I fall back down onto his floor and let out a long sigh. Fuck my life.
Getting up off his floor, I walk down the hall and see Titan standing in his office with his back to the glass on his cell phone. Probably talking to Emilee. Cross stands at the receptionist desk, leaning over it and looking down her white silk blouse.
When he sees me, he straightens and walks away from her while she’s midsentence. “Where are you going?” he asks me.
“Out,” I answer and punch on the elevator. If I’m going to be stuck with my brother for a few days while we take an eighteen-hour trip to Rio, I’m going to get fucked up.
It opens immediately. I enter, and he follows me.
“Wanna go to Glass? They’re serving breakfast,” he offers.
The best thing about strip clubs in a town that never sleeps means they never close. I open my mouth to say yes but pause. “What happened to you the other night?”
“I left with Mandi. Then I was gonna come back, but when I called, you were already in the car with Bones. He came and got you.”
I lean my head back against the mirrored wall. “Did you take my pill bottle?” I ask.
He shakes his head, pulling out his Zippo and flipping it open and closed.
“Then it had to have been Bones.” Fucker!
“Not surprised. They’re worried about you.”
I snort. “Not you too?”
He gives me a smile. “I said they.”
That makes me laugh. Cross and I are a lot alike. We just don’t give a shit about a lot of things. Titan and Bones are the serious ones, always crunching numbers and wanting to chase down men and demand payment in blood.
Kingdom doesn’t deal with minor shit. From the outside, we look like a legit hotel and casino with hundreds of attractions, but on the inside, we’re as dark as the fucking world can go.
We deal with drug lords, celebrities, heirs to billionaires. My brother even deals with the mafia. To him, money is money. Doesn’t matter whose hand it comes from. That’s our dad in him.
Titan is the same fucking way. That’s how he got Emilee, and the bastard just so happened to fall in love with her.
The elevator dings, and the doors slide open. I push off the mirrored wall and walk into the underground garage. This elevator is for the four Kings only.
I unlock my car, and the lights blink. “Glass?” Cross asks.
I almost forgot he was with me. I look down at my Patek Phillippe watch and nod. “Sure. I could use some food.” Maybe it will get rid of this fucking headache. “Then we can make another stop afterward.”
He nods.
“Get in. I’ll drive us.” I pull my cell out and send Luca a quick message.
Me: Change of plans, I’m coming to you.
Luca owns the other half of Glass. His silent partner is my brother. Might as well get my shit from him there instead of him having to make a trip to Kingdom where Bones can see the exchange.
Luca: Sounds good. I’m here.
APRIL
“What are you doing, Princess?”
I plop down on the barstool and look up at my best friend working the bar. She has her bleach blond hair up in her usual high ponytail and a smile on her face, but her green eyes look tired. Running two businesses will do that to you.
“Needing a drink,” I answer. It’s been a long day.
She frowns. “You mean you didn’t come just to see me?”
I chuckle. “Afraid not.”
“Sis, we both know that she only comes here to see me.” Derek walks out of the fridge behind the bar, closing the door behind him. “How are you doing, sexy?” he asks, and I don’t miss the way his dark eyes fall to my chest.
Derek and I went on one date. It didn’t work out. But we’re both adults and were able to stay friends. Thank God because his younger sister has been my best friend since we were in grade school.
“You wish.” She smiles brightly, showing me those teeth that took three years of braces to straighten. She hated every second of it. I remember her having to cut up everything she ate. It took forever for her to eat.
“Always,” I tease.
She laughs and turns to grab a frosted mug and pours me a Corona. Knowing what I like. She places it on the bar in front of me and then leans over on her forearms. “I’m slow. Fill me in on your day.”
“It started off with me getting in a fight with Ethan this morning. It didn’t get any better after that,” I state and take a drink.
“Girl, I don’t know why you don’t just beat him into submission. We both know that you could take him.”
I snort into my beer. “True, but I’m trying to teach him that violence is not the answer.”