Chapter 11
D ominic
I’m in trouble. Deep shit kind of trouble.
And not because I caught Kate watching me in the shower. Her awkwardness the next day was comical, though.
I’m in trouble because I’m feeling … things. For Kate. And the things I’m feeling for Kate are worrying me. It’s best if this continues as a business partnership. Well, not business. But I shouldn’t get attached to her. I can’t get attached. Hard when the woman puts in a rule that she can continue to be in the lives of my kids, should this agreement end. It’s a good thing, because they love Kate.
Besides, I don’t have time for any kind of romantic involvement. My life is crazy enough as it is.
“Did you contact the guy to come fix the leak in the top hot springs?” My dad asks.
“Yes,” I sigh. Dad calls me a couple times a week to butt in and insert himself.
“What about that guy who said he wanted to invest in the property?” he asks.
“I already told you I met with him last week, and we mutually agreed it wasn’t a good fit.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Yes, I did. You met me for breakfast Sunday morning,” I remind him, thankful for AirPods so I can rub both temples. I feel a tension headache coming on, and it’s only partially due to my father’s incessant helicoptering.
“I just want to make sure these things get done, son. This hotel was mine long before it was yours,” he snaps.
“Did Grandpa harp on every single detail when he turned it over to you?” I ask.
“No, because I did things right,” Dad blurts out.
“Wonderful, Dad. I’m so glad you think I’m doing a shitty job of running this place. Clearly I’m doing horribly. We’re booked out for months, and we consistently make the ‘Best Of’ lists in the county. But yeah, I’m doing awful. Better start interviewing a replacement,” I respond sarcastically.
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
“Yeah you did. I’ll never be good enough for you. I get it. I’m used to it. Somehow you’re still pissed that Alex joined the military and didn’t follow in your footsteps, and you’ve made it my fault. I gotta go, Dad.” I don’t bother listening for a response. Ending the call, I toss my phone onto the couch across from my desk. I’m sick of this same argument happening over and over again. It seems like once a quarter, my dad decides to start shit with me. It’s exhausting.
“You okay?”
I look up to find Kate standing at the door, a bag in her hand. “What’s that?”
“I thought you might be hungry,” she says as she hesitantly steps into my office.
I see the faint outline of a to-go container in the shape of my favorite Mexican place in town, and I automatically salivate. “Is that from Guac and Roll?”
Kate giggles, the melodic sound drifting over me like a pleasant and warm wave. “I love how this town has the most bonkers names for places.”
“Bonkers?”
“Yes! It’s not just Stone’s barbershop, or Stone’s Salon. It’s Stone Cold Cuts. Then the dang bowling alley is the Holy Rollers. Isabella’s bakery is pretty cute though.”
My middle sister, Isabella, named her bakery Bake, Batter, and Bowl. There’s also a coffee shop called Brew HaHa, and a very small bookstore and cat cafe called Purrfect Books. Eternity Springs is eclectic, and we’re known for it. I may be the most closed off of my siblings, but even I can recognize how amazing our hometown is.
As soon as Kate comes closer to my desk, I can smell the food in the bag. “Please tell me those are enchiladas.”
“I knew I couldn’t show up here without enchiladas, Dominic,” Kate teases.
“Did you bring enough for both of us?” I ask, and Kate shakes her head. “Sit down. I can share.”
“It’s not necessary. I can eat at home,” she says, putting up a hand in a defensive gesture.
“Katharine, there’s more than enough in here,” I tell her. Pulling out two containers, I find what appears to be a double batch of enchiladas, refried beans, rice, and my favorite fiesta corn salad. Rosa and Pedro have owned and operated Guac and Roll for as long as I can remember. At the bottom of the bag, I find two plates and two sets of plastic silverware. “It seems Rosa assumed you’d be eating with me.”
“I swear I didn’t expect this,” Kate gushes, and I chuckle.
“I never said you did. I’m assuming the entire town already knows we’re married, so Rosa naturally added a plate for you as my wife.”
A delightful pink hue covers Kate’s cheeks at the new moniker. I wonder if she enjoys it as much as I did when she called me her husband.
“Was that your dad on the phone?” Kate asks quietly, jarring me from my thoughts.
“Yes.”
“Was he telling you off again? ”
“Yeah — wait. Again? How did you know he’s done it before?” I ask.
Kate gives me a shy smile. “Arianna mentioned it ages ago. And when I moved in, I heard him reading you the riot act over something dumb. I think it was about late check-out fees.”
