The maffiaboss who saved me

Chapter 17

Nora POV

After a fifteen minute ride William drives the car into the underground parking lot of the hotel. As soon as he parked the car he gets out to open the door for me before I even get a chance to open it myself. It’s gonna take long for me to get used to that. I look around and see two elevators next to each other, one has a sign above it that says “guests” and the other has a sign that says “private”. I guess that’s the one that Colin and his brothers use since it has a panel next to it to type in a code. I walk to the elevators and press the button next to the one for guests. The doors open, I get in and press the button for the ground floor. It only takes a few seconds until the doors open again and I can walk to the reception.

“Good morning, I was wondering if you could tell me in what room Mrs. Miller is staying?” I kindly ask the receptionist. She looks at me with an annoyed face and raises her eyebrow.

“I’m sorry miss, I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.” She answers me, still doing things on her computer.

“I’m a friend of hers. I brought her here myself. I’m one of the residents that lived in the apartment block that exploded. My name is Nora Young.” I try to explain to her as I start to get annoyed too. She types something into her computer, then she looks at me with her brow raised even higher.

“I can’t find you in our system, where did you stay then since you were with the others?” The sassiness in her voice makes my blood boil, then suddenly I hear a familiar voice behind me.

“She stayed with me, Valerie.” Her eyes go wide open as her face runs pale and I look behind me to see Colin stepping towards me with an annoyed look on his face.

“I-I’m sorry Mr. Davies. I didn’t know that, I didn’t see her that night.” The receptionist stammers while she looks down at her desk.

“That is because she was guiding everyone inside and making sure everyone was ok.” Colin glares at her.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Young. Who were you looking for?” She looks at me ashamed.

“Just print the list of guests you checked in that night and give it to me for god sake.” Colin snaps at her and she nervously begins to click on the computer mouse until the printer behind her starts working. I turn to Colin and he looks at me with a soft smile.

“Hi, nice to see you again.”

Valerie grabs the paper and with shaking hands she hands it to Colin.

“Nice to see you too.” I blush at him and he gives the paper to me.

“On this you find all the room numbers with the names of people staying here.” He says as I take the paper from him.

“Thank you.” I smile at him.

“You’re welcome.” He returns the smile and then he looks at Valerie with a stern look on his face.

“And you, my office in ten minutes.” He points his finger at her, she looks pretty scared and I feel a little bit sorry for her but I am confused at the same time. Colin turns to me again and lays his hand on my back, guiding me to the elevator.

“Are you her supervisor or something?” I ask him confused as we stop and wait at the elevator.

“I am her boss, yes. I own the hotel.” He chuckles amused and I look at him in shock.

“You own this place? Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I squeal.

“You never asked.” He shrugs. The elevator doors open and I get in and turn around to face him.

“Can we meet up when you’re done?” He rubs the back of his neck while he looks at me, shyly.

“I’ll text you.” I say quickly when the doors close. I let my body rest against the side and take a look at the paper. I already know I have to go to the fourth floor and work my way up from there but I check the number once again. The doors open and I get out to start my search for all my neighbours. This hotel is huge! After I take a few turns left and right I arrive at the first room. I knock on the door and Mr. Benson opens it immediately and smiles when he invites me inside.

After an hour or two I’m almost done with visiting all my neighbours and I knock on the door of Mrs. Miller and Henry’s room. When the door opens I see her gasp and getting tears in her eyes right away.

“Oh Nora, it’s so good to see you.” She pulls me into a hug and I hug her back.

“It’s good to see you too Chelsey. How are you two?” I ask them as I walk inside and I sit myself in one of the recliners.

“The biggest shock is over but now we have to go find a new place to live and start all over again.” Henry says as he looks down and I can feel the compassion in his words. He got the chance to get a good education and to go study in Europe but he also acknowledges the effort that his mom has made to give him that chance, all by herself. I always noticed how grateful he was towards his mother and it warms my heart to see the bond between them.

“We will work something out, I promise.” I say as I lay a hand on both of their hands and give it a little squeeze.

“I hope so.” Chelsey sobs and it hurts me to see her like that.

“I have an idea, to make you feel a bit better.” I smile excited and they both look at me with questioning eyes.

“Let me take you out for lunch, my treat.” Henry and Chelsey look at each other before Chelsey turns to me.

“Oh dear, you don’t have to do that. You have enough worries yourself.” She says concerned.

“Those are my problems. I know a lovely place to get lunch, I’m sure it’ll make you both feel better to get out of these four walls. Come on” I say as I get up and pull them both on their feet. Henry takes his jacket and Chelsey shakes her head as she starts smiling.

“Always so stubborn.” She says and I give her an innocent smile. We walk to the elevator to go downstairs and as we go down I get a text.

