The Hotel 3 (The Billionaire Seduction) by Lola Darling

“Hey,
no more secrets.”
    Dom
looks conflicted.
“That
was the police. They’re
looking into the accident. Apparently, someone tampered with the
brakes on Xander’s
car.”
    I
freeze. “What?”
    “They
were severed, nearly straight through.”
Dom
looks grim. “Someone
tried to kill you both.”

 

Chapter Nine
     
    I
insist on heading to the hospital to see Xander. After what we’ve
just learned, I need to see he’s
OK for myself. Dom doesn’t
want me getting out of bed, but I won’t
take no for an answer. Soon,
we’re
heading down the hospital hallway towards his private room.
    Flirty
laughter greets us as we step inside the door. Xander is sitting up
in bed, looking pale and bruised, but he’s
got that familiar Rexford smile on his face as he charms his young,
attractive
nurse.
    “It’s
terrible you’re
not required to wear the little white nurse’s
dress anymore.” Xander
smirks, leaning in to her. “With
the deep neckline and the hem up to here—”
    He
pauses when he sees us come into the room. “And
here comes the party! Join us, please. I’ve
been bored as hell on my own. And you know what happens to idle
hands.” He
winks at the nurse, who blushes.
    “Your
brother is recovering well,” she
tells Dom.
    “Sure
I am, I’m
the model patient.” Xander
folds his arms behind his head. “I’ll
be back on my feet in no time. Or on my back.”
His gesture
is exaggeratedly casual, but I catch a wince.
    “You
don’t
need to pretend with us,” I
scold him, going to sit by the bed. “You’ve
been through hell.”
    “And
I kept on going,” Xander
says, but he lets the smile drop. “And
it turns out, I have you to thank for that. The medics say you
dragged me out of the car.”
    “It
was getting kind of toasty in there.”
Now it’s
my turn to joke. Anything to keep from reliving the nightmare of
feeling trapped in the car, desperate to get him out.
    “You
both were lucky.” Dom’s
voice is full of emotion. “It
could have been so much worse.”
    I
shoot him a nervous look. I don’t
know how much Xander knows, or what we should tell him. But Xander
seems to be filled in. He gives a wry smile.
    “Looks
like somebody wants one less Rexford on this earth.”
    “Do
you have any idea who would want to hurt you?”
Dom frowns.
    “Present
company excluded, no idea.”
    I
inhale sharply, but Dom doesn’t
say a word. He’s
standing there stiffly, his shuttered expression back. To an outsider
– to
Xander – it
would seem like he doesn’t
care about his brother at all. But I know differently. I saw his
panic when he thought Xander was hurt. He loves him, but the two of
them are too
pig-headed and stubborn to say sorry first.
    “OK,
enough of this!” I
exclaim suddenly. “You
guys need to bury the hatchet once and for all. And I don’t
mean in each other’s
back,” I
add. I turn to Dom and give him a fierce look. “Xander
didn’t
come back to steal the hotel out from under you. He just wants to be
a part of the family business, too. And Dom would never hurt you,”
I add to
Xander. “He
went out of his mind when he thought you were hurt. He barely left
your bedside all night. No matter what else has happened, you guys
are brothers. You love each other. So can we please stop fighting
like this and just make up?”
    There’s
silence. For a moment, I think I’ve
pushed them too far. These guys are proud. Shit, maybe I’m
just making this worse.
    Then
Dom clears his throat, and slowly approaches the bed. He extends a
hand formally. “Thank
you for looking after
Juliet.”
    “Don’t
give me that.” Xander
rolls his eyes, then pulls Dom down into a hug. They slap each
other’s
backs gruffly, the way guys do.
    I
let out a huge sigh of relief.
    “Well,
isn’t
this the happy family?” Lillian’s
voice comes from the doorway. She looks amused. “I’m
glad you’re
all in one piece.”
    Dom’s
tense expression returns. “What
the hell are you doing here?”
    “I
called