Chapter 18 #2
“It means that Will opened up to me before Jamison arrived at our meeting this morning. Apparently, Jamison has a huge gambling issue, which they’ve been trying to hide for some time.
He owes a lot of people money, and he’s taken large chunks of cash from his trust. Will tried to keep it hidden from the firm to protect his son.
He and Bethany sent Jamison to Italy for a few weeks, thinking the time away would help.
But clearly, he just spent weeks drinking excessively and going further into debt.
” Bethany was Will’s first wife, Jamison’s mother, and I’d always liked her.
“Jesus. You don’t just ignore a fucking problem and think a luxury vacation will solve it. They sent an addict away and probably gave him a credit card with no limit. That’s not going to fix the situation,” Easton hissed.
“I think everyone realizes that now. Will thinks he’s mixing alcohol with drugs and digging a deeper hole into his gambling problem.
But I don’t know why the hell he came to see my goddamn daughter.
He is no longer employed by the firm as of today, and Will and Bethany have him booked on a flight tomorrow to go to rehab. He needs help.”
“Well, he sure seems ready for rehab, considering he just showed up here wasted and threatening your daughter,” Easton said, running a hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’ve got a call into Bruno because this is his goddamn hotel. I want to know how a man was able to go to the front desk and get your room number and make it up the elevator without a room key. It’s unacceptable. Un-fucking-acceptable!”
I’d heard my father angry before, but not like this.
“Dad, I’m fine. But I’m glad they are getting Jamison help. He’s not okay.”
“Will’s beeping in. Let me find out what’s going on.” He sighed. “Easton, can you stay with Henley right now? I don’t want her to be alone.”
“Yes. We’ve ordered dinner, and I’ll stay with her. Of course, I will.”
“I’ll talk to you both soon.”
I looked into those steely gray eyes and shook my head when he ended the call. “What a mess.”
The knock on the door had him moving in that direction, and I heard him speak to the person on the other side. “I’ll take it from here.”
He came walking in with the room service cart, filled with platters of food, and I chuckled.
“I hope you’re hungry. I ordered a ton of food.” He studied me as he pulled the silver domes off the plates.
“Wow. You’re not kidding around.”
He pulled the cart closer to the bed. “What looks good?”
“How about we split the burger to start?”
He cut the burger in half and brought the two plates over to the bed as he studied me. “Eat.”
“You don’t want to eat at the table?” I raised a brow and took a bite.
“I think you’ve had a day, and eating in bed is more relaxing.”
“Never guessed you to be a caretaker, Easton Chadwick.”
“Because I’ve never been one. I mean, aside from my family, I don’t get too invested in people.” He shrugged and then devoured his half of the burger.
“Meaning?”
He reached for the pasta and set a fork down on the napkin for me as he started eating the fettuccine.
“It means I’m invested in you.”
My eyes widened. “Because you’re my mentor?”
“No. Because I like you.”
I chuckled because he said it like it was a death sentence.
“Liking me does not have to be a bad thing, you know.”
“True.” His lips turned up in the corners. “I think it was that blow job that really sealed the deal.”
“Stop!” I shrieked, and he just laughed.
“Eat. You’ve had a long day.”
“So bossy.”
“You have no idea how bossy I can be, Princess.” His heated gaze said more than his words did.
I took another bite of my burger, and he answered the incoming call from security.
They informed us that Jamison had gone to the front desk and said that he was my boyfriend.
He’d slipped the guy working at the front desk a hundred bucks to get my room number.
They insisted he didn’t get a key to the room, just a staff key that would allow him to take the elevator up. But Easton was livid.
They also informed us that everything was caught on camera, and he’d been taken down to the police station, so it was out of their hands regarding what happened from there. Easton ended the call.
“I can’t fucking believe that a high-end hotel like this would allow this bullshit to go on.” Easton paced some more around the room, as I lay on my back because I was full from our bed picnic and exhausted from the day, especially the last hour.
“I think it goes on everywhere. But I would certainly hope they wouldn’t have given him my room key.” I shivered at the thought.
My father had called three more times, letting us know Will had picked Jamison up from the police station and he was being admitted into a program in the morning.
Will had called and apologized to me, and even Bethany had phoned and cried and said how terrible she felt about the whole mess.
I was over it and exhausted and done talking about it.
I lay on Easton’s bed, listening to the sound of his voice as he blasted every single person who called, including Bruno King for allowing a breach in security at the hotel that he owned.
When the room was quiet, Easton turned off the lights, and I felt him crawl onto the bed and pull me against him. “I’d burn this fucking place down if something had happened to you.”
Had anyone ever come to my defense like this before?
Not that I could think of.
He is definitely invested.
And I wrapped my arms around him and moved closer.
Because I was invested, too.