I remember that conversation. It was very one-sided. My father refuses to listen to any of my suggestions on ways to streamline our check-out process. He’s old school, and still feels guests should come to the concierge to turn in their room keys and get their bill. I want to allow guests to text us when they’re leaving their rooms, so we know what rooms can be cleaned as soon as guests vacate the premises. I’ve even talked to Leo a bit about creating a simple app for the hotel, but I haven’t bothered to bring that up to my dad.
While I’m technically the CEO, my father is still the figurehead that everyone associates with the hotel. He gets the accolades whenever something good happens, but I get the disapproving glares when something goes poorly. It’s a messed up situation, but there’s not much I can change.
“My father is … stuck in his ways,” I tell Kate.
She hums as she chews, then shrugs. “That’s a lovely way of saying he’s a stick in the mud who doesn’t respect his son’s position.”
Chuckling, I take a large bite of enchiladas and immediately moan in bliss. I’ve never had a bad batch, and they’ve become my comfort food. I didn’t realize how much I needed this today. “How did you know I needed this?”
Kate smiles softly. “We got married yesterday, Dominic. The fact that you’re working on a Sunday tells me you either have a lot of work to do, or you’re avoiding me. In either case, I knew I had to come here and find out.”
“What if I had told you I was avoiding you?” I wonder aloud.
“You’d have to tell me that face-to-face. I don’t like toxic situations. I don’t want to wonder what you’re thinking or feeling. I’d rather we have adult conversations so we’re on the same page. I really figured it was work, though.”
“Why?”
“Because you’d never leave the kids on a Sunday unless it was really important. Your mom is watching them, by the way.”
Woah. I didn’t realize how much Kate paid attention. Sunday has always been family day for me. It takes one hell of an emergency at Everlasting for me to go into work on a Sunday. Typically the kids and I cook breakfast together, then choose an activity for the afternoon. Once a month I let them pick something paid, but everything else has to be free. It can be as simple as building a blanket fort and watching a movie, or going to the zoo. Sienna once spoke about wanting to learn how to cook, so we took a series of cooking classes over a two month period. Aspen was an absolute disaster, and I’m sure the instructor was thrilled to have us leave.
“So were you avoiding me?” Kate asks hesitantly.
I sigh and rub my eyes. “No. We had a large sum of cash stolen last night. I’ve been going through security footage, as well as all the accounting paperwork to see if I can figure out who took it.”
“Oh, wow,” Kate says quietly. “I can’t believe someone would do that.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you notify the police?”
I nod.
“What are they doing in their investigation?” she asks.
“They told me to turn over all the security footage. Well, they originally said they wanted all employee banks to be frozen until further notice, so they could have someone count all the banks and see if there are any major discrepancies, but I said no to that. If I cut off everyone, we’d have to shut down the hotel. We can’t run without cash.”
Kate hums as she thinks, tapping her fork against her lips. It makes me zero in on her mouth, and I remember all too well how much I enjoyed our few kisses. “I always hated dealing with my employee bank when I’d pick up a bartending shift here. It stressed me out. I swear I’d count the thing three times before I dropped it in the accounting deposit box.”
“I’d do that too,” I chuckle.
“What? When did you have an employee bank?” she asks, her mouth hanging open in shock. I look away before my mind gets ahead of me and I start thinking about stuffing her mouth.
“I wasn’t always in charge, Katharine. I’ve done just about every job here at one point or another.” When I realize my dick didn’t get the memo about ignoring Kate’s mouth, I discreetly try to adjust myself so she doesn’t realize I’ve got a half-chub.
When Kate clears her throat, my eyes jump to hers, expecting her to smirk at catching my faux pas, but her face remains blank as she studies me. “Have you ever thought about becoming a cashless hotel?”
“What? No,” I say with disdain, shaking my head. “We’ve always allowed cash transactions.”
“Just because you’ve always done something doesn’t mean you have to continue. I mean, places used to not allow credit cards. I remember my mom telling me about working retail in the nineties when every credit card transaction had to be called in for approval. Lots of people paid with checks, too, and nowadays there are kids who don’t even know how to write a check.”
That’s true. Not that I’ll admit to Kate she’s right, though.
“I don’t think my dad will allow it,” I confess, which is the closest thing I can think of to say without telling Kate she’s probably right.
“Does he actually have any say in the decisions you make around here, Dominic?” Kate asks. “I get that he used to run this place. And there’s history with your family. But you’re in charge now. If you make a change, can he actually do anything about it?”
“No, not really. He’ll just bitch nonstop.”
“Is that really any different than what he does now?” she teases.
I chuckle as I take another delicious bite of enchiladas. “Very true. It pisses me off that he already called me complaining today. I don’t even know how he found out I was here.”
“Sienna.”
“How do you know?”
