Don't Let Go

Assumptions

CORDELIA POV

"Thank you so much, Sara," I said with a bright smile in a perfect Southern accent. "We will make use of that room service or let you know if we decide to order takeout."

The hotel concierge waved as Elliot and I took a luggage cart with all our bags and cooler up to our new hotel room. We slept past 9 this morning then I found a workout on YouTube that we did in our previous motel room to work out some of the nervous energy pulsing through me.

It was a lot of burpees.

I hate burpees.

Elliot does, too, so at least I wasn't tortured alone. Having a couple days out of my normal routine had me feeling discombobulated more than the impromptu adventure we were on.  Working out has become essential to my mental health.  I felt the itch to go for a long run whenever I was stressed so knowing we had a gym available at our new hotel was a huge plus.

"That accent was spot on, Cordy," Elliot whispered as we waited for the elevator to arrive in the lobby.

I snorted a laugh then darted my eyes to him with a shrug while turning up the accent a notch, "Well, I do declare, Elliot, you will see many different sides of me as we travel with one another."

We took the elevator up to room 912 and I used my key card to open the door to our suite.

"Whoa..." Elliot breathed. I turned to face him with a grin as he pushed our bags inside, his dark eyes wide as he checked out the space. "This has to be the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, Cordy."

I chuckled then moved further into the space, thankful we had a lounge of sorts with a TV and couch as well as the bedroom with a king sized bed.

One bed...

After reminding myself this was a way to stay somewhere fancy without blowing through more of our cash, I grabbed the cooler Janet packed us for the drive in movie then tucked our cold items into the mini fridge. We didn't have much besides drinks and snacks but it was good to be prepared.  The hotel was in a downtown area with plenty of nearby restaurants as well as stores.

Room service was a great option but I knew if we got the all clear that we would explore as much as possible.

This was why Dad wanted me to have a new bodyguard- so I could see the world and get away from our estate more often.  With Elliot we found someone capable of adapting to whatever happened as well as easy to work alongside.  I was thankful to have a man I already considered a close friend, especially now that Lewis has been proven as part of the plot to stalk and kidnap me for ransom.

At least I hope all they want is a ransom.  I could not allow myself to consider what else they could do to me if I was taken by the wrong people.  The concept made me physically ill.

If we had not found the right person for this position before something went sideways, Aidan would have filled in.  Having my own bodyguard that was able to keep communication open while staying upbeat was critical.  I felt more comfortable knowing Aidan was at the house keeping my Dad calm, and they were both relaxed now that Elliot had proven himself a strong member of our team.

We got settled then set up the laptop and send Aidan a message that we were at our next destination. Last we heard around lunch time the cops were making slow progress on getting a location for the Resistance members responsible for stalking me.  Lewis was no help since he was not responding to their calls which made me curious whether he was spamming my Instagram inbox to get a trace on where I was.

The idea made my stomach turn.

Maybe I should not have turned him down.  Maybe if I agreed to date him again we would not be in this position...