Page 10 of Cherished By the Sinners

Chapter Four

Darlene

Darlene finished cleaningthe first suite, thanked the guests, and wished them a good day.She exited the room and rolled her cart toward the next set of rooms.

“Miss,” the Japanese man who’d spoken with her called out.He walked over to her, stopped a polite distance away, then held an envelope out with both hands, bowing slightly.“Thank you.”

She bowed back and took the envelope.“You are welcome.”

“Is it acceptable to request that you maintain our suite again?”

The implied praise put a smile back on her face.“Yes, of course.Use the phone in your suite to call housekeeping.Ask to speak with Louise and tell her your request.My name is Darlene.”

“Excellent, thank you.”He returned to his suite.

Darlene waited until the door was closed to look in the envelope.It had five one-hundred dollar bills in it.Thanks to her time living in Japan, she knew this was an accepted way to show appreciation to friends and family.The amount was extravagant to her, but given the quality of their clothing, perhaps not extravagant to them.

She tucked the envelope into her pocket and carried on to the next suite.She knocked and waited for someone to answer.

The door opened and a man stood in the doorway.He didn’t say anything, just stared at her with a blank expression.

“Housekeeping,” she said.“May I clean your room?”

He didn’t react to her question in any way.His eyes were a brown so dark they looked black.Flat.Frozen.

A wave of cold air swept up from her feet, sending a shiver across her body.“Sir?”she asked tentatively.

He moved, stepping back and opening the door wide.

She hesitated, fighting her instinct to turn around and run, then pushed her cart into the suite.

Darlene went about her cleaning the same way she’d just done in the other suite.This time, however, the man who’d let her in followed only two paces behind her.

His breath whispered across the skin at the back of her neck, cold and sharp, scoring her skin as if he’d scratched her.

A cellphone rang somewhere in the suite, reminding her that she wasn’t alone, wasn’t without ways to call for help.Darlene stopped, stood a little straighter, and pulled her cellphone out of her pocket.

She opened the texting app for hotel staff and hesitated over who to send a message to.The guest hadn’t moved, his attention centered on her completely.She didn’t need to turn her head to check.She’d been seen as prey for so long, she knew when a predator was sizing her up.