“Sit tight. I’ll be there in a few hours. We’ll address it then.”
Marco sighed heavily. “Thank you, Mr. O’Rourke.”
I disconnected, considered trying Knox but decided against it. I hadn’t heard from him since the night Emily had come to the apartment and confronted Knox. I’d returned to staying at my place, not wanting to see him because I didn’t trust the things I would say. I still wasn’t ready to face him; I knew there was too much animosity churning. I would end up doing something I would regret.
Hopefully, I could tend to these issues and not have to see him at all.
~~~~
Knox
“How was that, boss? Believable?”
I smiled at Marco, who was currently sitting behind my desk while I occupied the guest chair.
“I think you might’ve missed your calling in Hollywood, Marco.”
He smiled widely. “I’ll keep that in mind if this goes belly up.”
I cast a look of disbelief.
“Joking,” he said, getting to his feet. “All is well. We’re set for the grand opening, and last I checked, we only have a few available rooms left.”
The computer chimed, signaling an email. I glanced at my laptop, saw a note from Emmett stating Miss Campbell would be coming personally to address the issue.
“Thank you for doing this,” I told him, standing and hooking the button on my jacket.
“Anytime.” He started toward the door. “I hope it works out for you, boss.”
Yeah, I did, too.
Sure, I was manipulating Emily and Kieran, but in my defense, I had no other options. I was dealing with two very stubborn people, and I knew if there was any hope of salvaging this, I had to go all out.
Getting them here was only the first thing on my list.
38
Emily
“Why are we meeting in the restaurant?” I asked Marco after meeting him in the hotel lobby upon my arrival.
“I honestly don’t know,” he said, looking a bit frazzled. “The code enforcement fellow said he was swamped, asked that I make this simple. I thought this was simple.”
I stared up at him. Since I’d never been involved in anything like this before, I wasn’t even sure what to expect. The only thing I wanted was to take care of this problem before Kieran or Knox got wind of it. If their resort didn’t open on time because of me, I would never live it down.
Marco escorted me to the restaurant then motioned for me to precede him. I followed the wide hallway that separated the hostess stand from the casino. I expected the space to be empty, so I wasn’t surprised to find it that way.
“Did he say when he was coming?” I asked, glancing back at Marco.
I turned. Stared.
Where the hell did he go?
Turning back, I walked deeper into the restaurant and came to an abrupt stop when I realized I wasn’t alone, but it wasn’t the code inspector who was waiting for me.
I considered spinning on my heel and racing back the same way I’d come, but my feet were rooted to the floor as I stared at the man standing in the middle of the space that was lit with a thousand candles. That was a guess, of course. I had no idea how many there were, but it was enough to cause concern.
“Aren’t those a fire hazard?” I asked, trying to conjure up some of the anger I’d felt before I’d listened to Stewart’s rehashing of what had happened years ago.
