was top-notch.
Fuck.
It had to be that stretch of time. That was almost six weeks ago.
But, why?
Milan had a more than generous allowance from her father.
Jennifer’s phone buzzed.
She pulled it out and groaned.
Mr. Esposito flashed on her screen.
Not now. Why now?
She closed her eyes, tipped her head up and drew in a deep breath.
Declining the call wasn’t an option. Not right now, when the two were at odds. Yesterday was an exception that could not be repeated.
She tapped the answer button and paced through the grass, away from the house.
“Mr. Esposito,” Jennifer said in her best customer service voice. “Hello.”
“Is my daughter awake?” he snapped.
“I was just going to check on her. She had plans to sleep in and do stuff here at the hotel, so I got a half day off.”
She could practically hear him growl. “What the hell am I paying you for then?”
Jennifer took a deep breath. She was allowed time off. If he was less emotional, he’d remember that. “To ensure your daughter’s safety, sir. I’m headed to see her right now.”
“I want to speak with her.”
“I’ll inform her of that.” Jennifer inwardly cringed.
His voice dropped. “I’ll wait.”
She could have groaned.
“Certainly. Give me a moment.”
Because she needed more to deal with right now. A high dollar theft wasn’t enough, clearly. She had to juggle a cranky boss, too.
Jennifer jogged toward the house.
Orion appeared almost immediately from a first floor door, looking serious. No doubt security had alerted him to her conversation and the man’s likeness to the person they’d been warned to look out for.
“I’m going to need you,” she said without hesitating.
He merely inclined his head and fell into step behind her.
“I take it the phone call is a separate issue?” he asked.
Jennifer glanced around, then lowered her voice. “Milan isn’t currently speaking to her father.”
“Ah. He’s left a few messages with the front desk and myself.”
“Shit,” she muttered. “Sorry. Let me bring Milan downstairs. We might need the head of security. It’s still Mateo?”
“Yes. He should be in his office. I’ll have him on standby.” Orion grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “We’ll handle this.”
Jennifer was still mentally floundering and trying to get her bearings. It was nice that he was so certain.
“Thanks. I’ll be there soon. She’s going to be in a bad mood,” she warned.
He nodded and backed away.
She climbed to the third floor in haste. At her pace, it was faster than the elevator. Jennifer tapped once at Milan’s door before using her keycard to open the private room.
Jennifer stepped into a normal sized room. For Milan it was tiny and therefore appropriate private accommodations for a hostel. It was almost completely covered in discarded clothing.
Milan lay on a padded bench wearing stockings, athletic shorts and a corset. Her hair was in hot rollers and she still had mascara smudges from last night. Two other girls lounged on her bed in similar states of mixed dress.
“Out,” Jennifer snapped.
Milan scowled. “You can’t—”
Jennifer stared at her. “Not a word from you.”
The other two girls must have better self-preservation instincts because they scampered out of the room in haste.
Jennifer picked up a silky robe and threw it at Milan. “Put that on.”
“You can’t order me around,” she said in outrage.
Jennifer held out her phone. “Speak to your father.”
Milan turned her glare on the phone. “No.”
“We have bigger things to worry about right now than a spat with your dad.”
“I would have thought getting laid might make you less of a bitch.”
Jennifer leaned toward her. “I know about the God damn egg, Milan. And you are in deep shit.”
The girl’s tanned face visibly paled and her eyes went wide.
Jennifer thrust the phone at her. “Make up a reason to get off the phone. I don’t care. You just need to do it.”
Milan took the device and stared at it.
Jennifer turned on her heel and stalked toward the door.
“Yeah, Dad?” Milan said. “Hey, I just got my period, so I can’t talk. Bye.”
Jennifer whirled around and gaped at Milan. “What the hell was that?”
“You said get him off the phone.” She tossed the device onto the bench and shoved the robe off her lap.
“Put the robe on.” Jennifer glanced around the room. “And come downstairs with me. We’re going to the security office and we’re going to discuss what happened with this egg.”
Jennifer scooped up her phone.
Milan gripped the edge of the bench and stared at the floor in what Jennifer could only call shock.
She almost felt bad for Milan. But even she must have known there