“What are you doing down here?” he demanded.

His voice echoed loudly against the bare concrete walls of the service corridor.

I did not move from the door.

“I was walking,” I said.

“Walking?”

He took three long steps toward me, his expensive leather shoes clicking sharply on the gray floor.

“In the restricted service area? Maya, have you completely lost your mind?”

He stopped a foot away from me, smelling of gin and expensive cologne.

“You are embarrassing me,” he hissed, dropping his voice but keeping the sharp edge. “My mother and sister are upstairs trying to enjoy lunch with people who actually matter.”

“I am not bothering them,” I said quietly.

“Your very presence on this property is a bother,” Daniel said.

He gestured wildly toward the ceiling.

“This is Lotus Bay. It is a six-star private estate, not a public park where you can wander around and gawk at wealthy people.”

He shook his phone in front of my face.

“And now the front desk is having some kind of system error. They declined my card at the pavilion bar.”