The Hotel 2 (The Billionaire Seduction) (2 page)

I stay frozen in place. “Umm,
Juliet.”

“How tragic,” Xander
smirks. Then I see it, the resemblance, the same superior confidence
that Dom possesses.

“You should go.”
Dominic doesn’t look at me. He’s fixed on his brother,
fury in his gaze.

“Don’t leave on my
account,” Xander exclaims. “Please, stay, you looked like
you were having fun.”

Could this get anymore
humiliating?

“Juliet,” Dominic
barks. “Leave, now!”

I flinch. A moment ago, he was
telling me I was all he wanted, now I’m being ordered out of
his sight like I’m some servant at his beck and call.
Or
his employee
. Which
technically I am. Shit. “Fine.”

I stalk past them, trying to hold
my head high, trying to ignore the sting of Dominic’s rejection
and the utter embarrassment of his brother finding us like that on
the bed. I can’t imagine ever getting over it. Remembering the
keycard in my jeans’ pocket, I lay it on the buffet in the
entry. The door clicks softly behind me, feeling final.

What the hell just happened?

“Juliet,
get up!”

Something whaps me on the head,
once, twice. I bolt upright to find Callie sitting beside me, a
newspaper rolled in her hand.

“What am I, a bad dog?”

“Yes,” she quips and
flattens the paper. Thrusts it at me.

“It’s Sunday,”
I groan. “I just want to sleep. Go away.” I’m still
reeling over what happened at the penthouse Friday night.

“Oh, Jesus, put your big
girl panties on. Some random dude watched you get kinky, and Dominic
humiliated you. I get it.”

“Seriously?” I cross
my arms. “Have
you
ever had a stranger
walk in on you when you’re tied to a bed?”

“Honey, that’s a
typical Friday night for me.”

I laugh, but my heart’s not
in it. The naïve part of me thinks he still might actually call
or text, something, to apologize. He hasn’t yet, and I’m
not sure why I’m hurting over it. Like Dominic ever apologized
for anything. I should know better by now.

After I got home, Callie and Em
kept me up until two AM to rehash every detail and speculate why
Dominic turned so cold. We formed no satisfying conclusions, but
polished off a couple of bottles of wine in the process. My head is
not relishing the consequences. At the moment, I just need to sleep.

I try to pull the covers up and
hide but Callie yanks them back.

“Nuh-uh. Read it.”
She drops the paper on my lap. It’s a copy of the weekend
papers, also known as ‘Rich People’s Wedding Announcement
Day.’

I groan. “I don’t
care if some trust fund private school teacher married a proctologist
on the beach.”

Callie flips the paper over and
points.

REXFORD HEIR RETURNS FROM
EUROPE READY TO TAKE THE REINS

Alexander Brigham
Rexford has returned to his suite at The Rexford Chicago, after a
lengthy sabbatical in Europe. The dashing Rexford heir has been well
followed on the Euro touring car circuit, making a name for himself
as a top racing contender. And let’s not forget his
drool-worthy modeling debut for designer Tom Ford in Morocco last
year. With the very public division of company shares after the
deaths of Xander’s parents, which left him with zero control of
the company but a massive inheritance, we can only speculate his
return coincides with the recent Rexford drama involving hush-hush
theft by an intern. (No worries, loves, we’re still hot on the
trail to find out exactly what went down and all the yummy details.)
Is Xander back to challenge his brother and CEO of Rexford, Inc.,
Dominic, for control? It’s no secret The Rexford has been on a
downward spiral in recent years, due in part to the rise of more
modern-suave luxury hotels, like the Prescott Group.

Is this recent
drama yet another sign that Dominic Rexford has exhausted his ability
to lead the historic hotel as a contender against younger, hipper
challengers?

Blaine Prescott
certainly thinks so. “The Rexford has been an old, dying horse
for years. It’s sad, really, watching it expire so painfully.
It’s easy to blame outside forces, like the appeal of better
hotels drawing customers away. That may be true, but really, bad
management is likely the bigger culprit.”

Ouch! Perhaps
Alexander’s fresh, adventurous style is just what The Rexford
needs to turn things around. Which bring us to the big question:
Does the Windy City, and The Rexford, have room for
two
Rexford brothers?

