Seducing the Chambermaid [Notorious Nephilim 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (2 page)

“She’s being hunted by Frankie Fillipone,” said Leo. “Her own father has accused her of stealing from him and his clients.” They’d managed to stay in business for fifteen years by catering to goons like Frankie. It kept the gumshoes from becoming too curious about them and brought in a steady stream of guests. If Frankie was looking for this dame and got wind of her working here, it could jeopardize the resort.

“Her father is a crook and works for Frankie. He’ll say what Frankie tells him to say.”

“Andras, you don’t know that.” Leo picked up the news clippings. “We’ll give her a chance to explain, but if it turns out she is involved with Frankie, we’ll have to let her go.”

“You’d turn a beautiful girl away? Just like that?”

Leo shook his head. “We have a resort full of great-looking dames. What if she’s a moll?”

“Why would she be here then?”

“Frankie could have sent her to keep an eye on things. She had a vague story as it was. I’ll bet you a sawbuck there’s more to this than either Blair or the newspapers are saying.” Leo hadn’t believed one word of Blair’s story that her parents were dead and she’d been living on the streets. The news stories proved his instincts had been right. He’d never admit this to Andras, but from the moment he’d laid eyes on her all he wanted to do was shelter and protect her. She looked like the kind of girl who’d never been treated right. And she had the prettiest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

“Have you forgotten how Frankie tried to muscle his way into our business?” asked Andras.

“Of course not.”

“Then where’s your compassion, Leo? This girl is obviously in trouble.”

“So what are you saying, Andras? That we should let her hide here to get back at Frankie?” He glanced at Zach. “Do we have any information on her other than the fake story she told us?”

He shook his head. “Like I said, you said hire her, so I did.”

“At least give her a chance to explain,” said Andras.

“I said I would.”

“You always did have a thing for blondes.”

There were times when Leo wanted to shake Andras until his lackadaisical attitude fell to the ground. When was he going to take this resort seriously? “I seem to recall you were the one who couldn’t take your eyes off her.”
Liar. You stared at her with your mouth open.

Andras shrugged again. “She’s a looker, and I’d be sorry to see her go.”

“And I’d love to tell Frankie to stick it up his ass, but if we get on his bad side, this resort goes under. Even you must understand that.”

“Yeah, okay, okay. I get it. We’ll talk to her in the morning.”

* * * *

Leo waited near the bank of elevators for Blair to come downstairs. He wanted to catch her before she retrieved her housekeeping supplies and made her way up to the suites. As the staff filed past him he nodded and smiled, greeting each one by name, trying to hide his impatience. He should have insisted they not hire Blair until they had a chance to check out her story, but her luminous blue eyes had tugged at him, touching a deep place he hadn’t allowed any woman into since they’d all been imprisoned on earth sixteen years ago.

As she’d told her story, Leo watched her face. He’d known she was lying, but there was something so desperate and painful in her voice he hadn’t questioned her further. He got the distinct impression Blair was in so much trouble she didn’t think there was a way out. And regardless of her story, the girl had walked over fifty miles and been clearly exhausted. But still, they could have simply offered her a room until they had a chance to dig deeper. That would have been the prudent thing to do. Instead he and Andras had listened to their peckers and offered her a job.

The rattle of the gate being pulled back snapped him out of his reverie, and he glanced toward the elevators, expecting to see Blair. Instead Elizabeth Stanton, one of the guests, strode toward him, her face pinched and her eyes snapping with anger. “I want to report a theft.”

Leo resisted the urge to groan. He didn’t have time for this. Mrs. Stanton had been nothing short of a pill during her entire stay. She complained about everything from the food to the color of the wallpaper in her suite. He sighed as his gaze shot behind Mrs. Stanton’s shoulder, in the hopes Blair had arrived and he could pawn Elizabeth’s latest complaint off on someone else. No such luck. He forced a smile to his lips. “What seems to be the problem, Mrs. Stanton?”

“I told you. I’ve been robbed.”

He was stuck. No one else was around this early in the morning. “Come with me, please.” After Mrs. Stanton was seated in his office behind the front desk, Leo retrieved an incident report. “Tell me what happened.”

