Chapter 3| Find her!

Matthew woke up with a splitting headache. He owns The Peninsula Hotel among other thriving businesses and knows every nook and cranny of the five-star establishment, with eyes still half-closed, he reached for one of the buttons just above the bed’s headrest to open the window blinds. The piercing New York summer high noon sun assaulted his eyes.

“F*ck it, I knew that party would be horrible!”  Matthew mused as he ran his fingers through his thick hair.

As the sole heir to the Lancaster Group of Companies, he hated the limelight. He was raised by his grandfather and unfortunately, some of Gerald Lancaster’s values remained glued to his personality. Among those were his feelings of unease with the public eye.

The party last night was for his formal succession as CEO. He tried to reason with his grandfather but lost his case even before he began enumerating why his presence was unnecessary there.

Matthew hated every moment of it. He’s an introvert who works closely with his trusted people. They attend meetings for him. Unless it’s necessary, Matthew maintains his privacy. Many business magazines tried to schedule a meeting with the elusive billionaire and failed.

It was the same with women.  They always wanted to meet Matthew and lure him with their sultry revealing outfits and flirty techniques. None emerged victorious. He knew what they wanted---they wanted to be in his bed---to be impregnated by the Lancaster heir. To secure their future.

He was certain someone was close enough to succeed last night because he was drugged. He could handle his alcohol very well and last night, he only had one glass of champagne.

Something in the bed caught his expert eyes, he leaned in to examine it better. “Wait…What’s this? Is this…blood?”

Beethoven’s classic played. It's his phone ringing. Matthew searched for the device and found it lodged in the corner of the bed, a strong indication of what happened last night.

“Grandfather,” he answered.

[Good morning, Matthew. I am in a good mood today!] Gerald Lancaster’s voice was alive on the other end of the line. His throaty laughter sounded like music to Matthew’s ears. [Take a guess why, come on.] The man urged his only grandson with so much enthusiasm.

“I just woke up, Grandpa. Just say why.”

[Ow, you’re such a buzzkill.]

“I’d like to remind you where I got that attitude from.” He shot back.

[Hmm, fair enough. I am calling to ask how last night went. How was it? Matty? My men here alerted me about a woman who entered your suite around 10 PM and left around five. Please tell me you’ve done it. May I remind you, you’re thirty next month.]

His grandfather stopped calling him Matty in high school. His brows creased. His gut tells him Gerald was onto something. Before Matthew could confirm or deny it, the door to his suite opened and Silas, his assistant walked in, looking sharp as ever.

“You look like sh*t.” Silas greeted him with a smile.

“Silas is here, Grandpa. I will call you later.” He ended the call, knowing that his old man had too much free time in his life now and had access to the hotel security. What he did not expect was the excitement from Gerald. It was no surprise. The last time this happened was when his father married his mother. God rest their soul.

“At long last, the family tradition is on course,” Silas said out of nowhere.

Not bothered by his nakedness, Matthew put on his serious face as he watched Silas pour him a glass of cold water from the fridge. “What do you mean? Anyway, I know I look like hell. Tell me something I don’t know. Someone tried again, Silas. You are becoming a sloppy bodyguard.”

Silas handed him the glass of water and watched him drink it in one go. The man also saw the stain on the 1000-thread Egyptian cotton, white bed sheet. “I’m your assistant, but, yes. I suppose I’m a bodyguard as well because Sir Gerald wanted us trained by a ninja before landing the job. Anyway, I’m pretty sure whoever tried at the party is not the owner of that blood, sir.”

Wiping his mouth, Matthew felt a surge of embarrassment. “Elaborate.” He commanded.

“We caught the woman who drugged you. She’s the same woman who was tailing you wherever event you are invited to. I must say, her dedication is exemplary. She admitted drugging you with hopes of being the future mother of the little Lancaster’s.” Silas winked on the last part. He then sighed, “Women these days lost their values, it’s sad.”

Matthew massaged his temple. Something does not add up. “This woman…where is she?”

“Detained since you excused yourself last night. Our boys saw her watching you like a hawk after serving you drinks.”

“So, there’s no way…” Matthew pointed at the stain. “That blood isn’t hers?”

Silas shook his head, “No, sir.”

“Who was in here last night, then?” It was more of an anguished groan from Matthew. “If she’s not supposed to be here…why did she…we…I…Gerald knew and he was way ahead of himself. I’m sure he’s talking about the family tradition as we speak.”

Memories of what happened between him and the mystery woman last night returned to him like an avalanche. At first, it was blurry and fuzzy…eventually, it became clear to Matthew. He immediately stood up. Silas quickly grabbed a robe and threw it to his boss. With the blinds wide open, someone with a high-end camera might capture Matthew in his natural habitat.

He paced the room, obviously lost in his own sea of thoughts. The woman was trying to introduce herself and even begged him to stop-----but he didn’t because he couldn’t. He couldn’t even recall her face, primarily because it was dark. He remembers her perfect silhouette against the soft light of the moon and her scent, lavender and berries. He was in heat and all logic and rationale was nonexistent last night.

“Sir, are you alright?”

“Silas, can you get me a copy of the CCTV footage from 10 to 5 AM?”

“Technically, you are the owner. I believe I can definitely do that without any issues, why?”

An idea came to Matthew. “Review the security tapes from the time I arrived here until this morning. Find that woman.”

Clueless as to why his boss was all of a sudden interested, Silas cleared his throat before continuing, “And if we find her?”

“Locate her, use all our connections to get her current address. We’ll go to her house. I want it done within the day.”

“Consider it done, sir.” Silas turned to leave, as someone who had spent a decade with the Lancaster he knew how tied they were with their family tradition. Aside from that, this was the first time Matthew wanted a woman found ASAP. “Ah, it’s the Lancaster tradition,” he thought. He stopped midway, “Sir, shall I arrange the other preparations?”

“No, Gerald got that covered. Go and find her.”

“Sir, what about Miss Alice?” Silas had played the scenario on his head several times already and it did not bode well for his boss.

Matthew sighed, “I will talk to Alice. Just do what I asked you to do, find her.”