CHAPTER TEN
Angel
WE FINISHED LUNCH, and since I wasn't ready to drop off the girls yet, I racked my brain for something we could do. If we took them to a family-run casino, Father would know about Markie before we tossed the first die. Venturing into non-family-run casinos had the potential to create serious drama. We could hit a show or the movies, but neither of those options would give us time to talk, and I really wanted to get to know Markie better. She'd surprised me by rushing to the bum's aid and bringing him to lunch. Then she'd shocked the hell out of me when she took the bill from Bones. Never had I seen anyone take anything from him, and I half expected him to tackle her and take it back.
The girl was an unpredictable, courageous little adrenaline junkie, and I couldn't wait to find out what other surprises she had up her sleeve. I glanced at her again and she smiled at me. Thank God I had the afternoon free, because I needed to be with her.
Unfortunately, Bones must have felt differently. "Want us to drop you guys off somewhere?" he asked.
Cock blockin' bastard. I flashed him a look in my rearview and blurted out the first thing I could think of. "Or... we could do something crazy. Have either of you been on the High Roller yet?"
Bones's jaw dropped. He'd been trying to get me on that death trap for ages, but I kept putting him off. Especially when I found out the damn thing goes five hundred and fifty feet off the ground. Me and heights didn't get along so well.
"The giant Ferris wheel thing?" Markie asked, grinning.
Bingo. That got her attention. "Yep, that's the one. We should check it out."
"Let me make sure I got this straight. You want to go on the High Roller?" Bones asked.
Hell no, I didn't want to go on the High Roller, but with the way Markie was looking at me, I'd fly to the fucking moon if I had to. "Yeah," I nodded. "You in?"
Bones could have called me out. He could have revealed me for the chicken I am, but he saw opportunity knocking and flung open the damn door. "Hell yeah, I'm in. Ladies?"
Having dug my grave, I turned the Hummer toward Nero's Palace and a five-hundred-foot possible plummet to my death.
I parked the Hummer in a garage and we made it all the way to the replica Trevi fountain before my phone rang. My cousin Renzo's number flashed on the screen. Renzo was my uncle Michael's son. A few years younger than me, he'd grown up with my brother Dante, but unlike Dante, Renzo had focused on the family business. Father had recently put him in charge of his own team. Knowing my cousin would want to talk business, I excused myself, leaving the girls at the fountain, and hurried to the side of the building to take the call.
Bones drifted between me and the girls, keeping an eye on us all.
"Hey, Angel," Renzo said. "I have some merch I can't move. The boss said to call you about it."
If Father wanted me on it, it had to be some sort of tech. Hoping we hadn't stumbled upon the bombs already, I asked, "Is the merch clear?"
"Nope."
Shit. Clear meant free of tracking devices. Since this wasn't clear, I needed to get on it immediately and make sure the merchandise couldn't be tracked, which meant my afternoon was no longer free. I glanced at Markie, regretting that I'd have to let her go yet again.
"I gotta drop off something first," I said into the phone. "Twenty minutes, then we can join you."
"Great. I'll have tech send you the info."
I hung up and headed back to the girls, but Bones intercepted me.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Renzo has some merch we gotta take a look at. We're gonna have to drop off the girls."
He nodded. "Probably for the better. We still don't know anything about them."
He was right, but that didn't make it any easier. "Yeah."
"And you get out of the High Roller," Bones added.
I chuckled, and we went to break the news to the girls. I had every intention of dropping Markie off and heading back to reality, but as I parked in front of their crappy little apartment, I couldn't do it. She reached for the door handle, and I grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Hey, this thing I gotta do should only take a couple hours. Besides, I hear the High Roller's better at night anyway. Can I pick you guys up around eight?"
Ariana nodded.
"We'd like that," Markie said, beaming me another smile before she hopped out of the Hummer.
Bones shook his head at me and climbed into the front seat.
* * *
Of all the ridiculous things to have stolen, Renzo's team had bumped the wrong truck and ended up with six check stand registers. At least they were new models, with technology I'd never seen before. I wanted them, so I disabled their trackers, removed their serial numbers, and stashed them away in one of the family's warehouses.
