Page 37 of Risking it All

“See you later, mama,” he said, kissing my forehead.

10

Sawyer

By the end of the second week, Z seemed to be adjusting well as part of the staff. I watched on the cameras as she hugged two of the laundry girls and headed for the elevators. Watching her move comfortably around the building was one of my favorite things to do. It felt like she was living freely, although she hadn’t been outside the building since she’d come back from the hospital. Something had her terrified of going outside of this place.

For the past twenty-five minutes, I had been staring at my phone. All it would take was one grainy picture and all my questions would be answered. I had taken half a dozen stills of Z from security cameras in the hall. If I sent one of them to our private tech guy, Psalm, I would know who she was before it was time for me to take her to the show tonight. My guy was good. It didn’t matter where she was from or how far she’d traveled, he could find her.

My finger hovered over the send button as it had about fifteen times since I sat behind my desk. Instead of sending the picture, I tossed my phone on my desk and blew out a gust of hot air. Z was here under a fake name for a reason. She felt like she needed to hide. I appreciated the fact that she felt safe with me. The last thing I wanted to do was betray her trust and become something else she needed protection from. Sending that message could possibly send up a red flag. Not knowing who the hell she was hiding from limited my resources.

For all I knew, there was a bounty on her. I didn’t need to pull my protective covering off her. If anything, I needed to cover her more. She would tell me what I needed to know in due time. For now, her secrets were safe with me. A knock on my office door caused me to look up from the screens as Chris let himself in.

“You busy?” he asked, walking over to my desk.

“When am I not busy?”

“Yeah right. I bet you’re in here watching that girl.”

“What girl?”

“Whatever, man. Who do you think you’re fooling? You know what damn girl.”

“I’m just making sure she’s adjusting to her new position. It’s not like you didn’t see what I saw in that bathroom.”

“I was right there with you, but I haven’t been down to the laundry room every day for two weeks.”

“I own the hotel. I have to make sure shit is copacetic around here.”

“Admit you’ve got it bad, and I won’t call and aggravate you for a week.”

“In that case, I love her. Now stop acting like you can’t do your job without me standing over you.”

“Whatever. I just think it’s nice to finally see you with a woman.”

I didn’t know why that made me laugh. “See your way out my damn business.”

“I’m gone,” he said, moving back toward the door. “I just came by to check on you, lover boy. Stop watching the woman on these cameras. Get your big ass up, take the night off, and show your lady a good time.”

“Out!” I said, chuckling as he closed the door behind him.

Instead of walking Z back from work for the fifth time this week, I waited next to the elevator on her floor. I had given her a key that allowed her access to the floor after the first couple of days because that was the only way she would be able to stop on the executive room floor.

“Look at you waiting for me,” she said, smiling as she walked off the elevator.

“How was your day?” I asked.

“It was good. What’s all that?” she asked, referring to the bags in my hands.

“Let me in so I can show you,” I suggested.

“Why didn’t you let yourself in? You have a key, don’t you?”

“I do, but I didn’t want to invade your privacy like that. This is your personal space,” I said as I followed her into the room.

“I appreciate your consideration.”

I waited while she opened the door, slapping her on the ass as I followed her inside. She smirked, looking over her shoulder at me. I winked, making her shake her head. After placing the bags in my hands on the counter, I looked up at her as she waited with her arms folded across her chest.