Flirting with Danger Bk 1

I looked at him in confusion. “What? Why?” I asked.
“Family things.” he said, quickly glancing down.
“It isn’t something bad is it? Some kind of new danger after us?” I asked.
“No, nothing like that. Just family matters to deal with. Well that, and Moran is coming secretly with us. He can’t be seen back in Europe so soon after Rudi’s death or it’ll raise problems.” he said and smiled.
“Oh, is that all.” I said, smiling.
“You know, just the basic stuff.” he said and I nodded. Then he kissed me and climbed into the limo with his family.
I looked after him for a minute, my face not happy anymore, and then handed off my bags to the driver before climbing into the other limo. Everyone was in there, including Dale and Louis’s partners. I didn’t know Johanna or Diane all that well, but from what I did know they seemed like pretty nice girls.
“So, who’s ready to get this show on the road?” Louis said, looking around and holding his drink up. We all cheered happily and Dale turned on the music.
As we drove to the hotel, we took pictures of ourselves, the sights on the way, and laughed and joked the whole time. We all took turns looking out of the moon roof and by the time we stopped at our destination, we were psyched out of our minds.
The door to our limo opened and a huge hotel looked down on us. We filed out, staring at the spectacular sight while our luggage was being loaded by the bellboys. “Welcome to the Grand Hotel Baglioni.” said a skinny Italian man standing in front of us, wearing a very fancy uniform.
“Mrs. Peters!” the man said, pure happiness on his face as he took and kissed Amelia’s hand. “It is an honor to have you here again, oh and you too Mr. Peters.” The man shook Mathias’s hand eagerly.
“What’s that about?” Louis asked in my ear. I shrugged.
“She’s famous throughout Europe. She used to dance.” Ivan explained quietly.
“If you’ll follow me.” The man said, looking at Amelia again before turning on his heel and heading for the doors. Two doormen opened the large doors for us as we entered the hotel.
Suddenly I felt like I’d jumped into an old romance novel. The hotel was beautiful! The floor was marble, with small black tiles making designs within the white, and the ceilings were very high. To my left and right was a large wide hall that our bell boys went down and at the very end of the room on the right was a large staircase leading smoothly up and to the right. But even though I wanted to follow the bellboys, we continued forward a little and stopped in front of a small desk between two large white columns.
“It’s more beautiful than I remember Alonso.” Amelia said, looking around graciously. I guessed she was referring to the man, because she glanced back at him and he smiled.
“Well, we had a tasteful redecoration in 1997, adding modern conveniences.” he said, sitting at the desk and looking through the drawers.
“I’m glad you kept the original style. I don’t think it would be the same otherwise.” she said, smiling at him.
“I would never dream of replacing the 16th century Greco-roman for anything else. It’s what makes this place.” he said, looking around the hotel.
“You’re a genius.” she said.
“Oh, thank you.” he said, turning slightly red at the compliment.
“We have reserved all of the best rooms for you.” he continued, getting back to business. He then handed out all of our keys and led us up the stairs to where an elevator was waiting.
“I thought it best to have the elevator here so people would enjoy the original way up before going to technology.” Alonso was saying as we crowded into the elevator.
“What about our luggage?” I asked quietly, turning to Connelly who was holding onto my waist like a possessive maniac. Couldn’t he just give me a little space? Gawh, he was acting so weird!
“Employee elevators.” he whispered back, winking at me and slightly squeezing my waist. I smiled slightly and then looked away, hiding my exasperation. Ivan was on the other side of me and he gave me a confused look.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with him!” I thought angrily. “He’s been acting like every guy he sees is going to steal me away or something. It’s driving me crazy! What is wrong with him Ivan?”
“I can’t tell you.” he said, looking down slightly.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Because he should be the one to tell you.” he said.
“What, is he leaving me or something?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t that.
“He’ll tell you when it’s time.” he said, keeping his head down.
“And when will that be?” I asked.
“I don’t know.” he said, and then looked at me. “Just don’t be angry with him. He’s acting like he is because this is very hard on him.”
“What is?” I asked, not angry anymore.
“Just,” he paused, glancing down, “he’ll tell you when it’s time.” he said and looked at me. Again, when I looked into Ivan’s eyes, I got a sickening feeling that something wasn’t right.
I was just about to start begging Ivan to tell me when the elevator doors opened and Alonso said, “And we are here, the top floor.” I looked as Alonso, Mathias, and Amelia stepped into the hall first, followed by the rest of us.
“All of your rooms are on this floor, and each room has access to the roof, where there is a nice sitting area.” Alonso walked slowly down the hall with Amelia and Mathias, the three of them remarking on how splendid everything looked and their memories of how it used to be.
“Now, all of you enjoy your night and in the morning we will go shopping for our dance apparel.” Amelia said, looking back at us all with a sweet smile before disappearing into the master suite with Mathias and Alonso.
That’s weird. I thought. I’d never seen guests allow the owners of the hotel into their rooms. And even if they did, there was something different about Alonso I couldn’t put my finger on. He wasn’t how I’d expected him to be. He was different somehow.
“Well,” Louis said, rubbing his eyes. “I’m bushed.”
“Me too.” agreed Diane, moving her red hair out of her blue eyes. Diane was a pretty girl, short, petite, and had a really nice smile that just made you want to like her.
Johanna, who was beside her nodded, covering her yawn with a graceful hand. Now Johanna, she was pretty. She was taller than Diane, and had a curvier body, an hourglass build. She was also a good person though, with long brown hair and light green eyes. Even through the short time we had spent together, we were already on the fast track to becoming best friends.
“What about you?” asked Dale, draping an arm around my shoulders.
“Yeah, me too.” I said, nodding.
“Well, goodnight everybody.” Ivan said, waving to us as he walked Sue to her room.
“Night Kota.” Dale said, giving me a full hug before joining Johanna to walk down the hall. Then Louis came over, giving me a really close hug, making his cheek brush mine even when I turned away.
“Goodnight Louis.” I said, giving him a look telling him to be careful. I glanced back at Connelly, who was waiting for me, and back to Louis.
“Sweet dreams Kota.” he said, his eyes telling me he didn’t care. Then he looked over at Connelly and held up a hand. “Connelly, Alister, Vincent.” he said, backing up. They all nodded, Connelly coming up and grabbing my waist. Louis nodded and took Diane’s hand, turning his back to us as they walked to their rooms.