AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Will you come back here when it’s over?” I ask, rummaging in my pocket for my house key and pressing it into his palm.
A relieved smile spreads over his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes happily. “Nothing could keep me away,” he says softly.
“Yay.” I whisper excitedly, making him laugh.
“It’s late, angel. Go to bed and I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He kisses my forehead and turns me in the direction of my room.
“Hurry back,” I say, looking over my shoulder at him.
“I will. Now go.” A sharp swat to my butt cheek makes me shriek and hurry down the hall, giggling, with the sound of his amusement following me. A warm feeling spreads in my chest when I hear him saying good night to my mom and her admonishing him to be safe. I love him. I want him to be a part of my family.
It’s more than that... I’m in love with him, and I’m going to tell him tomorrow and hope beyond hope that he feels the same about me.
Chapter 28
Blake
Sending Ellie to bed alone was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life, and that’s saying a lot because sucky things have pretty much defined my life. Knowing that she wants me to come back gives me all the incentive that I could possibly need to get this shit with Dominic wrapped up. Work is work, but now the guy is just pissing me off. He should have let sleeping dogs lie. I have no doubt that we’ll get him this time. Venturing back into Luminoso with everyone’s emotions running so hot over what we found in his house was a ballsy move.
Beatriz is making up the sofa bed when I re-enter the living room, and John is by the door waiting for me, keys in hand. Not having to call for another ride means I’ll get back here that much sooner. Beatriz straightens from her task, swiftly crossing the room and taking my hands in hers.
“Be careful, mijo.” Son. The endearment from the petite woman makes tears prickle my eyes. I blink them away and pull her to me for a hug.
“I will be,” I promise, kissing her quickly on the cheek and turning to face John.
“Thanks, man.” I say, taking his proffered keys and jogging to the black SUV in the driveway. I can take care of a lot of things while I drive and once I’m on the road I put my phone on speaker and start making calls. Hopefully everyone is still in town. With as fast as some of our guys disappear between assignments, I never can tell who I’ll be able to pin down.
I’m just pulling into the parking lot when Travis calls. Geno must have called me as soon as he realized what was happening, giving me a head start on getting this shit-show under control, but something must have delayed him calling Trav.
“You heard what happened?” he barks.
“Yeah, already called in manpower and I’m on my way to Geno now.” I tell him.
“Good. I’m taking Faye up to Xavier’s.”
“Safest place for her.” I agree knowing that with Ana being pregnant and Grayson’s girl being there, Travis wouldn’t want to leave Faye alone. I’m happy that Ellie is home and away from all of this. Despite arranging security at her house, I know that in all reality she probably isn’t on Dominic’s radar at all and is the safest of all of us, across town in her own bed.
Alone. In her own bed alone. Now I’m thinking about how good it felt waking up with her small, naked body pressed against mine.
Fuck! I can’t be thinking about the way her tight little body went stiff and quivered when I stroked that trigger deep inside her pussy, or about the way that she tasted as I drank her pleasure. I need stop thinking about her. Distraction leads to mistakes and Elinor is possibly the biggest distraction, prettily wrapped in a tiny package, that I have ever encountered.
“Talk soon,” I say, disconnecting the call and shaking my head to clear it of sexy thoughts as I park and hurry into the lobby and up the stairs to the security room. Geno is there alone, a pair of Sig Sauer stainless .45s in easy reach as he scans the monitors. There is blood on the floor, hastily mopped up with a towel. He looks more than angry. His jaw is clenched tight and his eyes are cold. He looks ready to murder someone.
“Who?” I asked, pushing the bloody towel out of my way with the toe of my black combat boot.
“Donny,” he gives me the name of the kid he just hired. “He had to have been watching us somehow. How else would he know when someone would be alone?” he says, shaking his head in disgust.
It’s possible I suppose, but not very probable. There hasn’t been any evidence that he could have pulled off the necessary surveillance to have that much knowledge of the inner workings of the casino. “Or he just got lucky,” I suggest.
Geno shrugs. “Can’t believe what that the sick fuck did to Gray’s girl. He’s all shaken up about it.”
“Nikki. Yeah,” I don’t say more because I don’t know more than the little bit I heard on the ride back. Even if I did, I wouldn’t gossip about it. It’s not my story to tell.
“I’m worried about him,” Geno
says, swiveling his chair to watch as I log in to the network and attempt to override whatever Dominic did to mess with the cameras upstairs. “Known him since we were kids. He went through a lot with his mom, and Dominic was part of that mess. Total clusterfuck. He wanted clear of all of this,” he lifts one of his guns, “but just couldn’t make it happen. Not even after his mom died. All his friends are part of the family in one way or another and he just couldn’t turn his back on us. Even when he should have.”
He crosses himself as he mentions the death of his friend’s mother, like a good Catholic boy, and I can see genuine concern on his face. This conversation isn’t about gossip at all, it’s about friendship and brotherhood. Things I understand fully. That changes everything.
