Page 65 of Dangerous Deception

“I’m making our holiday last a little longer.”

The Scarlet Pearl Hotelis one of the few hotels in the city where you need to be a member to even make it in the front door. Luckily, my family has been a member for a few years now. As a child, I’d walk past hotels like these and wonder what kind of obnoxiously rich person would stay at a hotel this exclusive.

Now, as an obnoxiously rich Mafia king who dragged his family up out of the dirt, I understand it. It’s a status symbol in many ways. Walking through those doors puts you on a certain map where the people who run the hotel also offer various other services. There’s anything from weapons and women to drugs and contraband of the highest quality. When I got my membership, I tried to see if I could buy the hotel but quickly learned that the hotel remains somewhat neutral amid the family turmoil that runs these streets.

And they have enough money to back it up.

“Wow,” Adelina gasps as she gazes up at the hotel’s signature gigantic ruby-red chandelier hanging in the foyer. “I’ve never seen something so beautiful.”

“I have,” I remark smoothly, affectionately squeezing her hand.

She makes a show of rolling her eyes, but I catch the pleased smile that dances across her lips.

“I’ve driven past here so many times and never imagined walking inside. My father used to say a place like this was for the worst of the worst.”

“I am terrible, it’s true.”

It takes no time at all to check in and secure the penthouse. As we take the outside glass elevator upward, Adelina presses against the glass and gazes over the city.

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

“It’s the least I could do.”

“No… you could have just cast me aside. Or written off what happened to me as my own fault, but you didn’t.”

“I’m notthatterrible.”

She narrows her eyes slightly. “You know what I mean.”

Something about the dip in her tone catches my attention so I step closer to her. “What’s on your mind?”

“Spending time in Italy was amazing. Meeting the children you helped was also unexpected. I’m not asking for an explanation, but these past few months have been such a whirlwind that I’ve neglected my own children.”

My heart skips a beat. “Excuse me?”

“At the hospital. I haven’t painted in a long time because I felt like some dark hole was opening up inside me. I was married off to a stranger, assaulted, lost a fiancé and a best friend. I feel like I stopped being me for a while.”

“No one can hold that against you,” I reply softly.

“I know. But I sort of feel like I can be me again, if that makes sense. I want to paint again. I want to go back to the hospital and see all the kids I used to spend time with and make sure they’re okay.” She presses a hand to her chest. “I hope they’re all still there. And…” She tilts her head, sending her auburn hair cascading over one shoulder. “I want to help them.”

“All of them?”

She nods. “When I was a kid, I had no one. I just sat with my mom and watched her waste away because my father was too busy or he couldn’t handle watching the woman he loved fade before his eyes. But the nurses did everything they could to make me feel cared for, and I had been doing that for the kids. But with your money, I think we could make a real difference. So many of those families can’t afford the best treatment for their children, and I know we can’t help everyone, but that hospital was like my home for a really long time.”

“Our money,” I correct.

“Huh?”

“We’re married, remember? It’s our money. You can do what you want with it.”

Adelina looks as if the thought never occurred to her before. “You wouldn’t mind?”

I skim my fingers up her bare arm to her elbow and gently draw her into me. “If this is the next step that feels right for you, to get you back on track, then I’ll buy a hundred hospitals if I have to.”

“Wow,” she breathes in awe, lazily draping her arms around my shoulders. “My mom would be so happy I married rich.”

We laugh, and Adelina melts against me as I draw her into a slow, passionate kiss just as the elevator gently arrives at the penthouse.

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