“I had a very expensive necklace in my bedroom yesterday. It’s gone this morning.”

Leo sighed. Each of their front desk clerks had been instructed to urge guests to leave jewelry or other valuable items in the hotel safe, but most of them ignored such advice. “Can you describe the necklace, Mrs. Stanton?”

“Emeralds and sapphires, gold clasp.”

“When did you last see it?”

Elizabeth averted her gaze. “Um, yesterday morning, I think.”

Leo kept his attention on the paper in front of him. “Do you remember seeing it in your suite during the day, or perhaps last night before you went to bed?”

He counted ten seconds of silence during which he imagined Mrs. Elizabeth Stanton, married to one of the most successful railroad men in the Great Lakes region, tried to come up with a reason why she hadn’t been in her rooms since early yesterday morning. Leo knew where she’d been, and with whom, but discretion was tantamount to keeping the guests happy.

“I wasn’t in my suite last night. Gregory Fallon and I were…discussing business.”

“I see.” Gregory, one of the other owners, would no sooner discuss business than he’d cut off an arm. But he would seduce any woman who looked at him for longer than two seconds, married or not.

“Mr. Fallon, I really don’t think it matters whether I was with your cousin, or what we were doing.” Elizabeth’s tone had turned defensive and her voice loud. “My necklace is missing.”

Leo fixed her with a neutral expression. “Of course, Mrs. Stanton. I’m merely trying to establish a timeline so we can get to the bottom of this theft.” If it was a theft. Most of these reports turned out to be a guest forgetting where she’d put an item, or never unpacking it in the first place.

When she realized Leo wasn’t going to judge her, the muscles in her face relaxed and she lowered her voice. “Very well. I haven’t been in my suite since early yesterday morning. I’m assuming one of your housekeepers was there because my trash is cleaned up. And now the necklace is gone as well.”

“Where in your suite did you last see it?”

“On my dresser in the bedroom. I was planning on wearing it yesterday evening.”

All he’d have to do is ask Gregory if Elizabeth had been wearing the necklace and her story would be corroborated. “Thank you, Mrs. Stanton. I promise you we’ll look into this.”

As soon as she left, Leo went down the hall and knocked on Zach’s office door. Neither he nor Andras were in the office, so Leo went to the filing cabinet and pulled the housekeeping schedules for the week.

Even before he scanned them, a sick suspicion had settled in his mind that was soon confirmed. Blair had been assigned to that floor the entire week. It wouldn’t be necessary to ask Gregory anything, after all.

Blair was running late. Bad dreams had woken her in the middle of the night, and by the time her alarm clock rang, she’d been so tired she accidentally turned it off and fell back to sleep. As she opened the gate on the elevator, hoping she could retrieve her supplies without seeing anyone, she nearly ran headfirst into the hard-muscled chest of Andras Neville.

“Oh…Mr. Neville…forgive me. I overslept. I’ll get to work right away.” Blair found it difficult to look into Andras’s eyes. They were so blue they reminded her of the sapphires on Mrs. Stanton’s necklace. A quick jolt of fear shot through her. She had the necklace in her pocket and planned to return it this morning. If she hurried, Mrs. Stanton would still be at breakfast. No one would ever know.

“Blair, don’t worry about your duties right now. Come with me.”

“Why?” What was going on? Had Frankie or her father found out she was here? Blair’s heart began to hammer in her ears.

“Leo and I need to discuss something with you.”

If they’d found her, Andras wouldn’t be so calm right now. It must be something else. As she followed him to the maze of offices behind the front desk, thoughts of Frankie Fillipone were temporarily pushed aside as she admired the cut of Andras’s suit. The tailored linen enhanced his tall, muscular build, and the robin’s-egg-blue of the fabric accentuated his hair and eyes. He was one of the most handsome men she’d ever seen and strictly off-limits of course. But that didn’t mean she hadn’t fantasized about him.

What would it be like to have a man like Andras in your life? Someone who didn’t work for trigger men, who smelled delicious, and dressed like a million bucks? When he ushered her into a large office with leather furniture, she inhaled the scent of peppermint, which always seemed to hang about him like a cloud.

