10. Nash
Heath placeda stack of papers on my desk that needed to be signed before cautiously backing away until he felt like he was a safe distance from me. Not hovering, but definitely lingering, obviously needing to inform me of something, but he was reluctant to do so.
“What?” I grumbled, barely glancing at the documents before scrawling my name across the bottom. Defeat pressed down on me hard enough to cut off my airway.
My personal assistant was the only one who was able to tolerate me, but his salary was incentive enough to keep him coming to work. For now. I’d thrown a chair at him earlier that morning, so I wasn’t confident he would stick around much longer. Not that I blamed him. I didn’t want to be around myself any more than he did.
Lily left, just like she said she would. When I went to her room the morning after she told me she knew about my past with Nicole and her grandfather’s fucked-up will, her stuff was packed and waiting by the door. But there was no Lily.
I’d searched everywhere, including Sam’s apartment. But there was no sign of her. According to him, she hadn’t said where she was going or when she would be back. I didn’t believe him. That motherfucker had to know where she was. He’d been too calm for him not to.
A team of PIs was watching his every move, keeping an eye on his phone records, even his bank accounts, for any sign that might lead me to Lily. She hadn’t spent any of her own money in the nearly two weeks since I’d last seen her. Her determination not to be found was so thorough that she’d left her phone behind. So far, private investigators hadn’t found another phone in her name.
Her absence was hitting me harder today, of all days. The eve of her birthday. Tomorrow, she would be twenty-one. At the stroke of midnight, her grandfather’s will would go into effect. Lily was mad and hurting, but I couldn’t fix what I’d broken until after I was sure Joseph couldn’t touch the hotel any longer. Once I explained, she would understand why I didn’t fulfill Howard Royal’s last wish.
And then she will come back to me.
She had to.
I was barely surviving without her.
Heath’s hesitation had me lifting my head, my eyes narrowing on him when I saw the reluctance on his face. “What?” I repeated, the word a savage growl this time.
Lifting his hands, he cautioned, “Hear me out.”
I shoved my chair back from my desk, a flicker of hope catching fire inside me. “You know something about where she is?”
“I don’t have a clue where Delilah could be.”
“But?”
He swallowed hard. “There’s one person you didn’t ask when you started looking.”
“Who?”
“Winston.”
Blowing out a shuddery breath, I shook my head, dismissing the suggestion. “He wouldn’t help her disappear.”
Wouldn’t he?
That voice in the back of my head gave me pause.
My assistant’s brows jumped. “Are you sure about that? He’s been the general manager here since she was a kid. Worked for her grandfather and yours since before she was born. He’s been more of a parental figure to her than anyone else ever came close to. Joseph never gave her a second thought. She was only ever a pawn for Howard. But think about it. Winston was the one who taught her how to drive, then promptly gave her a job valeting to get her out of housekeeping. He is an asshole to every single employee in this place, myself included. But never to her.”
“Everyone adores her. She’s the most genuinely kind person I’ve ever met. Of course he’s nice to her,” I excused.
“All I’m saying is, maybe ask one of the many private investigators to check into it. Winston might know something.” Heath picked up the papers I’d already signed. “It couldn’t hurt to look into it.”
His words replayed through my mind after the door closed behind him, and I picked up my phone. After barking instructions at the lead investigator, I spent the rest of the day waiting for any news.
Nothing.
Winston was clean. No phone activity. Nothing from his bank records that suggested he had helped the woman I loved disappear without a trace.
But now that Heath had put the thought in my head, I wasn’t so sure I trusted the lack of evidence. On the elevator ride down to the lobby, I called my lawyer to ensure everything was still in order. As soon as midnight rolled around, my noncompliance with the will would take effect.
“Tomorrow morning, all I need is your signature on the paperwork to confirm Delilah’s stake,” Samuel Vincent Sr. assured me.
“You’re sure he won’t be able to contest the will?”
The old man snorted. “I covered every possible loophole when I drew up that will, Phoenix. To tell you the truth, I was angry as hell at Howard for making that stipulation. Delilah is like a daughter to me. I adore that girl. But once you asked me to draw up this agreement, I finally saw the good it could do for her. If Joseph Royal was able to contest the will, he would have done it by now. Not that any other lawyer would have taken the case. I may be old, but I have a reputation for being the best at what I do.”
“That much, I do believe,” I agreed. “I’ll be there at nine sharp. Make sure your son is there.”
Pocketing my phone, I stepped off the elevator and made my way to Winston’s office. Letting the door slam behind me, I looked at the man seated behind his desk. His salt-and-pepper hair and lightly lined face were something he’d had as far back as I could remember. Deceptively ageless.
“You look like shit,” he mused aloud before turning his gaze back to his computer, clicking through a few things on his screen. “If you needed something, you could have called. No need to come stomping down here, scaring off the poor staff.”
“It’s my hotel, I’ll do what the fuck I want.”
He lifted a shoulder in a half shrug. “Being a dictator is more Joseph’s style. But he won’t be a problem after today.”
I stiffened. “You know about the will.”
“Howard told me everything he did when it came to this place. I was by his side from the time I was twelve, toting around guests’ bags for tips to feed my family, way back when this place was little more than a motel with a few card tables.” Folding his arms over his chest, he clenched his jaw. “Punched that old bastard right in the face when he told me about his will.”
I took a menacing step toward his desk then quickly stopped myself. If I killed him, he couldn’t tell me where she was. “Are you the one who told her about it?”
“Delilah knows?” he croaked.
“Why do you think she fucking left me?” I roared.
His gaze shifted for a moment before he lifted his shoulder again. “There are plenty of reasons.”
My hands balled into fists at my sides. “Such as?”
“Keeping your history with Nicole from her. How you treated Delilah like some dirty secret, when she’s the most precious person in this world.” He ticked off his fingers as he listed each crime I’d committed. “Not cherishing her. Making her feel like she isn’t worth your time. I could go on.”
I flinched, knowing he wasn’t wrong. “Which of those made you decide to help her leave me?”
He looked me straight in the eye when he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
And I almost believed him.
Heart pounding against my ribs, I knew it was useless to make threats. Or rip him apart with my bare hands like I wanted to. He knew where she was. I could sense it. But until he understood I loved her more than anything—this fucking hotel included—he wouldn’t tell me anything.
“Meet me at Samuel Vincent’s office at nine tomorrow morning,” I told him, turning for the door.
“You need a witness for when this hellhole becomes all yours?”
Pausing with my hand on the knob, I shot him a cold glare over my shoulder. “Guess you’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”