“No.
Don’t send anyone.
Come yourself.”
He ended the call.
Karla gave a short, skeptical laugh.
“And who exactly was that?”
Ethan slipped the phone back into his pocket.
“Someone who should probably be here for this conversation.”
Patricia’s eyes returned to the reservation screen.
A line beneath Ethan’s booking had caught her attention.
She leaned closer.
Lupita noticed.
“What does it say?” she asked.
Patricia didn’t answer.
Karla stepped beside her and read the internal note.
Her posture changed immediately.
The note was brief:
EXECUTIVE HOLD — E.
VANCE.
AUTHORIZED BY CORPORATE OFFICE.
DO NOT RELEASE.
Karla stared at Ethan.
“Vance?”
Ethan met her eyes.
Before she could say anything else, the ballroom doors at the far end of the lobby opened.
Music spilled out first, followed by laughter and the soft clink of glassware.
Then a tall man in a black dinner jacket appeared, moving quickly through the crowd.
Daniel Mercer, the Grand Regent’s general manager, had been smiling when he left the gala.
The smile disappeared when he saw Ethan.
“Mr.
Vance.”
The words carried farther than Daniel intended.
Several people turned.
Patricia went completely still.
Karla whispered, “Mr.
Vance?”
Daniel approached the desk, breathing slightly harder from his hurried walk.
“I didn’t know you had arrived.
Your office said you might be coming this week, but—”
“I arrived twenty minutes ago,” Ethan said.
Daniel looked from Ethan to Lily, then to the roses, then to Patricia.
Something in his face tightened.
“Was there a problem with the suite?”
Ethan looked at Patricia.
“You could call it that.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Patricia rushed to speak.
“There was a temporary issue locating the reservation, but we found it.
I was just about to check Mr.
Vance in.”
“That isn’t quite what happened,” Lupita said.
Karla snapped her head toward her.
“Lupita—”
“No,” Ethan said.
The single word stopped Karla instantly.
He looked at Lupita.
