Page 222 of Embriagado

“What room?”

“The one at the end, sir,” said the man following me like a shadow.

It was odd, I’d admit, but this guy was relatively new here. Not to mention, handpicked by Alejandro himself. Unfortunately, I didn’t always have a say in who worked on this floor, and I assumed that after Alejandro caught my little slipup with that girl, things would change for the worse.

One of our sirens passed me in the hall on her way to a room before another siren, a guy this time, walked hand in hand with a client wearing a muzzle. Seeing that people were indeed occupying this floor made me increase my pace until I reached the final room, not waiting before I knocked on the door.

The sooner I fixed whatever was going on in there, the better. Still, I’d have to get to the bottom of this issue and understand why the hell this floor was operating tonight, and more specifically, by whom.

The door opened, and I strode in. Already on edge, I was beyond prepared to take someone’s head off, so imagine my surprise when I came face-to-face with one unwanted guest.

“Ambassador,” I said, not bothering with a smile this time. “What an unpleasant surprise seeing you here.”

He grinned at me, showing one ugly smile that pissed me the hell off and reminded me of this pig’s last visit. I still hadn’t forgotten that beautiful boy’s face I had to kill because of this filth.

“Oh, my sweet boy. Still a sight for sore eyes, I see.”

Ignoring his words that made me want to vomit, I clasped my hands behind my back and walked further into the room. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t I ban you from coming back⁠—”

“I invited him,” someone spoke, and the sound of his voice immediately made my skin crawl. It was only then that the strong reek of unfiltered cigarettes reached my nostrils, and slowly, I turned my head to glare at the far end of the room, where he was sitting with his back to us.

“S-sir⁠—”

I shut up, my eyes focusing on his back as he stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray next to him. Not even a second later, the sound of the door opening made me glance behind me to see that Alejandro had also entered the room. Like a mouse walking into a trap, my pulse quickened, but I forced myself to keep calm, at least until I knew what this was all about.

“It has been a while since we last met. Come over here.” Eduardo signaled with two fingers, and I moved fast, crossing the room and circling his chair until I faced him.

His cruel eyes landed on me.

“My talented hotelier,” he said in Spanish, flashing me a big smile that showed his golden tooth. “You must be wondering why we’re here, aren’t you, Ariyan?”

Chills ran down my spine, but I smiled anyway.

“Of course not, sir. This is your hotel, after all⁠—”

“Come on, now, don’t play with me.” He snorted, and one could mistake this graying old man for some sweet grandpa.

If only they knew.

“At the very least, I can tell you’re bothered by the ambassador’s presence.” He cocked his head in the direction of the other two men standing by the door.

“Not at all, sir.”

“Really?” He pretended to be surprised. “Well. I’ll tell you why he’s here regardless. He offered to pay five hundred thousand dollars for just one night with my hotel manager.”

My heart sank to my stomach, my body covered with cold sweat as I stared at him.

“What do you say, Ariyan, what should we tell the ambassador?”

“That I am not for sale,” I answered flatly, my chin held high.

Eduardo’s lips curled into a satisfied smile.

“You hear that, Ambassador?” Still sitting in his chair, Eduardo spoke, his eyes locked on me the entire time. “My hotel manager is not for sale.”

I could feel a drop of sweat sliding down my nape.

“But that reminds me of something else… what was it?” He hummed, snapping his fingers together. “Oh, that’s right. Alejandro⁠—”