“Which there could be if someone from the press spots Kate here.”
“Then so be it. They’ll find out sooner or later anyway.”
“How is it going with her?” Olivia asked. My mouth twitched, and a spark appeared in my best friend’s eyes. “Tell me everything!”
“We messaged for a while yesterday.”
“Messaged?” She sounded disappointed. “You both live in the hotel.”
“Yes, but I don’t leave the office before ten these days. I gave her one of my old phones so we can at least write to each other.”
“So what did you message about?” Olivia asked. She pushed herself away from the wall and came to straighten my obstinately wonky tie. She smelled of expensive perfume—vanilla with a hint of coconut.
“She sent me a selfie of herself in the bath,” I said with my eyes on Olivia, who was loosening my tie to retie it. “And I replied that I was imagining her naked.”
Olivia looked up abruptly. “You’re kidding! How did she react?”
“She said she wanted a photo of me.”
“Wow. Which one did you send her?”
“The one you took on the Côte d’Azur.”
“That’s a good one. You look very fuckable.”
I grinned. “I know.”
Olivia laughed. She had finished with my tie and took a step back to assess her work from a distance. Satisfied, she nodded and gestured for me to look in the mirror. I still looked like shit, but at least my tie was straight. My thoughts turned from Kate to the journalists, who were probably already waiting for me impatiently.
“Thanks for sorting out my tie.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Can you tell Vivian that I’ll be there soon? I need a minute.”
Olivia nodded and patted my arm before she left the bathroom. I’d initially liked the idea of a press conference, but that had been before the shit hurricane had blown into my life, and now I wasn’t so sure anymore. All I wanted was to run the hotel and carry out the plans I’d told Kate about. I didn’t want to deal with journalists. But it was too late to pull out now. I took a deep breath to brace myself, and took out the box from my jacket pocket once again. Iswallowed a pill without water, hoping it would cure my exhaustion as well as my headache. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to wait around for it to work its magic.
I straightened my suit one last time. Then I stepped out into the corridor...
... to meet my fate.
26
Good luck with the press thing. You’ve got this!
Message from Kate to Henry
Kate
I sat in the break room at The Darlington watching the press conference that was taking place just a few rooms away. One of the local channels was broadcasting it live, as if it were a sporting event. I clung to Henry’s every word. He announced which organisation the gala would be raising money for this year and then handed the mic over to a woman wearing large glasses and a colourful jacket. She had friendly brown eyes and a broad smile. Her name was displayed at the bottom of the screen: Matilda Gallagher, chairwoman of the Hope Harbour foundation in London.
She introduced herself and started talking about the organisation, but I only had eyes for Henry, who had taken a step back. Unsurprisingly, he looked phenomenal in his dark suit. Knowing what was concealed under his jacket and shirt only made it better. Our conversation last night had kept me awake for a while, and when I’d woken up this morning, the first thing I’d done wasreach for my phone and reread our messages to make sure I hadn’t dreamed our exchange.
The door to the break room swung open and Giulia came in. Her gaze swept the room and finally landed on me. I was ready to be admonished for sitting around instead of working—I’d been desperate to watch the press conference, even though my lunch break had ended half an hour ago. But Giulia seemed more stressed than angry. “Kate, I’m glad you’re here!”
I smiled. “Hi. Is everything OK?”
“I really need your help. Can you clean room 316 right away? Mr. Fleming checked in half an hour ago and complained that the bathroom wasn’t properly clean. We’d move him, but he insisted on his regular room.”
