Page 4 of Ashes of Us
“The valet is bringing my car around to the entrance.” He said dismissively, barely looking at her and sounding a little annoyed. “The Black Vauxhall Fronterra.” Danica nodded politely to them both and walked over to the front desk to hand in her keycard before walking out the door to wait in front of the hotel for him. Just before it closed behind her, she heard Kieranask Alex if he had told Heidi he was leaving. She didn't hear Alex's response, just his snort of derision.
She had only met his ex-wife once before and hadn't been impressed by the woman. She was gorgeous, but she was also very snobby, barely glancing at Danica when she was introduced, deliberately cutting her out of the conversation during the meal and loudly asking Alex why her parents invited the “help” to her special dinner. Cassandra had been about to go off on her, but Alex had chuckled and shrugged. “My parents consider her family; she joins us for everything.” The way he said it had almost been worse than her comment about her being the help, like she was something he tolerated rather than a close family friend. Danica hadn't been invited to the wedding later that year, something she was more than okay with, because she ended up meeting Jasper for the first time that day.
The black SUV pulled up to the curb, and a few seconds later, Alex, Kieran and a bellhop started bringing out Alex's luggage and began to Tetris them into the trunk. When they were done, Alex opened the door to the back seat and gestured for her to get in. “Kieran is coming to the airport with us,” he said by way of explanation when she raised a questioning eyebrow, wondering why she was being put in the back like a child. Nodding, she climbed in, pulled out her tablet after she was settled, and opened her work email so she looked like she was busy. She didn’t expect them to include her in the conversation, and she didn’t want them to see it bothered her.
The ride to the airport was uneventful. Alex drove, and while she noticed him looking at her in the rearview mirror occasionally, he didn't try to engage her in the conversation he was having with Kieran about him taking over the European hotels. She knew Kieran was Alex's closest friend in London, and Alex had tagged him as the one who would take over his role, soshe worked quietly, responding to emails and finding documents while they spoke. By the time they reached the hangar, Danica had all the paperwork Alex would need to sign brought up and ready for him to review on the plane. She was not looking forward to the flight back and was once again wondering if she would even have a job when they touched down in the States.
An hour later, they had said goodbye to Kieran and were on the plane, sitting across from one another with a table between them as the plane taxied down the runway. Danica was doing her best not to squirm as Alex gazed at her, his face completely impassive. “So?” He folded his hands on the table as they reached altitude and levelled out. “What happened? How did you end up finding my dad?”
“I got a phone call at seven yesterday morning telling me your father wasn't answering his wake-up call, and they couldn't get into the suite, so I went over to check on him.” Danica took a deep breath and closed her eyes as the image of Alexander sitting up in bed, slumped over, came back to her. “I let myself in and found him sitting up in bed, but...” She cleared her throat, unable to go into what she had done when she found him. “I called Nigel up and then called 9-1-1. They pronounced him dead and took him away.”
Alex nodded briefly. “Do they know what happened to him?” He asked quietly, and for the first time, she saw something resembling remorse cross his face.
“Not yet. They have an autopsy scheduled for this afternoon.” He raised an eyebrow at that, and she hurried to explain. “Because he died alone and unexpectedly, an autopsy has to be conducted, according to state law.”
“Ah.” He said, looking pensive. “No one else went in or out of the suite?”
“No, I left at six. Room service brought up his dinner at seven, and then there was no movement until the concierge knocked on his door at six-thirty yesterday morning when he didn't answer his wake-up call.” She looked out the window, feeling a wave of sadness that Alexander had died alone. “He must have died shortly after he went to bed. He was sitting up against the headboard, and the TV was on.”
“Still watched the weather network before bed, huh?” Alex shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. “He was a man of consistency anyway.” He was quiet for a moment. “You said Nigel went to Vegas to tell Craig?”
Danica nodded. “Yeah, it took Nigel a while to find him. He was in another casino, drunk.” She didn't bother to sugarcoat it. Alex knew the type of person his brother was, and the way he rolled his eyes when she said it told her he wasn't surprised. “They'll meet us back in Boston.”
“Right.” his mouth twisted like he was thinking about something unpleasant, and Danica took the opportunity to slide her tablet across the table to him.
“All the paperwork regarding you taking over is there if you want to review it before we land. The hard copies for your signature are in my office. Everything has to be notarized, or I would have set them up for electronic signatures.” She explained, but to her surprise, he pushed the tablet to one side, his eyes never leaving her face.
“What about his funeral arrangements?”
