“Childish? Fuck you, Riku. I fired you! Go away.”
The doors to the elevator open, and I storm out, but my steps falter when I see who’s waiting in front of my door. I turn to my ex-bodyguard. “Who are you now, my father? You called and fucking tattled on me?”
Cole is wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt, and his feet are bare, but he has his laptop in hand. He must hear my words because he scowls, showing none of the warmth that had filled our last interaction.
“Jesus, Jacinta, do you have to be such a huge bitch? For your information, Ash called me and told me that you all needed to speak to me.” He looks behind us to the elevator. “Where are they?”
“Who gives a fuck? He can rot in hell as far as I’m concerned.” My words are slurred, all the whiskey I had downed on the way back suddenly catching up to me. I stumble into the wall, bouncing off it before continuing to my door. I look down for my handbag and realize I don’t have it. Fuck, I’m going to have to go down to reception to ask for another key.Hang on, maybe Hope’s here.
I push past Cole and bang on the door, the noise echoing through the quiet corridor of the hotel. “Hope, let me in,” I call out, hoping she’ll hear it.
“Jacinta!” Cole hisses behind me. “Jesus, you’re going to wake the whole floor.”
“Pfft, no one is up here but us.” I flip him off, not looking at him, and bang on the door again.
“Jacinta, I have the key,” Riku’s quiet voice says from behind me. Spinning around, I eye my bag in his hand.
“Of course you do.” I snatch it out of his hand and lean against the door, digging around for my plastic keycard, but I go tumbling back when the door suddenly opens. Hope’s cry of surprise makes me snort as I land on my ass. I start to laugh even though there’s a sharp pain in my hip where it connected with the floor.
“Jacinta, fuck. What are you doing?” Hope stares down at me, bleary-eyed, before looking at the two assholes with me. “What’s going on?”
I laugh even harder at how confused she sounds.
“The other guys should be here shortly. Let’s just move inside,” Cole suggests as Riku bends down and grabs me under my arms, hauling me to my feet.
“Don’t touch me.” I push him away when I’m vertical again and stumble toward my room, banging into the sofa and another wall before I get to my door.
“Jacinta?” Hope sounds worried now, and I feel a little guilty, so I turn around and try to smile for her. With the way she flinches, I’m not sure I succeeded.
“It’s fine.I’mfine, just a little too much to drink tonight. I’m going to have a shower and then go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning,” I reassure her before I push through my bedroom. I strip off my clothes, naked by the time I get to my bathroom, and it doesn’t take long before the room is filled with steam from the shower. I step in just as Riku enters the bathroom. He leans against the sink, arms crossed.
“What are you doing? Come to look at the goods now that you’ve blown your chance?”
He shrugs, looking indifferent. “Nothing I haven’t seen before.” Damn him and his lack of reaction.
“Why don’t you hop in, and I’ll give you a farewell fuck? Then you can tell all your friends that you got to fuck the heiress.” I know my words are hateful, but I can’t stop them from flowing out. I’ve reverted to lashing out at anyone in the line of fire.
“I’m just here to make sure you don’t kill yourself on my watch. I’ll pass on the rest.”
I run my hands over my body and moan when my fingers brush against my clit. “Are you sure you don’t want to? I’ll even get down on my knees and suck your dick if you want.”
The door slams open, and Cole bursts in. He tears open the shower door and reaches in, twisting one of the knobs. I shriek as the water turns freezing cold.
“What the hell, Cole?” Instead of answering, he turns the water off and throws a towel at me.
“Get dry. You’ll thank me in the morning.” He storms out, not waiting for me to respond.
My teeth start to chatter, but my mind clears a little, and I feel my face blush with embarrassment. Nothing like frigid water to literally cool off a temper and whiskey buzz. Not looking at Riku, I wrap myself up and stumble back to my bed. Throwing back the covers, I climb in and pull them up over my head, not caring that my hair is wet. My eyes are heavy, but I have a sinking feeling that I just completely fucked everything up. Is there a way to come back from this?
My stomach starts to roll, and I struggle to sit up. Suddenly, Riku is there, holding a garbage can, and I turn my head, expelling the contents of my stomach into it. Over and over, I heave, and the whole time I can feel Riku’s hand on my back, rubbing it as he whispers soothing words. Finally, I’m done, and he hands me a glass of water so I can rinse my mouth before spitting it into the trash. I lie back on my bed with a groan, and the tears start to fall. I’m a fucking mess, and I think I may have ruined the best thing that ever happened to me. Muttering a quiet thank you, I roll over and try to sleep. I feel him get up to dispose of the grossness, and although I expect him to leave after that, he comes back and uses a towel to dry my wet hair. I don’t talk to him since I wouldn’t even know where to start, but just as I drift off, I feel him lean in and kiss my forehead.
“Don’t worry, baby, we’ll get you sorted out.”
ChapterThirteen
Jace
When we get to the hotel, the three of us accompany Ash up to Jacinta’s room, following the directions Cole texted Ash. When we get there, Jacinta and Riku are nowhere to be seen, but Hope and Cole are both there. Cole is in his sweats, and Hope is wearing a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. Clearly, we’ve disrupted both their evenings, and I’m afraid it’s not going to get any better from here.
