Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Hash browns?” she asked, popping up to look down at me.
“And bagels,” I told her as I tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Well, that is the right kind of motivation,” she said.
Then she climbed off the bed, shamelessly naked and so fucking gorgeous that my chest felt tight.
I waited until I heard the shower before getting up, getting dressed, then grabbing our coffees to warm them and our food up while she showered.
I wasn’t prepared for how right it felt when she came out wearing her sweatpants from the night before, but with my tee on.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, waving at it. “I spilled that awful flatbread sauce on my sweatshirt. It stinks.”
“Not at all.” In fact, I loved it. “Plain or everything?” I asked, holding up the bag of bagels.
“Plain.”
We sat down to eat, but were only maybe halfway done before there was a knock on the door.
“Remo,” I said, pulling the door open.
He looked as rough as he’d sounded earlier.
“Milo.” Then, moving inside, “Monroe.”
“Hey,” she said, giving him a shy smile.
“I don’t have any extra coffee, but I got you a bagel and some hash browns.”
“Haven’t eaten in… fuck knows,” he said, exhaling as he dropped down hard on the couch.
“You got the footage?” I asked.
“You got a laptop?”
“Yeah,” I said, grabbing it.
“How you doing, Monroe?” Remo asked as I powered it up.
“I think that’s my question. You look like you’ve seen better days.”
“Seen worse too,” Remo said, shrugging.
I took the flash drive and plugged it in.
“Guy said it’s the night you saw him and all yesterday, so it might take a while to get through it all.”
I fast-forwarded through the footage, feeling my stomach clench when I saw Dom first enter my room. I exited to go get the food, then came back.
“Alright, here,” I said, putting the laptop down on the table so we could both watch Domenico leave my room and head down the hall to his.
And nothing happened.
All night.
Nothing. But then in the morning, Dom went out in what looked like workout gear.
There was… nothing.
“Wait. Can you roll that back?” Roe asked.
“You see something?” Remo asked, straightening.
“I don’t know. Maybe. No, further back. The night before.”
“Baby, there was nothing there,” I said.
“No, I think there was.”
She reached toward the laptop herself, rolling it back to where she thought she saw something.
“Right there,” she said, stabbing a finger at the screen.
“I don’t see anything,” Remo said.
Roe hit the button to brighten the screen, then traced the edge of… something. I just couldn’t say what it was.
“There.”
“It’s a shadow. From that plant.”
“No, it’s not. It’s a woman.”
“A woman?” I asked, squinting.
“Look, this is her ponytail. And that’s her butt. Now look at this.” She fast-forwarded the footage to the next morning.
“And here.”
There was a woman.
But it was from the back.
Just a woman exiting a room and waiting for the elevator a few minutes after Domenico left.
“So, there’s a woman staying here,” he said, shrugging.
“I know you’re both guys, so maybe this doesn’t make sense to you. But I don’t know a single woman who would hang out in the shadows of a hallway late at night in a hotel.” At our blank looks, she shook her head. “You could get pulled into any of these rooms and no one would know. So what was she doing there?”
I shared a look with Remo.
“It’s something,” Remo said. “And we could use something. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the food. And the eyes, Monroe.” He offered her a small smile as he got to his feet. “Walk me out?”
“I’ll be right back,” I said as Roe pulled the laptop onto her legs and kept looking through the footage.
“Okay,” she said, giving me a distracted smile.
Remo and I walked into the elevator before he spoke.
“I’m on this now. When she is ready to leave, there’s an employee exit down beside the spa. Let her go out that way. One of my guys will shadow her back to her house. Then to work.”
“What do you need from me?”
“I will text you as soon as I know about the woman’s room. Might need you to sweep it.”
“Got it,” I agreed as the doors opened and he exited.
I made my way back upstairs to find Roe standing there just inside the door with the laptop held out to face me.
“What is it?” I asked.
She clicked play.
It was the night he disappeared, but earlier.
And there she was.
The woman.
Coming out of Dom’s room.
When he wasn’t around.
“Fuck.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Roe
My mind was still racing as I filled Alley’s dishes before putting on my makeup and doing my hair.
Because I was pretty sure I was the one who figured out what happened to Dom. Well, at least who was involved.
I wasn’t sure, after the guys seemed somewhat unswayed by my earlier argument. Which was why I wanted to rewind the footage and see if I could find anything else.