Chapter 1
JOSH
“He bought a fucking building.” I shook my head and made my way out of my office across the hotel lobby toward the elevator.
“Yeah, I thought you knew.” Mauri, my assistant’s giggle flowed through the phone line like she wasn’t aboard a plane to New Jersey with our entire team to secretly move our boss into the penthouse of the building he apparently bought without telling me, mind you all, to keep an eye on his girl.
“Is he with y’all?” I hadn’t spoken to Kyler in a few days, caught up in negotiations for another property here in Paris for the next Quadrangle hotel.
While the personal expenditures of my billionaire boss were none of my business, as my best friend, that was another story.
I knew why he didn’t tell me. I would have tried to talk him out of it.
Don’t get me wrong, buying a building to keep an eye on a woman was romantic, I guess. It was also mad crazy and a waste of money.
“No, we’re flying out early.” Another voice I recognized but couldn’t place said something.
“He’s flying in later—”
“You know what?” I rolled my eyes. “Nevermind. I’ll call him myself.”
I stepped into the lounge off the main lobby.
It was mostly deserted. One of the waitresses headed in my direction.
I shook my head, held up a hand, and stopped her in her tracks.
I’d been in Europe most of the summer, touring our properties and making sure the standard of care had not dropped, post-pandemic and all.
I’d been in Paris long enough for the staff to know who I was, and it was becoming an issue to get them to treat me like any other guest.
I tapped on Kyler’s number.
It rang three times.
“Yeah.” He was his normal cheerful self.
“You bought a fucking building?”
He didn’t answer. I sighed loudly. “Hell, Ky, why stop there? Why not buy the university or the whole state of New Jersey while you’re at it?”
“You can’t tell me you wouldn’t do anything in your power to keep your girl safe.”
“Yeah, but is she really still your girl?” I regretted the words as they left my mouth. “Listen, man, just be careful. Your brand of caring borders on the stalking and kidnapping side of the law.”
“How do you figure?” He huffed.
“You are forcing a girl to live in your building and have cameras and a security team on her twenty-four seven. Even I could make an argument for unlawful imprisonment at the least.”
“Then maybe you should get your ass back home and make sure I don’t take it too far.” He chuckled, noting I couldn’t stop him if I tried.
“Just be careful.” I shook my head.
“You’re worried about me?”
The skepticism in his voice made me chuckle. “No, I’m worried about Rayna.”
“How’s it going there?”
“Mauri’s got the latest proposal. Can you please read through it, let me know your thoughts so I can wrap this up?”
I turned toward two men at the bar arguing in hushed tones. They were both dressed in drab dark suits with ugly ties. They stood out because men in Paris took a little more care in what they wore. These guys were in uniform. The Western Europe accent gave them away too. Turkish.
“I’m on it.” Kyler cleared his throat. He had more to say but wouldn’t.
“You two will be laughing about this in twenty years.”
Kyler appreciated I was one of the few people in his life who gave it to him straight, but I wasn’t an asshole either. If he needed this to keep himself sane while Rayna figured her shit out, who was I to crush his hope?
The two men were joined by another who’d come from the elevators. I picked up a few words, then all three jumped up and headed back across the lobby.
“I’ll check in tomorrow.” I hung up and followed the frantic group of guys. One broke off to the first elevator bank to the south tower. The other two stood in front of the elevator to the north tower.
“If you don’t find her…” the taller man’s voice trailed off.
“She couldn’t have gotten far,” his friend said in Turkish.
“Kapa ceneni!”
The guy’s face went blank, and his eyes darted around.
The elevator dings and we all filed in.
I stood to the left; they huddled to the right. I pressed the eleventh floor. The short one pressed the twelfth floor button. He narrowed his eyes and nodded. I nodded back.
We rode up in silence. The taller man’s phone beeped. He read it, cursed under his breath, and showed his colleague.
We reached my floor, and I nodded again to the gentleman and stepped off. I turned right and stopped.
At the end of the hall, behind a huge potted plant, was a girl crouching down, trying to hide. As I approached, she darted out and flattened herself against the door. My door.
Our eyes locked and hers softened for a moment as she stared me up and down. She had the biggest brown eyes. Expressive eyes full of courage and fear.
Footsteps padded across the floor behind me, going in the other direction.
The panicked look on her face made my chest tighten.
She wore a shimmery silver dress. It hit her mid-thigh and not much else from what I could tell.
No purse. No shoes. No jewelry. Her nails were short, with chipped pink polish. Her toes the same.
The footsteps started back in our direction. The building had a curve. As soon as he reached the elevators, he would see her.
Her eyes darted around, looking for an escape.
I shuffled toward my door, fished my key card out of my pocket, and opened it.
“Hey, excuse me,” the man from the elevator called. I turned, shielding her from his view. She was such a tiny thing, it wasn’t hard. “You see a young pale-looking girl with long dark hair?” He peeked down a small hall to his right before moving toward me. “She’s my… niece.”
The pause in his sentence made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
“About this tall.” He stopped in front of me.
“No. I haven’t seen anyone.” A door farther down the hall opened and we both turned. A couple stepped out arm in arm. The couple made their way toward us.
“Hello,” the woman said in a French accent.
“Hi.” I nodded. The other man grunted and proceeded past me further down the hall.
“You could check with the hotel security.” I pointed toward my door. “I can call them if you—”
“No, no.” He held up his hand. “She does this. It’s like a game. She will show up.”
