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“Not as bad as you’d think.” I smiled. I knew almost everyone thought Cameron was an asshole, and he was, but he was a criminal defense lawyer and that seemed to come with the territory. The ones I met, anyway. The waiter chuckled and leaned forward to clear a plate. I’d worked for Cameron for several years but only recently started to get to know the Gates family. I had purposely kept my distance as I knew what they were capable of, but now I realized it was time I acquainted myself more with the people in this city, and that included the owners of this hotel. The Gates were a powerful family with a lot of connections.
I’d met Leo maybe a handful of times but never in such a social setting. I heard from Calli he was going to take over Grim’s position in Mexico to close out the accounts. Something about it being a learning opportunity. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was true or not. Grim gave me the impression he was the type of guy who liked to handle everything himself. I knew Knox pretty well, but that was because Calli casually saw him on the side.
“Dad,” Calli put her hand on her father’s, “any chance I can get tickets for the show tomorrow night at the Mac? Imagine Dragons is my favorite band.”
Cameron looked over at Leo, who shrugged. “Last I heard, they were sold out. Kenna would be the one to ask.”
“Dad, you know she won’t give them to me.” Calli pouted. “Will you ask her for me?”
“All right, all right, I’ll call her,” he huffed but smiled at her as he pulled out his phone. He got up and stepped away from the table. Cameron played favorites, and it was no secret that Calli was his little angel. At twenty-four, there were times she looked and acted about sixteen.
The moment her father turned his back, she reached under the table and slid her hand over my leg. I covered her hand then froze as I caught Grim’s look. I wasn’t sure if he’d caught her action or not, and I purposely turned to Leo.
“Did you hear that Mac’s thinking of expanding the hotel? They’re looking at the new property next to Palms.”
“I had.” Leo glanced at Grim, who was now distracted.
“What the fuck is he doing here?” Grim murmured as he strummed his fingers on the table. An image of a lion about to pounce on a kill came to me as his eyes gleamed gold then narrowed to a sliver. His reputation of being almost inhuman at times suddenly made sense. He lived up to his name; he certainly looked grim.
I looked at Leo with pinched eyebrows as I wondered who he referred to. Leo shook his head, and I knew I shouldn’t ask anything further.
“He’s probably just passing through.” Leo shrugged as they watched three men stroll by. I noticed they all seemed to smirk as they turned their heads toward the Gates’ table. I felt the mood shift to a cold, eerie feel as Grim slowly stood and slid a hand under his jacket. His security team all pulled their weapons.
“Jesse,” he rasped, and he seemed to transform into the demon I’d heard about, “time to move.”
His right-hand man nodded and was beside him in a flash. Grim muttered for Leo to stay put, then they left.
“Jesus.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. I felt like I had just become a witness to a murder about to happen.
“They’re lowlifes from Chicago.” Leo checked his watch, completely unfazed by his brother’s abrupt change in personality. “They know better than to come to our hotel.”
“Sure.” I shook my head and tried to get my head around what it might be like to have such money and power. The rules of the outside world didn’t seem to apply to the rich.
“Best to not think of it too much.” He gave me a quick smile, and I returned it. I understood what he was saying. When you were close to a family like the Gateses, you didn’t want to be seen to watch too closely or you just might find yourself the focus of their attention.
Our food came, and Leo left to deal with something. That left just Calli, Cameron, and me to chat. I kept watch on the restaurant entrance to see if Grim would come back, but he didn’t.
“Kenna will look into the tickets,” Cameron assured her as he sat back down.
“I’m sure she will.” Calli rolled her eyes. “The day my sister actually does something nice for me will be the day I sprout wings.” Cameron spotted someone and excused himself.
The sisters had opposite personalities and zero interest in being in each other’s lives. I couldn’t blame either of them for that, Cameron always pitted them against one another and loved to see them fight for his approval. He was odd that way. Kenna was older by three years and apparently got all the looks from her mother, but I knew she had her father’s work ethic and desire to win. Calli was cute rather than sexy, and the most obvious talent she got from her father was her love to fight in and out of the courtroom. She might be cute, but she was a scrappy little thing, given the opportunity.
“What do you say we grab a room here?” she purred in my ear. “I can show you that new trick you wanted me to learn.”
Calli and I had casually dated for the past six months, but we didn’t publicize it. Besides, she was also supposed to be with Knox. We worked together at her father’s law firm, and we both knew her father wouldn’t approve. The fact that I had a good ten years plus on her didn’t help. It was never my plan to date Calli, but she was sweet and available and kept my mind occupied.
“I could use a break.” I glanced around then leaned in and kissed her lips quickly. She blushed but giggled in the cute way she did whenever I pushed the line of getting caught. Calli wasn’t as wild as Kenna’s reputation, but there were times when she’d let loose in bed, and we’d had some fun.
“Hey,” Cameron was back and sat next to me as Calli pulled away to give us a moment to chat, “Simon, have you found anything at all yet?”
“No.”
“Well, I’m confident that witness should be enough.”
“I disagree.” I shook my head slightly.
“Why?” He studied my face. “You know, I really think you should consider making that call.”
