When Cami came into the resort an hour later, her eyes flashed with anger as she stalked straight to Lana. “Why didn’t you call me? Sage had to tell me what was going on here. I should have been second on your call list behind 911. Or maybe third behind Alex.”
“He’s got PR working overtime to put together a statement.” Lana brushed the hair back from her face. “I’ve been so busy I didn’t even think to call you. I’m sorry.” Her brain was fried, and it was all she could do to stay upright.
Cami’s eyes narrowed and she started to speak, then shook her head. “I’m going to have serious words with you, but first things first. When did you eat last?”
“I can’t eat,” Lana protested, remembering what had happened to her last meal.
“When?” Cami’s voice was implacable.
Lana looked at her watch and realized it was past lunchtime. “Breakfast. Five hours ago.” She didn’t mention that she had vomited most of that in the hysterical guest’s toilet.
“Food. And don’t argue with me. I’ll have Rosemary send something to my office. You’ll go in there and lie down until the food arrives. You look like death warmed over.” Cami caught herself, pressed her lips together, then sighed. “Bad choice of words. Anyway, go rest—or your husband is going to be down here wondering why I didn’t make sure you were taken care of. Where is he, anyway?”
“Up there dealing with everything. As many policemen as we have here now, though, I’m sure they’ll be kicking him out soon.” She was surprised they hadn’t already.
“Good. I’ll order something for all three of us. Better yet, for all of us, and we’ll have a quick executive meeting.” Cami flicked her hair out of her face. “We have to get a handle on this, like, yesterday.”
Lana chuckled at the thought of being prepared for this in advance—as if anyone could have anticipated it—but she turned and followed her sister’s orders. Sometimes it was nice having a bossy older sister.
Lana ate lunch, held a quick teleconference with Alex, the hotel’s executive staff, and the head of corporate PR. Then, after a few minutes to center herself, Lana donned her coat and walked out to where media was lined up, waiting for information. She walked straight to Alanna. “The press release will go live in about half an hour. You want to beat everyone else, tell me where to email it.”
Alanna grinned and gave her the editor’s email address. “I’ll call him right now.”
Everyone else crowded around, asking questions, sticking microphones in her face. Lana looked out at the sea of people and wondered how they had managed to get up the mountain so fast. “Check our website for the official press release shortly. You’ll find it at,” and she gave them the address, which they anxiously scribbled down.
“How come you’re sending it to her paper first?” a gossip columnist asked.
Lana lifted her brows. “She’s a lot more worried about newsworthiness than sensationalism—always an advantage in my book. Plus, we like to give local businesses a hand. And you’re not local. Read the report online. Thank you. I have no comments about the incident.” She turned and walked back to the hotel.
Blake waited for her at the door. “Are you okay? They looked a little eager.”
She laughed despite the stress that still weighed on her. “Yes, very eager. But I’m uninjured—though a few of them sounded like they would have liked to hurt me when I gave the Chronicle the data first. Let’s get back inside and see what else needs to be done.”
That night when Lana and Blake went back up to their room, she changed into a pair of comfy pajamas and curled up on the bed. She considered turning on the television, but worried she’d see some mention of the murder, and she’d had all she could take of it already.
Blake entered wearing only a pair of pajama bottoms and she enjoyed the view. He was usually so buttoned up in public that it was only in their private moments that she got the treat of his bare chest.
“Like what you see?” he asked when he noticed her gaze.
“Oh, yeah. Come over here so I can cuddle up with you. I’m so exhausted, that’s, sadly, all I’m good for tonight.”
He lay on the bed beside her and pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms around her and threading their fingers together. “I wondered how you were holding up, but I knew you wouldn’t take a real break until everyone else left.” He kissed her cheek, then the crook of her neck. “Stubborn woman,” he whispered in her ear.
“It was the worst day of my life.” She paused and reconsidered. “No, the second worst.”
“Was the worst the day your dad died? Your mom?” His voice was filled with quiet sympathy.
She brushed her cheek over his shoulder and resettled. “No, it was the day I thought you cheated on me.”
His cheek brushed against the top of her head. “That was the worst day for me too. Losing you was more terrible than anything I’d ever gone through.”
“Why didn’t you come after me?” She had wanted to know all year, ached to ask him, but hadn’t dared—what if he’d told her she wasn’t enough? “I thought I wasn’t important enough to you for you to come after me.”
“No, honey. That’s not it at all. I just... I was so hurt, and I was sure you’d realize you’d over-reacted and come back to me. I wrote you a dozen emails that first three days, but they all sounded lame and needy.” He held her tighter, pressing his cheek to the top of her head. “If I’d had any idea how long it would take to get you back, I wouldn’t have cared how the emails sounded, or that the words weren’t perfect, I would have been on your doorstep pleading with you. Some days it was all I could do to focus on my work and not pick up the phone and beg you to come back.”
Lana felt the tears leak from her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She wasn’t sure if she would have changed her mind even if he had come running right then. The hurt was so huge and she hadn’t been ready to listen.
“You don’t still think I’d do that, do you?” he asked after silence filled the space between them.
