12. Zeno
CHAPTER 12
ZENO
I shove the asshole kid forward, grazing his ear with my lips. “You’re gonna walk over to the table where your boss is sitting and you’re not gonna try anything stupid, or else the knife I have in my pocket is gonna slice your goddamn jugular. And my friend Bruno is right behind us with his gun, so you’ve basically got no chance if you fuck around with us. Do you feel me, Brilliance?”
He nods.
I can make out the profile of a woman with long, dark hair and glasses sitting by herself. “Is that who you’re supposed to meet?”
Again he nods and walks in the direction of the table. I push the other two in front of me so I can keep tabs on all three. Bruno and Aldo slip into step next to me.
“What’s the plan?” Aldo asks.
“I want my money back,” I grunt. “And they’re gonna get it for us.
“That wasn’t part of the deal,” he mumbles. “We were just gonna scare them off.”
“Fuck that,” I say. “They’re not getting away with it. Do you know how much damage it’ll do to us if word gets around that the hotel our families own was taken for God only knows how much cash?”
“Sergio is gonna flip his shit if you engage with these pussies.”
I roll my eyes. What the hell else is new?
My eyes flicker past the hackers, back toward the dance floor where I see Lily pressed against one of the guys in the circle. Her friend is off to the side, leaving her exposed and alone.
I clench my fist tight. Jesus, I need to calm the hell down.
I have one goal tonight and that’s to get the hotel’s money back from these thieves.
Period.
I can’t have Lily, no matter how much I want her.
I grit my teeth and tear my eyes away from her. I’ll find some cocktail waitress to sneak up to my apartment when I get back to the hotel and I’ll just fuck out my obsession with Lily.
Everything will look better in the morning.
Until my father gets his hands on me.
But if I can redeem myself with this, if I’m the hero for once, maybe he’ll let me come home to Sicily.
Maybe I’ll actually get my life back, far away from Sergio and this bullshit syndicate.
I’ve got plenty of other brothers. Let them represent us out here.
I stop in front of the table and lift an eyebrow at the three guys now surrounding their backer. She gives them a nod and they move out of the way for me. I slide into the booth across from her, my mouth stretched into a straight line.
“You have something that belongs to me,” I say through clenched teeth. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way. Which would you prefer?”
The backer has the nerve to smile. “You do know that here in America, possession is nine-tenths of the law.”
“You do know who my family is, right? And the Marcone family? We co-own the Excelsior,” I lean in closer. “And do you want to hear what we do with pieces of shit who dare to steal from us?”
“You call it stealing. We like to think of it as collecting what we’re owed.” She folds her hands on the table.
“How the fuck do you figure that?”
She shrugs. “Let’s just say that some people were screwed over when the Villanis and Marcones built that hotel. Powerful people who had skin in the game and lost a lot of money because of how your family steamrolled your way into this town. You and the rest of the families you’re associated with. This is just a reminder that of what you have to lose if you keep playing this game. Take the loss. Consider it a settlement.”
“I want that money back,” I say, fisting my hands and slamming them on the table.
“We’re just the messengers,” she hisses. “Consultants, really. And that stolen money? Chalk it up to the cost of doing business. Welcome to Las Vegas.”
I palm my gun and slide my jacket back so she can see it.
Bitch doesn’t even blink.
“If you think this is going away because you shoot us, you’re wrong. See, the people who hired us have deep pockets and they want revenge. If we’re suddenly out of commission, they’ll just find another team to do the job. And they will finish it, mark my words. Let it go, Zeno .”
A chill slithers down my spine when she says my name.
My name.
Shit.
That’s not a coincidence.
Nobody is supposed to know I’m out here.
And yet, she knows my name.
Fucking Messina.
He’s got to be behind this whole thing!
And he knows I’m here.
The question is, what is he planning to do about it?
She slides out of the booth, and without another look, she walks toward the door of the club, her minions following close behind. Bruno collapses across from me, raking a hand through his hair.
“You know what the hell that’s all about?”
“No,” I grunt because Bruno and Aldo don’t even know the real reason why I’m hiding out in Vegas. They don’t get why her use of my name makes my gut twist. They think I came here to party and sample some American pussy.
Unfortunately that’s what got me into this mess in the first place.
With sagged shoulders, I push myself out of the booth, wondering if there will be any surprise visitors waiting for us outside the club when we leave.