The scent of sage combined with Andras’s smell, and Blair’s eyes swept the room to find Leo Fallon already there. He wore a scowl, but that didn’t distract from his eyes. Gold with flecks of brown, they always reminded Blair of the colors of a sunset. This morning he wore a light-gray pin-striped suit. His dark, wavy hair hung over his shoulders, so unusual for most men these days, but on him it was enticing as hell.

“Sit down, Blair,” said Leo, waving her into the chair next to his.

As she took her seat, Andras pulled over a chair and sat across from her. The last time she’d been in a room with both men was the day they offered her a job. What if her first impression had been right? Why else would they have brought her in here if not to discuss Frankie or her father?

She swallowed against the sudden lump in her throat and tried to take deep breaths so her heart would stop racing. “What’s going on?” Her voice came out shaky and soft.

Leo picked up a piece of paper from the desk. “A guest has reported a theft, and you were assigned to her room yesterday.” He held her gaze. “Is there something you’d like to tell me?”

Blair blinked a few times, confused. This wasn’t about Frankie or her father. The relief that they hadn’t discovered where she was hiding nearly overshadowed Leo’s words. She’d been too late after all. Mrs. Stanton already knew her necklace was gone. But she was
safe
. That thought ricocheted through her brain as she pulled the necklace out her pocket.

Blair tried not to laugh at the looks of incredulity on their faces. “I was admiring it yesterday.” She handed the necklace to Andras, who stared at her with a mixture of disbelief and sadness in his eyes. “I dropped it in my pocket when I heard a door slam. It was purely a reflex reaction. Then I found…I became distracted by something in Mrs. Stanton’s room and forgot about the necklace until I finished my duties. I thought about asking for the passkey to return it last evening, but then I decided the best thing to do would be to wait and return it this morning. I’m sorry.”

She glanced from one man to the other, wishing they would say something, anything. The silence was uncomfortable because she couldn’t interpret the expressions on their faces. “I shouldn’t have tried it on. I shouldn’t have even touched it. It won’t happen again.”

The two exchanged a quick glance. Leo reached behind himself and picked up several news clippings from the desk then handed them to Blair. A gasp escaped her throat before she could stop it. Her fingers trembled, and her eyes filled with tears, making it difficult to read the headlines, let alone the text.

Her father—her own father—had accused her of stealing from him and his clients? His
clients
? They were all crooks! And Frankie Fillipone was in on it. Blair wiped tears from her cheeks as she tried to understand everything she read. She hadn’t stolen anything, at least not intentionally. And, to be fair, the damn jewelry that Frankie had sent his goons to retrieve in the alley was most likely hot to begin with. She should have known better than to take it, but there was nothing she could do now to change her past decisions.

“Blair?” Leo’s deep voice was full of concern. “The only way Andras and I can help is for you to tell us what’s going on.”

She looked from one man to the other, searching desperately for a sign that she could trust them. What if they knew Frankie or one of the other bosses? Chicago wasn’t that far away. For all she knew Frankie was a regular here. They had a speakeasy on the property, after all, and she’d spied more than one guest drinking bathtub gin.

Blair tossed the news clippings on the desk behind Leo. “These are a pack of lies. I didn’t steal from my father or his clients.”

“Then tell us what did happen,” said Andras, leaning close. Blair breathed in the scent of peppermint and tried not to stare into his eyes. She didn’t want to appear rude, but they were so dark right now they looked more indigo than sapphire. It fascinated her the way they’d changed color.

The air in the room became charged, as though it were about to lightning. As Blair continued to gaze into Andras’s eyes, everything around him seemed to fade until they were the only things she saw, shimmering like deep pools of water. All she had to do was fall in and all her troubles would disappear. Frankie and his men would no longer be after her, and the newspaper stories would fade away as though they’d never been written.

Her gaze traveled to his lips, full and slightly parted. What would it be like to kiss him? Certainly not like the sloppy, rough kisses Lenny Wilson had forced on her. Memories of Lenny’s unwanted groping snapped Blair back to the present. She blinked a few times, trying to remember if Andras had asked her a question.

What the hell had just happened? She had no idea, but she suddenly couldn’t stop thinking about being in Andras’s arms. They looked strong and powerful. Strong enough to pick her up and carry her to bed.