Chapter 7

Chapter

Seven

Cory

It had been a long day. After sleeping all afternoon yesterday and my meltdown last night, I was ready to get back to normalcy. Although, with the discoloration on my face, I spent most of the day hiding in my office. That was fine. There were plenty of things to do.

Knock. Knock.

“Come in.”

Harlow opened the door and stuck his head in. “Charity and I are back from our shopping spree. You said you wanted to see us?”

“Yes.” I jumped out from behind my desk, grabbing a couple of key cards on my way. “Let’s go.”

Harlow backed up, letting me pass, and I almost ran into Charity, who stood staring at Dante. “Are you okay?” I asked.

Without taking her eyes off him, she asked, “Who is that?”

“Uh, Romeo left us with a little hotel security.”

She side-eyed me. “That’s no security guard.”

Dante turned toward us and saluted me. Applesauce . It was going to be annoying having him hover around all the time. It had felt different and less obtrusive when he was here to help me, but until I had a chance to question Romeo, his presence was irritating the crap out of me now.

“Don’t worry about him. Come with me.” I held my arm out for her to slip hers through mine.

She transferred the couple of bags she was carrying into her other hand, grabbed ahold of my bicep, and smiled up at me. “Okay, whatever you say.”

We started toward the elevator with Harlow trailing us when I heard a whistle. Whipping my head around, Dante pointed toward the entrance of the hotel where Romeo was striding toward me. Charity dropped my arm and backed away just as my Daddy pulled me into a tight hug and dropped a kiss on my lips.

“Hey, quirky boy,” he whispered. “How was your day?”

“It was fine, but it’s better now.” I leaned into his strong chest, soaking up the comfort of his presence for a second. “I’m glad you’re back. I’m taking Charity and Harlow up to show them their rooms on the fourth floor. Now you can come, too.”

“Me, too?” Dante asked as he sidled up next to us.

Romeo shrugged, so frowning, I mumbled, “I suppose.”

Dante snickered as Harlow edged around to the other side of Romeo, the farthest point he could get from Dante and still be with us. What was that about? I’d have to check in with Harlow later. If Dante bothered him for some reason, Romeo would have to show him the door.

The five of us made our way to the elevator where Everest was waiting with a big smile on his face. “Oh well, it’s a party. Am I invited?” He laughed.

Since Everest had been the one I put in charge of deliveries today, I wanted him to get the chance to see Harlow and Charity’s reactions when they saw their new spaces. “The more the merrier.”

We all stepped into the glass contraption which thankfully was oversized to fit travelers with their many suitcases. When we arrived at our destination, I was the first off, sprinting down the hall.

“What’s your hurry?” Romeo called after me.

“I’m excited. Come on, you slow pokes.” I went to the far end of the building where I’d put Harlow and Charity in rooms across from each other. Standing in the middle of the hall, I asked, “Where should we go first? The right or the left?”

I saw understanding on Harlow’s face, but Charity giggled. “What are you doing, Cory?”

Romeo and Dante exchanged puzzled expressions, but Everest beamed at me. “I think you should show the young lady the room on the right, Mr. Letterman.”

Harlow nodded eagerly. “Me, too.” He lifted both arms to show all the bags he was carrying. “I’d really like to put these down.”

I spun around to unlock the door, and when I turned back, Dante was relieving a protesting Harlow of his packages. Romeo’s lips thinned, so I figured I’d let him keep an eye on Dante, while I focused on my newest employee. Grabbing Charity’s hand, I dragged her into the room.

“What’s this? It’s not…” Her hands covered her mouth as she took in the Queen-sized bed covered in a white lace bedspread, with different-sized white and pink throw pillows. Under Everest’s direction, a couple of other employees I’d pulled from various sections of the hotel had taken down all the outrageous twenties-inspired art and replaced it with shelves that had dainty silk flower arrangements placed on them. This room had already had white wallpaper with a calmer pink pin-stripe pattern, so it had worked out well.

“Do you like it?” I asked nervously.

“Oh my God, Cory. It’s beautiful. This is too much. You should be renting this room out.”

“Now, Miss Charity, don’t you worry about that. Mr. Letterman didn’t have too many takers for these rooms anyway.”

She spun in a circle, then sank down into the Queen Anne chair in the corner. “Why on earth not?”

I pointed to the side of the room where the sink, apartment-sized refrigerator, two-burner stove, and microwave were. “We had these rooms constructed a little larger for travelers who were staying and wanted to have a small kitchen and whatever. Because of that, the price is higher.”

“And I can tell you from working here,” Harlow said. “People who come to The Gin Mill for its speakeasy theme are here for the ambiance and amenities. They don’t want to cook for themselves or anything else.”

“I didn’t even see these offered when I booked,” Romeo said.

I crossed the room to his side and leaned into him. “That’s because I’d closed this floor down by then. I was frantic about the break-ins, and I didn’t want to worry about anyone who was borderline living here having something stolen or worse. The fourth floor has always felt disconnected from the rest of the hotel.”

He kissed the top of my head. “That makes sense, but it doesn’t explain why you didn’t offer me one of these rooms when I told you I was going to stay a while.”

I felt my face heating, and when Dante chuckled and Everest smiled widely, I knew it must be bright red. Romeo snorted. “It’s because you were hoping I’d end up in your bed, isn’t it?”

Playfully, I slapped his arm, then directed everyone’s attention back to Charity. “So what do you think?”

With tears in her eyes, she blinked at me. “I don’t know how to thank you.”

I shrugged. “Just say you’re staying.”

She jumped up and ran to me, throwing her arms around my shoulders. “Yes. Yes, thank you so much. I can never repay you.”

