I laughed, adjusting the leather carryall bag Luca got me for my birthday. “I’m glad you’re finding the perks.”
“I’m an optimist.” She bit her straw while she grinned.
“You’ve had too much caffeine today.”
Ashley rolled her eyes and took another sip of her iced latte. “Have you seen Beth’s latest ad?”
“Yes. So fucking cornball. How many shots at the base of the Arch does one mayoral candidate need?”
“Approximately a billion. It’s like she wants everyone to know she grew up in the county.”
I laughed and scrolled through some notes I needed to pass on to Michael. One perk of the project was all the construction being in house. Moretti Constructions, a subsidiary of Moretti Properties, would handle the demo and rebuild under the direction of SA Designs. It would be the largest project I’d managed, the largest we’d taken on as a company, and I was both terrified and elated.
I looked up as we drove past the Arch and took the waterfront exit.
“You excited to do the final casino walk-through before demo?” Ashley asked as she repeatedly jerked the straw out of the cup and pushed it back in, squeaking up a storm.
I placed my hand over hers to stop the noise. “I am. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it will be beautiful when it’s all done.”
“I’ll be happy to see that damn red and yellow carpet go.”
I chuckled, gathering my bag as we pulled up to the main entrance. “Same. But, it’s fun to think about how in style it was when they built it.”
“True. I hope our plans don’t end up on someone’s future hate list.”
“I don’t think we can avoid that.”
Luca beat Pete to my door, so he went around to Ashley’s. I stepped out, and Luca immediately wrapped his arms around me. “Hey.”
I leaned up and gave him a brief kiss. “Hey.”
“You ready for this, Boss?”
“I like the sound of that.” I swatted his ass and darted around the car, away from my grinning fiancé.
Frankie leaned against the wall of an out-of-order water fountain. As always, his eyes were glued to his phone.
“Frankie!”
His lips twitched at the sound of my voice, and he looked at me through his dark lashes. “Ms. Mitchell.”
I groaned, looping my arm through Ashley’s. “Not you too.”
“It’s a show of respect.” Frankie shoved off the fountain and joined us at the front door. “Michael’s waiting inside.” He pulled the tarnished brass handle and gestured for us to go in.
My cousin Sarah’s husband, Michael DeLuca, ran the construction branch of the company totally on the up and up.
“Sasha!” The goofball bounded toward me like an overgrown golden retriever puppy, scooping me up in a hug once he reached me. “How are you?”
I patted his solid back and laughed. “I’m doing okay. How are you?”
“Excited to start the demo.” He put his hands on his narrow hips, surveying the dated but grand lobby. “This is going to be fun.” His grin was infectious, and soon even Frankie looked like he might enjoy living.
“Did you have a chance to look over my notes?”
“I did. I think we can swing most of what you want. There are just a few places I need clarification.” Michael took out his tablet, and we started the slow walk-through process. The casino had been built and decorated in the eighties with a minor facelift in the early two-thousands, so we kept very little.
After a few hours, we’d covered the entire property and gone over the building plans Luca had and the design plans from us.