Chapter 3: Shadows in the Lobby

The digital clock on the mahogany desk read two-fifteen in the morning. Less than an hour had passed since Dante Vance intercepted my call, yet my entire world had been dismantled and rebuilt within the walls of his suite. My hands were wrapped in clean white gauze, the stinging reduced to a dull, throbbing ache.

"We need to move," Dante said, shrugging on a heavy wool overcoat over his black shirt. His shoulders filled the fabric effortlessly, and the faint metallic glint of a shoulder holster caught the light for a fraction of a second as he adjusted his collar. "If they know your name and where you work, the hotel floor is no longer safe. They have informants in the service staff."

I stood up, smoothing the front of my black-and-white maid's uniform. The realization hit me like a physical blow. "The front desk manager, Mr. Gable... he always asks who I'm talking to on my breaks. He gave them my schedule."

Dante's eyes darkened further, a dangerous light flashing behind them. "Gable's payroll doesn't match his lifestyle. It makes sense." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a burner phone, sliding it across the polished desk toward me. "Take this. Power it on. Your brother's phone is currently being routed through my security relay, so nobody can track his location."

My heart hammered against my ribs. "Is Leo... is he okay?"

"My men picked him up twenty minutes ago from his campus library," Dante said calmly, walking toward the private elevator set into the corner of the suite. "He's currently being secured at a safe location five miles north. He's shaken up, but unharmed."

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Relief washed over me so fiercely my knees buckled. I caught myself against the edge of the desk, tears pricking my eyes once more, though these ones felt entirely different from the ones in the hallway. I looked up at Dante, my voice trembling. "Why are you doing this? You don't even know me."

Dante paused with his hand over the elevator's brass call button, turning his head slightly. His expression was unreadable, carved from stone and shadows. "I don't like people operating in my hotels without permission. And I despise bullies who target kids. Come on, Sela. Time to go."