Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
R ayna was adorable.
Everything about her, from the way she giggled, to her expertise with chopsticks, fascinated me. I not only wanted to protect her. I wanted to get to know her.
I returned and found her slurping soup straight from the bowl.
I cleared my throat.
She gasped and sat the bowl down. It would have spilled everywhere if the bowl hadn’t been empty.
“You enjoyed it?” I smirked.
“Yeah.” She hid her face.
“Don’t be embarrassed. If you enjoy something, experience it fully, no matter who’s watching.” I winked. Her cheek bones flushed with a hint of pink. Her big, expressive eyes didn’t hold anything back. She bit her lip.
Eddie cleared his throat.
“What is it, Eddie?” I hired Eddie a few years ago after he tried to hack my computer games in the casino. He was talented, but reckless. When my brother Randall caught him, we all decided, it would be better to have someone with his knowledge protecting us from other guys like him.
“I cleaned the phone and found an IP address for Natalie. She’s still in Las Vegas.” His eyes darted around.
He handed me the phone.
I hand it to Rayna.
She squealed and unlocked the screen.
“How did you get into my phone without knowing the passcode?” She studied the phone as if something might be missing.
“It’s what I do.” Eddie shrugged.
“Can you teach me how to do it?” She looked up and waited for his answer. I thought she would argue about us having access to her phone. Maybe she wanted to add it to her other Ninja skills.
“You planning on taking up phone hacking as a hobby?” I asked.
“Never know,” she shrugged. “It might be a useful tool one day.”
“Well—"
“Eddie!” He stopped talking.
“Get the information to agent Stanley.” I sat down next to Rayna. “No one can trace her by her phone.”
“No, all taken care of.”
I nodded. He nodded too, grabbed his stuff and shuffled out of the apartment.
“Thank you.” Rayna yelled after him. He was already gone.
She turned back to me and stared.
“What’s wrong?” I hand her a napkin to wipe her face and controlled the urge to wipe it myself. I would have fed her, too. It was the Daddy in me screaming to come out.
“People are afraid of you?” She asked or stated.
“Are you afraid of me?”
She paused a beat. “No.” She nodded once. “You’re not too scary, but why were you at the party?”
“It’s not what you’re thinking.” I signaled to Joan, my assistant, lurking near the kitchen. She grabbed the dishes and put them on the tray.
“Oh, I can get that!” Rayna stood up.
“Sit down, Rayna.”
“I don’t need people to wait on me.” She whined. “I can do it myself.”
“Really.” I leaned back and crossed my arms over my chest. “Where exactly would you take them?”
She blinked.
“I would have asked.” She crossed her arms, mimicking my position.
I drop my arms, leaning in closer.
“Well, don’t you think it would be more productive for the person whose job it is to clear the table, and clean the dishes to be allowed to do her job?” I placed my hand on her forearms. She dropped them.
“And, if you did her job for her, then what would I be paying her for?”
Joan smirked.
“Her job is to clean up after you.” I sensed she wanted to say something else, but she stopped herself. “Not me.”
“But you are my guest and if I asked her to clean up after you, she would do that.”
“That’s so rude.”
“It’s not rude if it is actually her job.” I rubbed my beard. “There’s nothing demeaning about her job. She is one of the most useful and productive people employed by my casino. If she didn’t do her job as well as she does. I wouldn’t be able to do my job as well as I do. Then my casino goes under, and she’s out of the job. In fact, you could say she makes this whole set of building run.”
She tilted her head to the side and pierced her lips.
I waited for her to challenge me, but instead, she relaxed her shoulders and smiled.
“Thank you, Joan.” She leaned toward me. “At least say thank you. People like to hear a please and thank you . Even if it is their job.”
I stared at Rayna in shock and amusement. A knock at the door pulled my attention. Chandler and Patrick walked back into the apartment together. Josh took the seat next to Rayna. Chandler next to me.
Agent Stanley trailed behind, sitting at the other end of the table. He rubbed his bald head and adjusted his tie.
“Rayna, this is Agent Stanley.” I motioned in his direction.
Rayna sat back in her chair and placed her hands on her lap.
“Nice to meet you.” Her voice was shy but loud.
“Pleasure.” He gave her a curt nod and pulled a legal pad and pen from his briefcase.
“Ms. Smith.” He steepled his hands together. “I need to ask you a few questions pertaining to the events of last night.”
Rayna’s eyes went wide.
Josh’s eyes twitched.
“Stanley,” I spoke up. “Perhaps we should explain to Rayna what last night was all about.”
He snickered.
“I had no idea what I was getting myself into last night.” She sat up. Ready to defend herself. She wasn’t timid and certainly not intimidated or shy.
“Rayna, why don’t you tell us about Natalie and how you ended up in the Hotel Rockwell last night.” I nodded.
“Okay.” She took a deep breath. “I met Natalie at school. And, when I told her my summer job fell through, she offered me a job at Hotel Rockwell for the summer. She said her dad owned the place, and it was a real lifesaver because I only have one more year of school left, but my summer job along with working during the year pays my rent and food and supports my romance book collection and the occasional pizza from Ray’s that my neighbor will bring back from New York when she goes and visits her sister who lives in the Village. And?— “
“Rayn.” I interrupted her. “Let’s just stick to the sequence of events that brought you to that party last night, okay?”
“Oh, sorry.” She sat up in her chair. “Yeah. I can ramble when I’m nervous.”
“No need to be nervous.” I took her hand, ignoring Josh’s frown. “You didn’t do anything wrong. So, you met Natalie in one of your classes.”
