Chapter 23

Tim tapped on the railing. He sat on one of the steps in a large stairway.

Ever since Leah had found him at the hotel going up the stairs with Cassandra, he'd had a mounting headache that only grew worse.

He groaned.

Why had he dumped her?

She was easy to please and always at his beck and call. And why was she here?

It was eating him up.

He hadn't known she was wealthy enough to come to dinner at Kane's Dining Chambers.

Leah ran some business with her cousins. Had they landed some really good jobs? Was a client treating them?

He hadn't seen her as anyone who could put so much money into a meal.

She'd always been so impressed by him, and his ego had been boosted a lot in a way.

Now that he sat here, alone and without her, it was really gnawing at him wondering what she was doing.

They had been a couple for two whole years.

He had never really grown very fond of her, but she was always ready to see him, always laughed at what he said and looked at him with dreamy, love-struck eyes.

He'd really liked that.

But he hadn't known her to be at Kane's Hotels. 

Not twice.

Was she… rather wealthy?

Why hadn't he asked.

Had he missed his chance at having a rather useful girlfriend?

He frowned as he touched the phone in his pocket.

Tim realized what the problem was.

He hadn't felt so bad the day of the dinner when he'd dumped her.

Tim hadn't felt bad the morning after either.

He'd sent flowers and called a bunch of times before forgetting the situation altogether.

She was head over heels for him with very little effort from his side.

There was never a time when he'd had to apologize or invest a large amount of time in gestures to see her face light up.

She was a demure little thing that hung on to him no matter what.

But she hadn't reacted as he'd thought.

Tim hadn't received a word about the flowers from Leah.

She hadn't responded to his calls at all.

Leah hadn't looked at him at all when she'd seen him in the corridor either.

Tim felt a surge in his chest that he pushed back down.

Why wasn't she paying him attention anymore? Did he have to go down on one knee to get her back? Would that be worth it? Did he even need her back?

What was even more annoying was seeing her at a luxurious and extremely expensive hotel like Kanes twice now.

He bit his lip wondering what it could be.

Had he lost a girl who was wealthy?

Tim raked his mind through his dates with Leah to figure out if he had.

--

Rayne smiled as he watched his cousins gush over the room.

"This is so grandiose!" Sasha was saying as she took in the furniture in the office room they'd been escorted into.

"Wow!" Leah was looking at the ceiling, "Rayne, isn't it beautiful?"

Bruce's voice cut in, "And it's yours to use for the next month."

The cousins jumped.

They'd forgotten the smart, steady man had come downstairs with them to show them their office.

"Down this corridor, you'll see the separate elevators that can take you up to the floors where Ms. Kane's office or mine are situated."

The cousins nodded, quietly.

"Next to the elevators, we've left three uh, attendants to help you with any security issues you might face."

Rayne looked, "I'm sorry? Security issues, you said?"

Bruce nodded, "We've had them before. Ms. Kane is a very important individual. No one suspicious is allowed to the floors here and above. No one is allowed without proper authorization at all. We minimize any risks we can predict."

"Thrilling."

Rayne rolled his eyes at Sasha's whisper that he knew Bruce probably had already caught with his sharp ears, "Okay, well. Thank you."

"Acquaint yourself with your office and then perhaps, get on some work, if I may suggest," Bruce said, a hint of sarcasm entering his voice, "it's your second day here after all."

Rayne smiled politely, "We'll start immediately. About that attendant you said you'd send our way… so we can ask about the layout of the hall and everything."

Bruce nodded, "He'll come see you in a minute."

The tall man turned around and walked out of the room.

Rayne let out a sigh of relief.

Leah gave him a sympathetic smile, "You handle him well."

Rayne nodded, "I do."

"This one," he said pointing at a busy Sasha, "Will not be joining us for any of this man's inspections. I don't want him kicking us out for being rude to him."

Sasha scoffed, "He's not the client. Ms. Kane is. And we're never rude to her. This man is just rude sometimes and you gotta let rude people know so they'll be out in their place."

She went back to her previous activity of examining an ornate mirror that hung on the wall.

Rayne rolled his eyes, "I hate being in charge of this."

Leah looked around the room in awe, "But the Kanes clearly roll in wealth, don't they?"

Rayne and Sasha nodded.

Rayne surveyed the room himself, a hand on his waist, "Guys, it's no small chance we've landed this job."

The cousins were serious when they looked back at him and nodded.

"I was going to take today easy and slowly build up momentum but I think we should get straight into it."

The other two nodded.

Leah heaved a large bag onto the desk and pulled out a laptop to set up.

Sasha scurried over to help.

Rayne carried two of the heavy chair that stood against the walls and set it down around the main desk where Leah and Sasha had started arranging things about.

"The first thing we need to do is look at the venue and take pictures."

Sasha nodded, "We should also visit often."

"Can we request a different room if we don't like what they show us?" Leah asked, uncertain.

"I don't know," Rayne sighed.

There was a knock on the door, "That must be the attendant now. We'll ask him our questions."