Laying low at the hotel makes it difficult for anyone to ice me, but out in the open?
I’m a fucking sitting duck.
Screwed beyond belief.
I grab my phone from my pocket, ready to shoot off a message to Sergio. My temples throb. He needs to know the whole story, just in case I don’t make it back to the hotel. If what I believe is true and Messina knows I’m here, he’ll just have his guys wait to tail me back there.
And take me out en route.
Or worse, kill me once I get back to the hotel, then storm the place.
Goddammit! Looks like the Severinov surveillance team choked.
It’s over.
All of it.
Over.
“We’ve gotta get out of here,” I murmur. I remember seeing a back entrance, past the dance floor, my obsession with Lily forgotten.
Too bad my car is out front.
I should call Sergio, have him send a car and a security team.
He’ll skin me alive for making the request, but it just might save my ass and get me the cover I need.
My skin prickles with tiny beads of perspiration. I just had to stir shit up at the hotel tonight, didn’t I?
I let out a frustrated sigh, pushing my way through the hot and sweaty crowd, my eyes everywhere. If someone’s gonna try and pop me, I’ll give them the fight of their damn life.
I give a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure Bruno is still behind me and just as I turn back, a splash of something cold and wet soaks my shirt. I wrinkle my nose.
Cold, wet, and fruity.
“Watch what the fuck you’re—” I start to grunt, then stop when I see the angry expression on my assailant’s face.
Her gorgeous, flushed, and extremely pissed off face.
Lily.
Except the look of disgust isn’t directed at me, it’s focused on the guy to my right.
“What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch?” he yells at her. “You’ve been all over my dick and now you decide you don’t want it?”
“No, I was dancing with you because I thought you were a decent guy,” she shouts with a roll of her eyes. “Clearly I was mistaken. And don’t flatter yourself by saying I was all over your dick. You were grinding against me enough for me to know I wouldn’t have been able to find it if I tried!” She grabs Chloe’s arm and pulls her away from the group of guys she’s dancing with.
I’m mesmerized by the fire in this girl, so much so that I forget my own suck-ass predicament.
But the guy is not letting Lily get away. He grabs her wrist, and even in the center of the packed dance floor, she twists around with malice in her eyes.
Malice and a challenge.
Oh, fuck yeah.
What have we got here?
As sticky and damp as my shirt is, I can’t tear my eyes away.
The corners of her lips curl upward and she uses some kind of grip to flick his wrist backward, really hard to the point where she almost separates it from his arm. Looks fucking painful.
And then as he’s moaning about his wrist, she drives her knee into his groin, sending him straight to his knees and into a puddle of whatever drink she flung at us.
“Oh, shit!” Chloe giggles and claps a hand over her mouth as she hurries behind Lily.
Neither one of them recognize me gawking, either.
“Zeno, come on. This place is gonna turn into a circus. Let’s go before we’re stuck in the middle of a fucking brawl.” Bruno nudges me but doesn’t need to since I’m already hot on Lily’s heels, my worries about Messina dissipating into the steamy air around us.
And I’m not following her because I need to see her again.
There are about three guys whom that schmuck just signaled from his place on the floor and they’re all in pursuit.
As brutal as she is, I know she can’t take them all on by herself, even though she may think she’s some kind of a ninja in that red dress. And Chloe looks a hundred percent plastered and two-hundred percent useless.
Jesus, and I was the one itching for action. I just figured I’d be the one to deliver it, not watch it from the sidelines.
Lily storms toward the back exit when one of the guys foolishly grabs her arm and yanks.
Hard.
Not smart.
I mean, didn’t he see his friend crying like a bitch out there?
My own fingers twitch and adrenaline shoots through them.
“Oh, shit,” Bruno mutters behind me, like he knows what’s coming.
I shove past the spectators and fist the back of the guy’s shirt, pulling him away from her. “It’s not polite to grab people, ya know?” I growl, throwing him against a nearby table. Glasses shatter as they hit the floor and people jump up from their chairs.
Another one of his crew leaps at me just as I turn around, pounding his fists into my side. I’m double his size, though, so his punches feel more like light taps. “I like your enthusiasm,” I hiss. “But you need to work on your power strikes. Like this.” I launch my fist at his jaw and he goes flying into a small crowd that’s formed right off the dance floor.
