THE PRICE OF A NIGHT: HIS SECRET HEIR

Episode 5: Hiding In Plain Sight

Nora’s POV

"Should I come back? Should I stay?" The voice outside the door was hesitant.

I froze against Xander’s bare chest. I did not want to be seen or believe this moment existed.

"I could stay." The voice sounded like Mila.

My blood turned cold. I turned my head toward Xander’s ear.

"That is Mila." I whispered. My breath hitched. "I love her, but she is a gossip. If she recognizes me, she will tell the entire hotel about us."

Xander’s grip on me tightened. His fingers wrapped around my waist. He turned his neck toward the door.

"I could go." Mila said slowly.

"Yeah. Just leave the files there and go. Thank you, Mila," Xander urged her. His voice was deep and steady.

“Okay, I would just…” Mila started. I heard the rustle of papers like she was picking them off the floor.

“Just leave, Mila. Thank you.” Xander urged her again.

"Okay." Mila responded. I heard her footsteps on the floor. "These are your taxes. This one is for your assets. This one needs your signature. This is your project brief. I will just leave them here."

I held my breath counting the seconds.

"Mila, thank you. Just go," Xander said again. He lost his patience.

The door finally clicked shut. I loosened his grip over me immediately and shoved him away.

I did not look at him. I just grabbed my phone and bolted for the bathroom.

I slammed the door and locked it. I was a woman caught in a storm. I stripped off the ruined, milk-stained uniform.

I washed the stickiness from my skin and put on my normal clothes. I felt like a mother, not a servant.

I opened the door and walked back into the office. Xander stood by the window. He was putting on a fresh shirt.

"Thank you for allowing me to change," I said as I grabbed my bag. "I will take my leave now."

I turned toward the exit. I wanted to get to Kyle.

"Wait. I have one question," he said.

I stopped and turned around.

"Whose baby is on your lock screen?" he asked.

I stood frozen. The question felt like a physical blow. He was getting close to the truth. I felt his curiosity burning through the space between us, so I had to move fast. I had to lie better than I had ever lied in my life.

"Well, that is me as a baby," I replied, forcing a small, amused smile. "I was a very chubby infant."

Xander stepped toward me. His blue eyes were piercing. They searched for a crack in my mask.

"Sure," he said, not sounding convinced. "That is funny because I would have assumed it was your child. And maybe mine."

The words hit me like a punch to the stomach. I felt the air leave my lungs. I had to pretend and act like the idea was insane.

"No. That is not possible," I stated, keeping my voice flat. "That night… That night we… I took the morning-after pill. I was not taking any chances."

"Oh. You did," he said, nodding his head slowly.

He looked at me with a strange expression. It was not relief.

"Look. I’m sure you have hundreds of women lined up to give you an heir," I said. I felt my strength returning. "But I am not one of them. I know how much you hate me. I know you think I’m a gold digger. From now on, I will keep my distance. I will do my job and stay away from your office."

"I do hate you. Don't I?" he asked, stepping closer. He was so close I saw the gold flecks in his blue eyes.

"Excuse me.” I said as I made a face of confusion. I did not want to play his games.

“Sir." I bowed.

I turned and walked out of the room. I did not stop until I was in the service elevator.

My heart was racing. I pulled out my phone. I saw the missed calls from the daycare. I hit redial immediately.

"Hi, Olivia. I am so sorry I could not call you back earlier," I said, leaning against the metal wall of the elevator.

"Nora. Thank God." Olivia’s voice was frantic. "You need to get here now. Kyle is sick."

"Wait. Did you say Kyle is sick?" I asked. My knees felt weak. The world seemed to tilt.

"Look. He is fine now. But he will not be fine if you continue neglecting his breast milk," Olivia said, sounding exhausted. "He is refusing formula again. He is dehydrated and crying his face out."

"I am coming. I am on my way," I whispered.

"Nora, listen to me," Olivia interrupted. "The pipes in the daycare burst an hour ago. We are flooding. I have to send all the children home. I have nowhere to keep him."

"What?" I felt panic rising in my throat.

"Is there any way you can take him to work tomorrow?" she asked. "Just for one day? Until the repairs are done? I can meet you at the back entrance. He needs you, Nora."

Those words hit me like a blow. I looked at the gold-plated doors of the elevator. I had to hide a crying, hungry baby in a hotel owned by a man who wanted to buy a child for ten million dollars.

I walked out into the lobby.

I was a nursing mother with an empty bottle and a starving son. Tomorrow, I will be a mother walking into the lion’s den with the lion’s cub in my arms.

I gripped my phone until my knuckles turned white.

"I will bring him to work, Olivia," I said. My voice was a ghost of a sound. "I will find a way around it."

I hung up. I looked toward the executive elevators. Xander was up there watching.

I thought about how he was already close to finding the truth.

Now, I was forced to bring it right to his table.