Page 28 of The Haunted Hotel

“I say, that’s jolly unfair,” the Admiral protests.

“Gambled away your inheritance, ran away to join the navy, died of syphilis.” Roger stares at Admiral Hilary.

“Fair point,” he says in a conciliatory tone.

“Calm down, you lot.” I shake my head. “All of us care about the boy. We’ve watched Ellis grow up within these walls. He’s family, and we protect our own. We’d never make him do anything he didn’t want to, but you didn’t see the way he and Morgan looked at each other. There’s something there, I’m certain of it. Would it really be so bad if we just… you know… gave a little nudge?”

Skid grunts, not entirely convinced, but he raises no further objections.

“Right. So we need all of you to keep Stanley Fitzfinkle Longbarrow?—”

“Fitzgerald Longbottom.”

“Still don’t care. We need all of you to keep this Stanley chap distracted so he doesn’t catch wind of what we’re doing. Make sure we pass that inspection and get him out of here as quick as you can. Leona, you won’t be much use as he won’t be able to understand you anyway, so you’re with me and Roger.”

“And what exactly will you be doing?” Prometheus pipes back up.

Roger grins wickedly. “Bertie and I will concentrate on Butch and the Sundance twink.”

“Roger, Leona, and I will be providing opportunities for Morgan and Ellis to get to know each other,” I clarify.

“You’re going to be matchmaking,” Skid says dryly.

“It’s a dirty job,” Roger answers piously, “but someone’s got to do it.”

8

Iknock on Morgan’s door and wait patiently. He’d stalked back to his room a few hours ago, after being summarily dismissed by his grandfather, which I imagine was probably a bit hurtful. Unfortunately, when Mr Ashton-Drake gets in these moods of his, there’s nothing we can do but wait for him to come out of it.

Although I know Mr Ashton-Drake’s son—Morgan’s father—passed away unexpectedly when he was only in his twenties, I don’t know the full story of how Morgan came to grow up in the US. I’m also very curious as to why he doesn’t seem to have had any contact with his grandfather during that time, but I don’t want to pry.

I shift restlessly and raise my hand to knock again. I’d decided to give Morgan some space after the disastrous visit with his grandfather, but I haven’t been able to settle. Usually, I wouldn’t be so forthright with a guest, but Morgan isn’t a guest exactly, he’s Mr Ashton-Drake’s family, and the thought of him being unhappy makes something hot and unpleasant squirm in my belly. I don’t like it when people are upset, and I can’t help but want to cheer them up.

No matter how many times I told myself to just let him be, I ended up wandering upstairs to room 419 and pacing thecorridor, arguing with myself all the way. In the end, my need to make sure he was okay won out, and here I am, standing outside his door like a very smiley stalker.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

My hand drops, but before I can turn away and head back down the corridor, the door is yanked open, and Morgan stares down at me angrily. I can’t help it—my dick gives an interested little twitch. God, he’s hot when he scowls like that. Makes me want to let him do bad things to me, but it’s not very professional of me.

I sigh. Such a shame he’s off-limits.

“Good afternoon.” I give him a smile. “I wondered if you were hungry? You missed lunch and Aggie is about to start serving an early dinner. I know I’ve said it before, but you really don’t want to miss her stew and dumplings.”

“I’m not having dinner,” he says sharply. “I’m leaving. Call me a cab, please.”

He turns and strides back into the room while still talking to me, so I have no choice but to reach out to stop the door from slamming in my face and then follow him inside.

“I’m afraid I can’t call you a taxi,” I tell him apologetically.

“Why the hell not?” he snaps as he approaches the bed where his open suitcase lays half-packed.

“Well, it’s just that?—”

“It’s no wonder this place is empty if you can’t even offer to call a cab for the guests who want to leave.”

“It’s not that. Of course I would call one under normal circumstances, but it’s just that?—”

“I should never have come here in the first place,” he mutters to himself as he turns towards the dresser and opens a drawer, pulling out the clothes he obviously unpacked earlier. “I knew it was a bad idea, I should have listened to my gut. But no, I listened to my idiot brother instead.”