“Yeah, I’m back,” I tell her, expecting her to open her eyes and wake up, but she doesn’t. Instead, she sucks in a deep breath and starts gently snoring.
She’s out.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out to see it’s Titan telling me he’s showering and then heading up to Kingdom.
Deciding I need to do the same, I turn my back on her and head to the bathroom. It’s almost four in the morning. I have a long day ahead of me and don’t have time to be distracted by her. I know she’ll be here when I return because she has nowhere else to go.
MIA
I WENT TO sleep by myself, and I woke up alone. Not like I expected Dillan to be home. He practically ran out of his house when he came home to find me in nothing but his shirt.
Looking at my cell, I see it’s five till six. After dressing in my clean clothes from when I arrived, I walk outside of his house, feeling the warm air on my skin. I can’t say that I missed Vegas because I was a prisoner here too. At least in Italy, I had free rein of the house, and I got to go shopping. No one knew who I was there. Not like they knew my family here. My father was always in the headlines in the US. People knew he was in the Mafia and doing illegal shit. He was arrested multiple times, but nothing ever stuck. My mom or one of my brothers—once they were old enough to drive—would go bail him out. I think the system just wanted his money. They would see an opportunity to look like they were doing their jobs while getting a fat payday.
The rising sun allows me to see the massive, exclusive cul-de-sac. I was asleep when he brought me here, so I didn’t get to see the house from the outside. Four houses sit in a horseshoe, but the houses are far apart. They’re surrounded by a tall rock wall with a black iron gate with a golden K in the middle. A guard shack sits there with their security. In the center of the houses is a big clubhouse.
I’m not sure which house I’m going to. Stepping down the six stone steps, I see a car enter the gate at the other end of the property. It’s a white sports car that pulls into the first house to my right. The driver’s side door opens, and a redhead steps out. She looks over at me and pushes her big, square sunglasses up to the top of her head. “Mia?” she calls out.
I lift my hand and give an awkward wave as if there’s another woman standing outside of Bones’s house that could possibly be named Mia.
She gets back in her car and starts it up. I stop walking and watch her back up, and she comes over to the front of his house and opens the passenger door for me. “Get in.”
I slide inside and reach out my right hand. “Mia,” I introduce myself nervously.
Her eyes look down at my hand, and I think she’s about to laugh at me, but instead, she grabs it, then pulls my body across the center console and hugs me. Her short red hair smells like peaches. “I’m Jasmine.” She pulls away.
I nod. Thought so. She was the blonde in the photos from when they were in high school. Or maybe they were from college. I couldn’t tell. But she was also at the hospital, sleeping on Nite’s shoulder when I arrived.
“Well, Mia, it’s nice to meet you.” She throws the car in gear and drives around the half circle back to the house she was originally at.
“You too.”
Getting out, she looks at me over her shoulder. “Do you know any of the girls?”
I shake my head. “Just Haven.” And I don’t even know her that well. Luca brought her home to Italy once. I loved her immediately but never got to see her again. Not until the hospital yesterday.
She gives me a smile. “She won’t be here today. But I promise we’re harmless.”
I enter the house with her, and she calls out, “The life of the party is here.”
We make our way to the kitchen, and I see a woman standing at the stove. Her dark purple hair is up in a messy bun. She wears a pair of denim shorts and a white tank top. She takes a quick look over her shoulder—her ice-blue eyes meeting mine—and she smiles. A piercing of diamonds hangs from her nose. “Good morning, ladies.”
“April, this is Mia. Mia, this is April,” Jasmine introduces us. “Grave’s fiancée.”
I nod at her. “Hello.”
“Hey, make yourself at home,” she says, going back to her cooking.
“Where are Emilee and Alexa?” Jasmine asks, tossing a strawberry into her mouth while leaning against the large island.