Page 64 of Burn

He tosses his head back in laughter, seeming to understand our little joke but it’s his cocky grin he flashes me that’s burned into my mind as I walk away without another word.

IT’S THE LONGEST day of my life and it’s only nine in the morning. I’ve been at work for four hours already. I’m at the front desk when Scarlet comes up to me dressed in her maid uniform and looking pretty pissed off.

“What?” I don’t know why I ask because I know what she’s going to say.

“Shade won’t let anyone in his room for turndown service. How can I present myself naked in his bed if he won’t even let the maid in?”

I glance around the lobby and the guests checking in. I can’t talk about this here. Taking Scarlet by the arm, I make her walk with me to the restaurant where I need to find Willa. “He checked out.”

Scarlet knows I’m lying and practically spits out, “Hedid not, Mila.” She smacks my shoulder. “I know he’s holed up in the penthouse suite avoiding the media, and you need to let me in there.”

“Nope. Checked out.” Fuck, I’m getting better at this. Maybe I learned to lie overnight. I can lie about things like this because it’s a matter of protecting a VIP and after the other night in Shade’s room, I’d do anything for that poor broken man.

Especially after Willa told me what happened.

“Stop lying. You’re awful at it.” We step inside the restaurant, the sounds of hundreds of guests at the tables filling the silence. “Is it true?”

I attempt a blank face. “Is what true?”

“That his girlfriend killed herself?”

There’s no sense in lying to her because she wouldn’t tell anyone anyway. She’s in love with him and worried. In love might be a stretch, but she cares and wouldn’t go blabbing to the media.

As far as the media is concerned, Shade checked out yesterday morning. I know it’s a lie, but I need everyone to believe it. “Scarlet,” I whisper, “yes, he’s here, but I can’t tell you any more than that. I don’t know much other than he doesn’t want to see anyone and wants to be left alone.”

“Which is why you should talk to him about letting me in. I can make him forget.”

She’s relentless when she’s focused. “Really? He’d known that girl since he was a baby and he’s tried to protect her just as long. And when she needed him the most, he wasn’t there, and she died.”

“She shot herself in the head,” Scarlet deadpans. “At least that’s what the news articles say.”

“I don’t know what she did and it’s not my concern.” Willa spots me and waves me toward the table she’s at. “He’s my concern.”

Scarlet points to herself in a panic. “Mine too. Let me in that damn room!”

“I can’t.” I wave her off. “I have work to do. So do you.”

I make my way over to Willa, and she looks about as wrecked as Shade. Maybe she knew the girl too, but I’m not about to ask.

The main lobby restaurant has views of the streets of Seattle. I like to sit in here and work sometimes just to people watch. You never know who you’ll see walking around. I find it interesting how many people talk to themselves when they’re walking.

“Hey, Mila,” Willa greets me when I sit down at the table. “Thank you for meeting me this morning.”

“No problem.” I set my phone down on the table and Hector, one of the waiters, delivers me an ice water to the table. “Thanks, Hector.”

Willa clears her throat. “Shade’s a mess, and I need to get him to Vegas by tomorrow night.”

Taking a small sip of my water, I nod. “Anything I can help with?”

“I just need to know that security measures are taken for his privacy. It’s a very tough time for him, and the last thing we need is the media in his face because he won’t react appropriately.”

“And by appropriately you mean?”

Her lips purse and I know where this is going. “He’s done some . . . damage to the room.”

I want to cry. Or laugh. Or just sit here dumbfounded because if she’s saying damage, it’s bad. When he glued the chairs to the ceiling, she said it was just a small mess.

When the pool incident happened, she didn’t even say anything, and I know her publicist ass knew about it because she knows everything Shade does. Everything, and who for that matter. I bet you she has a file in her brain of everyone he’s ever slept with and who has NDAs on file.

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