Page 57 of Room Service
Nate will know exactly who I am by my name alone, but even if he didn’t, I’m pretty sure he’d have intel in front of him by now. You don’t get a reputation like he’s got by being a shit leader of the criminal underworld.
“I need someone found and dealt with,” I say, taking another sip of scotch.
“And you’re coming to me because…” His voice drifts off, and I have a feeling he’s going to make me squirm before I get what I want.
“Because you’re the best, and I only ever deal with the best.”
“And I don’t discuss business over the phone,” he says firmly. “I’ll be at your hotel tomorrow evening at eight o’clock.”
“I own many hotels, Nate.”
“Do you really think I don’t know which one you’re currently staying in?” he asks, but that right there shows me that he is the best in the business, confirming that the rumours are true. “Blue Diamond at eight o’clock, and I expect a decent table, because I’ll be bringing my wife for a meal before we talk business. And it’s Mr Knowles, not Nate.”
And with that, the line goes dead, and even as I know I’m treading in dangerous waters, I would make that phone call again, because when my plan comes together, her fucking husband is a dead man walking.
Chapter Forty-Three
ELISE
“So, can we speak freely today, or is Mr Bossman around to keep an ear out?” Celeste asks quietly as I open the door, her head peering around while her eyes scan behind me for signs of Dorien, making me chuckle.
“He’s not here,” I confirm, and she walks in more like her usual self, flopping down on the sofa and declaring, “Thank God for that. Christ, I felt so fucking awkward last night.”
I chuckle again as I shut the door and go to the kitchen, carrying in the hot drinks that I made just before she knocked on the door. I place them down on the coffee table and then take a seat in the chair that is quickly becoming my favourite place to sit. I shouldn’t even have a favourite chair in an apartment that isn’t mine, but he moved me in here for the time being, so I figure I’m allowed to try and live as I would in my own place, mostly.
“He can be a little bit tense,” I say.
“A little bit? Shit, Elise, he’s like this burly caveman that looks like he’s about to drag you off any second and lock you up… which is totally hot, by the way, but, fuck, it’s awkward because he’s my boss.”
“Burly caveman?”
“Oh yeah, he’d rock a club like nobody’s business,” she says sassily, and I bark a laugh as an image of Dorien dragging a club along the floor comes to mind.
“Yeah, I can totally picture that,” I agree, and she nods.
“So, what’s the deal with you two?” she asks as she picks up her drink and takes a sip, settling back in for what I think she hopes is an amazing love story of guy meets girl.
“I don’t know, Celeste. I mean, he’s moved me in here for the time being, he’s told me it’s not just fucking, and he’s been the sweetest as he’s looked after me, but as for what we are, I have no idea.”
“Oh come on, you haven’t had the conversation yet? Seriously?”
“Seriously,” I confirm with a nod of my head. “I’m scared to.”
“I don’t think you need to be scared, Elise. It’s fairly damn obvious to anyone with eyes that he cares about you.”
“Yeah, but… I don’t think I could take it if he didn’t feel like…” I stop myself, because I haven’t admitted out loud how he truly makes me feel. It would make it more real, more of a bigger deal than I want it to be.
“Oh my god, you’ve fallen for him,” Celeste says, taking the words right out of my mouth, and I close my eyes and shake my head, knowing how stupid I am for falling for a guy when I’ve just ended a marriage.
“I can’t Celeste.”
“Can’t what?”
“I can’t talk about this, because if I do, then it makes it different. If I don’t talk about it, then I can keep things the way they are.”
She looks at me like I’ve grown a second head. “You keep telling yourself that, Elise, but we both know that this isn’t going to go away.”
“But it can be put on pause, for now,” I tell her, and she seems to take a few seconds to accept what I’m saying, and then with a nod of her head, she starts to talk about something else, something irrelevant that will take my mind off of the bigger questions I should be answering.
