47. Santiago #3
Eager to hear his answer, I moved fast, locking the door and then stepping further into the office.
“So?”
“So, what?”
“Is that the fucker?”
He chuckled, and his response danced on my already too-high nerves.
“What’s funny?”
Pushing back from the desk, he got up and walked toward me. “You.”
He stopped right before me, a smile on his lips.
“Me?”
“Yes. You, you silly goose.” He held his palm to my cheek.
I leaned into his touch, too tempted to close my eyes and fully submit to him.
“Do you think I cannot handle myself, Mr. Rivas?”
I shook my head. “No… It’s just that man. He’s vile.”
“He is.”
I held his stare for a moment longer until he withdrew his hand and walked back to his desk.
“Regardless of that, Alejandro is no one you need to concern yourself with.”
“And Gabriel?”
He sat back in his chair, already picking up some files. “You’re asking me? He’s your ex, is he not?”
“Yes, I know he is, but—” I swallowed hard. “He mentioned something about a missing person report.”
Tapping the papers on his desk to straighten them into a neat pile, he then looked at me. “They had a few questions regarding a missing person who attended our party, that’s true. But after showing them videos of said person leaving our hotel, they realized they had nothing more to ask.”
At least it’s not about one of his kills.
“Who was it?”
“I’m sorry?”
I stepped closer to his desk. “Who was it they were looking for?”
He smiled. “Does it matter?”
“I guess not.” I slid my ass into the chair in front of him as he started working on his laptop. I watched him type for a while until I thought of something.
“Speaking of the party, what about Olivia?”
“I wouldn’t know. She went on her way shortly after you did.”
“What do you mean? You didn’t call the cops?”
Still typing on his laptop, Ariyan said, “She didn’t want to file a report and instead chose to leave.”
“The fuck?” My brows jumped up. “Why wouldn’t she report it?”
He looked away from the screen to give me one pitiful stare. “Oh, Mr. Rivas. You’ve been to prison yourself, and yet you’re still that naive?”
Not following, I shrugged. “Naive? Naive how?”
He offered me that pitiful smile again.
“Most cases of sexual assault end up being dropped due to a lack of evidence. We’re talking about a system that’s rotten from the core.
But let’s say one does choose to come forward, they are then faced with a line of people who, at best, will not care, and at worst, will point an accusing finger at them.
So if you end up exactly where you started, if not lower, what’s the point? ”
Chills ran down my spine at how unjust this reality was, and feeling as if my stomach were in a knot, I shifted in my chair. “That’s totally fucked.”
Ariyan huffed. “To put it simply.”
And while what he said made sense, as I knew how corrupted the system was, I still felt uneasy.
“So she’s okay?”
He turned to face me, eyes locking with mine. “Yes.”
Feeling a bit more at ease, I smiled. “Good.”
He went back to his laptop when I remembered something else. “By the way, why was the hotel empty that night?”
“Excuse me?”
“When I looked for Nacio, I went room by room until the fifth floor, and they were all empty. I thought you said we were fully booked throughout the weekend.”
“Oh.” He hit the Shift button on the keyboard.
“Well, there was an unfortunate plumbing problem on the lower floors, so we moved all guests to the higher ones.” He then glanced at me, a half smirk pulled on his lips.
“If you were actually doing your job as the assistant manager, you would have known.”
My cheeks heated at his comment, and I ran my fingers through my hair. “You’re the one who told me to do nothing.”
He pretended to roll his eyes. “You can still do a little bit.”
“Fine. Give me a task. I’ll do it right fucking now.”
He pursed his lips, and I knew it was because I’d just sworn.
“Ignoring your foul language, I do have a task for you.”
Excited, I sat up in my seat. “Yeah? What is it?”
“Rest.”
“Huh?”
He shook his head, amusement in his eyes.
“You have a big fight Saturday night, Mr. Rivas, and it seems to me you’ve forgotten all about it.” He got up and circled his desk until he stood before me.
“I didn’t forget.”
Placing his hands on each of my arms, he leaned down, his lips brushing against my ear.
“If that’s the case, then stop wasting your time worrying about things that shouldn’t at all concern you and instead—” He dragged his hand from my arms to my chest, softly caressing me over my shirt. “—focus on your win and what follows.”
Warmth flushed through my body, and I let out a short groan, loving the way he moved his hands over me.
“I will.”
He bit the shell of my ear, and I could feel the smile on his lips.
“Good. So take the rest of the week off.”
I love his voice.
“Y-you don’t need me here?” I asked, eyes closed.
“Of course I do.” He kissed my neck. “But I need you focused.”
I love his lips.
“We’ll talk again on Saturday, Mr. Rivas.”
I love his smell.
“Until then, don’t worry about a thing.”
I love him.