Nana spun on her heel and said, “Come on, boys, we can get there ourselves. The club is called Apex, and I’m sure Petey our limo driver knows where it is. Somebody find me some footwear, and hurry up! Not the heels I was wearing, I need some action shoes.” Ollie was right behind her as she left the room.
Gianni shot his older brothers a look and pointed out, “None of you drove here, and good luck getting a cab on a Friday night. The limo is the fastest way to get where you’re going, so you might as well accept the inevitable.”
Adriano turned to Mike and Gianni and said, “I don’t understand. Why do you want to put yourselves in a potentially dangerous situation?”
“Because family sticks together,” Gianni said. “If you’re going to go deal with this thug, then we want to be there to back you up.”
“The thing is, Dante and Vincent have always been our family’s shield, but they shouldn’t be the only ones to bear that burden,” Mike chimed in, as they took their argument in tandem. “Our family got out of organized crime a long time ago, but we still have enemies. We know our older brothers have been protecting us from all sorts of things over the years and making sure Gianni and I could lead normal lives. But your enemy is our enemy, and we’re not kids anymore. I get that we’re not super tough badasses like you guys, but we’re not useless, and we want to help.”
“Fine. Come along,” Dante muttered. “But promise me you’ll be careful.”
Just then, we heard Nana yell from the other room, “We’re going! Get your asses in gear, boys!” That was followed by the unmistakable sound of the hotel room door slamming shut.
Dante swore vividly and hurried for the door. At the same time, Vincent told his younger brothers, “If anyone pulls a gun, your job is to tackle Nana and Ollie and get them on the ground.”
As we all ran after Dante, Mike said, “Sure, but Nana will probably be the one pulling a gun.”
“All the more reason to tackle her to the ground,” Vincent told him.
We caught up to the pair of seniors in time for everyone to pile onto the same elevator. Adriano and I were back in a corner, and he took my face between his hands as he said, “Promise me you won’t be a hero, Jack.”
“Me? When have I ever been a hero?”
“When you pushed me out of the way and took a bullet for me, and when you snuck into a compound full of people with guns and saved my ass.”
“That’s not me being heroic,” I said softly. “I was just taking care of you, because you mean absolutely everything to me, Reno.”
He whispered, “God, I love you,” before claiming my mouth in an earth-shaking kiss. My heart skittered in my chest. Had he really just said that?
Before I could reply, Nana exclaimed, “Those two are just so sweet! And don’t they look lovely together? Such handsome boys.”
Adriano and I both looked up and found everybody grinning at us. I grinned too and ducked my head as heat rose in my cheeks.
A moment later, the elevator doors slid open, and all of us darted into the lobby. I could only imagine how we seemed to the curious onlookers who turned to watch us pass. Here was this big group of men in suits, one of which was a world-famous pop star, and we were all being led into battle by a little old lady wearing a sequined dress, rainbow-striped tennis shoes, and a penis headband. Ollie was still wearing his, too, and he was holding the giant cock cups, one in each hand. Apparently he’d decided this outing would be better with refreshments.
The limo was waiting right out front for us, and Pete was holding the door open. Adriano tipped him with a big fistful of cash and said, “We need to get to Apex as quickly as possible. It’s an emergency. If you get a speeding ticket, I’ll pay it. And if you lose your job because of any of this, I’ll hire you to come work for me.”
A huge smile spread across his face, and he asked, “Are you serious?” When Adriano nodded, he said, “Fucking awesome. Just FYI, I’m going to shoot for getting fired.” He opened the passenger door and chucked his hat and heels inside before taking off his jacket. Then he ran around to the driver’s side barefoot, got behind the wheel, and revved the engine. Once we were all seated, he said, “Hold on to something,” and slammed on the gas.
Everyone braced themselves as the huge, pink limo surged forward. Instead of following the curve of the circular drive, he drove over some landscaping and shot through the valet parking lot. “The only way to get there quickly is to stay the hell off the Strip,” he called. “Fortunately, I know a lot of shortcuts.”
I couldn’t help but laugh, because this was fucking epic—and maybe I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie. As he took a wild right out of the parking lot, I looked out the back window and watched a huge wave splash out of the hot tub and soak a hetero couple who’d been arguing on the sidewalk. They stopped arguing after that.
When I turned back around, I noticed Nana’s eyes were lit up like it was Christmas. “Hot damn,” she exclaimed, as Pete floored it, “now this is what I’m talking about!” Ollie was just as excited. What a perfect pair.
Dante and Vincent looked perfectly calm, while their husbands seemed amused. Meanwhile, Gianni and Mike and their spouses were gripping any part of the limo they could hold onto. Well, they’d wanted to be included in the badassery, and now they were getting a crash course.
When Adriano took my hand, I turned to look at him and asked, “How are you?” It was hard to tell, since he had his game face on.
“Fine.”
Yeah, right. He was definitely worried, not about his own safety, but about me and all of his family members. “I’m going to help keep everyone safe when we get there,” I told him. “I promise.”
He slid his hand around the back of my neck and rested his forehead against mine as he said softly, “That’s my job, so please just concentrate on keeping yourself safe. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you.”
“I need you to be safe, too. Catching Greco isn’t worth your life, Reno.”
When his lips met mine, it was intense and urgent. Did he think that might be our last kiss, because he might not survive this?