CHAPTER 161

DARLENE

My heart pounded hotly between the cages of my ribs as I stood under the staggering neon-lit mass of Du Merges hotel.

A shiver of anticipation climbed my spine and I wrapped my hands around myself, glancing about the lot in the grey darkness before shouldering my way past the revolving glass doors.

“Miss Spenser please, for Mr. McKenzie,” I whispered hoarsely to the four-eyed woman at the reception, the fake name burning my lips more than the coffee I had earlier.

The morose-looking woman struck the matte black keyboard wordlessly, as the noise of the guests mingling in the expansive gold lobby blurred in my ears.

Christ Darlene, what the fuck was I doing? Squirreling around York city in the dead of night with my husband’s brother?

I ground my teeth together, shuffling from one high-heeled shoe to the other and feeling the threads of panic needle in my gut as the clack of the woman typing on continued.

I was almost turning my back on the woman to bolt out the doors, certain th