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“Mr. Blackwell.”
I don't miss the discreet shake Tia Marie gives Gloria. I swallow, trying to stop the sinking feeling in my chest.
"What does my grandfather have to do with Mateo?" I face Tia Marie, but she's avoiding my questioning eyes. "What does it mean?"
“Like…bad luck, as in not good for you.”
I gaze off piecing it together. Ran Mateo off… Offered to pay… “My grandfather paid him to leave.” My world is spinning and riddled with questions.
Does my mother know? When did this happen? Why didn't anyone tell me? Darkness is closing in, and I shouldn't be surprised. I knew my grandfather had it in him. But I'm not someone he can control.
My phone chimes. I glance at the screen, We’re here.
The cavalry. What are they doing here? I unlock my phone to respond and realize I forgot to call them last night. Harper and Liam sent a plane for me.
I hop off the stool, “Huh…I need to make a quick run.”
Tia Marie appears in front of me. “Shouldn’t you wait for Mateo?”
I run off, deciding not to wait for the elevator. I take the stairs two at a time until I reach Mateo's place.
Where? I respond, throwing my clothes in a bag.
Four Seasons.
Chapter 14
Tia Marie wouldn’t allow me to take a cab. So, I accepted her offer to use her driver, and after I tip him, I enter the hotel.
“Ho…ho…ho….”
The Santa standing in the lobby is shady AF as I do the walk of shame. A week ago, I arrived in this hotel in a ten-thousand-dollar gown, dripping in diamonds. Today, I’m walking through the lobby with an ugly sweater, leggings, with sandals and socks.
I accepted this assignment with one caveat: Don’t land in Mateo’s bed. But oh no, I had to taunt the man and now the jokes on me.
I knock on the suite door. It swings open, and there's a collective gasp.
“Ahhh…shyte. He had you speaking in tongues, didn't he?" Charlee is throwing it back, and I'm confused.
“Huh…” Harper runs a hand over the top of her perfectly coifed hair, in a smoothing motion. I shrug it off, not understanding since her hair is in cornrows.
“Had you calling him Papi?” Charlee says with a fake accent.
I walk into the room, dropping my bag on the floor. I slump into the chair folding over. “My grandfather paid him to leave.”
“Ricco Suave?
"What are you talking about, Charlee?" I yell and sit up to see her cockeyed smile. The others are fighting to hold back laughter. "What's so damn funny? My life is crumbling around me and—"
Harper passes me a mirror.
“I look like a madwoman.” Kill me. Right now. Please. “I walked across that lobby with that fucking Santa calling me a ho.”
Tears are running down Chase’s face. Ryann’s shaking like she’s about to have a seizure.
Jordan has the decency to look me in the eye, coughing in her hand. “But your sweater is…huh…festive.”
The ripple of snickers starts, and I hate them, each and every one. Harper snorts, gasping for air with a tight hold on her baby bump.
