Page 204 of Soul Mates: Hercules Valentine and I

“Yes, I can.”

“Meet me in room 5690. Talk to the courtesy desk your name is Faye Brown.”

“Who’s that?” she asks.

“I don’t know. I just made it up.”

Her light chuckle sends shivers through my cock. I can’t wait to hear her make the noises I’ve been missing.

I cough to clear my throat. “They’ll give you an access code.”

“Then I’ll see you soon,” she says.

I squeeze my package. “Yeah.”

3:24 a.m.

After calling the concierge at the Golden Grande Luxe and asking them to give Faye Brown access to 5690, no questions asked, I take the elevator next to my parking garage entrance to the fifth-floor service level. I check my security cameras on the ride down and am shocked to see Rain sitting against my front door, eyes closed, waiting. She’s wearing desperation like a costume. I get it, though. She’s protecting her investment. We’ll have to talk at some point. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.

Luck is on my side when I run into Sanford, one of the security guards, not long after I step into the hallway.

His eyebrows shoot up like he’s surprised to see me in the staff’s sacred space. “Are you lost, Hercules?”

With the tone he used, he might as well come out with it and ask, “What the hell are you doing down in the pit, rich boy.”

“Do you have a car?” I ask.

With narrowed eyes, he looks me up and down. I must appear overeager to him. I try to relax, but the effort seems to heighten his suspicions.

Sanford lifts his chin. “Yeah… I do.” That wary look on his face won’t go away.

“I’ll give you three hundred right now and seven tomorrow if you drive me to the Golden Grand Luxe.”

He thumbs toward the direction of my destination. “That hotel is just down the street.”

I nod assuredly. “Yes. But the catch is, I’ll be riding in the back seat, out of sight and out of mind.”

He squinches one side of his face as he shakes his head. “I don’t know, Hercules. Are you in trouble?”

I snicker. I must really look desperate. “Just keeping out of the sight of my brother.” I notice his backpack and the lunch case he’s carting. “It looks like you’re going home, so he won’t see you, and you don’t have to lie to him on my behalf.”

“Are you talking about Achilles?” he asks as if he doesn’t have to think twice about who I’m running away from.

“That’s the one.”

He smirks, snickering. “I’ll do it for free.”

Sanford drivesone of the last gas guzzling trucks on earth. There’s no back seat, so I crouch on the floor in the front. When I ask him why he stills drive that particular vehicle, he says it’s all he can afford.

“I spend half my check buying gas for this thing. Ten dollars and ninety-eight cents a gallon.”

Hearing him voice not being able to afford a more energy-efficient vehicle hits me hard. “Damn. You have to let me help you out, Sanford. It’s no big deal. You come to work for us every day. You should be able to afford putting gas in your car.”

The truck rolls to a stop in front of the hotel. “Nah, I don’t need a handout, Hercules. You’re a good guy. I know you care. But your brother, though. He’s a mother… Forget it. I’m not going to speak ill of your family member. But he might be an asshole.”

I chuckle. “It’s cool, man. Achilles is an asshole.”

“The other one too. And when is he going to stop bringing all these strange women into the building? And that girl y’all tucked away in 6306W, man—somebody saw them going at it in the main elevator. We were like, don’t you rich fu—people have your own private elevators? Nobody wants to smell that.”