By the time we finished, we had a little over an hour before Bones and I had to pick up the girls. As I started up the Hummer, Bones turned to face me, and I knew what was coming.
"We need to do a background check on her," he said.
He was right, but I was enjoying the surprise... the mystery that was Markie Davis. Afraid it would disappear when we pulled her records and learned all her deepest, darkest secrets, I shook my head. "Soon. Let me have tonight, okay?"
I thought he would argue, but he didn't. "Fine."
"Thanks Bones."
"You owe me, asshole."
I chuckled. "Put it on my tab."
We picked up the girls then headed back to the High Roller. Bones made a call, and one of the managers appeared to take us through the service entrance so we could bypass the line. An employee gestured us forward, and then smiled as recognition lit his eyes.
"Mr. Angel!" He stepped forward and offered me his hand. "So good to see you."
I shook it. "Fernando. Good to see you, too."
Fernando's family did lawn maintenance for Father's estate. They were nice people, hard-working, and knew how to keep their mouths shut.
"Pleasure is all mine."
"These are my friends Markie and Ariana, and you know Bones, of course."
He shook their hands as I explained he was a family friend.
"You are some lucky ladies to be out on the town with these two. Stand-up gentlemen you got here. Real nice guys."
Markie smiled at him. "Good to know."
To me, he said, "Mr. Angel, my parents got the floral arrangement you sent for my abuela's funeral. Thank you. It meant much to us."
Fernando's grandmother was like a second nonna to me. And although I'd never admit it aloud, she could bake almost as good.
"I was sorry to hear about your loss."
"Yes, she was a wonderful woman."
I started to head toward the pod, but Fernando stopped me. "You get your own," he said before closing the pod and speaking into his radio. The High Roller rotated, bringing another pod to the platform. After unloading the passengers, he ushered us in, instructing us to let Hank at the bar know if we needed anything.
He closed us in the pod and waved goodbye before turning to the next group.
Our pod moved, and an announcer appeared on overhead screens, welcoming us onto the ride. Then he droned on about the city's history as we began our ascent. Bones and Ariana headed for the bar while Markie and I pressed against the glass. She looked out, while I carefully gazed anywhere but down.
"Tell me more about yourself," I said. "What do you like to do when you're not traveling across the world to build wells and help orphans."
"I like to dance."
Intrigued, I leaned closer. "Tell me more. What style of dancing?"
"All of it. Ballroom, ballet, pop, hip-hop." She looked away and her cheeks turned the slightest tint of pink. "Disco."
"Disco?" I asked, forcing down a chuckle.
She shrugged, her blush deepening. "What? I like to get down. I like to boogie."
I laughed. How could I not? She was fucking adorable.
"All right, all right, that's enough mocking me, mister. Your turn. Tell me something about you."
I ducked my head and wiped the grin from my face. "I, too, like to boogie. And I don't mean to brag or anything, but I'm a pretty kick-ass cook."
"You are, huh?" she asked. "That's... unexpected, yet awesome. What do you like to cook?"
"My mom used to be a chef for Antonio's. It's a local Italian restaurant. Great, authentic cuisine. She taught me."
"Mmm. Italian food."
For one, suicidal moment, I considered inviting her back to my condo so I could cook for her. She was so damn adorable and there were many things I wanted to do for her... to her. Cooking seemed like a great start. Still, I'd never brought a girl back to my condo and Bones would have a shit-fit if I invited this one before he'd properly vetted her, so I swallowed back the offer.
Instead, I asked, "What have you been up to?"
"Just taking care of my sister while she got better. Oh, and I found a rescue mission that works with kids. They need help, so I put in my volunteer application. Got the call that it cleared today, so I start volunteering tomorrow."
"Ah, so you'll be staying in Vegas for a while?" I asked, hopeful.
She shrugged and looked away. "As long as I can."
Strange answer. I filed it away to reevaluate later and changed my line of questioning. "What do you do at these orphanages?"
