Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Cory
After my conversation with Harlow, I sent him home for some much-needed sleep. Knowing that Romeo was right and I needed more rest, I cleared the important things off my desk as quickly as possible, checked in with some of my employees, then made my way to the elevator. I had one more stop to make before I took a nap.
As the door opened, I was met with Everest’s soft smile. “Hey there, Mr. Letterman. It’s nice to see you up and moving around.”
I grimaced. “I’m so sorry, Everest. I can’t believe what happened the other night. You should never have been tied up in all that.”
His low, rusty chuckle caught me by surprise. “Are you kidding? I hate what Huey did and what happened to you”—he gestured at my head—“but that was the most fun I’ve had in years.” He cackled. “You should’ve seen me bossing Dante and his men around.” He rubbed his hands together gleefully. “It was very satisfying.”
I snorted. “Well, good. I was worried you were going to quit on me.”
“Never going to happen. As long as this old body holds up, I’m yours. Now, where can I take you?”
“I need to get some sleep, but first, I want to stop in at Gangster’s Paradise and check in on Charity.”
He nodded, pressing the button. “Taking it easy sounds like a mighty fine idea, Mr. Letterman. I was giving you about twenty more minutes before I came and escorted you up to the belfry myself.”
Surprised at his cheekiness, I opened my mouth to tell him that wasn’t necessary when I realized why he’d planned to escort me to my room. “Romeo?”
Everest bobbed his head up and down. “Yeah. He gave me a direct order. Now, I know you’re the one who signs my paychecks, but I like him. I think he’ll take good care of you.”
Since I didn’t disagree, I smiled and exited the elevator. “Thanks, Everest. I’ll take the stairs up when I leave here, so I’ll see you later?”
“You got it. And Mr. Letterman?” I looked back at him over my shoulder. “I think Mr. Mac would approve of your new man, too. All he ever wanted was to see you safe and happy. Romeo, well, I think he’ll do that.”
“Me, too,” I said, fighting a swell of emotion as the doors closed between us.
It hit me that people didn’t mention Mac often. I knew the staff had loved him, but I’d been such a mess after he died that I think their silence about him was a way of protecting me. As much as I appreciated that, I realized now that I wanted him spoken of. He’d been a great man, an amazing Daddy, and he’d helped me make my dream of this hotel come true. I didn’t want him to fade out of existence like he’d never been.
Arriving at Gangster’s Paradise, I was shocked to hear giggling inside. Was Charity on the phone? After knocking lightly, my head tilted when Harlow answered the door. “Hey, big cheese,” he teased.
I swallowed, remembering how many times Huey had mockingly called me that. But this was Harlow, my prized employee, the one person who enjoyed the 20s theme as much as I did. He didn’t mean any harm, and I refused to let the bad memories of Huey steal the fun verbiage we used around here.
“You’re a goofball. What are you doing here?”
He opened the door wider, gesturing me inside. “I know you sent me home, but I wanted to have breakfast with Charity first.”
She was sitting on her bed, mid-wave, when she got a look at my face. She gasped, her hands cupping to cover her mouth. “Oh my God. Cory. Harlow told me there’d been an accident, but I didn’t realize…” She trailed off.
“An accident?” I asked, quirking my eyebrow at Harlow.
He sat back on the bed across from charity and shrugged. “I didn’t know exactly what you wanted me to tell her.”
“Fair. It’s not like I gave you any direction except to check on her.”
“No, you didn’t, but I did,” she said. “I’m not ashamed.” She lifted her chin defiantly.
I smiled softly. “Nor should you be. Why don’t we tell you what really happened to…” I gestured up at my face.
Harlow and I took turns telling her the story. By the time we were done, she was pale and shaking. She reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me to sit on the edge of the mattress next to her. “I’m so sorry that happened to you,” she said with tears in her eyes.
