Devious Intentions (Carson Cove Scandals 3)

“I’m sorry, Jenny.” I stood up when she did and gave her a hug.

I walked Jenny to the front door and stayed there until her car had pulled out of sight. I remembered those gut-wrenching drives back to hell. She deserved better, but she was bound to Sinn Manor until her eighteenth birthday. I was lucky enough to have a little bit of peace during my final years there because our father was in prison—doing time for Securities Fraud—which was why I never expected my grandfather to name him as the next CEO of Sinn Technology. My father knew how much I wanted to take over our family’s company, and he knew I was the right choice for the job, but he didn’t give a fuck. When he wanted something, he took it—and it seemed that Jenny’s trust fund was the latest victim of his gluttony.

You’ve done a lot of evil shit in your life, Edgar Sinn—but this may very well be the worst one of them all.

I didn’t get much peace after Jenny’s visit because I couldn’t settle my anger long enough to let go of it. I tossed and turned all night. I wanted to confront my father, but I knew it would end badly if I did. There was no way to talk any sense into him—cruelty was his nature—and he didn’t care how his actions impacted others. He was greedy, selfish, and he would trample on anyone to get what he wanted. I slept for a few hours right before the sun came up, but I didn’t feel very rested. Sleep was no cure for the rage that was still coursing through my veins.

I desperately needed a change of scenery—or more specifically, I needed to visit an old memory that could always bring me back from the edge when I came dangerously close to losing control. There was only one place in Carson Cove where that memory would be vibrant enough to drown out the chaos in my head—the Pembroke Hotel. It was ritualistic, and some would have probably called it borderline insanity, but it worked—sometimes that was all that truly mattered. I didn’t have to check-in at the front desk. My room was basically reserved until the end of time, so I walked straight to the elevators once I arrived.

They have a new girl working at the front desk—I wonder what happened to the other one…

My mind wandered for no reason at all, or maybe it was just the beginning of the ritual as my thoughts began to sort themselves out. The elevator took me to the top floor of the Pembroke, and I walked to the room at the end of the hall. It was the room Caroline, and I always stayed in when we wanted to escape from the outside world. That was exactly what I needed, even if the emotion I was chasing was just a placebo for the one I would never truly feel again. I dropped my overnight bag on the bed

and opened it. I had a change of clothes inside, but it was the rest of the contents I needed to unpack.

I never thought memories would turn into make-believe, but that’s all I can cling to now…

I put Caroline’s makeup bag on the table beside the bed. I placed the satin box that held her engagement ring next to it and put the ring by the lamp—just like she always did before she went to sleep. I used to tease her about not wearing it to bed. I couldn’t even remember why. Once the table was set up the way it was when she stayed in the room with me, I laid down on my side of the bed and faced the wall.

Her spot would still be cold when I woke up, but if I glanced over my shoulder—I could pretend she was just enjoying one of her long baths—or minutes away from walking out of the bathroom to tell me that I needed to get dressed. It was heartbreaking and comforting at the same time—but for some reason—those memories always returned with enough vivid detail for me to pretend for a solitary second that they could be real.

She always had a way of making me forget everything else—she was my calm in the middle of every storm that raged around me…

Chapter Three

Leigh

“Hey girl, how’s it going?” Rosa walked into the employee bathroom while I was putting on my uniform for work.

“It’ll be better in about eight hours.” I laughed under my breath.

“Ain’t that the truth.” She nodded quickly. “Well, I told Ms. Valerie I’d work overtime tonight, so I’ll be here a little longer than that.”

“She hasn’t asked me to do that yet…” I picked up my name tag and pinned it to the front of my uniform.

“I doubt you’ll have to worry about that—you got a cushy desk job.” Rosa grinned and leaned close to the mirror so she could check her makeup.

“Thanks to you…” I sighed. “Why didn’t you apply for it?”

“That’s not me.” She shook her head back and forth. “I can’t stand there all day with a smile on my face—I’d rather be scrubbing toilets.”

“At least you’re not scrubbing the ones at the Carson City Inn anymore.” I raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“Ain’t that the truth.” She nodded. “This place is definitely a lot nicer—when people aren’t getting stabbed in the stairwell.”

“Yeah…” The smile disappeared from my face, and I nodded aimlessly. “Okay, I need to clock in.”

“Okay, I’ll see you around.” Rose pulled out her mascara and started touching up her eyelashes.

I had been working at the Pembroke for a couple of months, and thankfully, the incident on my first day was the only one worth talking about. If things like that had been a regular occurrence, I would have been looking for a new job by the end of my first week. I found out that I was the only weirdo that wore my uniform to the building after my second day on the job—the rest of the employees left them in their locker, and the hotel laundry service made sure they were clean before their next shift. I wasn’t used to that luxury, but I decided to take advantage of it.

The Pembroke really was a nice place to work and most of the guests were pleasant—that was a lot different than the Carson City Inn where half the people who checked in were drunk, high, or anxious to get the person they were with behind closed doors to do things to them that I didn’t even want to think about.

“It’s going to be a busy day.” Hank looked over at me as I took my position at the computer beside him.

“You always say that…” I shook my head and laughed.

“It’s always true.” He shrugged. “Hey, if you’re not busy after work, some of us are going to get drinks—you in?”