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“Say you’ll come to Vegas with us.” Sydney put on her most pitiful, pleading expression.
“Are you kidding? Like I would miss that? No way. I’m going.”
“Oh, I’m so glad!” Sydney grabbed her friend and hugged her hard.
“How long am I packing for?” Lani asked when Sydney released her.
“Just overnight. I’ll take tomorrow off. But Tuesday, I’ve got to get back to the office and start wrapping things up for the move to Montedoro.”
“Oh. My. God. You’re marrying a prince and moving to Europe. I don’t believe it—or, I do believe it. But still. It’s beyond wild.”
“Yep. I think I need to pinch myself.” Sydney let out a joyous laugh. “Is this really real?”
“Oh, yes, it is!” Lani replied. “Let me see the ring again.” She grabbed Sydney’s hand. “Just gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.” And then she stuck out her lower lip and made out a small, sad puppy-dog sound. “But you know I will be sulking. I’ll miss you way too much. And Trev, oh, how will I get along without him?” She put her hand on her chest and pantomimed a heartbeat.
Sydney had the answer to that one ready. “You don’t have to miss us, not if you come with us.”
“Come with you? You mean, permanently?”
“Oh, yeah. I would love that.”
Lani blinked. “You’re serious.”
“You bet I am. I’ve already discussed it with Rule. He’s good with it. More than good. And I would love it if you were there—I mean, if that could work for you.”
“Me. Living in Montedoro with my best friend, the prince’s bride. Interesting.”
“I was hoping you might think that. But don’t decide now. Take your time. No pressure. I mean that.”
Lani bumped her shoulder affectionately. “I’ll give it serious consideration—and thank you.”
“Hey. Don’t thank me. I’ll miss you like crazy if you decide you don’t want to do it. If you come, I’ll be the grateful one.”
“I’ll think about it,” Lani promised. “And we’d better get cracking if we’re going to be ready to head for Vegas at eight.”
As it turned out, Rule had Bravo relatives in Las Vegas. Aaron and Fletcher Bravo ran a pair of Las Vegas casino/hotels. Rule was a second cousin to both men. His grandfather James and their grandfather Jonas had been brothers.
“Fletcher and Aaron are half brothers,” Rule told Sydney during the flight to Nevada. “They have different mothers, but both are sons of Blake Bravo.”
“I have to ask. You don’t mean the Blake Bravo?”
“Ah. You’ve heard of the infamous Blake?”
She nodded. “He died in Oklahoma about a decade ago, and at the time, the story made the front page of every paper in Texas. He was pretty notorious.”
Rule nodded. “Yes, he was. Kidnapping his own brother’s son for a fortune in diamonds, marrying all those women …” Beyond the whole kidnapping thing, Blake Bravo had been a world-class polygamist. He’d married any number of women all over the country and he’d never divorced a single one of them. Each woman had believed she was the only one.
Sydney said, “A very busy man, that Blake.”
“Busy is not the word I would have chosen,” Rule said dryly. “But yes, both Aaron and Fletcher are his sons.”
The flight took a little under three hours, but they gained two hours because of changing time zones, so they touched down at McCarran International Airport at ten after ten in the morning.
There was a limo waiting. The driver loaded the trunk with their luggage, the security guy who had flown from Dallas with them got in front on the passenger side and off they went to High Sierra Resort and Casino.
Aaron Bravo was CEO of High Sierra. The resort was directly across Las Vegas Boulevard from Impresario Resort and Casino, which Fletcher ran. The two giant complexes were joined by a glass breezeway five stories up, above the Strip.
Aaron greeted them at the entrance to his resort. Tall and lean with brown hair, Aaron wasn’t classically handsome. But he was attractive, very much so, with a strong nose, sharp cheekbones and a square jaw. He said how pleased he was to meet Sydney and Lani—and Trevor, too. Then he introduced them to his wife, Celia, who was cute and friendly, a redhead with big hazel eyes.
