Chapter Seven
Abby
Everyone followed me out to the elevator. I hit the floor for the main lobby, spun around and reached into Mr. Peeping Tom’s jacket pocket hoping to find a wallet. Jackpot. “Let me see here.” I flipped through the cards and ID’s until I found exactly what I suspected. “Here we go, a press pass. Seems as if Mr. Fording here works for some type of reputable news outlet.”
Chase and Luca both snorted at my sarcasm. We all knew the only place this guy worked for was Page Six, and that rag was about as far from reputable as you could get.
I pressed on. “I wonder how your superiors would take it once they found out you barged into a well-respected member of the Manhattan community’s room and started recording her? That can’t be part of your job description, can it?”
The tops of Fording’s ear turned bright right, either with anger or embarrassment. I gave zero shits about which. The elevator dinged at our floor and I led the way. “Bring him into the main ballroom with us.”
Chase and Luca shared a look.
“Um...” Luca said.
“Abigail, it’s still early. That ballroom is still full of guests.”
“I realize,” I said and marched ahead of them. I opened the double doors that were the main entrance to the ballroom and walked through both like a superhero, or a villain. They both tend to do that. I made enough noise crashing through the doors that I had everyone’s attention from the start. Their collective eyes bounced from me to the two gorgeous men behind me then finally to the little shit they dragged behind them. I scanned the room for a manger type and found an uncomfortable looking man in a cheap suit. Bingo.
I dragged a chair into the middle of the ballroom, hopped up on it and called for everyone’s attention. “This here is Mr. Peter Fording.” I pointed to the scrawny guy who was now red as a beet. “I know that because I have his press pass.” I held that up for everyone to see. “Mr. Fording here works for Page Six.” Murmurs and gasps buzzed around the room. “I know. I’m just as shocked as all of you. Now, I imagine if Mr. Fording here snuck upstairs and into my room to see what kind of dirt he could find, he must have been snooping around other places as well. I wonder what other dirty secrets you’ve discovered tonight, Mr. Fording?” The man said nothing but the whole room buzzed even louder.
No one likes their secrets told. No one.
“What’s especially concerning is the hotel has a strict no-press policy. Most especially during events. Isn’t that right Mr. Night Manager?”
The uncomfortable man nodded and turned an ugly shade of red as well.
I smiled to myself. “Who here knows Kase Waldorf personally?” Three-quarters of the room raised their hand. “And who here has his direct number?” Half the hands remained. I looked to both Mr. Fording and the night manager and smiled. “The way I see it you have two choices. You can tell us why you’ve been selling our secrets to Page Six, or we can call the owner of the hotel and have him and his team of lawyers deal with it. Your choice.”
Fording crossed his arms. Fortunately, night manager cracked and I didn’t have to come through on my bluff. “I was just trying to make some extra money. I let him in and he’d poked around and whatever he sold to Page Six he’d give me a cut of.”
The crowd burst into chaos. Yelling and shouting, demanding the men be searched for cameras or recorders. They huddled closer to each other and I raised my arms to silence the crowd. “Take all their electronics,” I said to Luca. “Take them and smash them right here in front of everyone.”
“But what if they made copies?” Someone in the crowd yelled out.
I looked at the two pitiful men below me. “Did you?” They shook their heads. I believed them. They were too scared to lie and too stupid to think that far ahead.
Luca brought me what he found. “The manager only had a phone but the other guy had a second phone and a small recorder.”
“Smash it all.” Then, to the manager and Fording, “No one likes their secrets told. Now get out of here. And you better pray I don’t tell Kase in the morning. He won’t be as lenient as I’ve been.”
Both men ran out of the ballroom. I wouldn’t tell Kase but I’d bet my last dollar he’d find out. This was just too juicy. Someone was definitely going to blab about it. This was the Upper East Side after all.
As the crowd dispersed I decided to clear up one last thing. “While I have you all here.” I looked at Chase and Luca, beckoning them closer. “The reason he burst into my room was because I fell in love.”
“Abigail, what are you doing?”
“Shush love. They can’t use it against us if we’re not hiding, can they?” I looked out to the crowd of my peers. “Not just once though. I fell in love twice, with two of the most amazing men I’ve ever met. Last year’s Page Six headline? That was me falling for these two. Think what you will but I dare you to find a “couple” more in love, more devoted to each other’s happiness, and more committed to each other than us. So, if anyone has a problem with it, they can come see me.” I hopped off my chair and my two men and I walked out of the ballroom.