Page 92 of Bargaining

“Gabe’s on his way.” Theo’s voice was rough.

My body became suddenly alert. “Now?”

“He’ll be landing soon. He was supposed to be here yesterday, but he stood Philip up.”

“You’re kidding?”

I had no idea if my father was still here. If I got down to that lobby, then I could speak to Gabe first. Maybe it wasn’t too late to get the hotel after all. This was too good an opportunity. I couldn’t miss a chance to speak to him alone. “Thanks. I thought you didn’t want to help me?”

“I don’t,” Theo grunted.

“I’m going to send you the details about the art tutor later.” I hung up.

Charlotte emerged from the bathroom. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“What’s going on? I’ve never seen you move so fast.”

“Something’s come up.” I scrambled to find clothes and yank them on. “I have to go.”

“Go?”

“I need to get ready. Gabe’s on his way.”

Her face dropped. “What about the Trevi Fountain?”

“This is about the hotel. It won’t take me long. I’ll come back after I’ve spoken to him.”

“The hotel. Right.” She nodded woodenly. “So everything else gets dropped?”

No. It’s not like that. I just had to act on this now.“I’ve been waiting for Gabe to get here. I have to jump on this.”

I scoured the dressing table, looking for my cuff links. There was too much crap on here. Jewelry. Perfume. Loose change. Thiswas what happened when you let someone else into your space. Total fucking chaos.

Charlotte watched me warily. She folded her arms. “I suppose I’ll just do my own thing this morning then.”

I finally located the cuff links under one of Charlotte’s bras, and I could have kissed them. “No. Look, I’m sorry. I’ll be back later. We can still go.” I dashed toward the bathroom to brush my teeth. “Call Renata if you don’t want to wait. See if she’ll go with you.” My shin slammed into the sharp edge of the coffee table in my haste. A jolt of pain shot up my leg. “Fuck!”

“You want me to go to the Trevi Fountain with Renata?”

The chill in her voice held me at the bathroom door. I sighed and pressed my forehead to the cool doorframe. My leg throbbed from where I’d bashed it. There was nothing I wanted to do more than spend a morning with Charlotte, but this opportunity had just dropped into my lap. It was too good to miss. If I played this right, I could have it all. I could get this hotel in the bag and go with Charlotte to the Trevi Fountain afterward.

“I have to speak to Gabe before my father does. We can catch up later.”

“There is no later. We’re flying home this afternoon. I told Tiff I’d be back for her birthday.”

“Then we’ll come back to Rome another time. It will be fine.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Who were you on the phone to just then? Why were you talking about my art tutor?”

Really? Now?I gave my teeth a hurried brush, using the opportunity to stall my reply. “He can’t get away with fucking you over like that. That’s not how things work. Theo’s going to help us.”

She blinked, disbelieving. “Theo?”

I dashed past Charlotte into the bedroom and fiddled with my tie in the mirror. The knot was too tight and small. I’d haveto do it again. “Theo’s good at finding dirt on people. There’ll be something.”

Her lips pressed flat. “It was years ago.”

“It doesn’t matter how long ago it was. He can’t get away with it.”