Page 118 of Devious Kingpin
“May I help you?”
The receptionist greeted me with a bright smile. It made me feel even worse.
“I need a room,” I stated, lowering my eyes and digging through my purse. Dante’s black Amex was still with me, so I just gave her that. Her eyes flickered to the card, then the name on it. “Indefinitely,” I added.
I wouldn’t risk war between our families. Until I could get my shit together and think of something, I’d stay here.
The receptionist took it after a brief moment of hesitation. “May I see your ID?”
Annoyance flared in my chest. I was tired, emotionally drained. I just wanted to go into a room and sleep. I hadn’t done a single productive thing today, and yet, I felt like I’d been run over by a bus.
No, just my husband’s lies, I thought wryly.
I dug inside my wallet for my license and handed it to the receptionist. She disappeared into the back office—no doubt to validate my identity and the fact I held DiLustro’s black Amex—while I turned my attention to my phone.
There were two dozen messages and a handful of missed calls. All from my friends. One from Dad and one from Aunt Aisling.
I felt eyes on me and looked up to find the receptionist back with an even brighter smile that almost blinded me.
“All good.” She beamed. “Your husband confirmed you have unlimited spending.”
My first inclination was to snap at her for calling Dante my husband, but then I took a different approach. I smiled sweetly with a fuck-you edge to it. The receptionist’s smile dimmed although it wasn’t aimed at her.
“That’s so lovely,” I told her, smiling sweetly. “In that case, I insist that you ask your chef to be prepared to cook all your best dishes for the next month. On my husband. And please send someone to the nearest shelter and ask what they need. A night at the hotel, a day at the spa, anything and everything. It’s on him.” Then, just in case she questioned it, I added, “It’s on us. My wedding gift.”
Her eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets. “Everyone at the shelter? Everything?” she stuttered.
I gave another try at my sweet smile. An honest one this time. “Yes. Make sure all their charges go on that black card. Got it?”
Twenty minutes later, there was a five-hundred-thousand-dollar charge on Dante’s black Amex. It didn’t make me feel better.
I entered the impersonal hotel room and the welcome was as expected.
Cold.
Locking the door behind me, I made my way deeper into the penthouse suite and sank onto the couch. My eyes traveled over the sleek furniture. Something about this room made me feel alone. Not just alone, but lonely.
The gaping, hollow feeling in my chest slowly spread, allowing all the feelings I’d been trying hard to keep at bay to pour in. Each breath splintered into a painful throb. The pressure built, my heart ached. I blinked away the burning behind my eyes.Unsuccessfully.
A lone tear rolled down my face, and it cracked the dam. Tears poured down my cheeks like a damn waterfall. I hated it. I wished there was a way to harden myself and not feel a damn thing.
Every breath squeezed. I couldn’t drag enough air into my lungs, the buzzing in my ears increasing with each passing second.
Not bothering to strip off my clothes, I crawled under the cool, high-thread-count sheets. Curling into a fetal position, I shut my eyes, hoping that sleep would find me. It didn’t. Instead, images of Dante taunted me.
His smile. His stories. The way he kissed me. How he let me cuff him.
It was the latter that broke me.
The pressure behind my eyes exploded and the sobs crawled up my throat, wracking my body. Tears trickled down into my ear, onto the pillow, their saltiness staining my lips.
And just like that day almost a decade ago, my sobs remained unheard. They were quiet sounds trapped in the cold hotel room, suffocating me once more. Something inside me broke.
I felt utterly alone. Just like that night ten years ago.
CHAPTER48
Dante
