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“What happened?” I ask, pulling her into my arms, ready to console or defend, whatever she needs from me. I look around the room but see nothing that might warrant this reaction. I also don’t see a single bloom. Where the hell are the flowers I asked Celeste to get?
“Everything’s gone.”
“What do you mean, gone?”
She pushes out of my embrace. “I’ve been robbed. My clothes, my jewelry, computer, even my toiletries. Everything I brought with me is gone.”
“How?”
“I don’t know, you tell me. This is your hotel. When I left this morning, my bed was unmade, my clothes hanging in the closet and my toiletries spread out on the counter in the bathroom. Now, the room looks like housekeeping came in and emptied it out, cleaned it up and prepared it for the next guest. Except my key card still works, and the room is still assigned to me. I checked.”
“That doesn’t make sense. Housekeeping wouldn’t take your things.”
“Somebody did.”
Anger rolls over me like a massive wave. I reach into my pocket for my phone and dial security. “Harry, it’s Elliott Carrington. I need to you come up to room twelve fifteen right away, please.”
While we wait, I reassure her that I’ll figure this out. I promise to get her belongings back to her.
There’s a knock on the door, and I let my head of security into the room. “Harry, this is Ms. Moore. She’s been robbed.”
“Sir?” His shock is evident as he swings his attention between us.
“Somebody came into this room and removed all of her belongings while she was out today.”
“Um, unless you’ve checked out Ma’am, that would be very concerning.”
“I didn’t check out.” She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, stone-faced.
“What time did you leave your room today?” he asks.
“Just before noon, probably around eleven thirty.”
“I’ll head down to our security room and check the floor cameras. We’ll know right away who took your things.”
I pat him on the back. “Thanks, Harry. I’m going to take Ms. Moore up to my suite while we wait for your call.”
“It shouldn’t take too long, Sir. I’ll just need about thirty minutes to go through the video for today.”
When he leaves, I turn back to Kaitlyn. “I’m so sorry, Kaitlyn. We’ll find out who did this. I will not tolerate this in my hotel.”
With her shoulders slumped, we walk in silence to the elevator. I take her to my suite and pour her a glass of wine. Then, I sit down beside her and take her hands in mine, stroking my thumbs over her fingers. “I know this is a horrible thing to have happened to you. I’ll do whatever I can to get your things back.” I brush a loose strand of hair from her cheek and with a finger under her chin, nudge her head back until we are eye to eye. “I promise.”
Relief floods her eyes. “Thank you, Elliott.”
I get up to retrieve the present from the dining table where my driver left it and hold it out to her.
“What is this?” She asks, her sadness diminishing a little bit.
“Something I bought for you.”
“You don’t need to buy me things, Elliott.”
“I wanted to, and after what’s happened, I’m glad I did.”
She unties the ribbon, lifts the lid off the box and pulls back the tissue paper to look inside. As she takes out each article of lingerie one by one, her cheeks flush a beautiful shade of pink. The room the other night was dark, but I imagine that’s the color of her skin when she comes.
“Elliott, they’re gorgeous.” She inspects each teddy, one in black the other in a light blue and both with matching panties.
