Chapter 2 - THE RED COAT
Before Cole could speak, the glass doors behind him clicked open.
A woman walked into the lobby, her high heels clicking sharply against the marble floor.
She was stunning. She wore an ivory silk blouse, black tailored trousers, and a sweeping red designer coat that looked like it had been tailored on a runway in Paris. Her blonde hair fell in effortless waves around a face painted with flawless precision.
Danielle Foss.
She had arrived early for their dinner. She held an ivory leather clutch in one hand and her phone in the other, her sharp blue eyes sweeping the lobby until they landed on Cole standing at the front desk.
Her footfall slowed. Her smile vanished.
She looked at his dusty jacket. She looked at his faded jeans. She looked at the dirty, tear-stained child clinging to his chest.
“Cole?” Danielle asked, her voice tight with disbelief as she stepped toward him. “What on earth are you doing? Who is that?”
Vance’s eyes widened slightly as he recognized Danielle Foss—a regular guest in the hotel’s VIP lounge and the daughter of one of Chicago’s wealthiest real estate developers.
“Miss Foss!” Vance said instantly, his posture straightening into deferential warmth. “My apologies for this distraction. This man stepped into the lobby from the street. I am having security remove him right now.”
Cole didn't look at Vance. He turned to face his fiancée.
“Her name is Lily, Danielle,” Cole said quietly. “Her mother works here—or worked here. I found her sitting alone in the cold on the service stairs.”
Danielle took a hasty step back, her nose wrinkling slightly as she glanced at Lily’s scuffed shoes resting against Cole’s jacket.
“Cole... you’re supposed to be at the restaurant,” Danielle whispered, her voice laced with sharp embarrassment as several wealthy guests turned to look. “You look like a homeless man holding a runaway. Why didn't you just call security or the police? Why are you carrying her through the main lobby?”
“Because she’s three years old,” Cole said flatly. “And she was freezing.”
“Well, hand her to the desk staff and let them deal with it!” Danielle snapped in a low, furious hiss. “We have reservations in twenty minutes with the board members of the Museum Gala. You can’t be seen standing in your own hotel looking like a street worker!”
Cole stared at her.
He looked at the face he had kissed for two years. He looked at the flawless red coat. He looked at the eyes that were searching the room, terrified that someone from her social circle might see her standing next to a man holding a maid’s child.
He reached into his jacket pocket.
His fingers brushed against the small velvet box containing the expensive diamond ring she had demanded to replace his mother’s ring.
He slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket. Empty.
“I’m not going to dinner, Danielle,” Cole said softly.
Danielle froze. “What?”
“I’m going to find Maria,” Cole said. He turned back to Vance, his eyes locking onto the manager’s pale face with an intensity that made the man swallow hard.
“Call the security office,” Cole ordered Vance. “Tell them to pull the shift logs for housekeeping from 4:00 PM to now. And tell Marcus I want him in my office in ninety seconds.”
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Vance blinked, confused by the sudden tone of absolute authority coming from a man in faded jeans. “Sir, I told you, I do not take orders from—”
“You take orders from the owner of this hotel,” Cole cut him off, his voice dropping into a heavy, quiet baritone that shook the air between them. “I am Cole Merritt. And you have five seconds to call Marcus before I fire you in front of this entire room.”
