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Page 2 of Ashes of Us

They jokingly called her “Mom's Answer to Empty Nest Syndrome” and were friendly and polite when they were around, including her in the conversations and asking about her life.

Craig was much more personable and fun, teasing her about her love life and offering to set her up with his friends, while Alex was drier and more reserved, usually keeping his questions surface-level and limited to her university courses and how things were at the hotel.

It stayed that way for six years, until Alexander made her his executive assistant, and she began to notice that Alex was much shorter and colder with her when they interacted with one another.

It later came out that Alex thought she was having an affair with his father.

While Alexander dealt with it, and made Alex apologized to her and his parents, she kept him at arm's length, maintaining a polite and professional relationship with her guard up around him.

Danica swallowed and knocked on the door again.

When there wasn’t a response, she put her hand on the knob to open it, hoping he was in the shower and couldn't hear her despite not hearing any water running.

“Alexander? I'm coming in,” She warned loudly, not wanting to walk in on him in any state of undress, which would be very embarrassing for both of them.

She slowly pushed the door open and immediately saw Alexander in his bed, slumped against the headboard with the blankets drawn up like he had fallen asleep, his chin resting on his chest. Feeling like her heart was beating out of her chest, Danica approached him cautiously.

“Alexander?” She whispered as she reached out and lightly touched his shoulder.

He didn’t respond, and she gave it a good shake.

“Alexan -” her voice cut off into a sob when she noticed how stiff and cold he was.

“Fuck.” She stepped back and ran her hand through her shoulder-length golden-brown hair as she stared at him for a moment, wishing she had told Nigel to get maintenance to open the door instead of leaving her husband’s warm embrace and racing down here.

Wiping the tears off her face, she took a deep breath and steeled herself before reaching out and placing her fingers against his neck.

When she didn't feel a pulse, she felt her knees get weak, and she stumbled back, swearing again as she bumped against the dresser.

Pulling out her phone, she called Nigel and told him to come to the penthouse; then she called 9-1-1.

“Hi, I need an ambulance and the police at the Rose Gold Hotel, please.” Her voice and hands shaking, Danica left the bedroom and sat on a chair in the living area as she explained the situation to the dispatcher, assuring her that he was already stiff and no amount of CPR would bring him back.

She instructed both the police and the ambulance to come to the service entrance at the rear of the hotel and said the day manager would meet them and bring them up to the penthouse.

There was a knock on the door, and she hung up with the dispatcher and got up to let the day manager, Nigel, into the penthouse.

Deciding there was no point in beating around the bush or sugarcoating things, she sat on the couch and gestured for him to take a seat in the chair across from her.

“Alexander is dead.” She told him quietly, watching as his face turned ashen, and he gripped the arms of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white.

Much like Danica, Nigel came from a less-than-pleasant background and benefited from Alexander and Cassandra's generosity. He started at the Rose Gold as a bellhop and had also received help with his college tuition from them. He had recently been promoted to Day Manager and was doing an exceptional job in Danica’s opinion, proving Alexander’s ability to see and nurture the potential in his workers once again.

“No,” he whispered, glancing toward the bedroom door. “Are you sure?” Danica nodded, knowing the two of them would have to hold it together for the staff until she got Alex back here and they could make an announcement.

“Yeah, he's already... stiff.” She murmured, blinking back tears with him. Clearing her throat, she shook her head. “I want to sit and cry as much as you do, but we need to keep it together.” She wiped her eyes a little impatiently. “This needs to be kept quiet until we notify Alex and Craig.”

Nigel took a deep breath, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes as he reluctantly nodded. “What do you need me to do?”

“Go down to the service entrance, meet the paramedics and police and bring them back here. Tell the staff a guest died, and do not mention anything about Alexander. He's fine; he was in the bathroom when they called or whatever you have to say.” She took a deep breath and put her head in her hands as she thought. She didn’t want to inform Alex or Craig over the phone; it felt too cold and impersonal considering her relationship with the family.

“Call in Marcy to finish your shift; I want you on the next flight to Vegas.”

“You want me to tell Craig about his father?” Nigel shifted, looking extremely uncomfortable. “I don't know if that's a good idea.”

