“Since you know,” she put me in my place, “I’m apologizing for how she spoke to you.”
“As she should have,” I cut her off, and Mary’s shoulders relaxed. “Look, I should have known better. Been more prepared to come down to talk to everyone. I should be the one to apologize to you. I didn’t know what I was stepping into or the situation or even why we needed to remind the staff about discretion. And if you could share with me what happened, I’d appreciate it so I don’t go into that situation“—I pointed to the empty doorway Marty had disappeared through—"blind and somehow put my other foot in my mouth.” Her lips twitched. “It’s pretty crowded in there already with my size-twelve boot,” I added, and she shook her head. “I really don’t need to add the second one.”
“Nothing is going to shake you off from trying to go there, is it?” she asked, my determination obvious.
“What would be the fun in that, Miss Mary?” I winked, and she pointed at the table, taking a seat.
“Fine,” she said. I sat across from her, “But if I tell you this, you have to promise me two things.”
“Okay.”
“One, you don’t get yourself into any trouble.”
“And second?” I asked, not giving a shit about getting in trouble.
I was a Steel Sinner. Trouble was my middle fucking name.
4MARTY
Iwiped at the mirror for way too long.
I might have been staring at my reflection, but all I could think about, all I could see and feel, washim. I shook the thought away. Dropping my arm to my side, I frowned at myself.
I should have been done ten minutes ago. I knew better than to let a man distract me from work. I learned that lesson in my early twenties. Men did two things in life: they complicated everything and left a mess in their wake. At twenty-eight, I was over chasing men or believing in some kind of knight in shining armor who would show up and save me. That wasn’t for me. The only people a girl could count on completely were the women in her family and herself. She had to learn to be her own hero.
What would Griffin look like in knight’s armor?My stupid, touch-depraved mind and body seemed to have been discombobulated by the hot bad boy. They’d always been my weakness when I’d dated. Tattoos and broody, mysterious energy that made you lust-drunk were great, but so was peace of mind.
He’s different, a little voice in my head whispered, and my gut silently agreed.
I scanned the room to take note of what still needed to get done. Once the bedding was perfectly tugged and pulled into place, everything was spic and span.
Once the room was ready for the next person to stay, I moved to my cart that held all the supplies I needed that I’d left by the door.Different? Could he be?I shut my eyes and unlocked the wheels of my cart before reaching to open the door with my back to it. I kicked my foot to keep the heavy door in place, but the cart seemed to be stuck. I let the door go and sighed thinking about what I had to do next.
The next set of rooms on my assignment were upstairs, where guests stayed longer than a night or two.
I had been taken off the hotel rooms since what happened, happened. I was about to return to the scene of the crime. I hated how sick to my stomach it made me feel, even though I knew he wasn’t there. If Pope had told Mary they took care of Mr. Monopoly, I knew the Steel Sinners had done just that.
I hated not knowing if anyone staying long term was up there or not.
Part of me hoped it would be empty.
That wasn’t uncommon. It happened a lot. Only very special circumstances led to someone staying on that floor. For the most part, they were usually occupied at the end of the week and into the weekend. But sometimes, Pope had special guests who he’d allowed to stay up there for over a month in the past. Though those people were usually really cool.
I reached for the door and glanced over my shoulder only to almost let the door close once again, shocked and staring up at the last person I would have thought to see there. The same one who had been messing with my head for the last two hours.
Griffin’s large body loomed in the doorframe. It should have been intimidating. He was staring at me with a serious expression on his face, and I had to blink once, twice, to makesure I hadn’t somehow conjured him up. But I couldn’t deny it was him. I had to admit I was shocked to see him standing there.
Mary had called him Griffin, but with the leather cut he wore and the patch on his chest, I knew that wasn’t his given name but his road one.
Griffin.It suited him. He looked like something dark and mystical. Tall and muscular with tanned skin that came either from some kind of Mediterranean or Latin heritage or the sun. Or all three. That beautiful golden-tanned skin was covered in tattoos I wanted to explore and study up close and personal, memorizing each one and finding out the story behind them. Ink ran up and down his sinewy arms, including his fingers and all the way into the sleeves of his white tee shirt.
“Marty, right?” he said, breaking the weirdly comfortable silence that sat between us. I nodded because I didn’t trust myself to say a word. It was bad enough that I’d acted like a bitch to him, called him out on his stupid words in front of everyone in housekeeping, only to see firsthand how horrified he’d been when he found out what had happened.
If I was honest, it’d renewed some of the faith I had in the Steel Sinners as a whole.
“Trouble with the cart?” he asked, and I blinked.
He stepped around me and moved toward the cart, looking it over as if he was trying to figure out some kind of math problem. He stepped back, pulled his foot back, and kicked the wheel. A loud thump sounded, and a muscle under my eyes twitched.