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“That’s not necessary, Elinor,” Ms. Smith answers in her stiff voice. “You go on ahead, I will put this away for you.” She pulls at the cart I still have a death grip on. Reluctantly, I release it and take a hesitant step back. I need to get my lunchbox, but it’s clear that Ms. Smith is trying to get rid of me.
“Thank you,” I say firmly, taking control of my nerves as I release the cart. Ana and Xavier have been good to me, and I feel like I need to at least try to figure out who is in here with my supervisor. Especially since we overheard her saying some very suspicious things. “I need to get my lunch and my purse.” I explain breezing past her and heading straight to my locker. From the corner of my eye I catch a glimpse of broad shoulders and a dark suit exiting through the service door to the alley, but I pretend that I’m completely focused on the task at hand.
Turning the dial on the lock, I pull my cubby open and take out my small insulated lunch bag and purse. Waving at Ms. Smith I hurry back the way I came, through the doors and into the hall, following the same direction Ana and Faye went. I know that they’ll be waiting somewhere close by.
I find them waiting on a bench outside of the bathroom that I’m scheduled to clean before I go home. Their heads are close together as they whisper back and forth. Ana notices me first.
“Who else was in there?” She asks, her hand is pressed against her heart, her eyes wide.
“Come on,” Faye says, jumping to her feet and holding out a hand to help pull A
na to hers. “We need to go tell the guys no matter what.”
I don’t disagree, we should let Mr. Cerelli know, so I follow as Faye leads the way to the private elevator. I’ve never been in it before. I haven’t had a reason to. It’s so fancy, with sparkling mirrors and a plush, upholstered bench where Ana promptly sits again and takes a long, slow breath.
“Well, who was she talking to in there?” She prompts, looking up at me.
“A man.” I shrug, “I didn’t get a good look at him. He was leaving out the back door when I got inside.”
“It’s just so weird.” Faye mumbles, scrunching her nose and frowning thoughtfully. “Why would your housekeeper be involved with bugging your apartment?”
That’s news to me… “What?” I shriek, hardly able to believe what I just heard.
Ana looks up again as the elevator slows to a stop, “Blake found recording devices hidden in X’s office and in our bedroom this morning.”
“Oh no!” I gasp. Blake. Is he still in the penthouse?
“Oh yes,” she replies, not knowing the real reason for my distress. Her cheeks flush red with discomfiture and she pushes slowly to her feet, leading the way to her door and letting us in.
“X?” she calls, “Are you here?”
“Kitchen,” comes his sharp reply. She and Faye hurry in that direction leaving me to linger in the foyer. I’m not ready to face Blake, but I know if he’s here I’m going to have to. There won’t be any way to avoid it. Unless he ignores me. That might be worse than if he confronts me for avoiding him.
“Ellie, come on!” Faye rushes back to my side, snatching up my hand and pulling me along behind her. I go without protest. I’ve been keeping my budding relationship with Blake a secret for just this reason. I didn’t want anyone to know just in case things went south. I had figured that he would get tired of slumming it with the hired help and move on to someone better than me. I never expected that it would be me who messed things up.
When she leads me into the kitchen and Blake isn’t there, I release a relieved breath, grateful for the reprieve.
“Tell X what you saw, Ells,” Ana encourages from her perch on Mr. Cerelli’s lap.
His jaw is tight, like he’s grinding his back teeth together, but his massive hand on Ana’s leg is gentle as he strokes her thigh in a soothing rhythm.
“I already told them what we heard,” she says, covering his hand with her much smaller, much paler one and petting him absently.
“I just need to know what you saw. Who you saw,” he growls.
“Any details at all will help us,” Travis’ voice is softer, less fueled with anger when he speaks up behind me. Faye is tucked closely beneath his arm, her cheek pressed against him, with a happy smile on her face despite the reason why we are here.
“I didn’t see much,” I admit, “Just a tall man leaving out through the door that leads into the alley.”
“How tall?” Xavier bites. Ana lifts her eyebrows, silently chastising him and he repeats the question in a milder tone.
“Tall,” I say looking up at Travis. “But not as tall as you.”
Xavier rises from his seat. “My height?”
He isn’t much shorter than Travis, so the question almost makes me laugh. Instead I shake my head. “Almost, I think, but not quite. His hair was grey, and he was wearing a dark jacket and slacks.”
That’s it. That is all I saw. I hope it’s enough.
