I paid the cabbie and then I strolled up to the concierge’s desk and told him I was with Tommy Ferrano, gave the suite number, and said that I’d forgotten my room key.
He punched some keys into his computer and told me he remembered me from the other day and that he’d escort me up in a moment and asked me to just have a seat.
I had to stand my ground. If we were going to have a real relationship, one that was a two-way street, I had to have a voice he paid attention to. If he really wanted me for me, he’d understand that he couldn’t keep doing things like this. And he’d have to learn to rein in his temper, too, because what’d happened this morning was totally unacceptable!
The concierge came over a moment later and told me he’d escort me to my suite. Once inside I kicked off my shoes and then I poured a glass of wine from the ice bucket in the bedroom. It was from last night and the ice had melted but it was still chilly. I sat down on the bed and I waited, arms crossed. I was ready for a showdown with my fiancé.
I turned the phone on and saw there were 2 missed calls and 2 texts,
“Tia! Turn around right now and meet Nino at the front desk.”
Another one.
“Are you seriously stupid enough to do this? I fucking hope not”
Nothing since then. It’d been over an hour ago. I answered with a text,
“Cool your jets. I’m in our room.”
Immediately he read it and those three dots appeared, showing he was typing,
“big fucking trouble baby”
I wrote back,
“You know what? Bring it on. I’m so fucking pissed at you. This relationship needs to be a 2 way street. You want to test me and play games with me over & over again? Treat me like crap & like a piece of property and then expect me to have zero reaction at you playing mind games? Wrong! If you want me to be the faithful and dutiful fiancee I SUGGEST you start treating me with respect!!”
My phone rang almost immediately after he read the message.
I answered it practically spitting, “What?”
“Be ready and waiting, baby girl. When I get there, I’m gonna paint your sweet little ass black and blue.”
Click.
All my bravado drained out of me and I instantly felt like throwing up. I am such a stupid naïve little girl. I thought I was so tough, so determined to stand up for myself, but here I was now quaking, wondering what sort of rage I’d be faced with when he returned. His voice was so angry, so scary, that I wished I had an undo button for that conversation.
I started to pace, started to entertain thoughts of taking off and escaping but before I could form a coherent thought I heard something outside so I looked out the peep hole and there was a security guard standing right outside the door. Holy shit.
I went back into the bedroom, into the Hers bathroom to splash water on my face, and about fifteen minutes later I heard the door open. My heart started to speed up but I took a deep breath, tried to push my fear away. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms.
There was a knock at the bedroom door, which was already half way open. I walked over to the doorway and both James and Nino were standing there. They both looked absolutely pissed. The sight of the pair of them in my doorway was pretty damn intimidating-looking.
I swallowed and hugged myself. James spoke, “Tommy asked that you wait in the bedroom for him to get back. He’s asked us to lock the door. Since this door doesn’t lock from the outside, one of us’ll be right outside the door on guard till he gets back. You need anything?”
“No,” I croaked out.
Then without saying anything, one of them slammed the door shut in my face.
Shit. What have I done? Even the guards were mad at me.
Almost three hours later I was still in this room and I’d worked myself into a frenzy of scared shitless. Every time I heard voices outside the door my heart and stomach plummeted. But it was them talking as they switched up or were talking to one another or whatever.
When I finally heard his voice I wanted to scamper and hide under the bed. Adrenalin coursed through my veins. It was getting dark and the Vegas lights were starting to twinkle on bit by bit outside. I was sitting in the darkening room on the bed with no lights on. I’d had two glasses of wine into me, and I didn’t know if when he finally came in if I’d resume my pissed off stance or if I’d cower.
The door opened and closed. He was standing in front of me. He flicked the lamp on beside me.
“You say bring it? Consider it brought.”