The VIP Safety Pass

Chapter 4 Institutional Humiliation

I poured a glass of red wine and kept the hotel feed open on my tablet.

The camera covered the marble desk, the elevators, and the glass entrance. Guests in evening clothes moved through the lobby behind them.

Caleb crossed the lobby first. Lily held his arm while Martha and Chloe followed, laughing over something she had said.

Jean-Luc met them before they reached the elevators.

His suit was perfectly fitted, and his hotel pin sat level on the lapel. He had managed my northern bookings for years and knew whose account paid this one.

“Mr. Blackwood. A moment, please.”

Caleb kept walking. “We're going up to our suite.”

Jean-Luc stepped into his path. Several guests near the desk turned to watch.

“Your reservation for the Imperial Suite has been canceled.”

Caleb stopped. “On whose authority?”

“The primary account holder withdrew her privileges and requested a refund. You no longer have access to the hotel's rooms or amenities.”

Jean-Luc placed the canceled reservation on the counter. My authorization seal filled the bottom of the screen.

Color climbed Caleb's neck. “My mate is being difficult. I'll pay for a new suite. Give me the best one available.”

He put a platinum card on the marble counter.

Jean-Luc swiped it. The terminal beeped twice, and a red message appeared on its display.

The second beep carried through the lobby. A couple beside the concierge desk stopped speaking.

“The card has been declined, sir.”

Lily released Caleb's arm. She stared at the card as though he had handed over a piece of scrap metal.

“Impossible!” Martha pushed toward the desk. “I am Martha Blackwood. My son's mate is the Guild President.”

“Yes, madam. The Guild President gave these instructions herself.”

At Jean-Luc's nod, two hotel guards took position beside the family.

Both wore the hotel's dark winter livery. They left enough room for Caleb to walk out on his own, but blocked every path back to the elevators.

“You may return when you can secure payment,” he said. “Until then, you must leave.”

Caleb glanced at Lily. She had moved closer to Chloe and would no longer meet his eyes.

The guards escorted all four of them through the glass entrance. Martha was still shouting when the doors closed.

Snow blew across the front drive. Caleb checked his phone, then the road, as if an account or a car might return if he waited long enough.

I called my chief legal counsel.

“Elias, prepare the severance documents. Then pull the five-year-old Blackwood loan agreement. The one for five hundred thousand dollars.”

“Are you calling it in?”

“Every cent.”

Elias turned a page at his end of the call. “I'll have the original contract and property deed ready when they return.”