“The minute you feel like all of this is too heavy for your shoulders, you just need to tell me or Dax.”
Great. Now I feel like a piece of shit. Instead of apologising for leaving him out of the loop though, my reaction is defensive. I blurt out my predominant fear. “And what? You’ll lock me in a room? Hide me away?”
“No, Tiger, we’ll help you carry the burden. You’ve been alone all your life, carrying the weight of your parents, the kids, work, school, surviving. You’re not alone now. You can share whatever you need, and we’ll carry it too.”
Really? Was it really that easy? Just ask? Share it all and half the load? “I don’t…”
“It’s okay. I get it. You’ve been self-reliant for so long, trusting anybody is hard. Just think about it, and when you’re ready to talk, I’ll be happy to listen. I’m especially looking forward to finding out how and why Mouse has your teeth imprints on his hands.”
Well, shit! “That wasn’t…it’s not…”
Aiden chuckles, but it sounds darker than I’m used to hearing from him. “It’s okay. I can make people disappear. All you have to do is say the word.”
“I have two,” I tell him, watching his eyebrows climb his forehead. “Barry Franz.”
“We’re working on it. I promise.”
“I know. Let’s go get Sylvie.”
Chapter Eleven
The Harris Hotel, in the centre of the city district, is known for housing dignitaries and businessmen from around the world. If there’s an official event in Harrison, it’s held here. To describe the building as grand is a serious understatement. It’s palatial. Four limestone structures are linked by a glass and iron atrium, and it all dates back to when the city first developed as an industrial hub. It’s the jewel in the city’s crown, and some say the inspiration for the construction of the Vale; a maze of concrete streets interconnected by tunnels and buttressed by four ambitiously tall towers. So, when Aiden pulls up outside and allows the doorman to greet us like we’re guests, I almost spit feathers.
With my dry-mouthed shock and less than suitable attire, I pull myself together just in time to take Aiden’s outstretched arm. He hands over his keys to a uniformed teen and guides me inside as if I were born to be here. I find my voice somewhere between the reception desk and the central fountain.
“Sylvie’shere?” I whisper.
“She’s been staying here for a couple of nights, yes.”
“Good God. How much does a room in this place cost per night?”
“Ordinarily, not much more than any other hotel in Harrison City.”
“Ordinarily?”
“Let’s just say Sylvie enjoys being the exception to the rule.”
“You make it sound like she rented out the penthouse suite, or something.”
He nods. “The Royal penthouse suite.”
“For real?” My words echo across the foyer. I clear my throat and hurry to catch Aiden at the elevators.
“Yep. The suite isn’t under her name, but she’s been running up room service bills.”
“How did you not notice that expense hitting her credit cards?”
“Good fucking question, Tiger. I’ve been wondering the same thing. I assume she kept the expenses under the amount Dax set for approval alerts.” Aiden nods to a kid in a bright red bellhop outfit straight out of the 1920s. It’s ridiculously ostentatious and, from the way the boy keeps pulling at the neck of his high-collared jacket, uncomfortable too. The boy shoots a nervous look at Aiden and nods back before vanishing. I note the interaction and wonder if that is how he figured out Sylvie’s whereabouts.
“How did you trace her here so fast? Do you have spies in every hotel?” I cut my eyes to the retreating boy and raise a brow in question.
Aiden laughs. “No, that’d spread our guys too thin. I pinged all my agents’ phones and got a geolocation on them. After we got nothing from Sylvie’s phone, it occurred to me she usually has her hooks in at least one of my boys. So, I traced their whereabouts instead.”
“And him?” I ask, wondering why the boy virtually ran away.
“We called ahead and let the hotel know we were coming.”
Something Aiden says triggers in my brain…she usually has her hooks in at least one of my boys…He knew about her flings? “So, you are aware she…uh…hooks up with her guards?” I ask, trying and failing to make it sound delicate.
