Later that evening, I walked up to the front desk in the hotel lobby.

"Hi, I need to speak to a manager," I said to the guy at the computer.

"Can I be of any assistance?" he asked, his accent crisp, but not thick.

"I need to talk to a manager about the paparazzi problem," I answered.

"They're a concern to all the guests, ma'am. We're trying to get a hold on the situa-" he started, but I held my hand up, stopping him abruptly.

"I don't think you know who you're talking to," I said to him. He blinked, clearly trying to rack his brains to figure out who I was. I sighed, frustrated. "I'm Duke Starr's assistant," I hissed under my breath.  His eyes widened.

"Oh! So sorry! I'll call a manager right away!" he said. I smiled at him stiffly as he called the manager. He spoke in rapid Italian and then hung up. "He will be here shortly," he told me. I thanked him and waited impatiently, tapping my fingers on the granite countertop.

A short man with slicked back, greasy hair and dark eyes emerged from a back door that was hidden underneath the elaborate panelling of the walls.

"What's the problem?" he asked, looking from the guy helping me to me.

"This guest is our celebrity's assistant. She needs to speak to you urgently," he explained. The manager's eyes widened and he held out his hand. I took it lightly, wondering if he touched his greasy hair with the hand I was shaking.

"My sincere apologies for keeping you waiting, Miss. I am Sebastian. How can I be of service?" he asked me, pulling me to the side. I had to look down at him to speak to him, he was that short.

"I wanted to talk to you about the paparazzi problem outside," I said, pointing to the doors. He opened his eyes wider and nodded.

"So sorry about the mess," he apologized.

"Yeah, well apologizing isn't going to fix the problem, is it?" I replied. "Du-Mr. Starr is having a lot of trouble getting in and out of the hotel. It's making him late for appointments and interviews," I told him. I folded my arms over my chest, as I realized awkwardly that the man's head was level with my breasts. "And I also remember telling you specifically not to release that Mr. Starr was residing at this hotel to the press," I added, narrowing my eyes a little.

"It was not I who released this information!" he said to me. "But I promise you that I will find whoever exposed this detail," he assured me.

"That'll help a little bit. But it still won't stop the press from stalking Duke," I said.

"What would you like me to do?" he questioned.

"I need you to book us another hotel around here," I said. He frowned.

"That may be a bit of a problem," he told me. I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, you see, this month is the Roma Europa festival. People will be coming from all over the world to watch the arts. The hotels during this time of the year are very busy. They are most likely all booked now," he explained to me.

I bit my lip in frustration. This was not happening. Duke was going to eat my head off if I didn't fix this problem right now.

"Can you please call anyway? Find if there is even one room available," I asked him.

"Yes, I can do that. Give me one moment please," he requested.

It ended being more than just one moment. I waited around for an hour as he called different hotels, asking if there were any open rooms. Finally, he had some good news.

"There is one hotel. It has only one unoccupied room. It is only ten minutes from this one," he told me.

"Great! Tell them not to book it to anyone. Let me talk to Duke first before doing anything. Thank you so much!" I said. "If you could just give me the name and number of the hotel, I'll book the room myself when I need to," I asked him. He gave me the name of the hotel and the number to contact the manager directly. I thanked him and went back up to the floor Duke and I were staying on.

I knocked on his door. After a few moments, he opened it a bit.

"What?" he asked, sticking his head out.

"What are you, naked? Let me in," I said. He rolled his eyes and opened the door to let me in. I ducked under his arm and sat down on the plush, red leather couch in the corner.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"Wow, I just spent like two hours arguing with the manager about this whole press situation and that's how you treat me?" I said. He looked at me and I stared back at him.

"Fine!" he exclaimed, sitting down on his bed across from me. "What do you need?" he asked through clenched teeth. I smirked.

"So I told him how annoying the paparazzi are and how this is a big problem for you," I began.

"And?" he pressed, leaning back onto his bed, facing the ceiling.

"He said that someone from his staff told the press that you were staying here," I told him.

"Is he going to fire whoever it was?" Duke asked, propping himself on his elbow to look at me, widening his blue eyes slightly, a mild expression on his face.

"I didn't tell him to fire whoever it was," I replied.

"Why not?" he questioned.

"Duke, it's one mistake. We're not going to ruin someone's source of money for this mistake," I told him. He rolled his eyes at me and laid back down on the bed.

"So now what?" he asked.

"I asked him to look up to see if there are any other hotels around that you could stay in. But--" I began.

"But what?" he asked, aggravated.

"Apparently there's some festival going on in Rome this month, so the hotels are booked," I explained. He groaned, pulling a pillow over his face.

"So I'm going to have to fight through paparazzi every day?" he asked, his voice muffled.

"No," I replied. He pulled the pillow off his face and sat up, facing me. I smiled slightly at how fidgety he was. "The manager found one room at a hotel ten minutes from here," I told him.

"Just one room?" he asked. I nodded. "What about you?" he questioned. I furrowed my brows, confused.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You have to have a room, too," he said.

"Why can't I just stay here?" I asked.

"Because, the paparazzi know you're with me and they've seen you already. They'll follow you to my hotel and we'll be in this mess all over again," he replied. I frowned. He had a point.

"So I guess we've got three options here," I said, holding up three fingers. I put one down. "Option number one, we both stay here and deal with the press everday," I recited. He shook his head.

"Scratch that one. Definitely a no," he said.

"Option number two," I said, putting another finger down, "is that you go to stay at the hotel and I stay here and try to sneak around the paparazzi when I come to pick you up."

"No, that won't work. They're sneaky and it's too risky. What's the third option?" he asked.

"We share the room," I said, putting my hands in my lap. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"What?" he asked.

"We share the one room," I repeated. He scrunched up his face in thought.

"How many beds are there?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Beats me. I didn't ask," I said.

"Why not?!" he exclaimed.

"Because I just thought of option three! I thought you'd be fine with option number two!" I cried.

"This isn't working," he mumbled, laying back down on the bed, sighing.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked him.

"Ask how many beds there are in the room," he said flatly. I dialed the number and called.

"Yes, hi. My name is Valerie Sparks. I'm Duke Starr's assistant. Sebastian called earlier asking for the only room you have available. Could you possibly tell me how many beds are in that room?" I asked.

"Ah yes. The room has one bed in it and a pull out couch," the man on the other line answered.

"Umm. Ok, could you please book the room under Duke Starr. Also, I'll need to meet with you to go over necessary paperwork so that Duke's arrangements aren't publicized like before," I said.

"Of course, I understand. I give you my word that you will encounter zero problems here. We can meet tomorrow morning if you like," he said.

"That's perfect. I'll be there at 9," I said.

"Very well. See you then! Ciao!" he said. I hung up and looked at Duke.

"Looks like we'll be rooming together," I said to him.

He sat up and faced me, a slightly perplexed, yet cocky expression on his face.

"Well this will be fun," he said. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

I frowned.

All I knew was this would be the farthest thing from fun.

______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Hahahaha. They're going to be roomies!!! What shenanigans will I come up with next?

You'll find out soon enough in the next part!!!

Comment and vote!

I posted twice for you today, so I better get those votes! =P

XOXO