Bouncers rush over to us, pulling me, Bruno, and Aldo away from the third guy who was ready to throw down.
Jesus, these American guys and their beer muscles.
“Listen, we weren’t looking for any trouble—” I say before one of the bigger bouncers cuts me off.
“Well, you found it. And now you’re outta here,” he mutters, opening the door and shoving me and Bruno out of the club.
“Does it feel good?” Bruno asks me with a chuckle. “Getting out of the hotel, pummeling some asshole guys? You get your fix?”
I straighten up, running a hand through my hair. “Yeah, just fucking great.”
A clicking sound gets louder and louder, and I turn to see Lily and Chloe hurrying over to us.
Her jaw drops when she gets close. “It’s you,” she says in a shocked voice. “Zeno.”
She remembers my name. I get a little jolt from hearing it tumble from her red lips, won’t even lie. “Yeah,” I say with a smirk. “Last time I checked, it was definitely me.”
“Hey!” Chloe yells, pointing at me. “It’s the guy from the Montepremi, Lil!”
“I know .” She rolls her eyes at Chloe, then focuses her glare on me. “Any reason why you felt the need to jump into my fight?” she asks, an edge to her voice. “I think I’ve made it clear that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
I furrow my brow. “Really? That’s why you came after me?”
”Did you think I was going to thank you?” she snips. “Did you see what I did to the first guy who grabbed me?” She crosses her arms over her chest. “Besides, you made it pretty obvious not once, but twice, that you tend to walk away when things start to get interesting.” With a quirk of her brow, she flashes a half-smirk, almost challenging me.
Oh, fuck yeah. Game on.
Messina who?
I knew there was something about this girl, but I never expected this kind of fire, the kind you want to actually singe you.
And I’d have never guessed it’d blaze so hot.
Lily’s definitely not the sit-back-and-let-shit-happen kind of girl.
She’s a make-it-happen type.
Her way.
I like that spark.
I’d love to put her over my knee and spank it out of her, Alek’s warnings be damned.
I’ll deal with the consequences.
I step toward her, caught under her spell and so deep that I almost don’t hear the squeal of tires behind me, or the crack of bullets explode into the air.
I don’t think, I just dive to the ground with Lily under me.
Crack! Pop! Bam!
Lily’s screams are muffled by my shirt, and I keep my body plastered on top of her to keep her out of the sea of bullets.
Bruno has Chloe under him on the ground, as well, a few feet from us.
I fumble for my gun and pull it from my waistband, firing off a few shots as the car careens around the corner. More bullets pierce the air, shattering windows of cars behind us in the parking lot, until the assassins disappear.
Alarms blare out and it will only be a matter of time before people come pouring out of the club.
“We need to get out of here,” I yell. “Bruno, where’d you park?”
He groans. “Around front. And if we go out there, we’re dead.”
Lily slithers out from underneath me. “Come on! My car is out here.” She scrambles to her feet as Aldo picks up her friend and we make a run for her car together. Once we’re all inside, she fires up the engine and peels out of the parking lot.
Her shoulders tremble, her hands gripping the steering wheel tight. “I knew I should have just stayed home tonight,” she mutters, staring into the rearview mirror. “It was a bad idea to come here. Dammit!” she swears to herself.
She’s not wrong. This club, as hot as it is, really isn’t in the safest spot. Most of the big clubs are in hotels, but this one is off by itself. There’s always shit going down here, at least, that’s what I’ve read, anyway.
“We’re okay,” I grumble. “We’re safe.” For how long, though? That’s the magic question without an answer. Jesus, I was only half-kidding about not making it back to the hotel tonight.
Turns out I was actually right.
In situations like this, I hate being right.
Lily’s breathing becomes more labored, and it sounds like a panic attack is pretty imminent.
I place a hand on her shoulder, massaging it gently as she zooms down the strip. I can understand why she’s so freaked out. It’s gotta be pretty fucking scary to be shot at for the first time. “Lily, calm down. It’s really okay.”
“I’m not okay! I won’t ever be! I was stupid to think I could do this!”
Ah, shit. I just met this girl, and now I’ve fucked her up for life because my sordid past caught up to me at the wrong goddamn time.
“They found me,” she whispers through gritted teeth.
My head jerks in her direction and I recoil.
Wait, what ?