They walk into the sex room, and I pull Mira up with me.
More people will be coming soon and it will be harder to get away unseen. This is our chance. I push her toward the door. She doesn’t need much encouragement, and we make it there undetected, but I realize the flaw in my plan.
I lean down, my lips pressed to Mira’s ear. “When I open it, they’ll hear.” The locking mechanism of the hotel doors is loud. “Run to the right as soon as you’re out.”
Mira nods, her face expressionless, though the base of her throat throbs to the pace of a fast pulse.
Clutching the handle, I open the door as quietly as possible. There’s a light click and I shove Mira out, following close behind. I don’t bother to silence the door closing. The automatic lock will be loud no matter what I do.
I’ve been in and out of Blue hotel rooms for one reason or another often enough these past few weeks to know there’s no way to leave a room silently. The weight of the door, the suction of the HVAC system, the locking mechanism—they all combine to make certain the door shuts soundly and, unfortunately, with lots of sound.
Once outside, I catch up to Mira. The end of the hall has a housekeeping closet, like most guest floors. It’s late in the evening and the majority of the housekeeping staff is gone for the night. I slip my universal key card in the door slot and pull Mira into the closet with me.
My eyes adjust to the dark and her gaze clings to my face. “Why aren’t we going somewhere?” she asks. “Shouldn’t we make a run for it?”
“Security cameras. In the elevators and emergency stairwells. If we stay here and wait for more people to fill the floor, the bellman, guests, the team members those guys are waiting for, they might assume the sound of the door closing was someone else. It’s the best chance we’ve got. We go out now, and they’ll know it was us in there.”
“And you think that’s dangerous?”
“There were syringes and pills stockpiled in the desk. Whatever went on in there, it wasn’t legal. I don’t trust those men. They wouldn’t lay a hand on you while I’m with you, I’d make damn sure of that, but in the future? When I’m not around? What if they’re like Drake? And what about their connections? More idiots like the ones who found you in the woods?” I shake my head. “I don’t like it, Mira. I won’t risk it. This might make me sound insane, but I’m beginning to agree with Drake. I think whoever is in charge used him as a scapegoat to cover up illegal things at the casino. Drake is guilty for the assaults, but he’s not running the Fifty Shades suite. Someone else is.”
“You’re right. They talked about moving the suite, not removing it.”
“And the rings. Remember Drake shouting his nonsense about the rings?” She nods. “Both of those men wore them. I think”—my suspicions are stacking, and they’re out there, but—“I think they might be covering their tracks now that Drake’s in custody.”
I scrub my face and press my ear to the door. The sound of another door opening and closing echoes down the hall. Voices drift, growing more distant, as if whoever it was is moving farther away.
“The rings,” I say, and turn to her. “What do you know about them?”
“They’re for good performance. I overheard people in the break room talking about it one day.”
“That’s what I’ve heard too, but do you think they could represent more? Like, if certain people were involved in something illegal at the casino, those rings might be their secret handshake? ‘Wear a ring and you’re on the inside’ sort of thing?”
“Tyler, you’re scaring me.”
And Mira doesn’t scare easily. I grab her hand and pull her into my arms. “Sorry. It’ll be okay.” I run my palm over her silky hair. “We just have to lie low for a bit.”
She looks up, her beautiful eyes searching my face. “What about tonight? The event? I can’t let Hayden down.”
“We’ll only stay in here for a bit. An hour, maybe two. We could exit and pretend we snuck off in here to…” I quirk my brows a couple of times.
“Oh sure, so someone can see us and fire me?”
“Do you really want to work at Blue after what we just witnessed?”
She closes her eyes. “I don’t know. I love working with Hayden. I feel needed, valued.”
I stare at her lips. “I value you.” I run my hands up her neck, cradling her face. “I need you.”
“Tyler, we can’t?—”
I bring my mouth down and kiss her, because this place is more dangerous than I imagined when Mira started working here. And because I don’t want to tell her what to do, but I’m afraid of her getting hurt. She’s so small, fragile in a way she doesn’t show most people. I want to protect her. Care for her.
Whatever protest she was about to give disappears. She runs her hands up my neck and grabs my hair, parting her mouth for me. “Don’t do that,” she mumbles against my lips.
It takes me a minute to figure out what she’s referring to, the hand that’s slipping down her top, my tongue teasing her mouth…“What? Kiss you?” I stare into eyes that reflect the beautiful soul I see. “Why not? I love you, Mira.”
A wary look crosses her face. “That’s what you said the other night.”