“Um, from what I understand, Alexander and Cassandra made those arrangements together after her stroke, so everything is taken care of. You have to let the funeral home know he's passed, they'll pick him up from the morgue and take it from there.” She looked out the window again, watching as theland gave way to the ocean. Cassandra had been cremated, and her urn held a place of honour on Alexander's dresser. “He's to be cremated and his ashes added to your mother's urn.”
“And then what?” Alex frowned, looking faintly disgusted. “I just hold onto their ashes until I die?”
“I-I don't know?” Danica tilted her head at him in confusion. She had never had to make that decision before; she didn't even know where her biological parents were, and she hadn’t had contact with her foster family since they kicked her out. “There are lots of companies that can turn the ashes into keepsakes, maybe you can do that?”
“Like what?” He was clearly agitated by the idea of having to hold onto his parents' ashes, and as much as Danica loved Cassandra and Alexander, she had no desire to hold on to them either. “I doubt Craig will want a 'keepsake' any more than I will.”
Danica pulled her tablet back toward her and searched for ways to handle ashes after a cremation, feeling slightly surreal that she was even having this conversation with him. “If you don't want a keepsake, you can scatter them somewhere, turn them into fireworks, get them added to tattoo ink, plant them as a tree -”
“Excellent, we'll plant them as a tree.” He interrupted her. “Problem solved. Donate it to the park across from the hotel as a memorial to them.” Danica nodded, a little relieved that he wasn't getting the ashes added to tattoo ink and began searching for a company that would do it. “I guess the next question is, what am I going to do with you?” Danica's hand stilled, and she slowly looked up at him, her mouth going dry as fear washed over her. He folded his hands in front of him and rested his chin on them as he looked her over. “I know you've been running things for my father and delaying his retirement.”She opened her mouth to defend herself, but he gave her a sharp look, and she closed it again, terrified she was about to become unemployed.
“But I also know you've tried to get him to bring me home to take over things when his health started to decline, and he yelled at you to mind your own business.” Danica narrowed her eyes at him, her fear replaced by anger as she realized he had people reporting back to him, specifically Marcy, who had witnessed the argument between her and Alexander. “What?” he smirked at her. “Did you really think I wasn't keeping a close eye on things?” He leaned back in the chair, letting the silence stretch out, smiling smugly at her and making Danica want to slap the arrogance out of him. She knew he wanted her to ask and beg for her job, but she refused to do it.
“Well, if that's the case, then you know I've always put the best interest of the hotel above everything else, often to my detriment.” She said finally. “But I understand if you feel I'm not a good fit for the hotel now that your father's gone and want to let me go.” She made it clear that he would have to fire her; she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of quitting to make things easier for him.
It was her turn to let the silence stretch, and she held his gaze until he chuckled. “I'm not stupid enough to let you be snatched up by a rival hotel chain, Dani, and since I left my executive assistant behind to help Kieran, you'll stay on as mine... for now.”
“For now?” Danica raised her eyebrow, suspicious of his motivations. She was simultaneously relieved she still had a job and nervous about telling Jasper she was going to be working for Alex. Jasper was not going to like it at all.
“I'll share my plans with you when the time is right.” He waved off her concerns nonchalantly, and Danica once again feltthe urge to slap him, disliking the way he was trying to play mind games with her. “In the meantime, we need to draft a statement for the staff and the public.” Danica reluctantly pulled out her laptop, not wanting to argue and get off on the wrong foot with him. She was surprised that he thought she was valuable enough to want to keep her with Rose Gold rather than let her go to another chain.
“Don't look so worried.” He chuckled as she opened the laptop and started it up, but it wasn't a friendly chuckle. Danica couldn't put her finger on what type of chuckle it was, but something about it sent a cold shiver up her spine. “I won't ask you to do anything you didn't do for my father.”
For the second time in less than ten minutes, Danica froze, hearing the hidden implication behind his words. She genuinely had thought he let this go when his father lost it on him for accusing her of sleeping with him when his mom was sick. “Run things while you nap at your desk?” She asked him, smiling sweetly. “No problem.” His grey eyes flashed, and he leaned forward, looking annoyed.
“Managing my schedule, making sure I have everything I need for my meetings, taking minutes, bringing me coffee and accompanying me when I travel.” His eyes flicked over her, once again with something in them she couldn't identify. “And in public, you will call me Mr. West or Sir.” Danica gritted her teeth at the last one but nodded once, and he smiled faintly when she agreed. “After the funeral, start scheduling meetings with the General Managers of each hotel in the States. We will be spending upwards of a week in each city doing a full financial and organizational audit of each one.”
“I'm sorry?” Danica blinked, her stomach dropping. There were nineteen hotels across fourteen states, including Boston and Las Vegas. Jasper was going to lose his mind if shewas gone for nineteen weeks - or more - all at once. “I can't be away for weeks at a time like that.”