She paused, considering his words. She wanted to be honest. “I don’t think so. I don’t want to believe you would ever do that to me. But I don’t think I’m quite there yet.”
“Then why are you here?” His voice didn’t sound hurt, just surprised and curious, but she’d learned from watching him with his parents, that he was good at hiding the hurt.
“Being apart from you is much harder than fighting my fears,” she admitted. “I just wanted to be able to turn to you instead of holding back. Every day I think I’m closer to letting go of my fears, so please, just be patient with me.”
He pressed his lips to her hair. “I’ll be here for as long as you need me to be. For longer. Living without you is misery.”
Since she heartily agreed, she rubbed her face against his chest again, then let her eyes drift shut.
Joel came to the executive office after the morning meeting the next day. He checked the place for bugs, then sat with Blake and Lana.
“This ghost is avoiding the cameras,” he said. “It’s like the person behind this knows where they’re hidden. If there’s anywhere in that tower that isn’t covered by video surveillance, the incidents always happen there.”
Lana watched him. “So you think they have something that tells them where your extra cameras are hidden?”
“Either that, or they had a set of eyes watching me when I installed the new ones—and I took the cameras off line in those halls during installation to ensure they couldn’t monitor my actions that day—which means someone working here is involved somehow. I’m going to have to be far craftier to catch them. Between the flying, disappearing tomahawk and the dead waiter, half our staff is ready to quit and several already have. We have to put an end to this immediately.”
“What do you have in mind?” Blake asked. He took Lana’s hand and squeezed it.
“Starting with more security. Three just to watch that part of the building, and a couple more doing rounds with us. Hopefull
y it’ll be a temporary stopgap until we catch whoever is responsible. I know some of the local deputies who do this kind of thing on their off hours, and one who’s connected to a security company that hires for short periods. It’ll be pricey, but not as pricey as closing our doors.”
There was no way Lana was going to let the hotel go down the drain when she was at the helm. “Closing down is not going to happen. Even if I have to spend my whole inheritance keeping it open.” Lana straightened her shoulders. “Whatever you need, do it. We’ll figure out the financial side of it later. There is no budget limit, just take care of it. We have a wedding next weekend and Cami and Vince’s day is going to be perfect in every way.” She stood. “I have a few wedding details to tie up. I’ll leave you two to hash it out.”
She retreated to her office where she made herself a cup of mint tea, opened her calendar and to-do list and set to work. She couldn’t do anything about the ghost—that was Joel’s job, so she’d focus on what she did best. Organizing.
Lana had never been to a funeral that was harder to face. Her mother’s and father’s deaths had been difficult on a personal level because she loved and would miss them. Leon Petrokol’s death was not so personal—and yet, far worse. She’d learned his name, greeted him many times in the halls and tipped him well when he brought her food. But she hadn’t known him. Until his funeral, she’d had no idea he was a student at UC Denver, that he hoped to get an MBA in accounting. That he liked gummy worms and strawberry ripple ice cream.
She’d never know the sound of his laugh or the way he’d brighten when he opened his Christmas bonus—which would now go to his parents since the checks would be dispersed later that week.
She ached inside, feeling responsible for his death, just because they couldn’t catch the killer. She was in charge, she was the boss and everyone expected her to keep things safe and running well, and she hadn’t. She’d failed this young man.
There was no way to make it better.
She leaned heavily on Blake’s arm as they filed out of the funeral. Cami and Vince, Sage and Joel, Rosemary and Jonquil came in behind them. Delphi had stayed behind to run the hotel. The drive to Pueblo for the funeral had been long and tense, but the thought of returning to the resort, putting it all behind them and moving on wasn’t exactly an easy thing, either.
“Are you okay?” Blake asked when they were in his car. Cami and Vince were in the back seat, snuggled together.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I just can’t stop thinking that we should have caught the killer before this happened.” Tears welled in Lana’s eyes and a lump rose in her throat. “I know it’s stupid, but I can’t let it go.”
Cami’s hand settled on Lana’s shoulder. “We all feel that way. It’s not just you. And we’re all wrong, because it’s not our fault.”
“I know. I just can’t stand this. Something has to happen soon.”
“Hold your tongue,” Cami said mildly. “Last time something happened...” The words she had started to say fell flat as they all realized what she meant.
“So what now?” Vince asked, pulling Cami tighter against him.
“Now we go back to the resort,” Lana answered decisively. “We double-check everything for the wedding and get you two married. I’m going to leave the rest to Joel.” When Cami snorted, Lana amended. “Okay, I’m going to try to leave the rest up to Joel. At least for the next few days. We’re going to have a beautiful wedding and then we’ll take the next step.”
“And what would that be?” Vince asked.
Lana sighed. “I have no idea.”
Blake deleted another phone message from a reporter wanting information about the murder in the hotel. The last thing he needed right now was to deal with the media. He had enough going on in his job and personal life already.
As if to punctuate that point, the office manager stuck her head in his doorway. “Hey, you have a call on line two. It’s your mother.”
