No Matter, You Don't Have to Wait for Me novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The House Stands
Donovan's POV
The owner of the Brooklyn Harbor kept an office on the top floor with a window that faced the water and a desk that faced the door.
She had asked to see me at eight on Monday morning, and she did not offer me a chair.
On the desk lay a printed letter, a newspaper clipping, and a folded copy of my own email from Thursday.
"Sit," she said, after I had stood long enough.
I sat.
"Dario Benedetti's attorney wrote to me on Sunday night," she said. "He says our general manager had a personal relationship with a guest who humiliated his client in our ballroom."
"Yes."
"Yes, you did? Or yes, he wrote it?"
"Both."
She picked up my email.
"On Thursday you told me you had a conflict and the deputy would run the party. You didn't say what kind."
"It was a different kind on Thursday."
"Explain that."
"On Thursday I thought I might want to be involved with Ms. Halstead. On Friday I was." I made myself keep my eyes on her. "I should have written the second email. I didn't. I'm telling you now, before anyone else can."
She set the paper down.
"You understand what this looks like."
"I do."
"A manager, a bride who cancelled in his hotel, a scene in the ballroom, a reporter at the back. A reasonable person could say you used the house to help one guest against another."
"A reasonable person could."
"Did you?"
I had been ready for this question for three days, and I still took a moment.
"I kept my hands off the booking," I said. "The deputy ran it, to the letter. Nobody on my staff took a side. The house served a hundred and twenty people dinner, and not one plate was late."
Keep reading free with an account. Start No Matter, You Don't Have to Wait for Me from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend