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“Ah, too bad. It would’ve been fun giving you a grilling.”

He shot her a little wink then glanced at me, gave a deferential nod and said, “Bossman,” before sauntering off to mingle with a nearby group.

“That one is trouble with a capital T,” Becky said, and Katy’s flush deepened. Poor woman. I didn’t think she was used to men like Lou sniffing around her, but I’d seen how she conducted herself in business meetings where she was one of the few women present in a room full of men, so I knew she was well equipped to handle herself. “The question is,” Becky went on, “is he the kind of trouble that’s worth it?”

“Definitely not,” Katy said, her expression horrified while my assistant chuckled.

“Relax, Katarina. I’m only teasing.”

“It’s Katy, thank you very much.”

“That’s enough, Becky,” I said. “Leave Katy to do her job. We have a game of human bingo to play.”

“Right, let’s get to it then,” she said, walking ahead of me and introducing herself to the housekeeper, Lisa. I remembered her because she was one of the people who’d been making complaints and therefore needed to be won over. I just hoped today’s effort made her realise that her new colleagues weren’t so bad.

Instead of playing the game, I found myself wandering in Rinnie’s direction. She was setting out a jug of water and some glasses next to the finger sandwiches and chocolate biscuits.

“You’re late,” Rinnie commented when I reached her. “And I already told you I’m not participating, so you’re wasting your time talking to me.”

What if I only want to talk to you? I didn’t voice the question, instead replying, “I actually came over for a glass of water, if that’s okay?”

A look of chagrin claimed her features. “Ah, right, sorry. I’m a little on edge for this to go well.” She cast me a narrow-eyed glance. “It didn’t help that someone didn’t bother emailing me until the very last minute yesterday.”

“That was my bad. It slipped my mind. How can I make it up to you?”

“You can make it up to me by playing the game. My friend, Samara, is over there all on her own. Why don’t you go ask her some questions?”

I turned and saw the dark-haired woman Rinnie had been talking to during the coffee morning. “The receptionist, right?”

“Don’t ask me, go ask her. That’s the whole point of the game.”

I smiled at her gentle ribbing. “If I must.”

I was about to leave when she pulled her phone from her pocket, a text message coming through. I saw her scan it before a frown etched itself across her face. “What the …” Her gaze flicked up, her previously neutral gaze now icy cold. “Are you firing Cooke?”

I blinked several times, trying to figure out who had texted her and how they could possibly know we were letting Cooke go since we hadn’t even broken the news to him yet. Rinnie stared at me, her features hardening in accusation, and I just knew that my already bad day was about to get so much worse.

9.

Erin

I almost didn’t believe the message when I read it, but the look on Tristan’s face confirmed everything.

He stepped forward. “Listen, I was going to tell you—”

“Tell me what? That you were firing one of the most loyal employees in the entire hotel?” I did my best to keep my tone even, but it was difficult. I dug my nails into my palms in agitation. “Cooke is the last person who deserves to be let go.” My sister’s text was full of panic, and it was hard not to feel the same way. Cooke and Sloane would struggle without this job. I was already doing a mental tally of my savings to figure out how much I could give them if they needed help.

“It’s not that simple,” Tristan replied, glancing around to see if anyone were listening. Most weren’t, too preoccupied with the game, though I did notice Samara had moved a little closer, her attention on us. “Let’s go inside and talk about this.”

“I don’t want to go inside. Just tell me here and now why you’ve made this decision. Since I’m manager I think I deserve to know.”

Tristan rubbed his jaw, his features drawn as he glanced at my phone and appeared to shake his head at himself. “Who texted you? Nobody should know about this yet. I haven’t even informed Cooke about it.”

I lifted my phone as it buzzed in my hand, more messages coming through from Sloane. “It looks like Cooke suspected he was going to be fired, so he confronted Moira about it just now,” I said as I read the texts. “She didn’t confirm it outright, but from her discomfort being asked, he knew it was true.”

“Fuck,” Tristan swore under his breath, and even though I could tell he was stressed, I felt no sympathy. None at all. He’d made this decision, and it had ramifications on real people’s lives, people I loved and who depended on this job for their survival. Not only was this going to be upsetting and stressful for Cooke, but it would also be upsetting for Sloane, which could affect her already struggling health.

Resentment festered in my belly.