Page 75 of Room Service
I walk into the main room, the dance floor packed with people and the bar three deep. Fuck’s sake. I run a hand through my hair before I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn to see Jax stood there, his tattoos on show and his face still fucking deadpan.
“This way,” he barks, and he turns before I even have chance to respond.
“Nice to see you too, fucker,” I mutter quietly, the music loud enough to cover my sarcasm.
He leads me down a corridor, where I come to three separate doors, and then he opens the door to the middle one. It reveals an office, with Nate behind the desk, looking at something on the monitors.
“Sit down, Dorien,” Nate barks as Jax closes the door, leaving just the two of us in the room. I do as Nate says and take a seat, and he leans back in the chair, his attention fully focused on me for the time being. He opens a draw beside him and pulls out a small pile of papers, and I instantly recognise the print, it’s the contract for the hotel. My brow furrows, because I thought this was all done and dusted.
Nate smirks as he looks at me, and then he picks the contract up and rips it to pieces. I can’t stop the stunned look I give him. What the fuck is he doing?
“I’m not giving you a bigger cut, we made a deal,” I tell him, before he can even ask, and he starts to laugh.
“I don’t want a bigger cut. I don’t want any cut,” he informs me, but I’m still fucking clueless. “I’m a businessman, a man who doesn’t make allowances for many very often, but I no longer feel the need to take a slice of your pie, Dorien.”
“But we made a deal,” I say, wondering whether this is the moment where one of them blows my fucking head off in some kind of twisted game.
“We did, and now I’m un-making it.”
“But why?” I have to ask, because this makes no sense.
“I don’t need the stress, and I don’t need to add anything to my plate,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders.
“But you weren’t going to be doing anything, anyway,” I stress. “You were going to be a silent partner.”
“Pah. Do you honestly think I would ever be a silent partner?” he questions.
“Probably not, but we’d have duked it out,” I reply, not at all fazed by who he is. He’s just another guy, a powerful one, yes, but he’s still just a guy who had an agenda and made it work.
“We both know I could kick your arse into next week, Dorien, so let’s not fuck about,” he replies, but his tone is anything but menacing, for reasons I’m still yet to fully understand. “You proved last night that you did what you did for one reason and one reason only. Her. The one. And there aren’t many men who would do that, not from where I come from anyway. Usually they’re out for themselves, with little thought for anything or anyone else. So when someone comes along who will put themselves on the line and get their hands dirty, to a certain extent in your case, then they automatically gain some respect from me. They gain even more respect when they don’t cower before me because of who I am.”
I still have no fucking idea where he’s going with this, so I remain quiet.
“I no longer want shares in your empire, but what I do want is exceptional service when I stay at your establishments, and, of course, you’ll foot the bill.”
I don’t even need to hesitate as I answer. “Goes without saying.”
“Good. Now, get the fuck out, I have work to do,” he says, and I shake my head from side to side with a smile on my face.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Nate.” I get to the door, but he stops me one last time.
“Dorien.” I turn to face him, my hand resting on the door knob. “Look after her.”
“I will,” I say with more certainty than ever before. He nods, and I leave, Jax still waiting outside the door.
“See you soon, fucker,” he says, and I can’t help the deep laugh that leaves me. So he did hear my comment earlier. His answering smirk tells me he doesn’t have an issue with me, and I guess I gained a little of his respect too.
I walk out of Purity feeling like everything is how it’s supposed to be.
* * *
As soon as I walk in the penthouse, I know something is wrong, my eyes zeroing in on Elise sat at the table by the windows, looking out onto the balcony. She doesn’t even look my way as I close the door, and she looks ghostly white.
“Hey,” I say softly as I crouch in front of her and take her hands in mine. She finally turns her head to face me, her eyes showing me how exhausted she is by whatever has happened since I’ve been gone. “What’s wrong?”
She closes her eyes and takes a couple of deep breaths, before opening them and telling me, “I spoke to my mother.”
Oh shit. She doesn’t know the extent of her mother’s betrayal, and I dread to think how she would react if she did.
