Rule's Addiction (The House of Rule 3)

She returned her attention back to the screen. “Okay.”

Chapter Two

Garrett glanced at the time to make sure it was past noon before he ordered a bourbon and Coke. There were certain standards he always upheld, and never drinking liquor before noon was one of them. Not that he was much of a drinker anyway, but for some reason, the scene in the manager’s office had affected him adversely. Not the fact that he’d sent the fuckwad packing, that wasn’t it. It was the emotion that had run through his gut when the man had put his hand on Maria, with the sole purpose of inflicting pain and intimidation.

Straight up, Garrett had felt compelled to commit murder.

Firing the guy instead had felt only somewhat satisfying, because he’d known he was going to do that at some point anyway.

He’d damn sure assumed he’d have a day or two to get a new manager on board, but the guy was poison and had to go. So now what the shit was he supposed to do? What he knew about actually running a hotel was next to nil. Buying and reselling for a quick profit? Hell, he could do that all day with his eyes closed.

Why the hell had he wanted to keep this one anyway? The building was okay, if a bit nondescript. It was in a decent location and with the right updates and management, there was no question that it could produce a decent return. But he’d had stronger opportunities with other pieces of real estate that he’d gone ahead and flipped. So what was it about this particular hotel that had made him want to add it the corporation portfolio?

With the question lingering in his brain, he took a drink of his highball and watched as Maria walked into the restaurant, looking around her with sharp eyes. He noticed that she wasn’t just looking for him, she looked at everything around her. She saw everything around her. Her gaze went to the bar, from employee to employee as she seemed to tick them off in her head, smiling at one while keeping a neutral expression when her eyes lit on another. It became apparent to him in that moment, the girl saw everything. She was on top of everything; she knew the hotel industry, and this hotel in particular like no one else.

As she sat down across from him, the waiter brought two menus and a glass of iced tea for Maria without waiting for her to order. The young man set it in front of her and she said, “Thanks, Mario,” with a smile before pushing her menu to the side.

“I’ll give you a few moments to decide,” he said before turning away.

Garret flipped open the menu but didn’t glance down. He continued to study the woman opposite him, looking for any signs of distress on her features. Thankfully, he saw none. “You look like you survived the situation all right,” he commented.

She tossed him a look. “You just fired a piece of scum who couldn’t have deserved it more. Actually, I’m pretty damn pleased.”

He continued to watch her as she seemed to take a careful sip of her drink before placing it to the side. The silence grew until finally she spoke, “Look, why don’t you just do what you need to do and then I’ll get out of your hair.”

He felt a moment of consternation. “Are you advising me to go ahead and fire you as well?”

“It would seem expedient.”

“What makes you think I’m going to let you go?”

“Aren’t you?”

He ignored her question and gave her one of his own. “How long have you been single-handedly running this place?”

She frowned and broke eye contact, seemingly looking at the bar area before turning her gaze back to him. “I don’t single-handedly run it. You’ve got a lot of hard-working employees here.”

“Don’t dodge the question. I want an answer.”

She pursed her lips. “A long time.”

He raised an eyebrow in response. “Give me a number.”

“Three years.”

Garrett felt a frown begin. “How old are you?”

She let out a puff of air and rolled her eyes as if he were insane. “You can’t ask me that question.”

“I can look in your file and get the information that way.”

She let out a half-smile and shook her head. “You really can’t, not anymore.”

He felt his temper snap at her word play. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You sure don’t know much about this place at all, do you?”

“Be careful, Maria,” he warned.

She seemed to take a breath before continuing, “Right. Look, I don’t work for you—”

“What do you mean by that? Who the hell do you work for?”

“Technically? I work for the management company out of New Jersey, at least now I do, since Mrs. Duncan put them in charge the very second her husband died. And that’s where my file is.”