The Redeemer (23 page)

Isla sat numbly in the office for some time. No tears fell, no pain was felt. A quiet acceptance had taken hold of her. A gentle tapping on the door made her scowl. She knew that she’d be missed by the rest of the staff but she was in no mood to see any of them so she ignored it. The tapping was repeated, then a firm knock and then the door was cautiously opened. Isla looked up and her heart sank. It was Dean.

Oh great. Just what I need.

‘Hi,’ she said, somewhat stiffly. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here tonight. What brings you to my door?’

He looked suddenly anxious and Isla could tell that he didn’t really want to be there. Guilt prickled at her skin. She was supposed to have fired him before now.

Oh well, no time like the present.

‘It’s good to see you,’ she lied. ‘Come and take a seat.’

He nodded and she could see that she’d managed to relieve some of his anxiety.

When he’d sat down, he said, ‘Belinda called me to tell me about the party. I questioned whether I’d be welcome but she insisted that you’d said it was for all staff. I didn’t intend coming but my therapist said that I should take the opportunity to come into work for this social event because it would make it easier for me to come back to work when I was ready. She . . .’

Isla leaned forward. ‘She what?’

He blushed furiously. ‘She said that it would be an ideal time to see you and try to overcome my fear of coming back to work.’

Frowning, Isla asked, ‘You’re afraid to come back to work? Because of me and . . . what happened? Oh Dean, don’t be afraid to return because of that. What happened that night . . . well, it shouldn’t have.’

Dean looked down at the floor and said nothing. After a few minutes, the silence became awkward. Isla didn’t know what to say but she felt that there was something on Dean’s mind that he was having difficulty getting off his chest. She wondered whether it was because of his attempt to bribe the hotel inspector. If it was, she hoped that he’d at least have the balls to confess.

‘What are you afraid of, Dean?’ she said, softly. ‘You can tell me. I’m your boss and if there’s something work-related that’s concerning you . . .’

He sighed heavily but then looked up at Isla. ‘Before . . . well, you know. Before then, you looked at me as though you respected me. But those things you said . . . I mean, how can you respect me after that? You made me feel useless. Or at least you put the thought in my head and then my mind took over. I doubt there’ll ever be anything between us, no matter how much I want it, but I don’t think I can work for you because every time I see you, I’ll be reminded of what happened and how much it made me feel like a failure.’

Isla’s hand had flown to her mouth as he’d spoken. ‘Dean, you’re overthinking this. I’m sorry if I made you feel that way but you’ve got to accept that different people have different sexual preferences. We just weren’t compatible. What I enjoy in the bedroom would probably scare most men from ever coming within a two-mile radius of me. I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with your style and sexual prowess. If I’m honest, I was so pissed that I probably hadn’t a clue what you were doing, never mind what I was doing myself. For goodness sake, don’t allow one drunken fumbling session to mean so much. Isn’t your therapist able to help you with this?’

Dean threw his head back and groaned. ‘She’s under the impression that, by the time she’s finished with me, I’ll be walking back in here “like a boss” – her words not mine – and you’ll be falling over yourself to re-enact that night. With a very different outcome, obviously. If you ask me, she has a very tenuous grip on reality. I mean, I’m pretty sure that you’d never . . .’

‘No,’ interrupted Isla, a little more forcefully than she’d intended. ‘I think we can safely say that’s not on the agenda. I think she’s aiming to build your confidence but if that’s the objective that she thinks you’re working towards, then she needs to rethink. She’s labouring under a misapprehension for sure. I’m certain if you put her straight and choose another goal, everything will be fine.’

He didn’t look convinced. ‘I’ve tried to tell her but everything’s about sex for her. She’s adamant that you’ll weaken once you realise what you’re missing – again, her words not mine. I’ve even told her that you’re involved with someone else but that doesn’t seem to mean anything.’

Isla’s eyebrows shot up at that. ‘What do you mean, I’m involved with someone else? What makes you say that?’

He shrugged. ‘Jones told me. I saw him last night in that club and he asked how I was getting on. I mentioned my concerns about returning to work and, somewhere in the conversation, he mentioned that he knew you were seeing someone.’