Stay tuned!

The
minute I get into work on Monday, the other interns pounce.

“What’s going on?”
Brad demands.

“What do you mean?”

“The article, stupid,”
he stares at me like I’m a total moron. “The big feud.
Come on, Juliet. Tell us what you know.”

“Nothing more than you.”
I shake him off, determined to get out of here at lightning speed. I
don’t have the patience to deal with this drama. I’ve
been thinking about Dominic all night and how this must be affecting
him.

“Right.” Brad sneers.
“All that quality time you’ve been spending with Rexford,
and you don’t know anything?”

I’m tense.

“Are you referring to the
time I’ve spent shadowing Mr. Rexford in the corporate office?”
I narrow my eyes in challenge. Say no, you little round asshat, and
I’ll rip what’s left of your hair out of your balding
head.

“Come on.” He blows
it off. “Is the board thinking about voting Rexford out and
letting the brother in?” He looks behind him at the group.
“It’s no secret this place is going down. Damnit, Shauna
had the right idea jumping ship before it sinks.”

I give them all a look.
“Seriously? One little gossip column, and you’re all
ready to run? Maybe you should focus more on doing your jobs here,
and less on that tabloid trash.”

They don’t look convinced.
I sigh. “I know we’re all worried about the rumors. But
that’s all it is, guys. Rumors from a gossip column. Our
internships will go on as normal, unless we hear otherwise. Okay?”

I’m not sure when I became
mother hen of this group, but the reassurance seems to work. We all
head out to work, and then my phone sounds with a text.

My heart jumps, and then jumps
again. What if it’s Dominic? Shit, what if it
isn’t
Dominic?

I dig the phone out of my purse.

I need you in the boardroom
immediately.

I want to be cautious, but I feel
a surge of hope. The last time he called me to the office… I
shake it off. After Friday night, he owes me one hell of an
explanation before I’m letting him get in my panties again.

At least, that’s what I
tell myself.

I head up to the boardroom,
trying to calm myself in the elevator on the way up. When I get to
the room, I see it’s full for the morning meeting, every seat
taken. Dom is at the head of the table, and Alexander is beside him.
He has the sun-bleached, wavy hair of a beach God, golden tan skin
and light green eyes. Dominic is his polar opposite: dark and
foreboding.

Alexander sees me. He gives a
knowing smirk as his gaze sweeps over me. I’m embarrassed, but
I tip my chin up and stare right back at him. He’s not going to
get to me.

The room is nearly full as I make
my way to the chairs along the back wall.

“Ms. Evans,” Dominic
calls out. A chill goes down my spine as I stop and look at him.
“Have a seat here, please.”

He gestures to a chair behind
him, and sure enough, a folder lies there with my name on it.

“Thank you,” I manage
and sit. A bit unnerved, I look around and recognize the members of
the board, but no one else. Who are these people? Folding my hands on
the table, I try to look confident and purposeful, even though I feel
neither.

I have no idea why I’m
here.

Dominic stands with his legs
apart. His dark gray suit is so finely tailored and conforms to his
body so well, it’s impossible to look away. I’ve never
seen him appear anything besides in control, but he’s razor
sharp today.

“Good morning,” he
says to the room. “I’d like to introduce my brother,
Alexander. He’ll be frequenting The Rexford in the coming weeks
as he gets reacquainted with the business.”

“Reacquainted?”
Xander stands. “That would assume I had anything to do with The
Rexford in the first place.” He smiles, looking around the
table, and shoves his hands into his pants pockets much like Dominic
tends to do. People smile back as if he made a joke, but I don’t.

Dominic tenses as Xander slaps
him on the shoulder.

“Who better to educate me
on the inside workings of The Rexford than my capable, business-savvy
brother?”

The two men look at each other. I
feel the dig in Xander’s words. If I notice, so do others, I’m
sure. But I don’t dare look around the room to see reactions.

Dominic seems unaffected. He
indicates a folder before him on the table.

“The 100
^th
anniversary of The Rexford is coming up fast. As you know, we’ll
be hosting a gala to celebrate, as well as launching special
marketing and promotions.” He opens his folder and everyone
does the same, including me.