Romeo clapped his hands together. “Great. If Charity is moving up here, then I’d like to book Gangster’s Paradise until further notice.”

It felt like I’d been stabbed in the chest. He wanted to move out of the belfry? He immediately grabbed my hand. “Not for me. I just think it would be easier for Dante.”

Confused, I wrinkled my nose. “Why would Dante need a room?” I turned to the man in question. “In fact, now that Romeo’s back, can’t you leave?”

“No can do, Cory. Sorry about that. I’m not too happy with the situation either, but I gotta do what the Boss says.” He shrugged. “I will go home at night. There’ll be someone else here keeping an eye on the place so I can get some sleep.”

Romeo glared at him. “Who? I didn’t agree to that.”

He shrugged again. “Don’t know. That’s what Rocco told me when I drove him over this morning. As a matter of fact, you made sure he got home safely, right?”

“Yeah, he’s fine. Don’t worry about him. Are you sure you don’t want to take over my old room? It might be more convenient for however long this lasts.”

I couldn’t wait to get Romeo alone and find out what was going on. I didn’t really want a member of one of the crime families living in my hotel. He was a freaking soldier. He’d probably had to kill someone to make his stripes or whatever they called it.

“Anyway,” Harlow sing-songed. “Can I go look at the room across the hall?”

Charity’s eyes lit up. “Yes, I want to see your room, too.”

“Let’s go. I brought you a new comforter and sheets, too, Harlow. But I kept everything else the same. I know how much you love the 20s.” I wanted him to at least have his own linens, though. Like me, he’d be living in a hotel, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have nice stuff of our own.

He fist-pumped the air. “Yes!”

Shaking his head, Dante said to Romeo under his breath, “They really love this stuff, huh?”

He chuckled. “They do, and it’s adorable.”

Smiling to myself that I’d managed to snag another man who found my eccentricities adorable, I led my little crew across the hall. Harlow seemed as excited as Charity, maybe even a little more so. The minute he got inside, he spun in a circle, taking it all in at once before falling back on his bed with his arms spread like he was about to make snow angels.

“This is ab-so-freaking-lutely amazing!” he yelled.

Charity bounced onto the bed next to him, cuddling into his side. “It is,” she said. “We can buy groceries and make dinner together every night and everything.”

He sat up, pulling her up with him. “We should go back to your room and put your clothes away, then I’ll take you down to the Velvet Room for dinner. You’ve only had room service so far. It’ll be my treat to celebrate our new places.”

“Well, you young people enjoy yourselves. I need to get home to my Mrs.,” Everest said.

“Everest, thank you so much for all your help today,” I said, pulling him into a hug. It wasn’t something I normally did with him, or any of my employees, but after recent events, I wanted him to know how special he was to me.

“Oh my.” He chuckled, patting my back. “It was my pleasure. I know it’s been tough for you, Mr. Letterman. I’m just glad I can be here to witness things turning around.”

“I’m glad you’re here, too.”

As he was saying his goodbyes to everyone else, I realized that Dante had slipped from the room at some point. I hoped that didn’t mean something anything more than he went away.

After Everest was gone, Romeo asked if he could speak with Charity in her room really quickly. I knew he’d planned on dealing with the Tad situation today, so I hoped he had good news for her. That she’d know that she was safe. I’d find out once we went upstairs.

“Is this all okay, Harlow? You did want to live on-site, right? I’m not pressuring you?” I knew enough about his home life to know that he’d been wanting a place of his own for a while, but that didn’t mean he wanted to live in a one-bedroom hotel room. On the other hand, with the salary I was paying him, he’d be able to afford whatever he wanted sooner than later.

“This is…everything, Cory. Thank you so much for this. Thank you for the opportunity.”

“Hey, you earned this.” I bit my lip, then plunged on. “Is everything else okay? Is Dante making you uncomfortable?”

He shook his head with a little too much enthusiasm to be completely believable. “No, he’s fine. It’s just the whole…” He waved his hands around in the air.

“Mafia thing?” I guessed.

“Doesn’t it make you nervous? At least a little bit?” He wrung his hands in front of him.

I sat on his bed, patting the spot next to me, and he sat down. “I’m going to be completely honest with you. My sister was involved with a soldier from another Family. That’s my nephew’s father. I never really cared for him much, nor did I give him a chance. All I cared about was that he was a criminal. But then my nephew went missing, my sister passed away, and Mac died, and you know what? Frederic was still here. Even though I’ve never been particularly nice to him, he kept coming around and checking on me.

“I’ve gotten to know him so much better, and I wish my sister was still alive so that I could tell her that I understand now. He’s a great guy. Is he more than likely a killer? Yes. Does he probably do all kinds of other things I don’t want to know about? Yes. But he’s one of my people, and I guess…I guess maybe I’ve decided that in this crazy, unpredictable world, that’s enough.”

“Is he what made it easier for you to accept Romeo for who he is?”

I chuckled. “I’m sure it didn’t hurt.”

Harlow nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

“But if he bothers you or steps out of line, you come to me or Romeo. This is your home, not his.”

He nodded slowly. “I will. I promise. For right now, it’s kind of comforting knowing that he’ll be here when Romeo isn’t. Knowing that he’s one of those people who’ll do whatever it takes to keep us all safe.”

I sighed. “I can’t really argue with you there.” Maybe I wouldn’t be reading Romeo the riot-act about Dante’s presence after all.

The four of us ended up helping Charity put away her things. We chatted and laughed, and I felt…good. This wasn’t the life that I’d expected to have, but watching Romeo, being with him, I felt hope blooming in a way that I’d never expected to experience again.