“Yeah.” She reached up and twirled her ponytail. Another nervous habit. “Well, no. We didn’t have any classes together, but we met in the quad. I ran into her and dropped my food. Fries few everywhere and instead of getting mad, she offered me some of hers.”
“And, which school do you attend?” Agent Stanley asked.
“Rutger University.” Another twirl of the hair. “I’m majoring in business, but you didn’t ask that part.” Her eyes cut to me. “Sorry, again.”
I could hear her talk forever.
“It’s okay, go on.” I squeezed her hand.
“We got to talking and then I’d see her every few days.” Rayna paused. “Same place. She said she was from Italy, but her family lived all over. And, a few weeks before the end of the semester, I got the news my summer job fell through. She saw me upset at lunch and asked me what was wrong. When I told her, she offered me the job.”
“What did she tell you about the job?” Josh asked.
“Nothing, really.” She shrugged. “I figured casinos in Vegas hired people all the time. I worked as a waitress and party planner at a family bistro in Jersey City, but it closed. That’s how I lost my job.”
“Did Natalie offer anyone else a job that you know of?” Agent Stanley asked.
“Not that I know of.”
“Did you know anyone, any of the other girls, at the party?” Josh asked.
Agent Stanley glared at him but continued scribbling on his pad.
“No, but not all of them seemed excited to be there.” She looked down. “I had no idea what kind of party it was. I would have never agreed.”
Agent Stanley stopped writing and lifted his head.
“Never.” She shook her head. “I’m so stupid.”
“Hey.” Both Me and Josh spoke. I glared at him. His Daddy side was being triggered too. He settled back. “You’re not stupid. You needed a job, and you believed a friend. Nothing stupid about that.”
“What happened at the party?” Agent Stanley set his pen down.
“So, I saw Kyler, and we talked on the balcony and then I spotted Natalie, and I wanted to tell her I was going back to her room, but before I could, Mr. Santorini grabbed me.” She flicked her thumb against her forefinger. “He wanted to give me a tour of the apartment.” Her body started to shake.
“It’s okay.” Josh unscrewed the cap on the bottle of water on the table and handed it to her.
I focused on what my girl needed and choose not to slap the bottle out of his hand and scream some guttural mine in his face. That was me being kind to my employees.
“He.” She exhaled, looked up, pushed her shoulders back. “He tried to touch me without permission, so I kicked him in the knee and broke his nose.” She nodded once.
“At least I think I broke it.” She leaned toward me. “I’ve never seen so much blood.”
“You did good. Protected yourself. Like a true Ninja.” I winked.
Her mouth fell open.
“Is that when you walked in?” Agent Stanley turned to me.
“Yeah, I was going to rescue her, but she rescued herself.”
“And then I threw up on your shoes.” A smile played at the edge of her lips, but her eyes were filled with regret.
Chandler chuckled.
I shook my head.
“They must have given me something,” she adjusted in her seat, “I was loopy last night. Saying all sorts of crazy things.” She avoided my gaze.
“He’s going to be looking for her.” Agent Stanley said to me.
“After, who.” Rayna pointed to herself. “Me?”
“He’s going to be after you guys, too.” Agent Stanley looked around the room.
“Why?” Rayna stood up. “Because of me?”
I rubbed her arm and coaxed her back into her seat.
“I can take her with me, put her in protective custody.” Again, he addressed me.
“Protective custody?” Rayna squawked. “I have to get back to Jersey and find a job, or I can’t go back to school.”
“Hopefully we find him by the end of the summer.” Agent Stanley closed his notebook and stood.
“By the end of summer . . .” Rayna’s mouth opened and closed, but no other words came out. Her eyes narrowed, and she glared at Agent Stanley. He paid her no attention, her ire turning toward me.
“Okay, stop.” I stood up.
She jumped and her mouth clamped shut.
“Stanley. You have any more questions for Rayna.” I gripped the side of the table.
He looked at his notepad and shrugged. “Not at the moment.”
“She’s not going into protective custody.” I turn to Rayna. “You can stay here with me.”
Josh opened his mouth. I shot him a look, and he shut it.
“Don’t you think it will be safer for her if she’s in the FBI’s custody?” Chandler offered his unsolicited opinion. He rolled his eyes and stood up.
“Excuse me.” Rayna lifted her hand.
“She will be just as safe here.” I pointed to the ground. “It’s impossible for anyone to get up here.”
“Kyler.” She leaned forward and grabbed my arm.
“Just a minute Rayna.”
Patrick stood near the wall. I needed him to back me up. “That way we know she’ll be safe until Santorini is caught.”
“Hey.” Rayna had stood up. “Excuse me, but do I have a say in where I’d like to go?”
I wanted to pat her on her cute little head and tell her no, but it wouldn’t have gotten the desired result.
“Rayna.” I brought her over to the couch and motioned for her to sit. “I don’t want to scare you, but Santorini is a mob boss for lack of a better way to describe him.”
“I knew it.” She grinned. “He gave me major mob boss vibes.”
“He is kind of a low man on the totem pole because he traffic’s in women and while his friends like the money it generates, it’s the worst kind of business for their organization.” I patted her hand.
“Wow. Really? Why?” Rayna seemed more fascinated than concerned about Santorini’s dealings.
“Because when you steal a person or force a person to do . . .”
She nodded.
“And, they escape, they talk.” I shrugged.
“And the mob doesn’t like people who talk.” She understood all too well. My little girl was different. She probably preferred crime movies to my little pony. True middle.
Wait. Not my little girl.
“So, until the FBI finds him, you have to be protected.” As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t keep her here if she didn’t want to stay. But God, I really wanted her to stay. “It’s up to you, Rayna. You can go into protective custody, or you can stay here with me. You choose.”