Monday morning arrived with thin gray light and a headache I couldn’t blame on anything but my own circling thoughts.
I dressed quickly.Wool slacks, a cream sweater, boots that would handle the snow.My reflection in the mirror looked pale but presentable.The swelling in my lips had faded.No one would know that twelve hours ago, I’d been kissed so thoroughly I’d forgotten my own name.
Alice met me in the hallway with tea and toast.Her expression was carefully neutral, but her eyes held that knowing warmth she couldn’t quite hide.
“Mr.Antonov left early this morning,” she said.“He had meetings in the city.”
“Good.”The word came out sharper than I intended.Alice’s eyebrow twitched, but she didn’t comment.
I ate the toast without tasting it and drank the tea too fast.I needed to be gone before he came back.Before I had to look at him and pretend last night hadn’t happened.Before my traitorous body decided it wanted a repeat performance.
“I’ll be at the hotel today,” I told Alice.“I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Alice nodded.“Shall I have Parsons drive you?The roads are icy this morning.”
“I’ll call a car.”I needed to be free of this place, this house, his people, his scent, his presence seeping through the walls.Even for a few hours, I needed to remember who I was when I wasn’t wearing his collar.Which I still hadn’t put on.Which was still sitting on his desk, a reminder of everything between us that remained unresolved.
The drive down the mountain was treacherous.Fresh snow had fallen overnight, and the car’s tires slipped twice on the hairpin curves.I watched the white-covered pines blur past the window and the weight pressing on my chest lessened with every mile I put between myself and his manor.
By the time the Hughes Palace came into view, my shoulders had relaxed and my breathing had steadied.This was my territory.My legacy.The place where I was Lena Hughes, not Raphael Antonov’s contracted possession.
The lobby wrapped around me like a welcome.Crackling fire in the massive stone hearth.Chandeliers hanging overhead like icicles.The familiar scent of fresh flowers and the faint aroma of roasted garlic from the restaurant kitchen.I stamped the snow off my boots and let myself breathe.
Home.
“Miss Hughes!”The woman at the front desk straightened when she saw me.“We didn’t expect you today.”
“Surprise inspection,” I said, and smiled.It wasn’t entirely a lie.
I walked through the main floor, checking in with department heads, reviewing the morning’s occupancy reports, listening to the rhythm of the hotel coming to life around me.Everything seemed to be running smoothly.A few minor complaints from last night.A plumbing issue on the fourth floor that had already been resolved.The kind of ordinary problems that ordinary days brought.
I was reviewing the restaurant reservations when Michael found me.
“Lena.”He appeared at my elbow with two coffees from the lobby cafe, that boyish smile already in place.“I thought I saw you come in.Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine.”I accepted the coffee.He’d remembered how I liked it.Black with a splash of cream.Small kindnesses like that were why he was so good at his job.“I just needed to check on a few things.”
He nodded, studying my face with what looked like genuine concern.There were shadows under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept well either.“You seem tired.Long weekend?”
You have no idea.
“Something like that,” I said.“How are things here?Anything I should know about?”
Michael shook his head.“Running like clockwork.Though…” He hesitated.
“Though what?”
“Nothing urgent.One of the maintenance guys mentioned the boiler was making some odd noises this morning.Probably nothing, but I asked him to keep an eye on it.”
“Good thinking.”I made a mental note to check with maintenance myself.Late January in the mountains.If we lost heat during a cold snap, we’d have a crisis on our hands.
But for now, everything seemed fine.I spent the next hour walking the floors, poking my head into housekeeping, chatting with the spa staff, watching the hotel operate around me.Sophie wasn’t working today, which was probably for the best.She’d take one look at my face and know something had happened, and I wasn’t ready to explain a kiss I couldn’t explain to myself.
It felt good to be here.To be needed.To be the person people looked to for decisions, even if some of them still saw me as the little girl who used to steal cookies from the kitchen.
I was checking emails in my father’s old office when the first complaint came in.
A guest on the third floor.Their room felt cold.Could we send someone to check the radiator?