“She stalks your location all the time, Dominic. She reports to everyone what you’re doing. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has a group text with your parents and siblings without you.”
This is what I get for giving my ten-year-old a phone. “Honestly, I’m not that surprised. Carter will be worse about tracking me whenever he gets a phone.”
“He got Sienna to put the tracking app on his iPad. He already stalks you.”
“Lovely.”
“Exactly. You’re loved, Dominic. There are worse things than your kids being so obsessed with you that they want to know where you are at all times,” Kate points out.
Before I can think otherwise, I blurt out, “Will you ever want to stalk me?”
Kate gives me a coy smile as she pushes away from my desk and begins bagging up the empty containers. “How do you think I knew you were here?”
I’m left watching her sashay out of my office as I laugh heartily. I see a hitch in Kate’s step as she walks away, and I know why. My laugh even surprised me.
Me: Alright. How many of you get a daily play-by-play of my whereabouts from Sienna?
Mom: I don’t know what you’re talking about, cucciolo.
Luca: You’ re an awful liar, Mom.
Isabella: How did you figure it out, Dom? Did Aspen rat her sister out? #Proudaunt
Arianna: Oh, so it’s okay for Aspen to rat out Sienna, but it was awful when I did it to you growing up. I see how it is.
Isabella: Because you were a spiteful little snot.
Gianna: Belly, you ratted me out all the time too. It’s a rite of passage for a younger sibling to tattle on her older sisters. Stop acting all sanctimonious like you never did bad shit.
Mom: Sigh.
Dad: How the hell do I get out of this chat?
Alex: If I have to be here, you have to be here.
Dad has left the group.
Alex: That’s an option?
Alex has left the group.
Luca added Alex to the group.
Alex: GOD DAMMIT LUCA
Luca: Suck it up, Lexy.
Me: Back to the topic. Are you all in a group chat with my daughter?
Hannah: Yes.
Me: Shit, sorry, Han. I didn’t realize you were in here. Does that mean Stone is in here too?
Stone: Unfortunately.
Arianna: Oh shut up. You love these group texts. I find you giggling over them at least once a week.
Gianna: Travis is in here too, but he’s on shift and will undoubtedly see this later and want to divorce me.
Me: What else does Sienna tell you?
Arianna: Other than talking about you getting married, not that much. Wait, was there something else? Hmm.
Oh good God.
Arianna: HOW ABOUT YOU TONGUE FUCKING YOUR NANNY WIFE???
Mom: Goodness, Arianna. Did I not raise you better than that?
Arianna removed Mom from the group.
Luca: Jesus Christ.
Hannah added Mom to the group.
Mom: You’re my favorite, Hannah Ann.
Me: Nice.
Mom: She’s the only one who laughs at my jokes.
Luca: So, Dom. Tonguing the nanny wife?
Me: I thought we should have a practice kiss so it wasn’t awkward in front of the judge. Obviously I didn’t know I had a captive audience in my daughter.
Luca: So was it awkward?
Me: No.
Luca: What else?
Me: I’m not sure what you’re hoping for here, but I’m not talking about my wife like that.
Alex: Ooooooo his WIFE. Look at Dom getting all possessive! “My WIFE.”
Leo: It’s five o’clock in the fucking morning over here, you psychos. Stop adding me to these group chats.
Arianna: But we love you, Leo! We want you to be part of our chaos!
Leo: No.
Leo has left the group.
Mom: Don’t you dare add him back in here! Lord only knows what he’s doing, wherever he is, and he probably needs sleep.
Luca: HOLD UP. It’s five in the morning there? Did ole Leo accidentally give us a teeny tiny detail about his location?
Arianna: Don’t Google this, Luca! What’s the stupid acronym Leo always yells at us?
Alex: OPSEC.
Me: Okay, you want to explain what that means?
Alex: Operational Security. It means you never give away your location, and your family members don’t either, when you’re overseas in the sandboxes.
Luca: I know where he is.
Alex: Christ, Luca. I literally just said don’t tell us.
Luca: I didn’t fucking tell you, now did I? I just said I know where he is. Well, technically I know what country he’s in. Honestly he did it to himself.
Mom: Could we get in trouble if the government finds out we’re talking about this? Could they be monitoring these texts?
Me: I certainly hope not.
Hannah: I doubt it.
Stone: I agree with Hannah. The Santo family text conversations are probably pretty low on their priority list. Unless one of you are on their watch lists? Who would it be?
Arianna: Luca.
Gianna: Luca.
Alex: Luca.
Luca: That’s fair. Can we get back to talking about Dom tongue fucking the nanny wife?
Dominic has left the group.