I skim the papers inside. What I
see looks pretty par for the course. Not that I’m an expert on
gala-planning, but none of it really stands out to me.

“We need this to be big.
Memorable. Exciting. I’d appreciate if each of you would think
over the event plan, and let me know by tomorrow if you have thoughts
or additional ideas.”

Dominic introduces a woman from
the public relations department who chats about media coverage, and
then other departments pitch in too with regular business updates.
Soon, the hour is over, and the meeting is dismissed.

I still don’t know what I’m
doing here. I was shadowing Dominic as part of my internship, but
that was before the big scene in his suite. Now, I don’t know
where I stand.

I gather my things, unsure if I
should stay or head down to work my shift at the front desk. I’m
just about to leave when Dominic beckons.

“To my office please, Ms.
Evans.”

The formality in his voice feels
like a slap in the face. So, he’s pretending like nothing
happened. My heart sinks, but I stalk past him and down the hallway.
I can be coolly professional, too.

I wait in his office, trying to
stay calm. I don’t want him to know that he’s having any
effect on me, so I school my features to display nothing. If I’m
rigid, I can be prepared for whatever he has to say. It won’t
hurt, because I won’t let it.

I hope.

“Sit, please.” He
breezes into the office and motions to the plush leather chairs by
his desk. I don’t; I stay put, keeping the damn folder against
me like a shield.

Dom pauses, looking at me. Then
he steps closer, and reaches out to softly touch my arm. I
automatically lean into him. Damn it. I want to be resolute, but his
touch? It breaks me.

“I handled things badly the
other night.”

“I agree.” I clench
my jaw and say nothing else, but he doesn’t back off. He
caresses my cheek, then pulls me closer, not into a passionate
clinch, but a simple hug instead.

I’m disarmed. Feeling him
hold me like this, almost tender, I can’t help but relax.
Still, I can’t just roll over. Not after what he’s put me
through.

“You were kind of an
asshole,” I tell him, my head still resting against his chest.

I feel him chuckle.

“It’s not funny.”
I push him away. “Do you have any idea how humiliated I was,
with Xander walking in? And then you just ordered me out of there.”

“I’m sorry.”
Dom looks sincere. “I didn’t know what to do, I wasn’t
expecting him. I know, I shouldn’t have treated you like that.
It’s just… Fuck, Xander. He’s always ruining
everything.”

He looks so frustrated, my heart
melts a little.

“But it can’t be that
bad,” I say hesitantly. “He doesn’t have control of
the company. You do.”

Dom shakes his head. “He’s
going to cause problems. There’s a reason my father left me
fifty-one percent of this company. Xander is exactly the ally that
Blaine Prescott needs to bring me down.”

“Xander would sell out the
hotel?” I exclaim, shocked.

“Not
on purpose, no,” Dom admits. “Xander isn’t
disloyal. He’s just reckless. Careless and impulsive and needy.
He leaves a trail of destruction in his wake, and I’ve spent
our entire fucking lives cleaning up after him!”

I can see it on his face, the
weight of responsibility. Not just for the company, or his family’s
legacy, but for his brother too.

I remember what he said that
first night at the Drake.
No
one is ever waiting for me.
He
has no one to listen. No one to understand. Nobody except me.

“No one tells you, do
they?”

“Tells me what?” he
asks.

My heart aches for him. I have
Callie and Emily to keep me on my game, to encourage me. Dominic is
the strength and the backbone of this hotel, but he’s all
alone.

“That you’re doing a
good job.”

His brow crinkles as if he can’t
comprehend what I’m saying. I worry that I’ve
overstepped. I’m not sure why that came spilling out, but I
mean it. And he needs to hear it.

I step forward, and press a kiss
to his lips. Dominic relaxes against me, and for one blissful moment,
it’s like nothing else matters in the world.

The ringing of his phone breaks
the moment. Dominic pulls back and grabs his cellphone. “Hold
on,” he orders, before turning back to me. “Eight o’clock
tonight. Dress up.”

“What? Why?”

Dom gives me a determined look.

“We’re going to
finish what we started.”