With Love

Chapter Fourteen

Hello hello!

Hope you're all having a great week, enjoy!

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The next night, I stood in the elevator by myself, heading down to the lobby. Even though I wanted to visit the basement late last night after coming home from dealing with the assassin, I couldn't bring myself to ignore the pain in my shoulder.

I knew it was stupid to take it off but again, image and reputation outweigh most things in my life, like health and safety.

The cold shoulder I received from Finn didn't help. He bitched and moaned about how I could have caused severe nerve damage to the affected muscles in my shoulder. I did, however, rip the stitches on my back from the way my skin moved when I swung the bat. And still, now, he refused to acknowledge me unless it was about my shoulder.

I told Elijah to get him to the basement so he could try and enjoy himself for a bit, free of charge. Jasper stood in front of the penthouse elevator as soon as the doors opened, expecting my arrival.

"What happened?" I asked immediately.

Jasper's gaze swept the lobby, eyeing the guests hanging around the lobby. No one noticed our presence. "I've been informed that a State Governor has joined us this evening," he explained calmly.

I pursed my lips at the liability. "I'm not letting anyone win." The normal response would be to bend over backward for these kinds of people but it's not the first time we've had a politician in our presence in the basement.

Jasper followed me closely. "I expect nothing less, however, they are asking for discreteness on them being there."

"As long as they respect our discreteness then they have nothing to be concerned about." My brother and I walked through the lobby. I took my time to look at each little detail of the lobby from the freshness of the flower pieces that get replaced every morning to any small scratches on furniture situated around the space. Walking past the reception area, the staff called out a greeting to us.

I raised a hand in reply. "Yana, thank you again for organizing my outfit for tonight, much appreciated," I said, smiling at her.

Yana's lips shifted as she tried to hide her proud smile. "You're very welcome Miss Love."

We headed in the direction of the kitchens. In the construction of the basement, my father made it explicitly clear that the entrance to it would be nowhere near the regular hotel guests and would be guarded heavily.

Through an inconspicuous door designed to look like a personnel-only room that has a passcode only a few and trusted employees have. Inside the room is a staircase that leads a level down where a solid vault door stood with two men guarding it.

They're trained to not acknowledge unless necessary. It's kind of cool. Jasper punched in the code, spun the vault handle, and pulled the giant and heavy door open. It swung on silent hinges and no sound came from inside.

The hallway beyond was dark, alluding to nothing further. "I haven't been here in years," I murmured, reminiscing the first time my father let me come through here at sixteen. He wanted me to be prepared for what the business side of things was like aside from the legitimate hotel business we owned.

Together, we wander through the pitch-black space down a straight and narrow corridor until we reached the last door. This one had a thumbprint encryption system that unlocked it and with that done, the door inched open and a blast of music deafened us accompanied by the smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke.

We entered together and I absorbed my surroundings. The first section seen through the door was the bar area. A classy bar took up an entire wall and three bartenders manned the space, creating any form of drink requested, with every kind of liquor imagined...even the questionable kind that is hard to attain in usual situations.