Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
You know that saying an eye for an eye? Yeah, that’s what I want right now. I’ve been doing nothing but combing surveillance cameras from all over the city looking for a lead on the fucker who took a shot at Carlo.
I don’t care what I have to do. I won’t stop until I find them. Every single one of them.
Finally, something catches my eye. Not something, someone.
I’m watching all the entrances and exits at Aces.
I’ve had the feed up on one of the screens for a while now just to keep an eye on who comes and goes.
The last person I expected to be walking into that pace is Lailani.
Carlo is holed up in his apartment with Jazzy and Antonia.
I don’t know why he’d be calling someone to babysit.
The only benefit of her insistence of keeping our relationship secret is that she isn’t a target.
No one knows how important she is to me.
Well, no one other than my mother, who hasn’t shown her face since she threatened Lailani if I didn’t show up to her fucked-up wedding.
The invitation arrived in the mail the following day.
I’ve dug around looking for dirt on the fucking detective she’s marrying but he appears clean as a fucking whistle. At least on paper. How my mother got mixed up with someone like that is the real question. Also why?
I watch Lailani as she moves across the casino floor towards the elevators. “Fuck it.” I pick up the desk phone and dial her number.
“Hey.” Her voice soothes the tension in me.
“Hey yourself. What are you up to?” I ask, watching as she steps back from the open elevator doors.
“Not much. I have to work later. What are you doing?” she counters.
“At the Royal or babysitting Jazzy?”
“Royal,” she tells me.
“Where are you now? I was considering popping over?” I lie.
“I’m not there. I’m hitting the gym before my shift,” she says.
“The gym, huh?” I know Lailani is fit. I’ve touched and licked every inch of her body. She’s just never mentioned working out. “What gym? I could join you?”
“As tempting as seeing you shirtless and sweaty is, I won’t get my cardio in if you’re there,” she says. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay.” I cut the call and continue to watch her. Why the fuck is she lying to me? What is she up to?
Pulling up Ace’s camera feed, I sit and wait. Lailani steps out onto the third floor and walks right into the guest gym. I shake my head. She isn’t lying. Why would she be? I know it’s cliché but my trust issues with women really do stem from watching my mother con her way through life.
I turn off the screens and stand from my desk. I can’t just sit here and watch her workout. I need to do something. I walk out of the office and message Louie.
Me:
On my way over.
Louie:
Why?
Me:
Because I need a drink. And you have the good stuff.
Louie:
We stock the same shit, idiot. See you soon.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m sitting in my friend’s office with a glass of Cinque in my hand. “You know, if you wanted to mope around, you could have done that at your place,” Louie says, watching my face.
“I’m not moping,” I grunt.
“Really? What is this that you’re doing then?” he asks me.
“Contemplating.”
“Contemplating what?”
“Have you ever thought Charlotte was lying to you? About anything?” I mumble into my glass.
“No.” His answer comes quick.
I wish I could be as sure as he is. I thought I was. I am. Lailani is a good person. She’s not lying to me. Whatever this feeling is, it has nothing to do with her.
“You think Lailani is lying about something?” Louie lifts a questioning brow at me.
“Who said anything about Lailani?”
“You two can deny or hide or whatever the fuck it is you’re doing, but I wasn’t born yesterday. Everyone knows you’re fucking,” he tells me.
“It’s not just sex,” I groan. “And we’re not hiding—or at least, I’m not.”
“She doesn’t want to be seen in public with you? Can’t say I blame her… Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Louie laughs.
“Fuck off. She doesn’t want people to talk about her. While she’s working here,” I explain.
“So, fire her.” He shrugs.
“I’m not firing her. She needs this job.” And she’d hate me if I did that. Trust me, I’ve thought about it.
“What do you think she’s lying about?” Louie asks.
“I have no fucking idea. I saw her walk into Aces, so I called her to ask her where she was, just to see if she’d tell me,” I admit. Not my finest fucking moment.
“And did she?”
“She said she was going to the gym. And then I watched her walk into the gym.” Bringing the glass to my lips, I down the amber contents and push to my feet before walking over to the wet bar. Where I refill my glass and go sit back down. “She hasn’t given me any reason not to trust her.”
“We can’t trust anyone in our position, Sammie.”
“You trust Charlotte.” I point at him.
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“She’s my wife.” He smirks. “She can’t testify against me.”
I laugh. “So I should just marry her. That’s what you’re suggesting?”
“Fucking hell no. You don’t marry someone just so you can trust them. You marry them because you trust them,” Louie says. “Whatever your gut is telling you, believe it. It’s never led you wrong before.”
“You’re right.” I stand again, drink the whiskey—because only a fucking idiot wastes good whiskey—and turn to walk out.
“I’m always right,” Louie yells from behind me.
That’s the problem, though. He is right. My gut is telling me Lailani is hiding something. I just have no fucking idea what it is. When I ran a background check on her, she came up squeaky clean.
What the fuck could she be hiding? Is it just the fact that she doesn’t want to be seen together in public? The fact I can’t call out from the rooftops that she’s mine?
Although, with everything fucking going on right now, that’s not a bad thing. Like I said, the moment anyone gets a whiff of how important she is to me, she becomes a target.
I message the soldier I have following her today.
Me:
Where is she?
Harrison:
She’s still in the gym.
It takes me exactly seventeen minutes to get to Aces. I head right for the gym and find Lailani on the treadmill, wearing a pair of tiny-ass running shorts and a sports bra. Her body is glistening with sweat.
Fuck, this was not a good idea.
Looking around the room, I’m thankful to find that we’re alone. I lock the door, lean against it, and watch her. Lailani hits the stop button and jumps off the machine before turning around.
Her smile beams at me. “Are you just going to stand there like a creeper watching me?”
“It’s a pretty good fucking view.” I shrug.
I then watch as she moves over to the bench. She changes the weights out on the bar and lies underneath it. “Suit yourself.”
“What the fuck are you doing?” I storm over and stand behind her, ready to spot her.
“Working out,” she says.
“Don’t ever do this shit by yourself, Lailani,” I tell her.
“I can do it.” She glares up at me.
I glare back down at her. “Go for it. I’ll just stand here. In case you need help.”
“I won’t,” she spits out, lifting the bar and bringing it down to her chest in perfect form. She’s done this before. I count in my head. Lailani doesn’t put the bar back until she’s done twenty reps.
“How did I not know I was dating a gym junkie?”
“You never asked,” she says, sitting up on the bench.
I never asked. I’ve made it a point not to push her about herself, because I didn’t want to scare her away. Have I been a self-absorbed asshole by doing that, though?
Fucking hell, this dating thing was easier when I didn’t fucking do it.
Moving around the bench, I sit in front of her, my legs over each side, and pick her up before settling her on my lap.
“What are you doing? I’m all sweaty and gross,” she says, trying to push me away.
“Not the first time I’ve had your sweaty body pressed up against mine, babe. And it won’t be the last either,” I tell her. My lips connect with hers and every question I came here with disappears.
Lailani’s arms wrap around my neck, pulling me closer as she wraps her legs around my back and starts grinding her pussy against my cock.
“Fuck me,” I groan.
“Oh, I plan to.” She pulls her lips away from my mouth. “You’re a little overdressed, though.”
My fingers pinch the zipper at the front of her bra, sliding it down. “We both are,” I tell her, cupping her now-exposed breasts.