26

Sondra
“You’re falling for him.” Corey kicks her legs in the Bellissimo pool. We’re sitting on the side near the faux boulders and man-made waterfall, a week after Nico begged me to stay and promised to make time for me. It hasn’t happened.
“No, I’m not.”
“Bullshit. If you weren’t, you’d be perfectly happy to stay with him, let him pay for all your expenses and have great sex until you figure out your next move. But you’re not. You want something more.”
I drop into the pool, keeping my arms above the water. The knot of dread tightening in my belly tells me she’s dead on. I want something more and Nico can’t give it. He’s made that abundantly clear. Although I’m not sure if he’s telling me the whole story.
After being lied to and cheated on more times than I care to admit, an alarm bell is going off somewhere in my subconscious. But maybe that’s just me being paranoid. Maybe I’m too damaged from my past mistakes to even know a relationship worth fighting for when it bites me in the ass.
“Well, something more isn’t on the docket.” I walk through the water, letting it cool my skin, warm from the sun.
“So you need to figure out what you want. If you need to protect your heart, you should go now. Or you could decide to just get everything you can out of this experience-great sex, resume building, publicity, a story to tell your grandkids-and ride it out until the museum’s set up, like he suggested.”
“Yeah.” I wish it were that easy. But my heart is totally in play. And it’s already showing signs of damage. And yet no part of me is willing to walk away yet.
I’m not sure why not-because it’s so intoxicating to be desired, I guess. And I might tell myself he’s all talk-this is the smooth-talking Romeo who has me under his spell, except I see first-hand how well he sleeps after we’ve had sex. He looks ten years younger afterward, the lines in his face easing, the light coming back into his eyes.
It’s egotistical to believe, but I think he needs me.
I climb out of the pool and wrap a towel around my waist. “I’m going to go work on the museum stuff.”
Corey pulls her feet out of the water and slips them into flip flops. “If he promised to make more time for you and he hasn’t delivered, you should demand it from him. That was the arrangement you had.”
Demanding anything from Nico Tacone is a big, fat laugh.
“Or you could just show up on the floor tonight in a sexy dress and watch him flip out.” A wicked grin plays around Corey’s lips.
I pause in the act of picking up my swim bag. Nico’s jealous enough that he didn’t want me dealing cards or cleaning anyone else’s room. It probably wouldn’t take much to tweak him into action. “That would guarantee a reaction.”
Corey smiles. “I have the perfect dress you can borrow. A slinky red wrap-around. Wear it with a pair of fuck-me pumps and he’ll forget all about work for the night.”
It’s a better idea than the one I’ve been trying-working as hard as Nico to distract myself from my thoughts of why this relationship is all wrong.
“Let’s go get the dress.”
Nico
I’m an asshole because I promised to treat Sondra like a girlfriend and not a fucktoy, and then I haven’t had a goddamn minute during the waking hours to treat her right.
I pick up my phone and call Stefano, my younger brother. He and I are tight-close in age and of a similar mindset. He’s been in the old country, working with our great uncle.
“Nico, come va?” he answers.
I get right to the point. “I need you.”
Stefano swears. “What is it?”
“No, no. Nothing bad. My operation has grown too big. I can’t work enough hours in the day, and I need someone to share the load. I need you, specifically.”
Stefano’s quiet for a moment. “Tony’s not enough?”
“Tony can’t do everything. And he’s not my brother. I pay him well, but I can’t share the kingdom with him. Dad wouldn’t allow it.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll talk to Zio. I’m sure he can let me go if you really need me.”
“I do. I need you to head up security. That way I can focus on continued growth. Call me back and let me know when you can come.”
“I will.” I’m about to hang up, when he says, “Nico?”
I put the phone back to my ear.
“What prompted this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you sick? Did something happen?”
I blow out a breath. This is why I need Stefano. He’s fucking perceptive. “It’s a woman.”
Stefano lets out a surprised bark of laughter. “No shit?”
“Yeah. And I’m working twenty hours a day and she’s gonna walk.”
“You’re serious about this woman?”
Everything in my chest tightens because I know what Stefano’s next question will be. I try to head it off by saying, “I’m not sure.”
“Bullshit. You’re serious. What about Jenna Pachino?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I need to cancel that contract, I guess.”
“Have you talked to Dad?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, you’d better do it soon. He’s not gonna want any surprises. Does he know you’re calling me back?”
I want to put my fist through the wall. I hate being fucking bound by my family. “No.”
“Talk to him first, Nico. I don’t want to get in the middle of your shit pile.”
“I’ll fucking talk to him!” I snap. “You get on a fucking plane to Vegas.”
“Si, signore.” Stefano’s voice is dry, but I know he won’t hold a real grudge over me being a dick.
I start to hang up without a goodbye, but then I bring the phone back to my ear. “Grazie, Fratello.”
“Good to hear from you, Nico. I’m glad you found someone.” Stefano’s voice has gone soft. “And you’re still a stronzo.”
Yes, I am an asshole. “Always.”
He snorts and hangs up and I’m left smiling into the phone, which is about as uncharacteristic for me as doing a jig in a leprechaun suit.
I head out on the floor, where I have at least six fucking issues to take care of, in addition to wooing three big spender whales.
I stop short.
Sondra sits at the bar in a slinky red dress, her shapely legs punctuated with a pair of sexy black heels. She pulled her hair up into a sophisticated French twist and is drinking a martini.
As if that isn’t enough to absorb, there’s a guy sitting next to her, leaning in and making conversation.
I’m going to kill the fucker.
“Mr. Tacone, Jeff Blue has been asking to speak with you about a private game.” One of my managers is at my elbow.
Merda.
No, maybe it’s for the best. I need to calm down. I can’t go rip the guy off the barstool and smash his head in just for talking to my girl.
What is she doing?
I move swiftly toward Jeff Blue and force myself to act civil. This is a man who drops ten to fifty thousand a night when he’s in my establishment. I make time for him when he comes.
I don’t even know what I say to him, because the whole time my eye is on the sexy blonde at the bar. Before I pull away, though, the other whale joins us. He recognizes Jeff and wants in on a private game.
Fuck.
Private games are great. I make a killing. But they require a helluva lot of security and handholding. This is why I need Stefano here.
I’m gnawing through my leash when some other asshole sits on the other side of Sondra. She rotates in her chair and sees me, but all I get is a fucking smile and a fresh crossing of her stocking-clad legs.
Oh shit.
She’s jerking me on purpose.
I blink, my mind going to white fuzz for a moment. I’m less frantic than I am pissed now.
Tony comes over to tell me about a new fucking emergency with an attempted scam in the back room.
I step away from the whales and yank him to the side. “Get Sondra out of here and in my suite now. If I see another fucking guy talking to her, I’m gonna lose my shit.”
“Got it, boss. Leo and Sal are in the back room dealing with the con. You want me to come there when I’m done?”
“No, I’ll need you on the private game as soon as I get it arranged.”
“Understood.”
I leave without looking back at Sondra again, because if I do, someone’s going to lose their teeth.