Page 62 of Room Service
“Twenty percent,” he muses.
“It’s a good offer,” I reply, making him smirk.
“Thirty is better.”
“Come on, Nate, twenty percent for a stake in my hotel chain is going to make you thousands per month.”
“Not as much as thirty will. And it’s Mr Knowles until I say otherwise,” he says with that smirk still in place.
“I thought you didn’t want the money?” I question, referring to what he said last night.
“Oh, I don’t, but thirty percent is non-negotiable.” His tone is firm, and I quickly deduce that I don’t have time to sit here and fight over ten percent, it’s not fucking worth it, so I hold my hand out, ready to shake on it before I call my solicitor and have the contract drawn up.
He raises his hand and shakes mine, and even without the contract, I would classify this moment as a done deal anyway. I’m a man of my word, and I think that Nate is too, even if he’s essentially a criminal.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Dorien,” he says as he stands. “Ronan will deal with the contract side of things. He’s got your number, so he’ll call you later today to check progress and give you any details you may need for the deeds.”
I nod as he turns and walks to the door, but before he opens it, he turns back around and says, “And now you can call me Nate.”
I actually let out a gruff laugh of surprise. “Sure.”
And then he’s gone, the two men following him and closing the door behind them.
Seventy-two hours and her nightmares could all be over. No need to go through a messy divorce, which I now have no doubt he will fight at every turn, no need to be scared of him ever coming back to hurt her again, and I can’t even tell her any of this, because I have no idea how she would react. We can’t even talk about how we feel, so how the fuck would we talk about me meeting with a fucking crime lord and shaking on a deal for him to find Derrick and kill him whilst receiving a stake in my business? The thought makes me laugh out loud, but another knock at the door has me running a hand over my face and saying, “Give me fucking strength,” before I tell whoever it is to come in. And when the door opens, I wish I hadn’t, because it’s fucking Hayley, and I could do without her bullshit right now. Although, I do have a big fucking bone to pick with her, so maybe now is the right time to do it.
“Dorien, do you have a moment?” she asks as she walks on in, closing the door behind her.
“Come on in why don’t you?” I mutter, and I know she hears me when her footsteps falter.
“I can come back later if now isn’t convenient?” she says, batting her eyelashes in a way that I presume is supposed to do something, but it just falls flat.
“Sit down, Hayley,” I order, and she complies, crossing her legs and giving me dopey eyes.
“Everything okay?” she asks, tilting her head to the side.
“I haven’t had a chance to ask you something that has been on my mind, so I’ll cut right to the chase. Why was Elise out the back of the hotel three nights ago, on her own, taking out a bag of rubbish?”
She looks at me blankly for a moment before replying, “The chute was blocked on the first floor where she was finishing up her shift, but maintenance sorted it that evening.”
“And it’s part of the employee safety to take rubbish out at night, is it?” I question, and I see her gulp.
“Well, it’s the staff entrance too, so I didn’t think it was a big deal,” she replies innocently, but we both know she’s far from innocent.
“The staff use that entrance between the hours of seven a.m. and five p.m., because that door is monitored during those times. At all other times, they come through the front entrance, just like they do in my other hotels. So, tell me why you would send her out there with no security and no one watching?”
“I didn’t think it was a big issue.” She shrugs her shoulders, enraging me further.
“Well it is, Hayley, and as of this moment, you are relieved of your duties here,” I inform her, because her reasons aren’t good enough. I get the feeling there is more to this than meets the eye, but I just want her out of my fucking sight.
“Excuse me?” She balks, her mouth dropping open and her eyes narrowing.
“Get your things and get out. You will be paid until the end of the month, call it severance pay, and you will no longer be welcome in any of my hotels.”
“You can’t do that,” she screeches.
“I just fucking did.” My face is deadpan. This isn’t up for discussion, my mind is made up and she needs to get the hell out of here before I lose my patience with her.
“Is this just because you’re fucking her? Is her pussy really that good?” she sneers, shocking the shit out of me with her words, but I keep my face neutral, not showing her how infuriated I am that she has dared to speak to me in this way.
