Page 58 of Before and After

Isat in the conference room, monitoring the feeds, and listening to the new bug. I was tryingnotto think about Allie. Or the kiss after our risky escape.

Hell, I’d been seconds away from losing all control and fucking her—at work, outside, against a wall.

Okay, I was failing badly in keeping my hands off Allie Ford.

I blew out a breath. Grabbing my mug, I sipped my coffee. I hadn’t seen her since our espionage mission, but I’d caught glimpses of her on the video feed occasionally.

So far, listening to the extreme-sports guys hadn’t paid off. There was lots of talk of bikes, tires, and their friend’s busted knee.

“Ah, the lone predator in its lair, monitoring prey and eschewing all contact with the rest of the species in order to hunt.”

I shot Piper a look over my shoulder. She stood in the conference room doorway, Ro beside her.

Ro slipped his hands into the pockets of his suit pants and looked at the screen. It showed room service being delivered to the ESG.

“Why are you watching these guys?” Ro asked.

“Because they’re trouble. Twenty-something guys into extreme sports. As far as I can tell, they don’t work, just travel around. They’re here to mountain bike, and their bikes are worth thousands of dollars. They came last winter to snowboard.”

“The blond one’s cute, and he knows it,” Piper noted.

“Blake Moreland. He’s the ringleader.” I leaned back in my chair. “They’re also dealing drugs.”

Piper stiffened. “They’re the ones who drugged the woman in the bar?”

I nodded. “I suspect so.”

Ro’s face hardened. “Why are they still in my hotel?”

“I don’t have hard proof. Right now, it’s just circumstantial. I’m working on it.”

Ro’s gaze narrowed on the screens as the blond guy closed the door to his room. The head of Langston Hotels nodded. “Then you’ll get them.”

Piper’s nose wrinkled. “They sound like first-class assholes.”

“I’ll catch them. Then we can ban them from all Langston Hotels and turn them over to the police.”

“Good,” Ro said.

I studied his face. “What’s bothering you?”

Ro glanced at Piper. “I hate when he does that.”

She shrugged. “He’s trained to read nonverbal cues. He can’t not do it.”

Ro leaned back against the conference table. “I finally talked with Chef Harvey. The guy is gruff as hell, but despite the bluster about being too busy, I could tell he was interested. I might need to go to London to meet him in person.”

“And he doesn’t like being away from Tessa,” Piper said.

He got a faraway look in his eyes, and the corner of his lips quirked. “I bet Tessa would like to see London.”

I swiveled to look at Piper. “What’s bothering you?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Nothing. The renovations are right on track as planned.” She buffed her nails on her shirt.

“And?” I prompted. I knew the woman too well by now.

She huffed. “I hate you. Fine. I sent a bunch of uniform samples to the head of maintenance. Do you know what he did with them?”