The ballroom of the Crestline Hotel shimmered with gold lights. Laughter spilled from every corner until a strange hush swept across the marble floor. Guests dressed in velvet and satin turned their heads at the same moment. A small boy had broken away from his nanny and was running with wobbling steps straight toward a woman holding a mop.
He collided with her legs and wrapped his tiny arms around her.
“Mommy,” he cried.
The word froze the room. His name was Jace, two years old, son of hotel owner Colin Hale. He had not spoken since his mother died the year before. Now he was saying the one word everyone thought he would never say again.
The woman stared down at him, unable to breathe. Her name in this hotel was Lina Perez. Her real name was Tessa Morel, a runaway bride from Arizona who had been hiding for three years. Jace clung to her apron as if it were the safest place in the world.
“Ma ma,” he sobbed, shaking.
Guests whispered. A woman in pearls pressed a hand to her chest. Near the stage, Colin Hale set his wine glass on a table without looking at it. His fiancée, a socialite named Kira Bloom, grew red with anger.