Page 49 of Grand Love

The she-devil lingers until lunchtime, before finally retreating back to her office, giving me and Ashley some breathing room.

“You sure know how to piss that woman off, girl.” Her lip twitches, but she doesn’t take her eyes off the screen.

“I barely slept, then Ellis was fussing.” I drop my head into my hands, thinking about my shopping trip the day before. It’s the main reason I couldn’t sleep. “I saw the woman from the photos with Mason.”

“No way! Where?”

“On the street. She walked into Ellis’s stroller. It was kind of my fault, but she just picked up her phone and kept going.” The entire interaction has been messing with me all night. “If I wanted to look someone up—”

“Oh wow, are you going to hire a PI?”

“No!” I look over the top of the desk, making sure it’s clear. “I mean here, at the hotel.”

“Like a guest?”

I nod. “She’s been here before. I saw her.”

“Well yeah, you’d need her name or room number.”

“She was staying in a room opposite one of the ones I was cleaning. I saw her go inside. She was crying on the phone; I’d probably remember the door if I was up there again.”

She nods her head, then looks back to her computer, typing for a moment. “Did you do odds or evens that day?”

Shit, I don’t know… “Odds.”

“Hmm, do you know what time it was? You checked out each room which is helpful. And Emily helped you on two-thirteen, was it before or after Emily helped you?”

“It was straight after!”

“Well, then… two-fourteen!” She bounces in her seat as she finds the information I need.

That was too easy. “What’s her name? How much info is there?” I can’t sit in my seat any longer. I need the information and Ashley’s gone mute on me. Rochelle can kiss my ass.

Leaning over, I scan the invoice on the screen, searching for a name.

Ashley looks up at me over her shoulder. “Vinny Dukes? Is that?”

“Vinny.”

What the fuck?

* * *

Ignorance is bliss.

What you don’t know can’t hurt you.

What the eyes don’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.

They’re all sayings for a reason. Sometimes we think we have to know something; we think it’s for the best or that it will bring us peace of mind.

But my mind doesn’t feel peaceful right now.

It didn’t take me long to work out what Vinny paying for her hotel room meant, and yet the naive girl in me still hoped I was wrong. For the best part of a week, I’ve doubted my decisions and blamed myself for our situation. I feel stupid to have let him get to me so easily.

His fingers rap at the door and I take my time to get up and open it, making sure my head is clear before I do.

Fuck him.

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