Page 5
I smile and cross the lobby toward the elevators. The building is one of the nicest in Alton Hills, with marble floors and a doorman on duty around the clock. Apartments on the upper floors sell for ten million dollars and look out over the city.
Mine is a small one-bedroom on the third floor at the back. There’s no balcony, and my windows face the building next door. I live well, just not ten-million-dollar-penthouse well. Since I’m rarely home, I don’t need much more. The apartment is safe, private, and only eight blocks from the Hartwell.
Once inside my apartment, I kick off my heels and carry the takeout into the kitchen. Percy, my white Ragdoll cat, waits beside his empty bowl. His blue eyes move from me to the paper bag.
“Sorry. I’m late.”
Percy can’t read a clock, but he knows dinner comes at seven. As far as he’s concerned, half an hour late is unforgivable.
I set the bag on the island. His nose twitches.
“That isn’t for you.”
I open a can of the expensive cat food he likes. By weight, it probably costs more than my dinner.
I’m away more than I’d like, but Percy doesn’t seem to mind. If I pet him for too long, he simply gets up and leaves. I still feel guilty about leaving him alone all day, so I spent a small fortune turning one corner of the apartment into a cat playground. He ignores it and sleeps in the patch of sunlight beside the window all day instead.
Once Percy starts eating, I unpack my own dinner. Before I can take a bite, my phone buzzes on the counter. Chloe’s name fills the screen.
“How did it go?” she asks before I can say hello.
“They delayed the application for six weeks. Without access to our service lane, Voss has to redesign the hotel.”
“I knew you’d stop him.” Her voice brightens. “And six weeks is perfect. Grandma should be home by then, right?”
Chloe has called my grandparents Grandma and Granddad since we were kids. She’s been my best friend since kindergarten, and because her parents worked late, she came home with me most afternoons. My grandparents raised me after my parents died, and they made room for Chloe too. By the time we were ten, she had a drawer in my bedroom, a place at our dinner table, and an equal vote on what we watched on TV.
“Let’s not tell Grandma anything until she gets home,” I say.
“Obviously. She’d be on the first flight back. We’re not ruining her trip unless the Hartwell actually burns down. A small fire, we can handle. You deal with Voss, Grandma enjoys Spain, and we tell her everything when she gets home.”
Chloe has always been sure she knows what’s best for everyone. The annoying part is that she’s usually right.
“Agreed.” I look down at my dinner. “Guess who showed up at the hearing.”
“Who?”
“Eric Voss.”
“You’re joking.”
“I wish.”
“He went to the council hearing himself?”
“Yes.”
“And is he as good-looking in person?”
“That’s what you want to know?”
“It’s the first thing I want to know.”
“He’s...fine. He lived up to his reputation.”
“As the most eligible bachelor in Alton Hills?” I can hear her smile.
“As the most arrogant man in Alton Hills.”
