Page 6 of Ashes of Us

After they had written the statements for the staff and press and discussed preliminary plans for Alexander’s memorial service, they divided up the tasks between them.

Since Alex was the next of kin and executor of his father’s estate, he would handle any official or legal matters.

Danica would organize the memorial and arrange the schedule so that the staff could all have time to pay their respects while still keeping the hotel running.

She was also responsible for arranging a mandatory video conference for the managers of the other hotels, so that Alex could inform them of his father's passing simultaneously.

She sent the meeting requests to him, and he didn’t say a word, just accepted them. Since she didn’t have anything else to do, and it was clear Alex wasn’t going to talk to her, she made herself comfortable and closed her eyes.

The next thing she knew, she was being nudged awake and looked up to see Alex standing next to her, looking amused.

“We’re about to land, so pack away your things.

” He informed her. Nodding, Danica stretched and began packing up her stuff, but Alex didn’t move, just stood there, watching her with the same amused look on his face.

“What?” She asked, suddenly very self-conscious that she had drooled on herself or farted loudly in her sleep.

She reached up and rubbed her eyes and wiped along the edge of her lips.

No drool or sleep in the corner of her eyes.

She didn’t think she had been asleep for more than an hour anyway. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“You talk in your sleep.” He grinned and headed back to his seat as Danica felt her cheeks burn. She knew she did, but it was usually when she was heavily asleep and dreaming, but she couldn’t remember the dream, so she had no idea what she had said.

“I did?” she swallowed nervously, watching as he folded himself into the chair and put on his seatbelt. “I mean, yeah, I do, but I did?” She quickly finished putting her laptop away and straightened up the chair before doing up her own seatbelt as he chuckled softly.

“Yes. You did.” He said simply, and she saw he was actually giving her a warm and genuine smile. “I had no idea.”

“No idea about what?” Danica didn’t know what she said but she really hoped it hadn’t been about him. “What did I say?” He just laughed again and shook his head.

“You know what? I think I’m going to keep that to myself.

Danica let out a low growl of frustration and shook her head as she braced herself for landing. She tried to remember the dream she had but just got a few blurry glimpses of vague figures, nothing that was of any use as to what the dream was actually about.

When they landed, Danica collected her overnight and laptop bags and went to bring her car into the hanger so they could load up Alex’s luggage in the pan.

Alex stopped short when she pulled up beside him, his eyes widening in surprise.

Danica couldn’t help the proud grin that crossed her face.

Part of the reason her and Jasper started dating was their love of cars, but while he liked the sleeker, newer sports cars, Danica was all about classic cars and owned three, an electric blue 1978 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, a black 1967 Chevy Impala, and this one, a dark green 1971 Chevy El Camino Super Sport.

All three had been bought in various states of disrepair and had been restored by her, with Jasper’s help.

It was actually how she met him, she posted on a social media group asking questions about parts and he answered, they started talking and he offered to come help with a repair, when he was finished she tried to offer him cash for his work, but he had waved her off with a confident smile.

“Let me take you out for dinner and we’ll call it even.

” They had been pretty much inseparable ever since, moving in together after a year of dating and getting married a year after that in a simple ceremony that Alex and Craig hadn’t attended.

She had driven her favourite, the dark green Chevy El Camino Super Sport, to the hanger.

The El Camino had the front end of a Chevelle coupe with the pan of pickup truck so it was ideal for carrying lots of luggage or boxes which she had assumed correctly that Alex would have.

Getting out of the vehicle, she rolled up the tonneau cover, dropped the tailgate for him and climbed up into it to move the suitcases to the front and arrange them so the tonneau cover would cover everything and keep everything secure while she drove him… Wherever he was going.

Despite his initial surprise, by the time he laid the first suitcase in the pan, his expression had gone back to his usual expressionless mask, and he didn’t comment on the car.

When they had everything loaded, Danica jumped down, closed everything up and climbed in the driver’s seat, When Alex was inside and buckled up, she started the engine and looked at him expectantly.

“Where do you want to go?” She realized she hadn’t asked him what his plan was while he was here.

His parent’s house was available, but it had been closed up and unused for four years and the staff were going to have to do a complete deep clean of the penthouse, including removing the bed and replacing it before it could be used again.

“Straight to the hotel,” He buckled his seatbelt, looking over the interior with vague interest. “We’ll get that out of the way first.”

Danica nodded and started the drive. “Did you want me to organize cleaners to go into your parents’ house and get it ready for you?

Or will you be staying at the hotel?” She didn’t want to push too hard, but these were things she needed to know so she could have it ready for him, like a good executive assistant.

He seemed to realize she didn’t know where he intended to stay because his face lit up with understanding.

“Oh, yes, have a cleaner go to the house and give a thorough deep clean, but then contact a real estate agent to come in and do an appraisal, fix any issues they find and then put it on the market.” He said as he looked out the window, watching the city pass by with a smile on his face.

Danica had to admit, he was clearly excited to be back in Boston, she could practically feel his energy radiating from his body.

“I have a condo in the Seaport District.”

Danica blinked in surprise, not because he had a condo in one of the more upscale and modern areas of Boston, but because he was planning to sell his parent’s house, but she quickly schooled her expression and nodded.

“Yes, sir.” She murmured, shifting gears as she merged onto the I93 to get to Essex Street.

“We aren’t in public, Dani, you can call me Alex.

