessa. When Danny reported that Alyessa was living a life of luxury and was happily married to a duke, Solomon resolved that women werenât to be trusted and heâd never allow another one to get close to him. Heâd switched his career focus from filmmaking to the family business, which shocked his family and the Los Angeles studio executives whoâd been interested in putting his movie on the big screen.
At first, Solomon had allowed Richmond to take the lead at work. Heâd watched his brother and learned everything he needed to learn about the industry. Looking back on it, Solomon was pretty sure Richmond hated the fact that he was such an excellent teacher now that he was taking orders from his little brother.
âYou all right over there?â Danny asked as he stepped off the treadmill.
Solomon dropped his weights. âYeah, Iâm just thinking about what I need for this trip. Iâm probably going to make a regular reservation and see how smoothly things run. My workers donât need to know Iâm looking over their shoulder.â
âThatâs a good idea. Maybe while youâre gone, I can get Carmen to go out on a date with me,â Danny said as he wiped his face with the bottom of his T-shirt.
âGood luck on that,â Solomon said. âI donât think Iâve seen her go out on a date since sheâs been in New York. She needs a life.â
Danny flexed his muscles. âAnd Iâm just the man to give her one.â
C HAPTER 4
When Kandace pulled up to the mountain resort, she thought sheâd found the route to heaven. Snow quietly fell on the lush green grass, and in the background of the eight-story resort was Sugar Mountain in all of its snow-covered glory. Kandace couldnât tell if it was real snow or manufactured, and it didnât matter one bit. She turned her gaze to the classic building in front of her. It resembled a castle, with frosted windows, two towers, and what looked to be a giant snow globe over the entrance. Inside the globe was the Crawford crest, which adorned all of the hotels in the chain. This one was covered in snow. âWow,â Kandace said as she put her car in park. âI canât wait to see the inside.â As she stepped out of the car, she was met by two porters dressed in gold and cream uniforms.
âHello, maâam,â the taller man said.