"Whatever they need. In Africa I did a lot of administrative work like marketing and finding sponsors, but here I'll probably do things like laundry, maybe help out in the kitchen, read to the little ones, shoot hoops with the bigger kids, stuff like that."
"Oh, I see. You're kind of short for basketball, so you play with kids." I grinned.
She gasped in mock offense. "For your information, I made the southern Idaho all-star team my junior and senior years of high school." She crossed her arms and tried to scowl at me, her dimples betraying her. "I got hops."
"Hops? You think you can jump on those short legs, huh? I'm more of a believe-it-when-I-see-it kind of guy." Then seeing my golden opportunity, I added, "So you're gonna have to prove it. And this will be a perfect opportunity for you to get to know me better. Give me your phone number and we'll settle this on the court."
Turns out I wasn't above goading Markie into a basketball game to get her digits. Truthfully, I could get her number with a few clicks on my computer, but didn't want to go down like a stalker.
Her expression dropped, and she looked away. "As much as I'd like that, I don't think it would be a good idea, Angel."
I wanted to ask why not, but Bones and Ariana returned, carrying drinks. Markie accepted a glass of wine from her sister, and Bones handed me a bottle of beer.
Markie sipped her wine and leaned back against the window, staring out. Beautiful, mysterious, caring, I couldn't stop staring at her.
"Why orphanages?" I asked.
She glanced at Ariana (who was heading to the other side of the pod alone), and then lowered her voice. "We lost our parents when I was a freshman in high school and Ari was still in middle school. Our uncle was the only family we had, and he's a jerk. But since we had nowhere else to go, we moved in with him, and life was... difficult. I can't tell you the number of times I wished some long-lost family member would show up and give us another option... someone else to live with. I guess I want to be there for those kids like I wish someone would have been there for us."
There was a bigger story behind her uncle's custody, I could see it in the way her eyes narrowed when she mentioned him, but I didn't want to press. I filed it away to ask her about later.
"It's so beautiful up here," Markie said, her attention back on the view.
I followed her gaze to the lights of the strip and saw something different. Connections, money, ties, some buildings would welcome me, and some would see my presence as a threat or a sign of disrespect. I knew the managers, the back-door operations, and the family who got a cut from each one. My father's world called to me through neon signs and dancing lights, reminding me where I belonged. Looming and confining, there was nothing beautiful about the city.
However, one look at Markie took my breath away. Outlined in the glow of low lights, eyes wide with wonder, she was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen. I pressed closer and breathed in the coconut fragrance of her hair. Something soft and crooning played over the speakers.
"We're nearing the top," the announcer said over the speakers. "Starting the countdown from twenty, nineteen, eighteen."
"I love this so much," Markie said, turning to face me. She grabbed my hand, and as our fingers intertwined, little electrical jolts danced up my arm toward my chest. The startled look she gave me, told me she felt it too. "Thank you, Angel."
She flashed me another dimpled smile, and every inch of my body reacted, surprising me. We were in a goddamn pod with Bones and her sister not ten feet away, and I was horny beyond reason. Thankful for the suit jacket, hiding my erection, I shifted, trying to get myself under control.
"Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen..."
My brain screamed at me to pull away from her. We knew nothing about each other, and Bones was right: Markie was the kind of girl who'd rather pick out wedding rings than condoms. I had no business fucking with her. My body didn't seem to care. I set my beer on a table and brushed a stray curl back from her face, tilting her chin up to look at me. She was so goddamn beautiful, it physically hurt me to look at her and know I couldn't have her.
"Ten, Nine, Eight..."
Why? Why the fuck couldn't I have her? I wanted her. I needed her. Her hand felt like a lifeline to everything clean and good about humanity. Clinging to it, I leaned in and covered her lips with mine.
"Seven, Six, Five..."
She opened her mouth to me and I released her hands to wrap my arms around her and deepen the kiss. She tasted like wine, sin, and freedom, and I drank her in like a convict busting out of prison.
"Four, Three, Two..."
We were almost at the top, but I'd already fallen.