Mateo remained silent. His jaw hardened as he listened to the voice on the other end of the line.
"Mr. Sterling? Are you still there?" the female front-desk clerk asked again, sounding slightly hesitant. "The man says it's urgent. His name is Mr. Vance."
The name triggered an instant reaction. Mateo's jaw tightened even further. Without letting panic enter his voice, he replied shortly and coldly, "Tell him he's got the wrong person. I don't know anyone named Vance, and I don't want to be disturbed again tonight. If he insists, call security."
Bang.
Mateo hung up a little too forcefully. He stood motionless beside the small table, staring at the blank wall as his breathing began to grow uneven.
Sienna pushed aside the blanket and sat on the edge of the bed, studying the man's expression. "Vance? Who's Vance? Is he the person who's after you?"
"None of your business," Mateo answered quickly. His voice slipped back into its cold mode, as if the defensive wall that had briefly weakened had been forcibly rebuilt.
"Hey, we just made some rules." Sienna stood and pointed a finger at Mateo's chest. "But if people from your past start calling this room, then it becomes my problem too! What if he comes up here?"
Mateo turned and fixed her with a sharp look. "He won't be able to come up. The elevator doors to the penthouse require special access. Now go back to sleep."
"You really have no manners, do you?" Sienna shook her head and laughed in disbelief. "The least you can do is tell me we're safe!"
"We're safe," Mateo said flatly. "Now, can you be quiet?"
Sienna huffed in annoyance and stomped toward the bathroom. "I'm going to wash my face. Talking to you is making my head feel like it's about to explode."
"Whatever," Mateo replied shortly, striding toward the glass door connecting the room to the outside balcony. He needed some fresh air. The mention of Vance had left his chest tight with anger.
Inside the bathroom, Sienna turned on the faucet and splashed cold water over her face. She stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her eyes looked tired. Yet curiosity had begun gnawing at her. Mateo Sterling. The man seemed incredibly powerful, but also desperately cornered. Just like her.
After drying her face with a small towel, Sienna noticed something else. The black T-shirt of Mateo's that she had been wearing had been splashed with water across the chest. It was soaked through and transparent.
"Oh my God, Sienna!" she muttered under her breath.
She had no change of clothes left. Without thinking twice, Sienna took off the wet shirt, wrung it out slightly, then wrapped a thick white bath towel around her chest. The towel covered her only from the top of her chest to the middle of her thighs.
She opened the bathroom door, intending to grab a thin sweater from her suitcase to wear over it.
At the same time, Mateo had just slid open the balcony door to come back into the room because the Milan night air had grown colder.
Mateo stopped dead.
Sienna froze in the middle of the room.
Their eyes met. Mateo's gaze instinctively traveled downward, taking in Sienna's bare shoulders, her long neck still dotted with water droplets, and the white towel tied somewhat loosely over her chest.
The dim light from the warm yellow bedside lamp suddenly made the room feel intensely intimate. The patter of rain outside seemed to drown beneath the silence that abruptly engulfed them.
Sienna tightened her hands over the towel's knot, her face suddenly burning. "Y-you... weren't you on the balcony?"
Mateo cleared his throat softly and quickly looked away. "I came to get my jacket."
"Why didn't you knock?" Sienna asked, her voice rising into a slight squeak from embarrassment.
"This is the bedroom, not the bathroom. Why did you come out wearing only a towel?" Mateo shot back, trying to reclaim his intimidating tone despite the unmistakable tension in the way he stood.
"Your shirt got wet because I was washing my face!" Sienna defended herself, hurrying toward her suitcase beside the bed. "I was just going to get something else to wear!"
"Do it quickly," Mateo said in a low voice. He walked over to the desk and pretended to busy himself checking his stacks of papers to avoid looking at Sienna.
Sienna knelt beside the suitcase with her back to Mateo. Her hands trembled slightly as she rummaged through its disorganized contents. "You should've stayed outside until I was done."
"This is my room too, remember?" Mateo retorted from behind the desk. "And I'm paying half of it."
"You are paying three-quarters of it, but don't get cocky!" Sienna called out, finally finding a loose striped shirt among her remaining clothes.
She stood, hugging the shirt to her chest, and turned to head back to the bathroom. But her movement stopped when she saw that Mateo was still standing with his back to her. His shoulders looked incredibly tense.
Sienna closed the distance by a few steps and lightly nudged Mateo's arm with the shirt. "Hey. You really are angry about that call, aren't you?"
Mateo didn't turn around. "I'm not angry."
"Liar. Your jawline gets sharper whenever you're annoyed," Sienna blurted out.
Mateo finally turned and looked at Sienna from very close range. Their faces were now only a few dozen centimeters apart. Mateo could smell the hotel's bath soap mingling with Sienna's natural scent.
"You observe too much, Miss," Mateo whispered, his voice deep and dangerous.
"Maybe that's because the man standing in front of me is too mysterious," Sienna shot back, refusing to be outdone as she challenged Mateo's gray eyes.
The atmosphere between them grew thick and heavy. The physical tension that had been held back behind a wall of pillows and rules of anonymity suddenly melted away, replaced by a magnetic pull that was difficult to explain. Mateo's gaze dropped to Sienna's slightly parted lips.
Sienna held her breath. Her heart was pounding so hard she was certain Mateo could hear it.
BOOM!
A thunderclap of tremendous force exploded directly above the hotel, making the penthouse windows roar.
Click.
In an instant, every room light, indicator light, and air conditioner shut off completely. The hotel's power went out altogether.
Pitch-black darkness swallowed the entire room within seconds.
"Ah!" Sienna let out a small scream in surprise. Panicking instinctively in the total darkness, she stepped forward and reached for whatever was in front of her.
Her hands gripped the fabric over Mateo's chest tightly. At the same time, Mateo's swift reflexes sent his arm around Sienna's waist, holding her firmly to keep her from falling.
Their bodies pressed tightly together in the terrifying darkness.