Facade

Apparently, I was wrong.

I hung up the phone without so much as a goodbye and prepared the paperwork to be sent. I double-checked the numbers and ran the figures through my head, making sure all the account numbers were right. I handed the paperwork off to John and told him to take it down to them, and he smiled while taking the papers from me.

I really hated that guy.

“Mr. Steele! So glad I found you. I wanted to go over your itinerary for your trip to Las Vegas.”

“Hello, Miss Emma,” I said as I turned around.

“I hope you don’t mind. You haven’t been to your office all day, and you always enjoy the itinerary being confirmed twenty-four hours in advance,” she said.

“Yes, yes. You’re fine, Miss Emma. Read it out to me.”

“Okay. So, first question. Is ... Samantha ... coming along still?”

“Yes, Sam will be with us,” I said.

“Okay,” Emma said with a sigh. “The plane will be in the air tomorrow by nine fifteen. Boarding on your jet begins at eight forty-five with breakfast being served on the plane.”

“Perfect. What happens when we land?” I asked.

“You check into your hotel with Samantha.”

“She prefers Sam,” I said.

I felt Emma’s eyes on me before she made the note on her clipboard.

“Sam,” Emma said. “You will check into The Palazzo. Two rooms next to one another with a door that joins them both.”

“But it’s two separate rooms, correct?”

“Yes, sir. As you requested. It also has a shared walk-in space. There’s a keycard to access the doors into the hotel rooms, then physical keys to get into the rooms themselves.”

“Perfect. What’s after that?”

“There’s nothing after that, and I haven’t scheduled anything. I figured you would want to rest after a plane ride. But, the meeting is set for nine in the morning the next day.”

“I want a list of names of the people who are supposed to be in that meeting,” I said.

“I can get you that. Once the meeting is over, you have another free evening. I thought you might like that,” she said with a giggle. “Then you sleep, and your jet is set to take off at five in the morning the next day so you can get back in time to start your workday.”

“Perfect. I don’t want to miss any more work than I have to for this pointless meeting,” I said. “The itinerary is confirmed. Make sure Sam gets a copy of it as well.”

“Sure. I can do that.”

It was the way Emma’s voice sounded that caused me to look at her. It had a flat tone to it like she was upset Sam was coming with me. I scanned her with my eyes, trying to read her as best as I could as she stood in my home. There was something in her eyes I couldn’t read, but her stance was familiar.

It was closed off yet fearful.

She thought her job was at risk. The rumors of my hiring another personal assistant were making Emma worried for her job. And even though we had our minor altercations in the past, a nice girl like her didn’t need that kind of worry on her shoulders. She had been good to me over the years, even with the little crush she struggled with there for a while.

I knew Sam would kill me for saying something, but it needed to be mentioned.

“Miss Emma, your job is not at risk,” I said. “Sam is not really doing PA work, but it’s easier if everyone believes she is.”

“If she’s not doing PA work, then what’s she doing?” Emma asked.

“That is above your pay grade. Either way, she’ll need my itinerary, so I still want you getting it to her. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Derek. I-I-I mean, Mr. Steele,” she said.

I narrowed my eyes at her as I drew in a deep breath.

“If I may say so, however, it’s probably not the best idea to bring a lover with you on a business trip,” Emma said.

“No, you may not say so,” I said. “I’m a busy man, Miss Emma. You know that better than anyone on my team. Sometimes, the only time I can find for such proclivities is on a trip like this, and it does not require your input. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” she said with a murmur.

I was annoyed at her presumption, and even more frustrated with the idea that she felt she held a position in my life to touch on it. But I was the one keeping everything quiet with what Sam was really doing here. I was the one keeping it under wraps from my company so as to not alert the media to anything. So, I had to deal with the backlash and the presumptions. My reputation preceded me in the business world, but it also did in the world of women as well. I had paraded many around throughout my quick rise to success, so it only made sense Emma would draw that conclusion.