” Alex’s voice was dry, and she saw him give her a faintly annoyed look out of the corner of her eye.

“I expect professionalism in front of employees, investors and business partners, but when it’s just us you don’t have to be so formal.

” Danica made a noncommittal noise in her throat and kept driving.

She wasn’t exactly sure where she stood with Alex, she didn’t want to push things until she got a little more comfortable with him.

The rest of the drive was quiet and when she pulled into her parking space in the underground parking, she looked round and didn’t see Nigel’s Honda anywhere. “I don’t think Nigel and Craig are here yet, do you want to wait for them or have me call an emergency staff meeting immediately?’

“Craig doesn’t have to be here for it and Nigel already knows.” Alex shrugged dismissively as he got out of the car and stretched. Danica leaned over and locked his door before following him. “Didn’t take you for a classic car girl.”

The sudden change in subject threw her off and she had to remind herself that she really had very few interactions with Alex in the last ten years, so he wouldn’t know anything about her.

“No?” She quickly ran her fingers through her hair, combing it out and then pulling it up into a more professional bun.

“I have a ‘78 Firebird and ‘67 Impala, too. Rebuilt them myself”

“Really?” Alex’s eyebrows went up and she could see he was impressed behind his surprise. “No help from the mechanic husband?”

“Jasper.” Hoisting her bag over her shoulder, she started toward the elevator. “He helps, mostly with sourcing affordable parts for me and welding, but otherwise I do it myself.”

“So, you’re an amateur grease monkey.” There was a faint hint of teasing in his voice as he caught up to her and she glanced over to see him smirking at the idea.

“My foster father was a mechanic,” She shrugged as she stepped onto the elevator and swiped her card for the administrative floor.

“I spent a lot of time in his garage “earning my keep.” Her foster family hadn’t been abusive in any way, shape or form, but she was expected to do chores and help around the house.

When they realized she was much better at taking things apart and putting them back together then she was at chores and cooking, she was sent out to help her foster father in his home garage.

“Earn your keep?” She could hear the faint note anger in his voice and looked at him in surprise as the elevator came to a stop.

“You were a child in their care, they were paid to look after you, you shouldn’t have had to earn your keep.

” Danica shrugged again, not sure how to respond, but wondered what the hell she said in her sleep for Alex to be suddenly coming to her defense.

“There were six of us, we were all expected to do our fair share to help keep the house running smoothly.” She explained as she headed to her office. “I was good at mechanics.”

“So why did you do hospitality?” Alex came to a stop in her doorway, leaning on the frame and folding his arms over his chest. “Why not become a car mechanic?”

“Because I enjoy it as a hobby, and it wasn’t what I wanted to do for a living.

” she said absently as she sat down and started her computer.

“I did hospitality because I wanted to become a flight attendant, but I started here and just… stayed.” She opened the schedule to see who was working and divided them quickly into two groups.

She knew rumors were going to travel fast among the staff and mentioned that to Alex.

“I’ll take care of that, don’t worry.” He came in and sat across from her. “Set up an appointment with a notary asap so we can get that paperwork signed.” Danica nodded and began making a list of staff she was going to have Marcy call in for an emergency meeting.

“Do you want me to clean out your father’s office, or will you handle it?”

“We’ll work on that next week.” He was watching her work intently and it was starting to make her uncomfortable.

“Let’s get through the announcements and meeting first.” He pulled out his phone, do you have the paperwork for my father’s estate so I can get started on the memorial stuff?

” Danica nodded and got up, going over to her filing cabinet and pulling out the paperwork.

She laid it on the desk in front of him along with the card the coroners office had given her and the keys to his office.

He picked up the file and leafed through it while she called Marcy asking her to get in touch with the off-duty staff to come in for a meeting at four.

Glancing at her phone, she saw she had a few missed messages from Jasper and Nigel, Jasper asking if she got back okay and Nigel asking her to phone him.

She quickly responded to Jasper and then called Nigel. “Hey, are you back yet?” She asked when he answered, sounding annoyed and stressed.

“Yeah,” He paused, and she could almost picture him running his hand over his face in exasperation. “He asked me to take him to his parents’ house and locked himself in. He’s refusing to leave.”

“Oh.” It was Danica’s turn to pause, and she looked up at Alex, who was busy going through all the paperwork she had given him.

“Well, there’s nothing you can do there, come back to the hotel and give Marcy a hand with getting all the staff in.

I’ll let Alex know and see how he wants to handle that.

” Sounding relieved, Nigel hung up and she explained the situation to Alex.

“Son of bitch!” Alex growled and pulled out his phone. “How did he get in?”

“I guess he had a key?” Danica watched him as he began scrolling frantically, not sure why it was a big deal.

“At least we know where he is.” Alex rolled his eyes and must have found what he was looking for, because he put the phone to his ear, drumming his fingers impatiently on the desk as he waited for an answer.

“Marco, Alex West. I need a security team patrolling around my parents’ house immediately, no goes in, understand?

” He was quiet for a minute, and Danica watched as his face grew red.

“I don’t care what it costs or who you have to reach out to, make it happen.

” There was another silence and then he gave a terse “thank you” and hung up.

“The bastard is gonna try to sell everything not nailed down.” he grumbled as he stood up.

“I’ll have the police get him out of there after we finish up everything here.

” Danica nodded and followed him to the main conference room, instantly feeling guilty that she hadn’t pushed for Alexander to change the locks on the house when he moved into the penthouse.