Gah . What a sweet girl. Her response reaffirmed the decision I’d already made. I cleared my throat. “Listen, I understand if you want to leave, but I promise you, we don’t usually have this kind of excitement around here.”
Harlow shook his head from side to side. “No, we really don’t. It’s usually pretty chill.”
“It is.”
“Oh, I’m sure. I wouldn’t care if it wasn’t. With Bosley”—she glanced at Harlow—“I mean, Romeo, around, I don’t think there’s probably a safer place to be.” The hero worship in her tone was adorable. I wondered how Romeo would feel about that. “But I’ll get out of your hair now. I was just waiting to tell you and Romeo thank you and goodbye.”
Before I could respond, Harlow leaned forward and grabbed her knees. “No, I don’t want you to leave. Where will you go? You already told me you had no one, and I won’t let you go back to that horrid place.”
“I have to agree with Harlow. We’d like you to say here. I’d like you to stay here.”
She tilted her head, staring at me like I’d lost my mind. “But surely you need this room back.”
“I do, but I have an idea that I’d like to run by you.”
“Okay,” she said hesitantly.
I glanced at Harlow, and his lips tilted up slowly as he realized what I was going to say. He nodded eagerly. Knowing he was on the same page encouraged me to continue. “I don’t know if Harlow told you, but he received a promotion this morning.”
Her eyes widened. “No, you didn’t.” She swatted at him playfully.
“He’s the new general manager of The Gin Mill.”
She scrambled to her knees and hugged him. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you.”
His face turned bright red. “Thanks,” he mumbled.
“What that means for you, Charity, is that I have a new opening at the front desk.”
“Actually, you have two,” Harlow said, holding up his index and middle fingers. “We need to replace Huey, as well.”
My mouth dropped open. Applesauce . Why hadn’t I thought of that this morning? “You’re right. See, it’s a good thing I was smart enough to give you the job already. I’m going to need to run back downstairs and go over the schedule for this evening. Maybe I can cover check-ins myself.”
Harlow shook his head. “I already covered Huey’s spots for tonight and tomorrow, and when you sent me home, I called Doug to see if he would cover my shift tonight if I took his spot on Saturday night.”
“Good job.” I smiled, even though I was freaking out internally. Romeo had been right. I really wasn’t in the right headspace to work right now. Since I pushed through after Mac’s passing, and that was so much worse, I expected going back to business as usual would be a piece of cake. Wrong.
Taking a deep breath, I centered myself and went on. “So, as you can see, Harlow would be your boss.”
Both of them giggled, but then Charity’s face fell. “I’m not sure it would be a good idea. What if Tad comes looking for me? I don’t want to cause any trouble in your place of business. Plus, I’m not qualified. I’ve never done anything like…well, anything.”
Unease settled in my gut. Charity was young, but unless she’d been on the streets as a prostitute since she was a teenager, I couldn’t understand how she’d never had any other form of employment. “Can I ask you a question? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but how long have you worked for Tad?”
Sighing, she leaned back against the headboard. “I’ve only been with him for a little over a year. Before that, a friend of mine and I were out there alone. We watched each other’s backs, but it got too dangerous, and so…” She shrugged.
“But where are your parents?” Harlow asked.
She huffed. “There’s the million-dollar question. My mom took off when I was young. I don’t really blame her. My dad’s really religious, and he was suffocating her. He was good to me for the most part as long as I followed the rules. He liked to look good at church, so he spoiled me rotten. I never had to work, and I got a brand-new car when I got my driver’s permit. All I had to do was keep my head down, go to church with him a couple of times a week, and do what he said. I mean, I snuck around behind his back a little, but I was a pretty obedient teenager.”
“Then what happened?” I asked.
“He remarried. He met a single mom at church who was even more zealous than him. Her kids were younger. Three little girls. One day, she came home early because she had to pick up the middle one from daycare. I guess she was sick or something. My step-monster caught me making out with my best friend.” She lowered her gaze to the bedspread and whispered, “I’m a lesbian.”