I shrugged.
He looked me up and down and then proceeded back toward the elevator. I pushed the door open and stepped inside the pitch dark room. I flipped the switch by the door and the lights over the bed and living area illuminated the suite.
A soft whimper drew my attention. With a couch and coffee table by the door, the king-sized bed made up most of the rest of the room. It had a non-Parisian feel to it. It reminded me more of our hotel interior in Las Vegas Quad 2. All slick lines, with Asian influences.
“Hello,” I whispered. “You can come out now. You’re safe.”
I didn’t recognize my own voice. I listened for another sound. My hand remained on the door. I padded across the floor to the center and spotted her. She had slid down into the space between the end of the couch and the wall, hugging her knees. Her big brown eyes shined bright in the dim light.
She glared in my direction but didn’t quite look at me.
I held my hand out in front of me and approached.
She scooted back farther into the wall.
“Hey, it’s okay.” I kneeled a few feet away. “I won’t hurt you. Can you tell me your name?”
She licked her lips. Dried blood caked the left side of her mouth. A small trail of blood had dripped down the side of her head from her hairline. It was a tiny cut, but head wounds like that bled.
“Are you hurt?” I touched my head.
She reached up, winced, and drew her hand back. She shivered.
I stood up suddenly. She grunted, flinched, and hugged herself harder. She turned her head away from me.
I squatted back down.
“Oh, sweetie, I promise I won’t hurt you.” I pulled the blanket off the couch and unfolded it. “Please,” I pleaded.
It got her to turn back to me. I reached out my hands with the blanket draped between them. She blinked and lowered her head. I dropped the blanket over her shoulders. She gripped the sides and wrapped it further around herself.
I stood up, slower this time, and grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge. I unscrewed the top and set it down in front of her. I gave her some space and grabbed my phone out of my back pocket.
I tapped the screen to call Randall.
“Hey, buddy.” He sounded almost chipper.
“Rand, I need you to pull up the cameras in the lounge in Paris from about” —I looked at my watch— “five minutes ago.”
“Why?” He went from chipper to annoyed. “I’m in a middle of—”
“Randall,” I yelled.
Another whimper came from the corner. She’d held the bottle of water between her two hands and brought it to her lips. I counted that as a victory.
I smiled, and she narrowed her eyes and turned away.
“This is time sensitive.” I lowered my voice. “Two guys were then joined by a third. Track their movements. If they are staying in the hotel, I want a full rundown. ASAP.”
“Got ’em,” he said as I finished my sentence. “In the elevator, is that you? Fuck, why are you following them? What did they do?”
“Keep watching.” I rubbed my chin. I needed a shave. The plastic bottle squeaked. She’d finished the bottle and hugged it to her. I squatted in front of her and held my hand out. She set the bottle on the floor, but in front of me. Again, progress.
“Well, who do we have here?” Oscar whistled. “Who is she?”
“I don’t know. But she’s in trouble.”
Her eyes grew wide. “But never mind, focus on the guys. Let me know when you have something.”
I hung up and turned my attention back to her.
“Are you hungry?” I brought my finger to my lips. Maybe she didn’t speak English. “Food.”
She didn’t move a muscle but stared into my eyes.
I took it as a yes.
“Okay. I’m going to order you something to eat. And then I need to get you to a doctor to—”
She squeaked to get my attention. She was like one of those girls raised in the wild with a pack of wolves. Her dress was expensive but didn’t fit her. She was rail-thin, and her pale skin had lost its glow, but those eyes sparkled.
She shook her head viciously and tried to get up. She collapsed back against the wall, exhausted.
But she understood me.
“Okay.” I squatted back down. “If you can tell me yes or no with a nod of your head, then we can hold off on the doctor.”
She shook her head slower to the left and then the right.
“You are not hurt?”
She nodded.
“Okay.” I held my hand up. “But food. You are hungry?”
She nodded slowly, but she licked her lips again.
“Good.” I stood and walked over to the bed. I grabbed the house phone and dialed room service.
“Hi, Mr. Burroughs.” The attendant spoke with a heavy Parisian accent.
“I’d like to order room service.” I held my hand over the receiver. “Pizza?” I asked my guest.
She shook her head.
“Cheeseburger.”
That got me an enthusiastic head nod.
“Cheeseburger, fries, and ranch dressing,” I said into the receiver. “And a glass of milk.”
“How would you like the burger cooked?”
“Uhm. Med.” I looked at my friend, but she didn’t answer. She stared.
“Okay, I’ll have that up to you in twenty minutes.”
“Thank you.” I hung up the phone and grabbed another two bottles of water from the refrigerator. I grabbed a pillow from the bed and dropped it on the floor in front of her. I pulled off my suit jacket and untucked my shirt.
She watched my every move.
I sat with my back against the couch, my legs stretched out in front of me.
I unscrewed both bottles and handed her one.
She reached for it. Our fingers touched and the electric jolt made us both flinch.
The bottle dropped between us. Water splashed out on the floor.
I snatched it up before it tipped over completely.
She grabbed the blanket and slid back even farther if it was possible.
“Hey.” I waved the bottle in front of her. “It’s okay. No harm.” I set the bottle closer to her on the floor. She eyed it and then me. A small shaking hand snuck out from beneath the blanket and picked up the bottle.
Her eyes appeared to say thank you.
“You’re welcome, sweetie.” I used my own bottle to cover the grin on my face.