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‘I completely understand. The Love Hotel takes both your financial and emotional investment very seriously, so we’ll do everything we can to rectify the situation. And you will receive compensation for any inconvenience.’

Samantha was right to be upset. I was glad that at least she would get some money back.

‘I know that you can’t control if guests have personal issues.’ Samantha softened her voice. ‘It’s just frustrating, that’s all.’

‘I agree.’ Victoria nodded sympathetically. ‘I appreciate that you’ll need time to process this, but in order for me to consider the options available, I need to ask: would returning to London early be a possibility? Then perhaps you could return for the full two weeks again once Edward is able?’

My eyes bulged. I had not had the chance to tell Victoria about my earlier conversation with Edward. If she heard about the disgusting things he had said about Samantha she would not even consider inviting him back to the hotel.

‘No,’ Samantha sighed. ‘I’ve already booked the time off. The company made arrangements to cover my holiday and I wouldn’t get the time back. If I went home now, I’d just be sitting around doing nothing. I don’t get much annual leave, so I can’t afford to waste it. I definitely couldn’t take another two weeks off anytime soon.’

‘I see. I needed to ask.’ Victoria took a deep breath.

My shoulders loosened. In my opinion, the only reason Edward should be allowed to return would be to apologise to Samantha face to face.

‘This has never happened before, so forgive us for not having all the answers right now,’ Victoria continued. ‘For all we know, Edward could call to say everything’s fine and be back here tomorrow. We just don’t know. So perhaps in the meantime, you’d consider staying? We’ll keep in contact with Edward to see if there’s any developments we can share. What do you think?’

‘So, if I stayed, I’d still go on the trips, but by myself?’

‘Essentially, yes,’ Victoria confirmed. ‘But you’d still have the other guests around you because this week it’s couples activities in a group setting and of course, Romeo will be there, so you wouldn’t be completely alone.’

I smiled and nodded to help reassure her, but inside I was conflicted.

Of course, I was disappointed for Samantha. She had come here with such high expectations and her experience at the hotel so far had not been a good one.

I wanted to do whatever was needed to make it better, but I was concerned.

I had enjoyed spending time with Samantha, more than I should have. With Biscotti’s health scare, I had not been feeling great these past few days. But today I had laughed a lot. More than I had with any woman in a long time. Which was probably why I slipped up earlier and called her beautiful.

Alberobello was a short and low-intimacy excursion, but the trips scheduled for the rest of the week would not be as straightforward.

This was a couples holiday and everything was carefully planned to stimulate romance. That was why spending so much time with a guest that I was starting to realise that I found attractive would not be ideal.

‘Okay. It’s not like I really have a choice,’ Samantha huffed.

‘I admit, the options right now are limited, but like I said, I’ll be speaking to management and seeing what else we can do. Okay?’

‘Yeah,’ Samantha sighed, then stood up to leave.

‘Thank you again for your patience and understanding. Romeo will let you know as soon as we hear from Edward.’

‘Thanks.’ Samantha gave us both a weak smile before leaving. ‘See you later.’

A few moments after Samantha left, Victoria squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head with disappointment.

‘I feel so bad for her. Samantha seems lovely and although I’m sorry that Edward has some family issues, he’s put us in an impossible situation. If it got out that a guest spent the holiday without a match, it’d damage our reputation. People won’t care that his absence wasn’t our fault. They’ll just see an opportunity to tear us down.’

I understood Victoria’s concerns about the hotel’s reputation, but I was more worried about Samantha.

Whatever was happening with Edward’s family was of course terrible, but I still did not like the guy.

The way he spoke about her was disrespectful. And if he had to leave, he could have called or messaged Samantha in the taxi or airport to tell her personally.

He had not even attempted to contact me. The only reason Victoria found out that he was leaving was because the receptionist called to alert her that he had requested a car to take him to the airport and she knew it was not in the schedule.

Perhaps I was being harsh and unsympathetic, but I just did not trust him.

When I relayed my conversation with Edward this morning and told Victoria about his behaviour at dinner, her face fell.