Ella, I’d named her. Oh, fabulous. Because of course all she needed was a pet name and a muzzle for that right hook and I could bring her home with me. I allowed myself a small smile and started down the hallway.
Chapter Six
It was too much to hope that she’d caught a cab and been halfway across Chicago by now. Instead, the whispers between the front desk staff pointed me to the back offices, and then the ruckus in the back kitchens drew me like a homing beacon.
I found Ella in the back room, wrestling with a member of security. He was armed only with a walkie-talkie, it appeared, but he used it furiously, shouting into it as he gripped Ella’s arm with his other hand.
“There you are,” I accused.
She subsided in his grip, looking relieved. It was a sad state of affairs if I had to play knight in shining armor.
The guard looked me up and down with a faint curl to his lips, as if he couldn’t make up his mind whether to permit a sneer. Young woman in a sexy dress with a fresh shiner—I could have been a rich bitch housewife with an abusive sugar daddy. Sadly, no. My sugar daddy had cast me out, both for my betrayal and for my own good.
“Ella, I’ve been looking all over you,” I chided.
She raised her eyebrows at the made-up name. Well, I could hardly have called her Princess without him assuming we were strippers. And the other names I called her in my head were even less flattering.
“You know Daddy doesn’t like to be kept waiting,” I added.
On that note, the guy released her. Anyone named Daddy who had two girls like us answering to him was either scary or crazy, probably both.
“She dropped this,” he said, holding up a sleek leather wallet that she must have lifted from one of the men upstairs while grappling with them.
A little impressive, actually.
“I assumed it wasn’t hers,” he added, seeming less certain now.
I sighed. “Really, Ella? Wrecking the Mercedes wasn’t good enough? Now you have to steal something? Where’d you pick that up—the hotel restaurant?”
Ella crossed her arms, teenage angst at its finest. “Bet Daddy didn’t even notice I was gone.”
She fell into the game so smoothly I almost cracked a smile and ruined the whole thing.
“So…you know her?” the guard asked, clearly a bit confused as to what he should do.
“Unfortunately, yes,” I said. “We’re family.”
“You’re not my real mom,” she said hotly.
“But you’re stuck with me, darling,” I said with saccharine sweetness.
“Right, well,” the man stammered. “I don’t want to get involved with a domestic dispute.”
“Oh no,” I said. “It’s too late for that. She stole something. Isn’t that like, a felony?”
“I don’t know.” The guy flipped through the wallet, flashing several hundred dollars. “It looks like it’s all here. No harm, no foul, I say.”
Ella smirked. “Guess not every old guy falls for your fake boobs.”
“They’re not—” I clasped a hand to my very real boobs. “You can’t just let her go. Call the police. She needs to be locked up. She’s horrible!”
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said with glossy patience.
He seemed much more comfortable now, dealing with a bitchy guest rather than the lowlifes that we were.
“It’s hotel policy not to involve the authorities unless there’s been property damage, and since I’ve recovered the wallet, I’m afraid I’m going to have to release her into your custody.”
I turned to her, dismissing the man. “I’m telling Daddy. He’ll cut you off.”
“Bite me, mother.”
I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down a hallway. Who knew where it went, didn’t matter. I chanced a look behind us. The guard was shaking his head as he spoke into his walkie-talkie. Never mind. Silly rich people.
“You little brat,” I said, partly to complete the charade and partly because my face hurt like hell. “I can’t believe you hit me. I was helping you.”
She snorted. “Yeah, helping me whore myself. No, thanks.”
Her words jolted me. It was one thing to accept the life for myself, but why would I ever have tried to ease her into it? Ah, right. Because we were both dead if we didn’t.
“Jail won’t be any better for you, sweetheart. Not if Henri’s pissed, and he will be once he hears you bailed on the VIPs.” A sideways glance showed her pouting profile. “Are you at least going to tell me your name now?”
“I’m Polly-fucking-Anna. Pleased to meet you.”
Oh good, because more sarcasm was exactly what my life needed. “Fine, don’t tell me. I’m calling you Ella.”