Page 57 of Fragile Kiss (Fragile 2)
“It appears she checked out today.”
In an instant, his world came crashing down. Even the lily in his hand seemed to wilt until its bloom faced the marble floors. “Checked out?” His voice sounded weak, even to his own ears.
“Yes. Around 9:30 this morning.”
“9:30?” That’s right after I left.
The woman looked at the screen again. “Yes, our system shows that it was around that time.”
Confounded, Cayden stumbled over his words. “Do you know where she went?”
“No, Mr. Manos. We don’t keep records of that since it’s personal information.”
What’s happening? In a daze, he thanked the woman and trudged to one of the leather couches in the middle of the lobby, not feeling bad about plopping himself down in the middle of the only empty one. Pulling his phone out, he checked every app installed to make sure a message from her hadn’t got lost.
But there was nothing.
She wouldn’t have checked out early to avoid me, he told himself firmly. She’s not like that. Even if there was some beef, or if we had an argument like last time, she wouldn’t have just up and left without warning.
No, she couldn’t have done something like that. But something was going on, and he didn’t like it. He went back to his message thread with her.
Hey, the hotel said you checked out. I didn’t have a text from you about meeting, so I came to surprise you. If you’re still here in the city, let me know so we can still go to the café tonight. I didn’t cancel our reservation yet.
Sending the message quickly, he shoved the phone away and stomped to the exit of the lobby. Before stepping foot in the revolving door, he realized his hands felt too empty. He looked back and saw the lily there on the couch. Unable to decide if he should take it or not, he just looked at it.
She won’t turn up. It’s a waste to carry it around.
But if she’s still here, I can give it to her. Maybe she’s at Katharina’s.
That sparked an idea. He could ask Katharina about her. She was the one person who would definitely know where Lillian went. He jogged over to grab the lily, and went outside to sit in the sun and call Katharina.
She answered on the first ring. “Hi, sexy.”
Not already. “Hey, Katharina. I have a—”
She interrupted by yelling something in a language he had never heard, then laughing hysterically. “Sorry, love, I was talking to my friend. She’s cooking dinner for me in my amazing kitchen!” Cayden heard background laughter joining in.
“Sounds like fun. Hey—”
“I’m sorry, I can’t stop laughing!” she exclaimed. “We’ve had a lot of wine. This is so much fun. Cayden, darling, you should come over.”
“Actually, I have a question about Lillian.” He had to speak extra fast to get it in before Katharina erupted into a laughing fit again.
“Yes! The wonderful Lillian. I miss her so much. She must be one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I cannot thank you enough for introducing her to me. Please, we must make her come back—”
“She isn’t with you?”
“No, no, love. She left this morning in a hurry.”
He felt the gears start to grind in his brain again. “Why?”
“Something happened to her brother. She was a mess when she called. I booked her a very fast flight to go be with him.”
“Her brother?” he mumbled to himself.
“I don’t know! You know her better than I do, I suppose, judging by how you talk about her.”
She doesn’t have a brother, Cayden thought, until it suddenly clicked. Oh, man. It’s Andrew. “Katharina, do you remember where she flew?”
