Icing on the Cake Chapter 20

The preparations were complete. Yuri decided to hurry as much as the time he had delayed. Returning quickly to the hotel, he scanned the lobby as soon as the automatic doors opened. Fortunately, the man who had been sitting in the lobby was still there, but the man who had been standing at the reception desk was nowhere to be seen.

A chilly premonition ran down his spine. Yuri deliberately avoided looking at the lobby chairs and headed straight for the elevator. The gaze of the seated man followed the visitor who had appeared late at night. He felt a look that lingered a little longer than before. As he walked, on high alert in case the man followed him, a tourist couple who had just come down to the lobby stepped out of the elevator at that very moment.

“But you know what, honey? Elizabeth just shared a story, and it says a famous hockey player is staying here.”

“Cheriot Gutnight?”

“How did you know?”

“If he’s a player famous enough for Elizabeth to post on her story, there’s only Cheriot Gutnight in Canada. Besides, he’s on the Vancouver team. Oh, right. I also remember you mentioning how handsome he is a few times.”

“Hehe, are you jealous? Don’t worry, you’re the only one for me. Still, if we run into him, let’s at least take a selfie together. I hope we can see him at breakfast!”

“Wouldn’t a celebrity like that order room service or something?”

As they passed by, giggling, they not only diverted the watcher’s attention but also threw out useful information. Yuri had hoped that the stranger who had come in the middle of the night wasn’t targeting Cheriot, but after hearing that, he was certain. It was clear that whoever it was had come after receiving information that Cheriot was here.

How had the information leaked? If a tracking device or something had been planted on Cheriot, a tail would have shown up long ago, but until just a while ago, there was no surveillance. That meant the conclusion was that Cheriot’s identity had been exposed after he arrived here.

He himself had checked in, and Cheriot had kept his face hidden. The only time he’d taken off his mask was before entering the room… when he was receiving a cocktail at the hotel bar and about to drink it. It was a brief moment, but long enough for someone to recognize his face.

Ha.

I knew this would happen. He couldn’t even wait a few minutes and had to go flirt with an omega. With a face that wasn’t ordinary enough to be hidden by just a hat, that omega must have recognized him too. Swallowing his displeasure, Yuri stepped into the elevator the couple had just gotten out of. As he quietly pressed the close button, no one came in. It seemed he had more or less fooled the watching man.

The moment the doors closed, he reached to press the 12th floor but realized he needed a key card. Frowning, he patted his pocket and fortunately found the key. After pressing the desired floor, Yuri slipped his right hand inside his coat and gripped the handle of the knife hidden in his sleeve. Click, a small sound of the blade extending echoed softly from his pocket.

Watching the floors change, Yuri prayed that Cheriot hadn’t carelessly opened the door to a stranger. But most white men, especially alphas, had such a lack of caution. A self-important alpha who had never had to live as the weaker party rarely had the chance to learn vigilance.

Soon the elevator doors opened. Before stepping out, he scanned the hallway, but there was no sign of anyone. A sense of foreboding washed over him.

He walked as quietly as possible, muffling his footsteps, toward the room where Cheriot was staying. He put his ear to the door, but heard no sound at all. For a brief moment, Yuri imagined Cheriot Gutnight with his breath stopped. It had been less than a few hours since they’d met, and the man had even been rude to him, yet his fingertips felt cold.

He didn’t want to see someone die.

Even though he had witnessed death countless times since birth, Yuri had never grown accustomed to the sight. The bastards around Yuri had been trash who deserved to die, and Yuri himself was the same, but the fishy smell of blood flowing from corpses and the stench of decay that rose after a while were not things one could forget.

Every life is granted only once. Even for any piece of trash, at the moment of birth, it must have been a miracle. Yuri firmly believed that there were bastards who deserved to die according to the traces of their lives, but the moment the light of a living soul was extinguished held an indescribable wretchedness.

He didn’t want to see such wretchedness in someone like Cheriot.

Cutting off the ominous thought that had flashed through his mind, Yuri began to move. He tapped the key card on the door handle; beep, a sound rang out. With his left hand that had held the key card, he grasped the handle, then quietly opened the door and slipped behind it. After confirming that no bullets came flying, he quickly entered.

“Heather? Is that you, Heather?”

At the familiar voice calling for Heather, Yuri held his breath and closed the door. Fortunately, it seemed Cheriot hadn’t been stupid enough to open the door to a stranger. Relieved, he pulled his hand out of his pocket. The blade had retracted back into place.

“You said you were going to talk for a bit, but you’ve been gone a long time. What could you possibly have to talk about with such a bad guy that you’d leave me alone? No, actually, it’s better this way. To be honest, while you were gone, something a little surprising happened. You almost came back to see a nasty sight yourself.”

Even without a response, Cheriot chattered on by himself and walked out from the sitting room. Wondering what exactly the surprising thing could have been, Yuri also headed toward where he was. The moment the footsteps of the two approaching each other stopped, their voices rang out simultaneously.

“Why are you here?”

“Why is that bastard here?”

Meeting at the entrance of the sitting room, they scowled at each other. Cheriot, spotting Yuri, immediately asked in a cold, reversed tone, while Yuri frowned, staring at the floor. On the carpet of the sitting room lay the back of a man face-down on the floor. He wasn’t moving, so he was either unconscious or dead—one of the two.

“I asked first. Why are you here? Where’s Heather? And what’s with that outfit? Isn’t that Heather’s glasses?”

Cheriot stepped close and asked threateningly. Yuri quickly scanned him with his eyes. The shower robe that had been properly fastened just a while ago was now gaping open, and there were red friction marks on his skin. It seemed there had been a physical struggle.

“Did you kill him?”

“Do you take me for someone like you?”

Without a word, Yuri brushed past him and approached the fallen man. Bending down, he searched the man’s waistband and found a stun gun instead of a pistol. Fortunately, whoever this guard or whatever he was had enough sense not to commit a crime in a large chain hotel. It seemed he had intended to kidnap and take him away rather than kill him here.

“Answer me. What are you doing here?”

At that moment, Cheriot grabbed Yuri’s arm as he was silently examining the man. Even though Yuri hadn’t been off guard, the grip was so strong it made him stagger, and he was a little surprised. Apparently, the hockey player hadn’t gotten his job for nothing; Cheriot was incomparably stronger than the average alpha male.

Still held, Yuri turned to look at Cheriot and saw his constricted pupils. He also perceived the body heat radiating hotly enough to be felt even through his coat, and the unstable, wavering pheromones. He didn’t know exactly what had happened, but it seemed Cheriot was agitated from the struggle.

“There’s another guy who looks like this one’s colleague in the hotel lobby. It seems like a dangerous situation, so I sent Heather away. It’s not like I wanted to come here. I’m here because Heather asked me to.”

“I can handle it on my own, so get lost. You can see that from that guy over there.”

Clearly hating the fact that Yuri was there, Cheriot didn’t let up his aggressive demeanor. Yuri stared at him with a blank expression and spoke.

“Would you still say that if that bastard had a gun?”

Cheriot hesitated. Concern flickered across his green eyes, which had grown dark with anger.

“Opening the door and letting a stranger in was a mistake from the start.”

Seizing the opening, Yuri pointed out Cheriot’s mistake. It was a valid point, but apparently not wanting to admit it outright, Cheriot retorted.

“Still, I can’t just call the police. Did you forget what I’m running from?”

“None of this would have happened if you hadn’t gone flirting with that omega.”

“What?”

Cheriot, who had been talking back without backing down, blinked in momentary confusion. Yuri had only hoped that he would recall and realize his own mistake, but Cheriot gave an absurd reply.