Chapter 29

Greyson

Skylar’s arms wrapped around my neck, and the smell of her hair washed away all the panic and fear that had settled in my bones as I had tried to get the door unlocked. I opened my eyes to look at the other two women in the room. They were unharmed but still looked frightened.

I took Skylar by the shoulders and pushed her away to look her over. She didn’t appear to be injured, either. Her eyes were doing a sweep of me, too.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” I asked, cupping her chin in my hand and turning her face to the side to look at her cheeks and her ears and her neck. I couldn’t bear the thought of those goons hurting her.

“No,” she said softly, her eyes filling with tears. She blinked them furiously away as she shook her head. “But you are. What did they do to you?”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “I’m fine. Are you two all right?”

Renee and Nikki nodded at me but didn’t come any closer.

I cupped Skylar’s cheeks in my hands. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. I hated myself for putting her in this position. I hated how helpless I had felt. I hated that she had to wait in a room all night, not knowing why and not knowing if she was ever going to be let out.

Skylar took hold of my wrists as tears leaked down her cheeks. “It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay,” I said, shaking my head. “None of this is okay. I never thought—” I stopped talking. Now was not the time for this conversation. I needed to get the girls out of this place. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Skylar nodded at me and looked back at Nikki and Renee. She extended her hand, which her sister took. Then Nikki took Renee’s other hand, and the girls followed me as I turned and led them out the door and to the base of the winding staircase.

My entire body protested with every step as we climbed upward. I was eager to sit down. I glanced at my watch. The whole thing from start to finish had only taken fifteen minutes. Meek would still be waiting outside in his car, and we had plenty of time to make it down the driveway.

I groaned inwardly at the realization that I still had to walk down the damn driveway.

At the top of the stairs, we emerged in the foyer. I held open the door for the girls, and they all stepped through it, looking nervously around. Their hands were still clasped together, and they formed an awkward, slow moving chain as they passed me.

Don Bravo was waiting at the front door. I took Skylar’s hand when the girls froze and hung back. “Come on,” I said. “It’s all right.”

I approached the mob boss, who was holding my briefcase. He handed it to me and looked apologetically at the women. “I am terribly sorry for all of this, my dears. Luccio is a foolish young man, and I want you to rest assured that he will be dealt with in a manner to fit his crime.”

None of the girls answered him.

“I think it would be best if we just leave,” I said. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Don Bravo said, gesturing for his guards to open the doors. They did, and I pulled Skylar outside with me. The others hurried after her, and their high heels crunched on the gravel path to the driveway.

“Have a nice flight home,” Don Bravo called after us.

“Our luggage?” I shouldn’t have asked, but I couldn’t help. Everything I had was in that fucking bag.

“Not a problem.” He turned and snapped. Someone jogged our bags out to us. Not that anyone else would be so stupid to worry about it, but I wasn’t exactly in my right mind.

“Just keep walking,” I muttered under my breath to the girls. They all hurried their steps to match my longer strides. I was eager to put the Bravo mansion far behind us.

We were all silent as we made our way down the long driveway, dragging our shit with us. When the gate came into view, I squeezed Skylar’s hand tighter to reassure her that we were almost free of this place. She squeezed back.

When we arrived at the gates, they opened for us. I let the girls go through first and then went out after them, casting one last look up the driveway. Then I hurried out after them to the street where Meek was waiting in his sleek white Mercedes sedan.

When he saw me, he got out of the car and helped us load everything into the trunk.

“What the fuck, Greyson? What happened to you in there?”

“It’s fine,” I said, waving my friend away. I went to the back door of the car and opened it. “Come on, Skylar. Get in. I want to get away from here before those assholes change their minds.”

Skylar ducked her head and climbed into the backseat. Renee and Nikki followed her in, and I closed the door behind them.

Meek was resting his arms on the top of the car above his door. “Greyson,” he said firmly. “Seriously, you look terrible.”

“Yeah, well, I feel terrible, too.” I opened my door and slowly slid into the seat. My ribs screamed with pain with every movement, and I gritted my teeth as I leaned over to grab the door and pull it closed. Twisting around to put my seatbelt on wasn’t going to happen.

Meek got in and started the engine. When he pulled away from the curb, he shot me another worried look. “How bad is it under there?” His eyes glanced at my ribs and stomach.

“Not as bad as you think,” I said. “Just took a few hits, is all.”

Meek made that irritated sound in the back of his throat he was so good at. “I don’t like it,” he said. “You don’t look good. Hospital?”

“No,” I said, sitting up straighter. “Seriously, Meek, I’m good. I’ll be right as rain in a few days.”

“There’s no blood under there?”

“No blood,” I said.

He glanced at the suitcase between my feet on the floor of the car. “He didn’t take the money?”

“Oh, he tried. And I gave it to him. Then things got a little out of hand. It escalated. I got a hit in, though. You would have been proud of me. Knocked his ass flat for a good five seconds or so. Of course, things didn’t go well for me after that, but it was worth it.”

“Is anyone going to explain any of this to us?” Skylar asked from the backseat.

I looked back at her and regretted it as my side shrieked with pain. I grimaced and faced forward again. “Sorry. Yes. Where the hell do I start?”

“How about telling us who kidnapped us and why,” Skylar suggested.

So I told them. I told them everything about how Luccio had been caught cheating in my casino, and how he had taken it very personally when I kicked him out. I explained who he was and who Don Bravo was, and how the appearance of the mob boss in the Bravo mansion had been the only thing that saved my neck. Meek listened to the whole thing with a clenched jaw.

“You could have gotten yourself killed,” Meek said when I finished recounting the story.

“Yeah, but I didn’t,” I pointed out.

Meek rolled his eyes. Skylar slapped my shoulder.

“Ouch!” I yelled, glaring back at her.

“That’s for being reckless,” she said. “And for not telling me everything that was going on.”

“That’s fair,” I grumbled. Meek did his best to muffle his laughter, and I shot him a look. “It’s not funny. You’ve been the biggest pain in my ass since this whole thing started. You don’t get to laugh.”

“I’m not sorry,” he said.

“You should be,” I groaned, resting my head on the headrest. “I feel like I was just trampled by a bull.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t that bad?” Meek asked.

“It’s not. It’ll pass. Just get us to my place, will you? Skylar, I’ll have a private jet take you all back to Houston tomorrow morning. Are you all right with spending the night at my place? I can put you in a hotel overnight, if you’d prefer?” I hoped she wouldn’t ask for the hotel. The guilt I felt at exposing her to the biggest crime lords in Las Vegas was crippling. If she chose to stay somewhere far away from me, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to take it.

I waited a few agonizing minutes while the girls discussed what they wanted to do in the backseat. Finally, Skylar spoke up. “Your house is fine.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ll make sure we have something to eat when we get there. You must be starving.”

All three of them said they were.