NTE

back home. Back to the very plac

between my father and me, he never failed to remind

n is yours," he

ark everywhere until my father's

t bother turning away from the floor-to-ceiling window

s flooding the room in a warm glow.

aid, my voice

allace, the manager of this hote

oldly, not movin

. I've carried out your instruction

asked, finally turning to face him. I walked to my chair and

explained, his voice faltering. "Th

hopeless, and scared-were carved into my memory. But it wa

r of my own as a chi

ed of the broken b

in the first place-a young mother with a child in tow. "The A

ur spot among the top ten globall

other and her child in my hotel? Imagine what the guests wo

his knees buckling as he fell to the floor

n my part. I didn't know she would bri

utsmarted you?" I asked,

ed. Those were traits I hated, but watching her scramble

n't en

see her brea

d back here-not anger, not pain, not

lved childhood traumas. He had advised me to open up to people, t

t the type

th twitching into a cold smirk. "It seems I need to start cleaning

ice filled with disbelief. "But...

You allowed a liability into my hotel. That, in itself, is wrong. Se

mbling footsteps filled the room. Mr. Tallace had no choice b

in, I wa

, the room growing darker as the s

ring into the glass unti

had stared back at me throug

d them

g in this place-everything my fathe

EL

of dragging Caesar from one hotel to another, filling out appli

ays the same: "We'

nly to tell me I di

lukewarm cup of coffee. It wasn't much, but it was all I could afford. The last

had paved the way for her to live her dream life. She'd called me

you and this littl

ooked up to see a brunette waitress smiling war

in return. I picked up the menu, but the words bl

waitress said, her voice tin

was happily engrossed in his toy truck, humming a li

said, my voic

s added, glancing toward something behind me

owly, I lowered the menu complete

billboard acros

er R

very corner of it. My chest tightened, anger bubbling beneath the surface

reason I was here now, sitting in this

not even close. And even if he did, the thought o

aid bluntly, my voice s

aught off guard. "Oh... I just

before I could stop myself. My voice carried across

e a father," I added, bittern

le faltering. "I'm sorry," she murmured, taking a s

ized how loud I'd been. My fingers trembled as they

Hunter Reid still had th

seemed happy and didn't notice the tension around us.

quietly, though my

and hurried away, leaving

g the pit in my stomach. No matter how much I tried to m

er R

ife with a single, careless de