The next morning, I wake up in the best mood. I kiss everyone goodbye and leave early, skipping breakfast. I have meetings all day and will eat at the office. Sage decides to stay home and work with his plants, and the others have college and will be taking their own cars, so I take my Charger, the music blaring and the sunroof open as I sing along to a song.
Gio’s car still wasn’t in the garage when I left, so I’m assuming he stayed at the Lucky Diamond again last night. I’m hoping to get a chance to see him today to tell him all about Lorenzo, but when I arrive and head up to the office, he isn’t there. When I send him a message, I get no response, so I pick up my desk phone and call reception.
“Janice, it’s Tori Russo. Is Gio still here, or has he checked out?” I ask her.
“Good morning, Ms. Russo. Mr. Russo left about twenty minutes ago with his lady friend. I heard them talking about morning classes, if that’s any help.”
I thank the woman and hang up. Damn it. Oh well, I can tell him tonight, I guess.
My door bursts open, and Bryce storms in and throws himself into the chair in front of my desk. He scowls as he crosses his arms and glares at me.
“Everything okay?” I ask lightly, and his frown deepens.
“Fuck you, Tori. You left me to deal with that mess yesterday.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you the operational manager of this resort?” I ask flatly, and he sighs.
“Yes, damn it. I’m sorry. Gio was an asshole to me, and then after talking to Mario in his room, he just moved him to the presidential suite below your penthouse and told me to let it go. When I asked him if we should bill him for the destruction, he told me that insurance would cover it.”
“He did what?” I sit up straighter, bristling with annoyance.
“He just showed him to another suite and apologized for the inconvenience—he and the girl.”
“Casey?” I ask, and he nods.
“Yes, they went in there together, and when they came out, she looked like she had been crying. Why would he take his girlfriend with him to deal with a client? And Penny had definitely been beat on. She has a huge black eye, and her face was red, and she was all hunched over, but she just followed behind like an obedient lap dog.”
What the fuck is going on?
“Let me get this straight. You asked Gio to deal with Mario Maricuso after he lost his temper and trashed Penny’s suite, but instead of calling the cops or asking them both to leave, he showed them to another suite and said everything was okay?”
“Yes,” Bryce confirms. “Then Gio fucked off to his room and left me to deal with the cleanup and relocating the person who was booked into the suite he moved Mario into. I had to comp their whole stay when I had to downgrade them to a junior suiteinstead. Then he didn’t reemerge again for the rest of the day and night, and then scurried out of here first thing this morning like his ass was on fire.”
Something starts to tickle at the edges of my mind, but my seething anger is making it hard to form it into coherent ideas.
“Is Mario still here? I’ll go speak to him.” I stand up, but Bryce shakes his head.
“No, he left just before I came up here. He was on his phone and talking loudly, and I overheard him say everything was falling into place.”
Damn it, just when I thought I was getting a break. I thought Lorenzo’s death would put a kibosh on whatever Mario had planned, but I was obviously wrong.
“Is Penny still here?” I ask him, and he nods.
“She hadn’t left when I was downstairs half an hour ago.”
Again, I call reception. “Janice, it’s Tori again. Is my stepmother still in the resort?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Ms. Russo, she just left. She didn’t look so good, and when I asked, she said she walked into the door of her suite, and she was going to the doctor to get checked out,” Janice tells me, too discrete to gossip about how Penny looked like she had the crap beaten out of her.
“Thank you,” I tell her before hanging up.
Fuck. What is going on? I pick up my cell and pull up the tracking app I installed. I tap on Gio’s profile, expecting to see him at Suncity U, but instead, he’s at home. I stand up. “I’m done with this shit. I’m heading home to deal with Gio,” I tell Bryce, and his face pales.
“Dealwith him deal with him?” he asks vaguely, crossing his neck with his finger.
I sigh. “I don’t know. I guess it will depend on what he has to say. Have Susan reschedule all my meetings today. I doubt I willbe back,” I tell him, and as I pass him, he grabs my arm and gives it a squeeze.
“You’re doing the right thing. Gio either has to get his head straight, or he has to disappear. This is not working, and you know the family supports you.” He releases my arm and taps his hand where his tattoo is.