“Would you rather go to London and tell Alex?” Danica knew he wouldn’t.

Alex was intimidating and cold at the best of times, and Craig was much more easygoing.

She knew that Craig and Nigel used to be close before Craig went to Vegas - it was Craig who had recommended Nigel apply for a job at the hotel and vouched for him with his parents.

She also knew about the rumours that they had a romantic relationship that ended when Nigel found out Craig was constantly surrounded by and dating beautiful women in Vegas behind his back.

They had never confirmed the relationship, though, and when asked why he was no longer friends with Craig, Nigel would shrug and say they had grown apart.

Whatever was actually true, she could see why he would be uncomfortable with telling Craig about his father, and while she sympathized with him, she needed him to put his personal feelings aside for the next few days and help her with this.

Nigel's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly, clearly more nervous about talking to Alex than he was uncomfortable with talking to Craig. “No, no. I'll take Craig.”

“I figured.” Danica gave him a brief, sad smile, and then it faded as he turned to leave the room, still looking pale and shaken.

“Thank you, and I'll book your tickets,” She called as he shut the door.

Walking over to her purse, she pulled out her tablet and booked his flight to Vegas for noon.

Then, she called the hangar and told them to get the Rose Gold jet ready to fly to London at eleven.

If she had timed everything right, they would arrive at their destinations at the same time.

As long as Craig wasn't too drunk or high to comprehend what Nigel was telling him, both Alex and Craig would receive the news simultaneously.

As firstborn, forty-year-old Alex expected to take over his father's position and had spent his entire life working toward that goal.

He was eager to step into the CEO role and had been pushing hard for his father to retire so he could come back to the States over the last six months.

He was currently in the process of divorcing his wife, and Danica knew he desperately wanted to put the Atlantic Ocean between them.

She also knew he resented her for both her closeness with his father and the fact that she was the reason the senior Alexander was able to continue in his role as CEO at seventy-two.

When his mother had her first stroke, it was touch and go for several weeks, with the doctors not sure if she would recover or get worse, and both Alex and Craig had come home to say their goodbyes and help with things.

Both of them had been shocked to find out Danica was handling everything while their father remained at their mother’s side.

Alex stepped in to run the hotel and had been furious about the amount of control she had, especially when they found out Cassandra was out of the woods but would never fully recover and would need round-the-clock care.

Alex completely lost his mind when Alexander gave his credit card to Danica and told to arrange everything so Cassandra could spend her remaining time in the home she loved.

When Alex confronted his father about it, he accused them of having an affair, which resulted in an epic fight that only ended when his father threatened to disown him and cut him out of his will if he didn't sincerely apologize to him, his mother and Danica. Alex begrudgingly made his “sincere” apology, but she never fully forgave him for thinking so little of her, and she firmly believed he only dropped it because he didn’t have the proof to back up his accusation and didn’t want to lose the hotel chain.

Thirty-four-year-old Craig had been living in Las Vegas “running” the Rose Gold Hotel and Casino on the Strip for the last twelve years - if running meant throwing lavish parties, gambling, doing drugs and drinking himself stupid.

He truly lived his best life in the penthouse of the hotel, drawing a salary, while Danica ensured the hotel and casino were profitable.

She didn't have a lot of interaction with Craig since his mother died, his father wrote him off after he failed out of three different universities because he was partying too much to go to class and only kept him on salary because Cassandra made him promise not to cut their younger son out.

She sat in on the bi-weekly meetings between him and his father, but because of his contentious relationships with his father and brother, he hadn't been home in four years.

Danica finished booking the flights and hotel rooms for Nigel and her in their respective cities and had just hung up the phone with her husband when he walked in with the police and paramedics in tow.

She directed them to the bedroom and sat with Nigel to come up with a story to tell the staff.

She knew it would get out, but she wanted to keep things minimized as much as possible.

The next few weeks were going to be rough as they navigated Alexander’s death and the transition to Alex as CEO.

As they waited for the body removal service to come and take Alexander’s body to the Medical Examiner's Office, she focused on her breathing to keep herself together, knowing there was a very good chance she would be unemployed when she got back from London.

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