means he had acquired the address of her new apartment.
She narrowed her eyes. ‘Are you having me followed, Mr de la Cruz?’
‘Followed? No,’ he dismissed. ‘Am I ensuring your safety? Yes,’ he admitted without apology.
Lia’s brows rose. ‘Why on earth does my safety need ensuring?’
‘You are now alone in the world.’
‘We both know why that is!’
‘Lia—’
‘Is there a problem here—? Mr de la Cruz!’ Michael, the hotel manager, quickly hid his surprise as he greeted the other man warmly.
‘Good morning, Michael,’ Gregorio returned smoothly as the two men shook hands. ‘And, no, there is no problem. I just came down to say hello to Miss... Faulkner,’ he finished, with a knowing glance at the badge Lia had pinned on the left lapel of her jacket.
It was a surname Gregorio knew didn’t belong to her.
And he also apparently knew the manager of this hotel by his first name’
An uneasy feeling began to churn in Lia’s stomach, growing stronger by the second and making her feel slightly nauseous.
There was no such thing as coincidence where Gregorio de la Cruz was concerned.
Which meant he had known exactly where she would be starting her new job this morning.
He really was having her followed—might he even have had some influence in her attaining this job too?
For what reason?
The churning in Lia’s stomach became a full-blown tsunami as she searched for the reason Gregorio was doing these things.
That guilty conscience she had accused him of having?
No, he had denied feeling any guilt in regard to her father’s death.
The only other reason Lia could think of was to make her feel beholden to him. Not just beholden but trapped, when she badly needed to keep this job in order to pay her rent and bills as well as to buy food.
Trapped enough to give him what he wanted?
Namely herself.
‘Of course.’ Michael accepted Gregorio’s explanation. ‘If you would care to take your lunchbreak early, Lia, I’m sure we can accommodate—’
‘No! No,’ she repeated in a calmer voice as she realised how rude her previous vehemence must have sounded. ‘I’m sure a busy man like Mr de la Cruz has somewhere else he needs to be right now.’ Her eyes glittered in challenge.
Whatever was going on here, and whether or not Gregorio had had a hand in her acquiring this job, she did not want her co-workers seeing her on the receiving end of deferential treatment from the manager on her very first morning. There were already several curious glances being sent their way—goodness only knew what conclusions the people she had only just started working with were drawing about this conversation alone!
‘Thank you for the offer, Michael.’ Gregorio answered the other man smoothly. ‘But, as Lia says, I have another appointment in a few minutes.’
‘Oh. Okay. Fine.’ The other man looked slightly flustered. ‘I’ll leave the two of you to talk, then.’ He hurried off in the direction of his office behind the reception area.
‘I do not like your hair pulled back in that style.’
Lia raised an irritated gaze. ‘I really don’t give a—’
‘Language, Lia,’ Gregorio drawled.
‘Down?’ she repeated abruptly. ‘You told Michael you had come down to say hello to me...’ she said as Gregorio raised a questioning brow.
‘I occupy the whole of the penthouse floor of the hotel,’ he admitted without apology.
Lia’s heart sank down to wallow in all the blood that had already drained and congealed in her feet. ‘Is it possible that you own the Exemplar Hotel?’
‘It is part of the De la Cruz Hotel Group, yes.’ He gave a smile of satisfaction.
Trapped!
Lia had absolutely no doubt now that for reasons of his own Gregorio was involved up to his arrogant neck in her being given this receptionist job.
Gregorio’s satisfaction faded, his eyes narrowing as he recognised the flush gathering in Lia’s cheeks for exactly what it was. Anger. White-hot burning fury.
‘Do not do anything you will regret,’ he warned softly as she stood up.
‘The only thing I regret is actually thinking you were being nice to me on Saturday.’ She bent to retrieve her bag from under the desk, her eyes glittering accusingly as she glared across at him. ‘I’m going to take that early lunchbreak, after all. Perhaps you would like to clear that with your buddy Michael?’
‘He is not—’
‘Stay away from me, Gregorio!’ she hissed, leaning across the desk so that only he could hear. ‘Find some other mouse to ensnare in your trap, but leave me alone!’
Her cheeks were ablaze with colour as she marched the length of the reception desk, appearing on the other side of it before striding the length of the hotel lobby and out through the front door.
Gregorio very much doubted it was the right time to tell Lia that the staff of the Exemplar Hotel were not allowed to use the front entrance.
Well, that hadn’t gone as well as he might have hoped.
Hope.
That seemed to be all he had where Lia Fairbanks was concerned, when she continued to resist and deny him at every turn.
Maybe ensuring she was employed at one of the de la Cruz hotels hadn’t been his best idea, but at the time, knowing of her lack of funds and the problems she was having finding suitable employment, it had seemed the right thing to do. Besides which, he knew Lia could do the job standing on her head.
She was warm, gracious, well-spoken, beautiful... And, having been her father’s long-time hostess and companion, she knew exactly what was required of a receptionist in a prestigious hotel.
He should have waited until a more suitable time, of course, to inform her that he owned the hotel where she now worked. But, having spent a frustrating day yesterday, wondering what Lia was doing and who she was with, and knowing she was downstairs working in the lobby of the hotel, Gregorio hadn’t been able to resist coming down at least to look her again.
Once he had seen her—as cool, calm and collected as he had known she would be—he hadn’t been able to stop himself from actually speaking to her.
Considering Lia’s fury when she left, he wasn’t sure she would be coming back.
* * *
‘So,