Colin: “Sorry to bother you but are you finished? X”

Nora: “I’m taking Mrs. Miller and her son out for lunch. Why? Do you miss me already? ;) x”

I get butterflies in my stomach after I send the message. Normally I’m not that cheeky, but with Colin it just happens before I think about it. The doors open and as we get out another message comes in.

Colin: “You’re the one hanging around in my hotel, I think you are the one that misses me ;) x”

I smile and roll my eyes while we walk towards the exit. I am still looking down at my phone until I bump into someone.

“Don’t roll your eyes like that.” I look up and see Colin looking me stern in the eyes. My cheeks blush instantly and I give him my most innocent smile.

“I’ll call William to ride upfront to get you three to wherever you were gonna go.” He continues as he takes his phone.

“Colin, you don’’t...” He interrupts me by putting up his hand and raising his eyebrow. There is literally no chance in arguing with this man. I look at Chelsey and Henry who were waiting for me since I got held up by Colin and I see Chelsey smiling at me.

“The car will be outside in a minute.” Colin informs me, a lot less stern now and I raise my eyebrow at him.

“You really do not tolerate contradictions on that subject, do you?” I glare at him and he chuckles. He leans forward and I feel his arm wrapping around my waist, pulling me closer.

“Not only on that subject, baby doll.” He whispers in my ear and again it gives me shivers all over my spine and tingles in my core. He lets go of me and winks as he sees my red cheeks.

“William is waiting.” I smile uncomfortably and I pass him by to go to Chelsey and Henry. As we walk to the exit I look over my shoulder and I see him laughing to himself and I shake my head. We get into the car and drive off to Earl’s bakery.

Twenty minutes later we arrive at the bakery and William lets us all out of the car.

“I will wait here for you, Miss Nora. But please take your time.” He informs me before he gets back in the car. We go inside and I notice it’s really calm today, only us and another couple sitting on a small table in the corner.

“Hi, Earl.” I greet him and he smiles right away.

“Well good afternoon, Nora. What brings you here on a midday on Monday? Don’t you have to work?” He asks me curiously.

“That’s a long story, Earl. Why don’t you come join us so I can tell you what happened?” I give him a small smile and he looks concerned.

“Well, it is rather calm at the moment. Tell me what I can get you guys and then I will join you.” He agrees to my invitation. Chelsey and Henry are already looking at all the sweets he has to offer and I catch Earl staring at Chelsey. We order the lunch menu for three and take a seat at a round table for four. After a few minutes Earl arrives with our food and places it on the tables before he takes a seat himself.

“Before you tell me what happened, did you hear the news about the explosion? Thank god nobody got hurt.” He asks us and we all look at each other with the same distorted face.

“Well, Earl. That is where the story starts.” I begin to tell him what happened, Chelsey and Henry joining in the conversation and telling their experiences. Earl stays quiet and listens to our story with a shocked look all over his face. After we’re finished, Earl takes a deep breath and blows it back out with his eyes wide open.

“Wow, that’s some serious bummer. If there is anything I can do to help you, please feel free to ask.” He looks at all three of us, but his gaze lingers a little longer at Mrs. Miller and her eyes meet his.

“That’s very kind of you, sir. But we’ll manage as always. I’ve done that since my husband passed away and I’m sure we will survive this too.” She thanks him gratefully. She has always been a strong woman who managed things on her own, but I would gladly see her accepting some help from others. Especially in this situation. We change the conversation to a lighter subject and talk for another half hour. Earl even manages to make Chelsey and Henry laugh out loud. Suddenly I get a strange feeling again and I look through the window. A sense of rage builds up in my stomach as I notice a man in a black suit and sunglasses standing across the street. I close my eyes for a second and take a deep breath as I try to regain my temper. When I open my eyes again he’s disappeared like all the others that came before him. I get pulled back to reality as a couple of customers enter the shop and Earl stands up from our table.

“I have to get back to work. It was very nice to meet you two.” He nods his head at Chelsey and Henry.

“It was very nice to meet you too sir.” Henry says politely as he shakes Earl’s hand.

“And thank you for the delicious lunch. You will definitely see us again.” Chelsey adds to it with her lovely smile and I’m pretty sure I see Earl’s cheeks turn into a shade of pink.

“Earl, you forget the check.” I try to hold him as he wants to walk away and he turns around again.

“Don’t worry, Nora. This one’s on me, you have better things to spend your money on now.” He says with a sympathetic look and I respond with a smile.

“Thank you.” I say with tears in my eyes. We walk outside and William gets out of the car immediately to open up the door for us so we can get in. During the ride back to the hotel I notice that Chelsey is cheered up by our little lunch date and when I look at Henry he smiles at me gratefully before he forms a silent “thank you”. I look outside and get lost in my thoughts, feeling excited to see Colin again.