This weekend, Stygian had commanded her attention though.
Each time he touched her, each time he kissed her, she had burned for him. Even after the Breed doctor’s exam and the hormonal treatment she had given Liza, the arousal had still been there.
It was just deniable at times with the help of the hormone, while without the hormone, denying it was impossible.
Thankfully, the office wasn’t far from the hotel. It was only a matter of minutes in light traffic before Flint pulled up to the front entrance of the Navajo Nation headquarters. The Navajo Nation Chamber and headquarters held the main offices of all the branches of government as well as the presidential and vice president’s offices.
Gripping her briefcase, she allowed Stygian to help her from the SUV, the four-inch heels she wore making the height of the vehicle harder to navigate than her smaller car.
“President Martinez has several meetings throughout the building today,” she told Stygian as they entered the reception area. “This afternoon he has lunch in Window Rock and several meetings with casino owners regarding new legislation concerning the casinos. Try not to scare anyone off.”
“I’ll do my best,” he murmured as they reached the security desk.
Placing her palm on the biometric scanner, she moved to push through the security bars that enforced security to the rest of the building.
The flash of red and the low, strident buzz of denial had her stopping in shock and staring down at the display. ACCESS DENIED.
She felt Stygian move in closer in response to the two security guards who closed ranks in front of her. Liza stared around the spacious entrance as she fought to make sense of the denial.
As she looked up, Ronnie Shiloby, the Navajo president’s chief of staff was moving rapidly from the elevators to the security desk.
“Liza.” His smile was tight, his gaze concerned as he stepped past the security guards and waved them away. “Didn’t you get your father’s message, dear? I know he called first thing this morning.”
Only a few inches taller than Liza, Ronnie’s expressive blue eyes were concerned, his expression tense as he tugged at the blue silk of his jacket.
“What message?” She felt dazed as she wondered what message could possibly have explained the electronic refusal to allow her past the security desk.
“Come with me.” Indicating the front entrance she’d just entered, Ronnie led the way, holding the door open as she and Stygian stepped outside once again.
“Over here.” Indicating the deep curve of the building that then branched into a set of offices, Ronnie led the way to a small, shrub-enclosed patio off the cafeteria where several umbrella-shaded tables and matching chairs were arranged.
“I want to see my father,” Liza demanded as he stopped just inside the patio entrance. “I want to know what’s going on.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, dear,” he breathed out roughly before raking his fingers through graying black hair.
Frown lines deepened in his forehead as he watched her intently. “I know he called and left a message for you, Claire, Chelsea and Isabelle. Since you and Claire were at the hotel, he asked the others to meet there as well.” He checked his watch. “He should be there any minute.”
Liza turned on her heel and strode quickly back to the SUV.
“Liza, you know there has to be a reasonable explanation,” Ronnie stated as she strode away from him, his tone worried now as Stygian opened the door to the SUV for the second time that morning.
Turning, she faced the chief of staff furiously. “No, Ronnie, there is no explanation for canceling my access before discussing it with me,” she answered, her voice shaking as she let Stygian help her into the backseat before swinging her head around to face Ronnie once again. “I guess I can assume I’ve been fired?”
Her throat was tightening with tears and anger at the knowledge that everything she had worked for was being taken away with no explanation whatsoever.
Ronnie shook his head, raking his fingers through his hair once more as he stared back at her in abject apology. “I’m really sorry, Liza.”
They knew each other well. This was Ray’s second term, and though Liza had only just moved into the position of personal assistant from her former job as the president’s scheduler when his former assistant, Isabelle, had taken a position in the office of the chiefs of the Six Tribes, she knew Ronnie well.
Besides the fact that they had worked together for over six years, they’d also known each other for years before that. Her father had worked with Ray for over twelve years, since his early retirement from the military where he and Ray and met.
Before Ray had become president, he had been a delegate for more than eight years. He had hired Audi Johnson right out of the military as head of security for the Navajo Nation Chambers, but Liza and her mother had already moved to the Nation when Liza was barely ten.
As the SUV pulled into the hotel parking lot once again, Liza dug into her purse, searching for her sat-phone.
She was on the verge of emptying the bag when she remembered leaving the device on her bedside table before showering.
No calls had come through before she left the hotel, though, not quite an hour before. If he had called, he had done so right before leaving for the hotel.
He could have called her before he canceled her clearance. That would have been the fatherly thing to do, wouldn’t it?
The minute the SUV door opened and Stygian reached in for her, Liza was out of the vehicle and striding into the hotel. She didn’t stop at the registration desk to see if her father had arrived.
Flint had been on the phone with Jonas as he pulled into the hotel, and no doubt he would let her know soon.
“Why would your father cancel your security?” Stygian asked as they entered the elevator alone and pressed the fifth floor button.
“Security risk, layoff, termination.” She shrugged. “Either of the three means I’m out of a job.”
“Has he called?”
“I left my phone in the suite.” She grimaced as she gripped the straps of her purse and briefcase in a tight grip. “I never do that. But we’ve not been gone long, right? If he had called before I left, I would have heard the phone ring.”
“Your father’s waiting in the adjoining suite next to our room,” he told her before murmuring an affirmative to Flint that he had given her the message.