“They kicked you out for that?” Harlow demanded, sounding outraged.
She shook her head slowly, and when she glanced up, her eyes were brimming with tears. “No, worse. They chewed me out, and my dad took away my car, and I thought that was it. Then one day, I got home from school, and nobody was there. No one was there for three days before these movers showed up saying they were there to pack up the house. I told them there was a mistake, and I didn’t let them in.
“They’d gone on vacation without me before, and since they were so pissed about me liking girls, I figured missing out was my punishment. But after the movers came, that’s when I got scared and went into my parents’ room and found an envelope from my dad. He said his new wife didn’t feel comfortable having her girls in the house with me?—”
“Sonofabitch!” Harlow burst out. “That’s total bull shit.”
I didn’t disagree with him. In fact, I wondered what Romeo would have to say about that? What would he do? Would he go after her parents? Did I want him to? Yeah, I thought maybe I did. Good grief. When did I get so dark?
She shrugged. “Anyway, they bought a new house and moved. He didn’t give me their new address, just left me a few thousand dollars in cash. I tried calling both of their numbers for days, but it always went to voicemail. Eventually, it said the numbers had been disconnected.”
Harlow crawled up and draped his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. “Well, fuck them. You’ve got us now.”
“You certainly do. And unless you really don’t want the job, I insist you take it.”
Tears began streaming down her face. “But I only have the clothes you’ve given me, and where will I live? I appreciate what you’re wanting to do, but I have nothing to offer.”
“Sure you do. You’ll be great with the customers, and you can share a room with me,” Harlow said. “One of the perks of my new job is a room up on the fourth floor. We can have slumber parties every night, and during the day, I’ll teach you everything you need to know to run the front desk.”
My heart warmed at Harlow’s generosity. “I think I can do you one better. Charity, you can take a room on the fourth floor, as well. I’ve decided not to reopen that level for now. As far as clothes, I’ll give you an advance on your first paycheck, and your new bestie”—I winked at Harlow—“can take you shopping for everything you need.”
Harlow beamed at me. “That’s a great idea. What do you say, Charity? Will you stay? It’ll be awesome, I promise.”
She stared at me, blinking back tears. “Do you mean it? Really? You and Romeo have already done so much for me.”
“Of course, I mean it. And in case you missed it, Romeo and I are together. I’m gay.”
She smiled shyly. “I know. I figured that out pretty quickly.”
Harlow snorted. “I already told her I’m gay.” I guess the surprise at him being so forthcoming with her showed on my face because he continued, “When you asked me to check on her the other night, I didn’t want her to think I was some creep or whatever, so I led with that.”
“Of course you did.” Was there a sweeter, purer soul than Harlow? Looking at the two of them curled up together, I thought maybe he needed her as much as she needed him. He was a hard worker, but like me, he was a little quirky.
The older women on staff adored him and had always doted on him, but he’d never seemed to have too many people his own age to hang with. And Charity, she just needed people she could depend on right now. Romeo and I would keep her safe, but Harlow? He’d bring sunshine to her life.
Smacking my hands on my thighs, I stood up. “We can work out all the details later, but for now, I need to go upstairs and lay down for a while. Harlow, make sure you get some rest, too.”
“I will. Don’t worry.”
“Charity, maybe don’t leave the hotel until after I’ve had a chance to speak with Romeo.” There was no way I wanted that pimp to get his hands on her again. “You can shop for the necessities online and have them delivered.”
“That’s a good idea,” Harlow said. “Should we use the same credit card number that you gave me to order supplies?”
“Good idea.”
We said our goodbyes, and as I walked toward my little apartment, I rubbed my chest. Why did people suck so bad? How could anyone hurt their child like that? Everything felt too big, like too much, so I dove onto my bed and closed my eyes. Hopefully, Romeo’s meeting with the Buccellis had gone okay, and he’d be home soon.