“If you’re the one asking, yes,” I say. “Tell him you’ll meet him there personally. Frame it like a benefit.”
Olivia points at the host. “Go. Calm him down and tell him Ms. Conti herself is coming to the Bordeaux room.”
The host nods so fast it almost looks painful. “Yes, ma’am.”
The host disappears as quickly as possible.
I turned to Olivia. “Get Roberto back here now.”
She's already dialing.
Roberto steps back into the room a moment later, phone still in his hand, his eyes going first to Olivia, then to Caterina.
“What happened?”
“VIP issue downstairs,” Olivia says. “Caterina’s going to meet him in Bordeaux. You get to play bodyguard again, handsome.”
His gaze shifts to me, quick and assessing. He understands the security risk immediately and how much I must have objected. But this is also happening.
He nods once.
I move to the door ahead of Caterina. “Straight to Bordeaux. No stops on the floor.”
“Bossy, bossy, bossy,” she mutters.
I ignore that and step into the hall.
Caterina falls in behind me, heels sharp against the floor, her pace brisk enough to make it clear she is not being shepherded anywhere she does not intend to go.
We head for the stairs instead of the elevator.
She notices immediately.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“The elevator is faster.”
“The elevator is a box.”
“And the stairs are… what, a tactical delight?”
“They’re visible and reliable.”
She makes a sound under her breath but doesn’t argue further, which tells me she’s already shifting her focus to the real problem downstairs.
Good because then I won't have to explain the itchy feeling that's starting between my shoulder blades. I don’t like this. Not at all.
By the time we hit the landing, the muffled pulse of the casino is already getting louder, and every instinct I have is sharpening along with it.
The floor manager is waiting just outside the corridor, tight-faced and trying to look as though nothing at all is wrong.
“He’s in the Bordeaux room?” Caterina asks.
The manager nods. “Yes, ma’am. Host got him in there. He wasn’t happy about it.”
“Is he alone?”
