But symbolism was a bitch, and to Dylan the Azure would always mean loss. The loss of his father, his freedom, so many years ago. Loss of hope. Lost chances and opportunities.
Except maybe, just maybe, this time it could be different. So much had changed... And this was a different hotel, thousands of miles and more than two decades away from the Azure where the man who had raised him had walked out on his entire family and never looked back.
This was Sadie’s hotel now.
He’d never told Adem the whole story of his father, and had certainly never mentioned the name of the hotel. If he had, his friend would probably have changed it, just to make Dylan feel more comfortable. That was the sort of man Adem had been, the good, caring, thoughtful sort.
The sort of man who had deserved the love of a woman like Sadie.
Unbidden, images of the last time he’d seen her had filled Dylan’s vision. Dressed all in black, instead of the bright colours she’d always loved, standing beside that coffin in a cold, rainy, English graveyard. She’d been gripping her tiny son’s hand, he remembered, and he’d known instinctively that if she’d had her way Finn wouldn’t have been there, wouldn’t have had to witness any of it. He’d wondered who had insisted he take part, and how lost Sadie must have been to let them win.
Lost. That was the right word for it. She’d looked small and tired and sad...but most of all she’d looked lost. As if without Adem she’d had no compass any more, no path.
It had broken Dylan’s heart to see her that way. But standing outside her hotel...he had just wondered who she would be now.
And then it was time to find out.
Heart racing, he climbed the steps to the hotel entrance and let the automatic doors sweep back to allow him in. He squinted in the relative cool darkness of the lobby, compared to the bright sunlight outside. But when his vision cleared the first thing he saw was Sadie—standing at the reception desk, her back turned to him so he couldn’t make out her face. But there was never any doubt in his mind that it was her, despite the plain grey suit and shorter hair.
So many memories were buttoned up in that suit—of the friend he’d lost and the woman he’d never even had a chance with—that his chest tightened just at the sight of her.
He braced himself as she turned, but it wasn’t enough. Nowhere near enough to prepare him for the shock and horror that flashed across her familiar face, before she threw up a pleasant, smiling mask to cover it.
She didn’t know I was coming. Oh, he was going to kill Neal. Painfully, and probably slowly.
Reflex carried him through the moment, the old defences leaping back into place as she smiled and held out her hand. Her hand. Like they really were new business acquaintances, instead of old friends.
‘Dylan! How wonderful to see you again,’ she said, still smiling through the obvious lie. And Dylan wished that, for once, he’d ignored the opportunity and headed back to the airport like his gut had told him to.
But it was too late now.
Ignoring the sting of her lie, Dylan took her cool fingers between his own, tugging her closer until he could wrap his other arm around her slim waist, his fingers sliding up from hers to circle her wrist and keep her close. Just the touch of her sent his senses into overdrive, and he swallowed hard before speaking.
‘It’s so good to see you, Sadie.’ And that, at least, was the truth. Dylan could feel his world move back into balance at the sight of her and the feel of her in his arms...well, it just told him what he’d known for years. That the feelings for his best friend’s girl he’d tried so hard to bury had never been hidden all that deep at all.
He really was going to kill Neal for this.
Sadie pulled back, still smiling, apparently unaware of how his world had just shifted alignment again, the same way it had thirteen years ago when Adem had said, ‘Dyl, this is Sadie. She’s...special,’ and Sadie’s cheeks had turned pink as she’d smiled.
A real smile, that had been. Not at all like the one she gave him now.
‘Let’s get you checked in,’ Sadie said, and Dylan nodded.
Even though he knew the most sensible thing to do would be to run, as far and as fast as he could, away from the Azure Hotel.
Maybe his dad had had the right idea after all.
* * *
Sadie’s hands shook as she climbed the stairs to her tiny office—the one that used to be Adem’s—and reached for the door handle. Instinctively, she checked back over her shoulder to make sure Dylan hadn’t followed her. But, no, the stairs were clear and she was alone at last, and able to process what had already been a difficult day.
Hopefully by now Dylan would be happily ensconced in the best suite the Azure had to offer—which was probably still nowhere near the standard he was used to. He hadn’t let her escape without making her promise to meet him for dinner, though. Of course, she’d said yes—she was hardly in a position to say no, now, was she? She just hoped he had no idea how much she’d wanted to.
Stepping into her office, she slumped into her desk chair and reached for the phone, her fingers still trembling. Dialling the familiar number, she let it ring, waiting for Neal to pick up. He’d be there, she was sure, waiting by the phone. After all, he had to know she’d be calling.
‘I’m sorry,’ Neal said, the moment he answered.
‘So you bloody well should be. What were you thinking? Why didn’t you tell me? Never mind, I think I know.’ Which didn’t make her any happier about the subterfuge. Not one bit.
‘You’d have said no,’ Neal explained anyway. ‘But, Sadie, he really wants to help. And you need him.’
‘I don’t need a pity save.’ Sadie could feel the heat of her anger rising again and let it come. Neal deserved it. ‘I’m not some bank that’s too big to fail. I don’t need Dylan Jacobs to sweep in and—’
‘Yes,’ Neal said, calm but firm. ‘You do. And you know it.’
Yes, she did. But she wished that wasn’t true.
‘Why did it have to be him, though?’ she whined.
‘Who else do we know with millions of pounds, a tendency to jump at random opportunities and a soft spot for your family?’ Neal teased lightly.
‘True.’ Didn’t mean she had to like it, though. Although Neal was right about the jumping-at-opportunities thing. Dylan was the ultimate opportunist—and once he’d jumped it was never long before he was ready to move on to the next big thing. This wasn’t a long-term project for him, Sadie realised. This was Dylan swooping in just long enough to give her a hand, then he’d be moving on. She needed to remember that.
‘Is this really a problem?’ Neal asked. ‘I mean, I knew your pride would be a bit bent out of shape, but you told me you wanted to save the Azure, come hell or high water.’
She had said that. ‘Which is this, exactly?’
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and Sadie began to regret the joke. The last thing she needed on top of Dylan Jacobs in her hotel was Neal showing up to find out what was going on.
‘Why does he bother you so much?’ He sounded honestly curious, like he was trying to riddle out the mystery of Sadie and Dylan. The same way Neal always approached everything—like a puzzle to be solved. It was one of the things Sadie liked most about him. He’d taken the problem of her failing hotel and had started looking for answers, rather than pointing out things she’d done wrong. ‘It can’t be that he reminds you of Adem too much or you’d have kicked me to the kerb after the funeral, too. So what is it?’
Sadie sighed. There was just no way to explain this that Neal would ever