‘Ah, I see. No, I’m not seeing anyone at this moment in time. Nor am I planning on doing so in the near future. That doesn’t change anything as far as you and I are concerned. I don’t go around jumping into bed with men, Dean. Don’t take this the wrong way but if I hadn’t have been paralytic, nothing would have happened between us.’

‘Oh right. And I get it, Isla, don’t worry,’ he muttered, making Isla feel guilty once again. ‘I’ll do my best to forget what happened and you can rest assured that I know our relationship will be purely professional. It’s true what they say, isn’t it? Never mix work and pleasure.’ He gave a weak grin but Isla was miles away.

Yeah, never mix work and pleasure. I knew that and yet I still went ahead anyway. Dean was purely a drunken mistake that I won’t be repeating but Xander . . . I guess I thought he was worth the risk. Now where did that get me exactly? No fucking where.

I wonder where he is . . . has he gone back to her? Is he at home playing happy families?

‘Um . . . Isla?’

She pushed the unwelcome thoughts from her head and found Dean frowning at her.

‘You didn’t hear a word I said, did you? Your mind was miles away,’ he accused.

‘I’m sorry, Dean. I’ve a lot on my plate right now. What was it you were saying?’

‘I said that, as long as you can view me with respect, I’ll return to work on Monday.’

Isla sighed heavily. ‘It’s not that simple I’m afraid. Obviously you know there’s a staff party tonight but do you know why?’

He nodded but he looked distinctly uncomfortable. ‘Um . . . yeah. Belinda said it was to thank staff for their efforts during the inspection the other day and to celebrate the five-star grading that was awarded.’

Isla narrowed her eyes and thought carefully about what to say in reply. Dean looked like he wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole. Eventually she said, ‘Yeah, it seems that someone attempted to bribe the inspector to give the hotel a low grading. Thank goodness she was above that. Can you imagine what would have happened to our bookings? Our reputation? Our jobs?’

He shook his head. ‘Who . . . who would do such a thing?’

She stared at him pointedly. ‘That’s what I wanted to know.’ She paused and continued to stare at him. He sat there, saying nothing until she could bear it no longer. ‘Is there anything you want to tell me, Dean?’

His jaw dropped in surprise and then his mouth closed and opened several times before he decided to say nothing. Instead he gave a nod.

‘Well?’

He threw his head back and exhaled loudly as he appeared to study the ceiling. ‘I’m sorry, Isla. I know there’s no excuse and I don’t know what I was thinking. I was completely wasted and I was so angry with you . . . something snapped and the next thing I knew, I was on the phone, calling Helen, an inspector that I met a few years ago. I was only going to suggest that someone did an inspection – I was pretty confident that the hotel would be downgraded. Yes, I know it was a pretty shitty thing to do. But she said that she was having some financial problems and implied that she could do a dodgy grading in exchange for cash. Really downgrade the hotel. Like I say, I was pissed. I wanted to lash out at you. Make you feel something . . . I don’t know, to make you feel angry and frustrated, like you’d made me feel. I’m skint, Isla. There’s no way I could afford to give her the bribe we agreed. I was too pissed to know half of what I was saying.

‘When I was sober and I remembered, I doubted that she’d have done anything – especially since I hadn’t handed over any cash. When Belinda called and said there’d been an inspection . . . God, I felt sick. Then, when she said the hotel had been awarded five stars, I couldn’t believe it. I thought that it must be some sort of weird coincidence, that it wasn’t connected to me. I asked Belinda for the name of the inspector and, when she said it was Helen . . . well, I didn’t know what the hell was going on. I thought that she’d decided to stitch me up. I’d met her at a wine tasting evening and she came on to me but I wasn’t interested.

‘She pursued me for a while but after I made it clear that she wasn’t going to get anywhere, she asked if we could be friends. Because we were both in the hotel trade and she was good company, when she wasn’t doing her Fatal Attraction act, I agreed to go out for a drink with her – more out of pity than anything else – but, after we’d had far too many drinks and had a really good night, she’d practically begged me to go in for coffee. I mean really begged, making me feel awful when I said no. So I reluctantly agreed then she jumped on me the second we were through the door. She started taking her clothes off and talking dirty to me. I mean real dirty . . . you know, like you did. Maybe that’s what made me think of her when I was angry with you, I don’t know. Anyway, that night didn’t end well either.

