Page 477 of His Virgin Romance Series

“Then it’ll be his word against mine,” I pointed out. “Which is only going to piss this guy off—if it becomes a he said, she said situation we’re definitely going to be looking at bad press. We’re going to have to handle this quietly.”

“But I doubt that’ll work for long,” Ben said. “This guy looks like a complete asshole. I think I’ve mentioned him to you once before actually.”

“Who?” I asked, trying to remember.

“Mr. Beaumont?”

I frowned. “The name sounds vaguely familiar,” I nodded. “Why did you mention him to me?”

“It was the day that the Japanese delegation came in,” Ben told me. “I got here late, remember? Mr. Beaumont was trying to grope one of the staff, a young waitress named Nakoma, and I was handling it?”

“Fuck, yes,” I nodded, remembering hearing about it from Ben. “This is the same guy?”

“The very same,” he nodded.

“And do you believe him?”

“I don’t know one way or the other,” he said, with a shrug. “Just because he’s a pervert and a cad doesn’t necessarily mean he’s also a liar.”

“Funny, I would argue that he is,” I said. “Especially considering he has a wife. You mentioned she was aware of the theft, didn’t you?”

“She’s the one who realized the choker was missing in the first place,” Ben said. “She’s demanding the immediate dismissal of the employee she’s accusing.”

“Wait, she suspects someone specific?” I asked.

“She does,” Ben nodded. “And, she looks like she’s out for blood. They both do. In fact…”

“In fact what?”

“Well, I spoke to both of them this morning,” Ben said. “It actually sounded like they would both be satisfied if the person they’re accusing was fired immediately.”

I frowned. “And what?” I asked. “They would just forget about this choker that’s allegedly worth close to a million dollars?”

“It would seem that way,” he said.

“I don’t buy that,” I said. “There’s something wrong with this picture. If you lost an expensive piece of jewelry, would you just walk away without doing your best to retrieve it?”

“So, they’re lying about the worth of the choker,” Ben said. “It wouldn’t be the first time a guest has overvalued an item that they’ve lost. They’re probably trying to get a compensation package from us and need to drive up the price a little bit more so that they can cash in later… Not that they would need the money or anything, but it’s better than nothing.”

“Is that what you think they’re doing?” I asked uncertainly.

“What else would they be doing?” he asked. “The Beaumonts are wealthy—why would they fake a theft? I’m guessing they really did lose a piece of jewelry. They probably don’t care about it very much, but they’re going to milk it for all it’s worth.”

I frowned. “Has Brie been made aware of the situation?”

“She has,” Ben nodded.

“Good,” I said. “She’s the best person to handle it.”

He nodded. “She’s good in a crisis.”

“By the way,” I said, realizing that I hadn’t asked the most important question yet. “Who are the Beaumonts accusing of stealing this choker?”

Ben’s face soured a little and he looked slightly uncomfortable. “Alani Kama. She’s one of the assistant managers.”

“Alani Kama?” I repeated. “As in…Brie’s friend?”

Ben sighed. “That’s the one.”

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