Page 21 of Cherished By the Sinners
Magnus’s phone buzzed.He glanced at it.“Mason will be joining us in a minute.Are you finished?”
“Yes, I suppose I am.”
They moved toward the entrance and met Mason as he came in.
“Okay,” Darlene said trying to hide how nervous she was.“Where are we having this meeting?The lunchroom?”
Magnus shifted his weight from one foot to the other.“Why don’t we discuss things in the restaurant?”
Things?“Okay.Do you mind if I change into different clothes first?”
Magnus nodded.“I’ll let our staff know we’ll be off the clock for a few hours.”
“I’ll walk Darlene to her room,” Mason added.
“You don’t need to do that,” she said to Mason a little too quickly.
He stared at her, one eyebrow raised.
“It’s just...”She sighed and muttered, “I don’t have much.”
The two men looked at each other, then at her.“We know,” they said at the same time, their voices in perfect sync.They gave each other a tiny glare before focusing on her again.
They were so cute when they did that, and a smile broke through her nervousness.
Magnus grunted and led the way to the exit.
Mason extended his hand in a gesture for her to follow his brother, then he brought up the rear.
Magnus went one way, heading for the main elevator to the lobby, while she and Mason took the staff elevator up three floors to the employee quarters.Her place was next to Yvgeny Breznik’s assistant, Brian, a man about her age who was also an FBI agent.
She’d bumped into him in the hallway a few times and he was always polite if a bit distracted.He knew that everyone who worked for the Brezniks knew he was with the FBI.People had been suspicious of him, but since he helped save Anna Breznik from a corrupt Homeland Security agent, most of the staff were cautiously polite to him.
Darlene let herself into her room and held the door open so Mason could follow her.
He hesitated, studying her face, before coming inside far enough for the door to close behind him.
Her room was spartan.She had a few changes of clothes in the drawers next to her mini-fridge, but not much else.
No jewelry or a purse or even pocket change on the side table next to the bed.She kept the room clean.
Darlene pulled a pair of jeans and a soft t-shirt out of the dresser and carried them into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
She took off her housekeeping uniform—a set of scrubs with the hotel logo and her name embroidered on it.
She’d been given three sets of staff outfits and she was ridiculously proud of them.Those she kept in the closet by the door to the room.This set was ready for the laundry though, so she folded it up and stacked it on the small pile of dirty laundry on the floor underneath the bathroom vanity.
She didn’t have any makeup on the vanity.She’d thrown it and her purse away after she’d come to live here.
After she understood that she really could have a regular life and didn’t have to turn tricks anymore.She’d thrown everything about her old life away.
She did have a large first aid kit her friend Samantha had given her before she left with her boyfriend, Yvgeny, who also happened to own the hotel.She’d needed it.The serial killer who’d carved into her back had left her with a roadmap back there that was still healing.
She turned in front of the mirror and noted that one of the deepest wounds had started seeping blood again.The bandage over it was saturated.It was almost in the middle of her back below her bra strap where she couldn’t reach.
Damn it.
She pulled on her jeans and a pair of socks, then opened the bathroom door.Her guest stood at the window, looking out at the street.“Mason, could I ask for a favor?”
