Page 27 of The Perfect Wife
“State-of-the-art survival equipment. Vests, guns, everything we need to stay safe.”
I wasn’t against staying safe. My father had his gun safe in his office. As long as they were used for protection from intruders, and nothing else, I was okay with it.
When we reached the bottom on the stairs, we met Patton. Instead of his suit, he was wearing a black polo shirt with a white name tag that read ‘Eric’ in black lettering Looking up at Davian, Patton said, “The truck is ready to go whenever you are.”
Davian must have noticed my confusion. “It’s best that we don’t draw attention when we enter the Regency, and the best way to do that is by entering through the back where the hotel delivery docks are. The box truck is the perfect decoy.”
Smiling at Davian, I followed him to the white truck. When Sean lifted the back door, it didn’t surprise me that instead of it being empty, there were two benches, one on each side. Just like the warehouse, the outside was deceiving.
Davian had gone to extremes to keep me safe. The truck, in my opinion, might have been a little bit overboard. That all changed when we drove by the front of the Regency, and Patton tilted his back. “Black van, two men, across the street.”
There were no windows to look out of, but I trusted that the black van was there, and so did Davian. “Call Calvin. Let him know. Marcus can assist once he secures Ms. Horton.”
“Will do,” Patton replied, immediately reaching for his cell he placed on the dash.
At least I didn’t have to know where Calvin and Marcus went. He and Marcus must have gone back to the Regency while we headed to the warehouse. Everyone was where they needed to be. Patton and Davian were with me, Calvin and Marcus were with Kenzi, and Sean and Axe were back at the warehouse holding down the fort.
Shortly after Patton spotted the van, he backed into the loading dock in the back of the hotel. To anyone else, we were another delivery truck. Patton turned off the engine and exited the truck while Davian and I waited for him to push the rolling door open. The loading dock lights lit up the back of the truck, almost blinding me when I stood from the bench. Davian hopped off of the truck onto the loading platform before assisting me out.
Instead of moving the truck once he had the rolling door pulled down and locked, Patton led the way inside the hotel. There was no one in sight since deliveries rarely occurred after regular business hours.
We were all aware of our surroundings, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. With the two men in the black van, we were all on high alert. As we entered the kitchen, no one seemed to find it odd that we were there. Davian stopped to talk to some of the employees while complimenting them on the dishes that were being prepared.
Holding my hand, Davian and I followed Patton to the service elevator employees of the hotel used to deliver room service meals. Once the doors opened, we all entered, and Patton pushed a button with the letter M on it. It seemed odd that we would go to the mezzanine instead of Davian’s penthouse. It was then that I wondered if Kenzi knew that I was back in Atlanta. The last time I had spoken to her was before we left Chicago. We were both so excited that we were going to see each other. Even though it had only been a week since I left, I missed her.
When the door to the elevator opened, I refused to take another step. Davian tugged on my hand, trying to pull me from the elevator. If he wanted to, he could have used more force to make me move. Instead, his eyes were on mine. “What the hell, Reyna? We need to go.”
Holding the door with his other hand, I released my hand from his and stood my ground. “Only if you promise me that I can see Kenzi.”
“Reyna, we really don’t have time for this.”
“Promise me.” I knew I was pushing it, but just like him, I had some demands of my own; one of them was seeing Kenzi.
“Okay, fine.”
If it annoyed him, it didn’t show through his persistence in getting me out of the elevator. When he held out his hand, I placed my hand in his and stepped off the elevator. Patton walked along the railing that looked down on the lobby while Davian and I walked carefully against the wall. Without warning, Davian stopped his movements, and I ended up running into him. It was only because my eyes were on Patton’s slow steps along the railing.
Patton came to a stop and turned toward us with a simple nod. I guess it was his way of letting us know that it was clear, and there weren’t any suspicious men lurking around in the lobby. The whole thing reminded me of the time Kenzi and I snuck out of my house when my parents were sleeping just to go to Mary Jo’s early sixteenth birthday party that she planned while her parents were still on vacation in Hawaii. To this day, Mom and Dad never knew what we did.
Patton soon walked over to where we were standing. It was then that Davian pulled out a key card, tapped it against the red light, and waited until the light flashed green before pushing the door open. When Davian hit the switch, the room came into view. It had to be his office. There was a large desk positioned near the back wall with two armchairs facing it. A large bookcase from floor to ceiling filled the wall to the right of the desk, while the wall to the left had a small conference table with four chairs.
I became confused as to why we were here until Davian walked behind his desk and tipped one corner of a painting of the hotel toward him. Just like something out of an Agatha Christie book, one section of the bookcase opened. I looked over to Davian, speechless.
“Not a word, Reyna.”
It must have been the way I looked at him, because I was utterly baffled. It wasn’t like I came upon hidden doors every day. Davian was more mysterious than I had first thought. I wondered what other secrets he had tucked away.
Patton led the way through the bookcase, with me following close behind and Davian last. Somehow, I thought it would lead to some secret room, but instead, there was only an elevator on the other side. Davian stepped up from behind me and entered a code on the key panel to the right of the door. When the elevator door slid open, I looked up at Davian’s serious face as all three of us entered the elevator. “Where are we going?”
As though it was some sort of secret, Davian leaned into me and whispered, “A place few people know about. I would like to keep it that way.”
At first, I thought Davian was joking, but when the elevator opened to a large open space, I knew why he wanted to keep this place a secret. Just like his penthouse suite, it was over the top. The floors were whitewashed oak, which went nicely with the light gray-covered walls. The furnishings were modern, consisting of a long leather couch with a matching chaise lounge, which was dark gray and contrasted with the light gray walls.
Stepping further inside the sizeable room, I saw that off to my left, behind a glass block wall, was a huge kitchen which, in most cases, would have been a chef’s dream. The appliances were black steel, and the granite countertops matched the gray theme of the room. Copper pots and pans hung above the center island, where a countertop stove with six burners occupied half of the space.
To the right of the living area was a long hall, which I assumed led to a master suite and guest bedrooms. It was evident that this secret apartment was much larger than Davian’s suite on the 54thfloor. While lost in my surroundings, Davian stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “How about I show you to our room?”
‘Our’ and ‘room’ were the only words I heard. Spinning around to face him, I pushed to the tip of my toes and kissed him on the lips. “Our room, huh?”
