Powerful (The Driven World) - Kathleen Kelly Page 0,57
not true. Right now, I’m eyeballing him, trying to will him to give me her room number. The fucker wouldn’t even take a bribe.
“I understand the privacy of your clients is paramount, and believe me, if I ever decide to stay here, I’ll remember that, but she’s my girlfriend, and I need to see her.”
“And we at The Langham look forward to the day that you do stay with us, but I’m sure, Mr. Livingston, you wouldn’t check in under your name.”
A fucking lightbulb goes off over my head as I understand what he’s trying to say.
With my hands on the desk, I hang my head then look him in the eye. “Athena Goddess.”
Why the fuck didn’t I ask for her pen name earlier?
“Ah, yes, Ms. Goddess. I’ll dial her room now.” He nods and gives me a tight smile.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I close my eyes and look up at the ceiling of the lobby. It’s a nice hotel. Someone taps on my leg, and I look down to find a child. He might be five.
“Are you Kris Livingston?”
“Who wants to know?” I ask with a grin.
“I’m Robert.”
“Good name. Bobby for short?” The kid shakes his head. I look around the room, and apart from the odd on-looker, I can’t see his parents. “Where’s your mom?”
“Heaven.”
Fuck.
The honesty of children.
“Your dad?”
Robert points to the check-in counter where a man is arguing with the staff, his face is bright red.
“So, are you Kris Livingston?”
I nod. “Yeah, Bobby, I sure am.”
“Cool! I saw The Time movie.”
I frown down at him and raise my eyebrows. “You saw The Time?”
It’s an R-rated movie with lots of violence and sex. It’s not meant for children.
“Yeah! My dad let me watch it with him.”
Crouching, I ask, “How old are you, Bobby?”
“I’m seven and a half.”
It’s funny, the older we get, the more we cling to the age we are, no halves or months. But when you’re under twenty-one, it’s always important.
“Do you know what R-rated means?” He nods with a big grin on his face. “So, you know that means you shouldn’t have watched The Time, yeah?”
“But my dad was there.”
Robert sucks in his bottom lip and shrugs.
“I know. But sometimes we grown-ups screw up, and your dad screwed up.”
His eyebrows come together, and he pouts at me.
“Robert,” yells his dad.
I stand and hold up a hand and point down. At first, he’s angry as he walks toward us, but the closer he gets, I can see the anger bleed out of him as he recognizes me. I hold out my hand, and he takes it in his and pumps it up and down, his lost son forgotten.
“Kris Livingston. You’re Kris Livingston!”
Smiling broadly, I nod and look down at Robert. “Bobby and I were just saying hello.”
“He said you screwed up, Dad.”
The smile falls off his face, and he stops shaking my hand. “How’s that now?”
Pulling my hand out of his grip, I gesture to Bobby. “Bobby told me you let him watch The Time. I only pointed out that it’s R-rated, and he shouldn’t have watched it.”
He frowns and smacks his lips together. “Who the fuck are you to tell me how to raise my kid?”
“Whoa! Buddy, mind the language in front of your son.”
Roughly, he grabs Robert by the arm and pulls him behind him. “His name is Robert, and you can fuck off.”
The man’s voice is loud enough that the whole lobby is now staring. He drags his son out of the hotel, and I’m left standing there feeling like an asshole.
“Mr. Livingston?”
I turn, and the hotel manager is there.
With my lips pressed together, I put my hands in my pockets and rock back on my heels. “Yep?”
“Ms. Goddess isn’t answering her phone.”
“Fuck it all to hell,” I mutter, hand to the back of my neck as I rub it furiously.
Shaking my head, I pull out my cell phone and dial Athena. It rings three times, and the line goes dead.
Shaking my head and holding out my cell to the manager, I say, “She hung up on me.” I’m so angry I could throw the device across the room. Turning sideways, I look the man in the eye. “Can you believe that? She hung up on me! I travel here in the middle of the night because she’s the most important person in the world to me and she hung up. On. Me.”
I’m bending at the waist and glaring at the hotel manager, who keeps his cool and only nods. Then