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“The balcony is the largest,” Garrick said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t—”
“Ares will set up proximity detectors,” Harry said. “We have thermal imaging and I’ll have men on it twenty-four seven.”
“I don’t need people watching me twenty-four seven… I do need to shower, you know.”
“There is a private hot tub in the master suite,” Hugo said, linking his fingers between hers. “The men will only monitor outside the room; you have my word.”
He smiled as though to reassure her. From the moment they’d met, she could tell Hugo was confident. That was just fine. Confidence didn’t intimidate her. Danny had confidence in a very up front kind of way. Daire had it too, in a more understated but intense way. Hugo could think he was all any woman could ever want… But he wasn’t enough for her.
“Harry has been sleeping in that room,” she said. “There’s enough space for all of Olympus and then some, I understand.”
“Not enough room for your beauty.”Hugo drew her forward. “Let me show you.”
THE SUITE WAS BEYOND anything Tess had slept in before. It was more than a bedroom. With its own living room, bathroom with steam room and shower probably big enough for everyone in the house to share, Tess could get lost in it. The closet space was more than she’d ever be able to use. Outside the room was a glazed walkway that crossed to a platform supporting a grand piano.
Too much space. The corner of the main bedroom was glazed. Pocket doors opened to the huge balcony complete with its own patio furniture. It overlooked the pool and some of the patio beneath. Gorgeous didn’t begin to describe the cavernous space.
After showing her around, Hugo bid her goodnight and left her alone. There weren’t doors at every aperture of the suite. Tess didn’t feel secure. It didn’t matter that the room was grand or opulent. Lying in the middle of the bed, staring up at the ceiling, she waited for sleep.
But it didn’t come.
Daire would visit. Wouldn’t he? Every night it was his responsibility to do a security check of the building. She waited, listening for him, waiting to feel his presence encroach on her.
It didn’t come either.
At some point she must have fallen asleep because she awoke to the sun streaming in. There were no shadows in the master suite. Only sunlight and heat.
Knowing there was little to hurry for, she took her time enjoying the steam of the shower, thinking about which of her designs to get started on that day.
She didn’t expect to walk into the kitchen to find Hugo juicing fruit.
“Good morning,” he said. “What can I get you?”
“Really?” Tess asked, slipping onto one of the stools. “This is a full-service establishment.”
“Sure is,” he said. “I’ll make you whatever you want for breakfast and then we’re going out.”
“Out?” she asked after he put a glass of juice on the bar beside her. “Where are we going?”
“Wherever you want. You’ve been cooped up for too long. This city has a lot to offer, I wouldn’t want you to miss your chance to enjoy it.”
“Sounds great,” she said. “Unfortunately, I’m no match for the Olympus soldiers.”
“Don’t worry about them, sweetheart.”
He was so focused on his juicing that he didn’t see her brow arch. “Sweetheart”after less than a day was more than a little presumptuous.
“I have a feeling that you have something more specific in mind than whatever I want.”
“Well,” he said, grabbing a cloth to wipe his hands then laying them flat on the counter. “No one ever accused me of not knowing how to have a good time.”
“And somehow you cleared this with Hades?”
Harry wouldn’t object out of parental concern. He was a man in charge; one who preferred there be few variables. Her out in the world was a variable. Their encounters the previous day made it clear that her well-being wasn’t as important to Harry as some may assume it would be to a father. Daire approving it, when he dealt with most daily security matters, that was the biggest surprise.
“Okay,” she said, figuring her father would like her to be out from under his feet for a while. “Show me a good time, Hugo Balfour. What’s Vegas got for me?”
FOUR
