At Martin’s rather sullen nod, Ian continued in that deadly calm tone that Tessa knew to be extremely deceptive, for it meant that his anger was ready to reach the boiling point.

“Second, Ms. Lockwood also happens to be my fiancée,” Ian announced. “As of next June, she’ll be Mrs. Gregson. Which means, Martin,” he added smugly, “that she will be an official member of the family and, as such, your superior. So I would advise you to treat her with the utmost respect at all times. And, needless to say, I trust her implicitly, so that anything you deem a private matter you can feel free to discuss in her presence. Do I make myself clear?”

Martin was very obviously taken by surprise at this news, and all he could do was stammer a bit before nodding. “Yes,” he muttered. “Quite clear.”

“Good. Because you know how much I hate repeating myself, Martin. Speaking of which, I had much better things to do with my time than fly all the way out here to clean up this mess you’ve made of things. Especially since I’ve already sent three other teams from my staff out to do the same thing. And yet, in spite of all the warnings and reprimands and conditions that have been set down, you still continue to defy my orders and have practically run what was a very fine hotel into the ground. Have you read the most recent reviews on Trip Advisor? I’m ashamed and embarrassed that they were written about one of my hotels. And I’m telling you now, Martin - quite plainly so that there is zero misunderstanding - that I won’t tolerate any of this for even one more day.”

Martin sputtered and stammered his way through a long winded series of explanations and excuses, blaming everyone but himself for his incompetency. By the end of his diatribe, he was red in the face, sweating profusely, and wheezing.

Ian gave him a long, hard look, the revolt evident on his face. “Are you quite finished?” he asked in a weary voice. At Martin’s nod, Ian shut his eyes for a brief moment, as though gathering his thoughts. “Very well, then. I want you to listen carefully, Martin, because what I’m about to tell you is going to have a profound impact on your future. Throughout the day, Tessa and I have been taking notes about all of the issues that need addressing here. Everything from personnel matters to the cleanliness of the rooms to the quality of the food. And nearly every single item on our usual checklist was rated at best average, and at worst unsatisfactory. In all of my years working for this very fine company, I have never seen a hotel so poorly managed. But all of that is going to change, Martin, and change very quickly.”

Ian tossed a multi-paged report across the table where it landed smack in front of Martin. “That’s a list of all the issues that I want resolved. Have one of your staff make enough copies to go around so that each of your managers has one. They’ll need the information to help you put together the action plan I want in my hands before we fly out of here tomorrow morning. You should also have dinner ordered in, since I’m assuming the plan will take you most of the night to draft up.”

Martin stared at Ian in disbelief. “You can’t be serious, Ian. How are we supposed to address all of these issues in just a few hours? And - and Hilary and I were supposed to have dinner with you this evening. You’re just cancelling that? She’ll be so disappointed.”

Ian shrugged, already starting to pack up his laptop case. “Please extend my regrets to your wife. But I’m sure she’ll understand how urgent this meeting with your managers is, especially since your future employment with this company depends on the outcome.”

“What?” Martin’s small, deep-set eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets in shock. “Are - you can’t possibly be threatening me, Ian. After all that our families have meant to each other over the years, how close our grandfathers -”

Ian slammed his fist down on the conference table, hard enough to make it shake violently, and cause Tessa’s head to glance up in alarm from her tablet. But the truly alarming sight was the look of fury on her fiancé’s face.

“Enough,” demanded Ian. “I’m sick to death of you playing that particular card over and over, Martin. Both of our grandfathers are deceased, and as far as I’m concerned there’s very little our families have in common any longer. You’ve taken shameful advantage of your relationship with us over the years, slacked off on the job for far too long. Any other employee would have been dismissed years ago, and the only reason you’re still part of this firm is because of our grandfathers’ friendship. But mark my words, Martin - if I don’t have that action plan in my hands by the morning, and if considerable progress hasn’t been made on improving things around this place within the next ninety days, I won’t hesitate to terminate your employment. I’ll be placing you on an official probationary period starting tomorrow, and you’ll need to seriously toe the line if you want to retain your job. Now, I suggest you get busy making all of the arrangements for your meeting and letting your staff know they’ll be working quite late. I’m sure you’ll excuse Tessa and I as we’ve had a very long, trying day. We’ll see you bright and early tomorrow morning. Tessa - if you’re ready, darling?”

She didn’t hesitate to follow him out of the conference room, more than ready to put this dreadful day behind them and start to unwind. But she had to hustle a bit to keep up with his long-legged strides as he strode out of the administrative offices without a backwards glance, not bothering to bid the staff good evening or thank them as was his norm. Tessa knew he was furious, the anger not so silently seething beneath the surface by now, and she tactfully remained silent as they stepped inside the elevator.

Once at the penthouse level, Ian grasped her by the elbow, propelling her along in his wake, and she was almost jogging to maintain the pace. When they reached the owner’s suite, the butler was hovering about anxiously, a welcoming smile on his face that quickly froze when he glimpsed the murderous expression on Ian’s face. The visibly nervous young man barely had time to stammer a greeting before Ian rather brusquely walked right past him, opening the door to the suite by himself, and then slamming it in the butler’s shocked face.

Tessa placed a gentle hand on his arm. “Are you all right? I know today was a real - oh!”

Her gasp of surprise was swiftly muffled by the ferocity of Ian’s kiss, his tongue swooping through her mouth with a hunger that spoke of desperation. Tessa was helpless to resist as he pushed her up against the entryway hall, his big body holding hers in place as his hands roamed possessively over her breasts, hips, and buttocks. It took mere seconds for her to become dazed from the insistent pressure of his lips upon hers, and her hands drifted up as if with a will of their own to clasp around his neck.