‘I truly am sorry, Isla. But it’s all good now, isn’t it? If she decided to get back at me by coming in here and awarding you five stars, it’s all worked out in the end. No harm done.’

Isla stared at him. ‘No harm done? Well Dean, that’s not exactly the case. If Xander catches up with you . . . well, I’m sure you can imagine the consequences. He’s decreed that you’re to be fired. Immediately.’

Dean’s eyes widened in shock. ‘But I didn’t go through with it.’

Isla shrugged. ‘Xander has evidence in the form of her notes. Plus she gave him your name when he challenged her.’

‘Fuck. So that’s it? I’m out of a job. But you own the hotel. You can overrule him.’

Shaking her head, Isla corrected him. ‘No Dean. Xander owns this hotel. I can’t overrule him, even if I wanted to. I’m sorry, but your employment at Rouge Passion is terminated, effective immediately.’

His face contorted with spite. ‘You did this to me. You made me feel like this. If you hadn’t made me feel like a complete sissy piece of shit, I wouldn’t have been pissed. I wouldn’t have called her. You’ve got to take some responsibility in all this. You fucked the hotel’s head barman, that’s hardly professional behaviour, is it? Oh wait . . . yeah, I’ll bet Xander Rhodes doesn’t know that his GM fucks the staff once she’s finished drinking, does he? You didn’t pay for those drinks either. If you don’t make him reconsider, maybe I’ll fill him in.’

Isla stared him down. ‘Really? You want to do that? How low are you willing to stoop, Dean? I’ve thrown my heart and soul into this place since I started here. Do you think a few drinks here and there make up for the amount of overtime I’ve put in and not claimed?’

Dean stared back, a vein in his neck pulsing. ‘What about fucking the staff? Are you saying that’s part of your staff perks too? I wonder how he’d view that. Maybe I should tell him just what you get up to when he’s not around.’

Oh fuck. No way, Xander has enough to contend with finding out he’s a father. I need to put Dean off that idea.

Isla laughed. ‘Since Xander bought this place, he’s viewed me as his property. If another man so much as looked at me, he’d probably knock fifty shades of shit out of them. So you’re going to tell him that we fucked . . . are you going to tell him that you took advantage of me while I was completely pissed?’

Shrugging, he replied, ‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you, like you’re perfect. He’s dying to get you into bed, everyone around here has said so. Maybe he should know you’re a freak in bed.’

‘Maybe he likes that, Dean. Maybe he’d get so turned on that he’d get me pissed and then take advantage. Oh no, sorry. That wouldn’t happen because Xander’s a gentleman and I get the feeling that he likes his women to be fully alert and responsive . . . not to mention fully consenting and sober.’

He snickered nastily. ‘Oh yeah, I’ll bet he’s a Neanderthal . . . clubbing women over the head and dragging them back to his cave.’

If only you knew the truth.

Smiling sweetly, Isla countered, ‘Oh no, Dean. I can assure you that’s not necessary. When you’re Xander Rhodes, with those looks, that body and that confident persona . . . you don’t have to stoop to any desperate measures to get a woman into bed. They go willingly.’

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘You sound awfully sure of yourself,’ he sneered. ‘Don’t tell me you were stupid enough to fall for the “I’m your boss, fuck me and I’ll promote you” routine. Ha! You did, didn’t you? That’s how you know. Well, I wonder if his wife knows about that. I think it’s only fair that she’s informed that her husband can’t keep his dick in his pants.’

Oh fuck, fuck, fuck! My big mouth is making it worse . . .

Isla lifted her chin. ‘His soon-to-be ex-wife? Oh, didn’t you know they’re in the middle of a divorce? Assuming you’re right and I had fucked him, I doubt she’d be that interested, especially since she’s been fucking someone else too.’