CHAPTER 4
COLE
Ipulled into the back gate at the Avernus Casino. Behind the huge bronze building that housed the casino, hotel, restaurants, and shops, lay the shadowed golf course. It was busy all year round, but the stylish villas tucked in under the trees were kept separate from the main course.
Bastian joked it was a retirement village for assassins. I lived in one villa, Nash Oakley and his woman Georgie had another, and tucked behind it was Nash’s greenhouse. The guy had given up killing for the CIA and had taken up growing orchids as a hobby.
The rest of our friends, Landon, Alessio, and Rafe Archer, had the other villas, although Landon had been known to sleep in his office at the free medical clinic he ran. Alessio often disappeared to do jobs he rarely spoke to us about, and Rafe liked to travel and collect expensive art.
I parked my truck in the carport beside my villa and turned off the engine. A sensor light sprang to life, and I turned to look at Lili.
She was hunched in the passenger seat, shaking a little. She looked so damn young and tiny in my large jacket.
“Let’s get inside.”
She nodded. “This is your place?”
“Yeah.”
“You live at a casino.”
“A friend owns the place.”
Before she could get out, I circled the truck. I gripped her small waist and pulled her out. She wasn’t super short or tall, maybe five foot five or six, but beside me she seemed tiny.
Fuck, I hated seeing her in that dress. I knew it was meant to flaunt her figure. She wasn’t big but she had curves, and her breasts were large for her frame. Her dress did everything it could to put them on display.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the front door. I tapped in the code on the high-tech lock, and after it beeped, I led her inside. I flicked on the lights and watched her look around.
I hadn’t done much in the way of decorating. The floor was large, cream tiles. The kitchen had dark-gray cabinets and a creamy marble on the counter tops. I used the small island with its tall stools to eat most of the time. My large dining room table rarely got used. My couch was black leather and faced the large television.
There were no plants, no art on the walls, nothing very interesting. I wondered what she’d think about it.
She was still shaking. Probably a little shock.
“Sit on the couch. Gonna get you a drink.” I hesitated. Fuck, what did I have that she could drink? Probably shouldn’t give her whiskey. “Coffee all right?”
She nodded again.
By the time I’d made the coffee, she was huddled on my big couch. She looked too pale.
Accepting the mug from me, she flicked a glance up. “Thanks.”
I pulled out my cellphone and hit Landon’s number.
“She okay?” were my friend’s first words.
“I don’t know. Can you come and check her over?”
“On my way. Alessio and I just got back. That big Russian woke up and raised hell that he’d lost her.”
My hand clenched on the phone. “I don’t give a fuck.”
“I know, but watch your back.” Landon ended the call.
“I don’t need to be checked out.”
When I looked back at Lili, her brown eyes were wide and she looked a little freaked.
