Sarah Morgan - The Twelve Nights of Christmas

‘Excuse me?’ Almost speechless with outrage, Evie exploded. ‘Look at the guy! Even if I wanted to, I’m hardly likely to be able to force myself on him, am I? He’s built like a—’ Her voice tailed off and colour poured into her cheeks.

Tina was shaking with anger. ‘Get your things.’

‘I don’t have any things. Everything I owned was in a bag and I left it in the basement. Carlos was supposed to arrange for it to be brought up here so that I could change into dry clothes. Funnily enough, it never appeared.’ Evie scraped a strand of hair behind her ear with a hand that shook, afraid that this was going to be the moment that she finally lost it.

She felt tears scald the back of her eyes as she made a last-ditch attempt to extricate herself. ‘Carlos ordered me to sleep here last night, not that I expect any of you to believe me.’

‘Of course we don’t believe you!’ Tina exploded. ‘Why would the Manager of this hotel give a member of the housekeeping staff permission to spend the night in the Penthouse? A room that costs twelve thousand pounds a night.’

Evie paled. ‘How much? That’s outrageous.’

‘What’s outrageous is you standing there behaving like Lady Godiva. You need to find yourself another job, young lady. Since you’re so free with your body, I’m sure there are no end of options open to you if you’re seeking new employment,’ Tina snapped. ‘And don’t look so shocked. You’re standing there half naked, so this “I’m an innocent girl from the country” act is wearing a little thin. You may look wholesome, but I think we all know different. Why do you think I moved you off Reception? We had such a crowd around the desk, the hotel almost ground to a standstill.’

‘I was being friendly! You told me I was the public face of the hotel and I assumed you’d want that face to be smiling, not miserable! You’re so unfair—it’s Christmas and there’s not a single drop of Christmas spirit or compassion in any of you. And I’m naked because my clothes were wet, not because I want a career as a porn star.’

Tina pointed towards the door. ‘You’re fired. Get out.’

‘What, dressed like this?’ Evie gaped at her. ‘No way! This is the throw from the bed and I’m not giving you reason to sue me for theft on top of everything else, not to mention indecent exposure as I trail along the corridors. I think you’re all vile. None of this is my fault, but I’m going to be the one who suffers. I’ll get dressed and then I’ll leave and I hope you all have a really Happy Christmas!’ Thinking of her grandfather’s reaction when he saw the photograph of her naked and kissing a stranger, Evie gave a strangled moan and shot into the only room with a lock on the door.

Wholesome —

Rio stared at the locked door, his mind moving faster than the speed of sound as he swiftly formulated a plan that could turn this situation to his advantage.

Square-jawed, purple in the face, Tina turned to the security men with the purpose of an army commander preparing for a forward push. ‘She’s locked herself in. Open that door and escort her off the premises. We’ll do what we can to keep this out of the papers.’

Rio roused himself. Fired by the challenge, always at his best under pressure, he took control.

‘Out,’ he ordered harshly, striding towards the door of the suite and holding it open. ‘All of you. Now.’

They all looked at each other and Rio gave a smile that shifted the atmosphere from one of tension to one of terror.

‘Organise a staff meeting for one o’clock this afternoon.’ Like a laser-guided weapon locking on his target, he transferred his gaze to the security chief. ‘At that meeting I want the name of the person responsible for the fact that the security cameras in the street were pointing the wrong way. I want a report on how security at the hotel can be upgraded so that I have a guarantee that any intruder entering this building will be challenged within thirty seconds of entering the premises—’

‘But this is a hotel, sir; people come and go—’

‘If you’re not up to the job, just say so, and I’ll replace you with someone who is. My personal security team will assist you in preparing the report, if you wish to stay.’

Arnold quailed under that icy stare and Rio continued.

‘It’s your job to differentiate between guest, gawker and criminal. That’s the job I pay you to perform. And you—’ Rio shifted his gaze to Tina. ‘You’re fired.’

Tina gaped at him, her jaw slack, her unmade-up face an unflattering shade of scarlet. ‘You can’t just fire me—’

‘I own this hotel. I can do anything I like.’

‘You have no grounds—’

‘Bullying and staff intimidation are grounds enough in my book,’ Rio said coldly, ‘and that’s just the beginning. I have a full report on my desk, which includes recommendations on staffing. Your name appears on almost every page. Do you want me to go on?’

Tina gulped and opened her mouth but no sound came out.

Without a flicker of expression on his face, Rio opened the door wider. ‘That’s it,’ he said pleasantly. ‘You can go now. And on your way out ask someone to come and remove this Christmas tree. While I’m staying here, I don’t want to know it’s Christmas. Am I understood? No baubles, no berries, no tree, no tinsel.’

One by one, they shot past him and Tina paused, clearly panicking about her future. ‘What about Evelyn? She’s the cause of all this. She should be removed from the premises.’

Rio, who had been rapidly formulating a backup strategy since ‘whiter than white’ had exploded into the ether, sent her a look that had her scurrying out of the door.

Strolling back to the bathroom, he stared with brooding concentration at the closed door.

Wholesome.

The problem might just turn out to be the solution, he mused.

‘All right, Sleeping Beauty. I’ve slain your dragon. You can come out now.’

He’d fired Tina!

With her ear pressed to the smooth wood of the door, Evie listened with her mouth open, unable to believe what she was hearing.

Afraid to make a sound in case he realised she’d been eavesdropping, she tiptoed away from the door and leaned her burning cheek against the cool marble wall of the bathroom, her knees weak and shaking.

He’d seen right through Tina and fired her on the spot. Obviously, the rumours about him being super-bright were true. All right, so he was ruthless and wasn’t afraid to axe jobs, but still—maybe he wasn’t so bad…

Still in shock, Evie let out a long breath. She felt as though she should feel sorry for Tina, but it was hard to feel sorry for someone who created an atmosphere of intimidation. She remembered the threats, both spoken and unspoken, the way she transformed confident staff into doubting, apologetic wrecks. Since her demotion to housekeeping, Evie had mopped up more tears than she had floors.

Had he heard the rumours? Was that what he’d meant by seeing Tina’s name on every page of his report?

Who else was on his list to be fired?

Realising that she had to be right at the top, Evie closed her eyes.

There was no doubt in her mind that she was going to be next and she didn’t even care any more. All she cared about was that stupid, horrid photograph. Perhaps she ought to ring Cedar Court and ask the staff to make sure that her grandfather didn’t see any newspapers or television.

But her grandfather loved his newspaper. He did the crossword every day.

If they banned it, he’d just want to know why.

Hyperventilating again, Evie clutched the edge of the washbasin and forced herself to breathe steadily.