Read Online When Empires Fall by Katie Jennings - Free Book Online Page B

and then find herself left in his dust as he galloped off to greener pastures.
    Or maybe he was just a really nice guy and she was reading him all wrong.
    “Alright, but only because I like company, even on short elevator rides.” She let him lead the way towards the elevators, noting he wore jeans instead of slacks. She wondered briefly if she had overdressed in her silk plum colored blouse and black dress pants as he punched a button beside one of the elevators and it slid quietly open.
    “So does your whole family work here at the hotel?” Quinn asked him as he held the doors for her.
    He laughed as he followed her in, pushing the button for the second floor. “That would be insane if they did. There’s over sixty people in my family.”
    Quinn gaped at him in shock. “And here I thought I was the one with the obnoxiously large family. How do you remember who’s who? I have a photo album I made up with names scribbled on it that I review before reunions and holidays. The only problem is when the young ones get bigger and no longer look like children, then you have me mistaking my cousin Tony for the pizza delivery guy.”
    Linc eyed her dubiously as the elevator began to rise, shaking his head. “I bet you a million bucks Grant has a photo album with names written in it too, it sounds just like him. Me, I just prefer to wing it at reunions and let my sister fill me in on who’s who if I forget. What else are sisters good for?”
    “Brothers are so helpless. I have four of them myself,” Quinn sighed, feeling a dull tinge of homesickness at the thought. Pushing it aside, she fixed a smile back on her face. “So, your brother is an organization freak?”
    “Let’s just say he’s very…serious,” Linc mused, content to leave it at that. The girl was about to find out for herself, anyway. He would let her be the full judge of Grant’s character, without his influence. “But to answer your earlier question, there’s only four of us working at this hotel, and a large chunk of the others work at the other Vasser hotels across the US and in Europe.”
    “So it’s you, your brother, your uncle…and who else?”
    “My sister, Madison. You’ll meet her eventually. Oh, and my mom drops by a lot, so you’ll probably meet her too.” The elevator chimed as it came to a stop, the doors sweeping open at the second floor. “Right this way.”
    Quinn followed him out into a generously sized waiting area, complete with large windows with partial views of Central Park and similar furniture to what was in the lobby. Off to the right was a hallway that led to what looked like offices or conference rooms, and to the left was another hallway, with two open looking front office rooms with glass partitions facing the waiting area. Linc led her to the one that was ahead on the right, which boasted a mahogany desk with matching file cabinets behind it, along with a plush royal blue bench to the side and some kind of leafy green potted plant in the corner.
    “This is your desk, and Grant’s office is right through that door.” Linc pointed at the closed door to the left of her desk, which had an embossed gold plaque naming it as the office of Grant W. Vasser, General Manager .
    “Is he here yet?” She asked, chewing her bottom lip nervously.
    “He’s been here since six this morning.”
    Her eyebrows raised incredulously. “Is that normal?”
    “When you’re Grant Vasser, it is.” Linc shrugged, his face brightening with a grin as he shifted to face her directly. “You should join me for a drink later. If you’ve never been, Amoureux serves a mean martini. I could give you the lowdown on all of your new coworkers, who to avoid and who to suck up to, let you in on some juicy Vasser family secrets over dessert, then amuse you over another drink with childhood tales of me escaping my driver and wreaking havoc on the poor, unsuspecting citizens of New York. Did I mention that you look stunning in that