Chapter 35
Callum
We return to the hotel around sunset, hand in hand, gliding through sliding doors and across marble tiles like any other couple.
It doesn’t seem real that I just had a lovely day with a gorgeous supermodel on my arm. And in the several hours we spent together, we didn’t even have a single fight. I managed not to act like an asshole, and she treated me like I was the only man on the planet.
My attraction to her keeps growing. Exponentially.
Entirely out of my control, raging like wildfire with every touch, every glance. I know I should be panicking, but discomfort is the furthest thing from my mind.
That is, until I clock one of the hotel managers in a three-piece suit beelining toward us.
His balding head and obnoxious bow tie do nothing to distract me from the alarm on his face. Urgency infuses his hectic strides as he scurries to meet us. “Mr. Kavanagh—”
“What is it?” Something’s obviously wrong.
“Would you please come this way, sir? It’s important.”
“What happened?” Worry underscores Lucy’s tone.
I tighten my grip on her hand, stepping closer without another thought while scanning the lobby. The space buzzes like a beehive, with guests checking in and out and bar patrons chatting over martini glasses and live piano music. Nothing and no one suspicious flags my attention. I don’t trust that.
“There’s been a breach.” The manager gestures for us to follow. “Right this way.”
Fuck.
This hotel is under the Kings’ protection. The owners are buddy-buddy with Shane. This is one of the few places in the city where we should’ve been completely undetectable.
Someone must’ve tailed us after one of Lucy’s events without me noticing.
I got careless.
The manager leads us down a grand hallway toward the hotel’s administrative suite and ushers us into the security office. Well over a hundred screens line the walls from top to bottom.
Each screen shows CCTV footage. I’d expect as dynamic an operation as this from any Kings ally.
“Roll the footage.” The manager waves at a mousy, bespectacled woman seated behind a double-wide desk on the far side of the room before addressing us again, his mouth set in a grim line. “We found someone trying to break into your suite, Mr. Kavanagh.”
A large flat screen on our right flickers to life.
A room service attendant rolls a food cart down the hallway and stops outside the door to our room. The gangly man fusses with the knob lock, but he doesn’t do so fast enough.
Hotel security guards appear from up the hallway, shouting and running in his direction. The would-be criminal flees in the opposite direction. The camera angle, unfortunately, doesn’t showcase his face.
While the footage plays, my stomach twists into knots.
That fucker successfully infiltrated the hotel and made it all the way up to our suite. And Roguilin’s responsible. I feel it in my gut. What if Lucy and I had been here? What if she’d opened the door?
Lucy’s hand squeezes mine. Her cheeks lose their color.
“When was this?”
The woman behind the desk looks up. “About twenty minutes ago, sir.”
Fuck. If we’d returned any earlier… “Did you apprehend him? Did you get any other angles?”
The manager shakes his head. “He evaded us, Mr. Kavanagh. He gained access to the service hallways and managed to blend in long enough to escape from the hotel before we could apprehend him.” His tone is heavy, his words hesitant. He knows he’s in trouble.
I’m the real fuck-up though. I never should’ve let someone get this close.
“Have the Gallaghers been notified?”
“Yes, sir. We sent an alert to their security team, just as you instructed in the event this happened. We were about to message you as well, but—”
“Good. We’re leaving.”
Lucy’s head jerks in my direction. “What do you mean leaving?”
A muscle in my neck twitches. “We’re compromised. We can’t stay here.”
“We’re not…” Her voice hitches a little. “We’re not going back to my apartment, are we? What about—”
“No. We’ll head to a secure location.”
“Callum.”
The manager scrubs a hand across his face. “We’re deeply sorry for this security breach, Mr. Kavanagh. Thankfully, nothing happened, but—”
“Save your apologies. They’re of no use to us now.” I don’t give a shit about “sorry” or “thankfully.” Not when someone came this close to harming Lucy. “Is security currently posted outside our suite?”
“Yes, sir.”
“We’ll go up to collect our things.”
“I’ll have two guards escort you.”
See what happens when you get sidetracked on the job?
This is my fault. I was careless. And who knows what might’ve happened if today had gone just as our enemies had planned?
Sour bile builds in my gut.
Lucy’s motionless at my side, her fingers still threaded with mine. I can’t face her.
Roguilin’s men are hunting her down. They want to retrieve the wallet and silence her. They don’t seem to want her dead, though, or that would’ve happened before Darren and Veronika even hired me.
That means the sick bastards want her alive.
Guilt burrows beneath my skin. I’m supposed to be focusing on protecting her. Instead, I let her take me out on a date. What the fuck is the matter with me? The possibility of Roguilin’s men snatching Lucy because I allowed myself to get distracted eats at my stomach like acid.
Out in the hall, the manager signals two men standing nearby. They’re dressed casually, but I know from the tension in their shoulders they’re trained. At least the security isn’t completely incompetent.
The guards stride over so the manager can brief them on the plan. I’m about to join their huddle, but when I move in their direction, Lucy remains rooted in place. I stare at her head-on for the first time since the manager approached us in the lobby.
Her expression is mottled with fear, her shoulders trembling.
She needs comfort, and though I’m the only one for the job, my mouth refuses to cooperate.