“Thanks.” Blake wanted to grimace, but he forced a pleasant smile, since his mother always seemed to be able to tell if he was scowling over the phone. She claimed she could hear it in his voice and had uncanny accuracy in pointing it out. “Good morning, Mother. How are you doing today?”
“I’m fine, but I’ve been so worried about you. I heard about the murder.”
“Yes, that has been a terrible tragedy for our staff. Very difficult, but the police are investigating and expect to have answers soon.” That was a bald lie, as the police seemed to have very few leads. The murderer had been very careful.
“Well, I still worry about you. Don’t try to be a hero, honey.” There was the sound of ruffling papers in the background. “I called to say that I’m having a party this weekend. Everyone who is anyone is going to be there and it would be so good if you could come. I know Charity is hoping to see you.”
Blake ground his teeth together. “Mother. I’m married, remember? I don’t care if Charity is interested in me or not. I’m with Lana. I couldn’t come this weekend regardless, besides the investigation we’re dealing with, Lana’s sister Cami is getting married on Saturday.”
“Oh, but I’m family, and she’s just—”
“My family, Mother. She’s my family. Lana is my wife and Cami is her sister. That makes her my family every bit as much as you are. You need to accept that no matter what else happens, this is the way things are. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I really can’t make it this time.” He sucked in a deep breath to stave off the irritation that flooded him. “I hope you have a terrific party and that everyone talks about how wonderful it was for weeks to come.”
“You’re not going to come? But Donald always comes to my parties, why do you insist on being so difficult?” Juliette sounded flabbergasted that he would make any other choice.
He loved the way she ignored the fact that his brother lived less than an hour away from her instead of halfway across the country. “Some other time, when you’ve given me more notice, I’ll be happy to join you and bring my wife to meet everyone. Love you.” Blake hung up and stood from his desk. He hated to disappoint her, but he couldn’t drop everything and run this time, and he definitely wasn’t going to any party without Lana by his side.
He rubbed his chest and told himself to ignore the voice inside him that always told him he wasn’t good enough, that he was a disappointment and fell short. If only he weren’t so useless, his parents would appreciate his accomplishments and Lana would never have left him. It was the same voice that had whispered to him all of this life that he wasn’t good enough, and kept him from begging Lana to come back. He might have made it sound like he’d been confident that she would come back on her own, but this part of him had always whispered that the supposed cheating was an excuse to cover the fact that she didn’t want to be with him after all.
Bile burned in his throat, and he fought back the voice, choosing to think of the fact that Lana had chosen to be with him, and knowing it had nothing to do with being scared to be a single parent. She would excel at anything she tried, so allowing him back in had to be because she loved him, not as a security blanket.
Though he repeated the thoughts firmly and then put them out of his head, he wasn’t sure he completely believed them.
“I’m disappointed in you, son.”
Blake closed his eyes and rubbed his fingers across the bridge of his nose as he listened to his father. “I’m sorry.” There was nothing else he could say. He fought the sense of uselessness that always filled him when his father used that tone.
“Your mother is having the party and she wants you to be there. You never put other people’s needs before your own wishes.”
The familiar refrain made Blake clench his fists as he fought to stand his ground and declare independence. “I’m sorry if it disappoints you, Dad. But I have commitments here in town. I really can’t leave.”
“Putting your friends before your family, picking out a woman from a family who has been involved in who knows what kin
ky escapades—”
Blake wouldn’t take it anymore—couldn’t take it anymore. Apologizing and taking blame when he didn’t deserve it had been his life’s mission, but this was the last straw. “Father. There are a couple of things you need to understand. First, Lana’s family is my family, so I’m not putting my friends in front of my family. We’re married; she has to be my first priority right now. Her sister’s wedding, which is only going to happen once, is going to be a priority over Mom’s last-minute invitation to a party she’s probably been planning for weeks. It’s not like she won’t hold another one in a few months.”
His father started to argue, but Blake raised his voice and spoke over him, “And second, I never want to hear you say anything like that about my wife or her family again. I will not stand for you talking badly about any of them. Lana is more than good enough for me—probably too good for me. I expect you to treat her with the respect she deserves as my wife, and I expect you to treat my son with the same love and care that you treat your other grandchildren, or you won’t be seeing any of us. I wish you and Mom luck with your party, but I’m not going to be there.”
When silence greeted him on the other end of the line, Blake wasn’t sure if his father was just flabbergasted that he had stood up for himself for the first time in memory, or if he had hung up in offense at being spoken to like that.
“I can’t believe you. Your brother would never speak to me like that. You’re supposed to honor your parents and you know how I feel about those DiCarlos. George was underhanded and crooked—and your so-called new family is no different. Just you wait and see.”
“Goodbye, Dad.” Blake hung up the phone and set it carefully on the desk, knowing if he didn’t he’d give in and throw it across the room. He would never be good enough for his parents, and there was nothing he could do about it. All of his efforts were continually compared unfavorably to his brother’s and it would always be the case. The fact that Donald had been conditioned to see things from his parents’ viewpoint didn’t make their relationship any easier.
Reclaiming His Bride (DiCarlo Brides book 3) (The DiCarlo Brides) Page 16