10. Cameron #2
Dax pulled her wallet out of her jacket pocket, removed the American Express Black Card, and slapped it on the counter.
“Go ahead, run it for two nights if it will make you feel better. Here’s my ID as well if you think I stole the damn card.
If that won’t work for you, I’d be happy to go pull ten grand out of my bank account in cash.
Thing is, if you make me do that, I’m going to ask for five-dollar bills and make you count it all in front of me. ”
The card combined with Dax’s attitude had the man moving at lightning speed all of a sudden. “How many will be staying with you, Miss Blackmore?”
“There’s going to be eight of us,” she answered.
“Lovely, and are you staying just two nights?”
Dax turned to the rest of the guys, but none of us really had an answer for that. “Yes, just the two days.”
“Very good. I have everything set up, and here are your room keys. Don’t worry about your luggage, our people will take care of that for you.
The private elevator for our luxury-suite guests is down that hall to the left.
You’ll need to use your room keys to get the elevator to operate, added security to help ease your mind,” the man rambled, trying to make up for being an ass.
“Thank you. We’ll handle it from here,” I told the man, then intertwined my fingers with Dax’s, and we headed for the elevators.
I could feel the irritation rolling off of Dax, but I wasn’t going to bring it up unless she did. That’s one thing I’d learned long ago, Dax wasn’t a person who needed to talk things out. She was more of a stew over it until she either moved on or exploded.
“Little rebel, don’t let ignorant people steal the fun out of staying here,” Sprocket offered as he wrapped a hand around the back of her neck and massaged it. “Small-minded people live small lives. Let him live his little life not knowing what else is out there.”
She moaned as he hit a spot that clearly felt good to her. “You’re right, this is about us and the rest we deserve before heading back to LA to get our plan in action.”
“We have a plan,” Cognac asked. “I was under the impression we were just flying by the seat of our pants, loba.”
“That’s the problem… we can’t do that with this fight. I won’t be taking any risks unless I know for damn sure it will pay off. Marco has been studying me for possibly five years, putting us at one hell of a disadvantage,” Dax pointed out.
Squeezing her hand, I drew her attention.
“Then we need to change up who makes the plans. If he knows your moves, then that’s what we stay far away from.
Instead, we have to be unpredictable and move with a different beat to keep him guessing.
I say we lull him into a false sense of security then rip the rug right out from under his feet.
Then when it’s already too late, he’s in our trap. ”
“You make that sound so simple,” Dax grumbled. “How am I supposed to think like someone else when I’ve been doing this for so long?”
The elevator door opened, and we headed down a short hall with one door on the left and another on the right. Our room was on the left, and Picasso was the first to get his keycard to the sensor which unlocked with a chirp. Pushing the door open, we all froze as we took in the sight before us.
“Are we in a hotel or an apartment that came out of Downton Abbey?" Picasso asked.
The guys all scowled at him.
“How the hell would we know? You’re the only one who watches that shit,” Void muttered as he headed deeper into the room.
“Feel like I’m in the bloody Buckingham Palace with how this place is set up.
No wonder the guy didn’t think we could afford this place, we certainly don’t look like we’d even want to stay here. ”
All of us scattered as we scoped out the suite, checking all the rooms to see what more there could possibly be.
There was a dining room and living room on the first floor, then on the second were two bedrooms with king-size beds.
The bathroom seemed like it could be its own room, and the soaking tub could probably fit three, if not four, of us at once.
The terrace was on the first floor and had an area for you to eat.
On the other side, the hot tub was bubbling away, looking incredibly inviting.
On the East Coast, the weather was much cooler at night than it was back in LA as the summer was coming to an end.
I took a moment to lean on the railing and look down over the city. Cars honked, people shouted, and sirens on police cars blared as they flew by. There was nothing about this place that seemed to just take a breath. Instead, everyone was off on some intense personal mission.
“Word is that you’re going to be part of the CIA,” Wes commented as he joined me, offering a beer. “Seems your plan might work.”
Snorting, I took the beer and swallowed a few gulps before answering, “Getting in was the easy part. Now I have to convince them my plan is worth implementing.”
“Remind me why we are keeping her in the dark when she’s already opening up to the idea of letting someone else run this show?
” Wes asked as he leaned his arms on the railing letting his beer dangle over the edge.
“Think of how much shit we gave her for keeping things like this to herself, and now here we are doing the same goddamn thing.”
I shook my head. “No, this is different. The only one who gets hurt if this doesn’t go well is me, and I can live with that.”
“She won’t,” Wes countered. “It won’t matter where they lock your ass away, she’ll come find you. Then once she’s sprung you from jail, we’ll all be on the run for the rest of our lives. Don’t give me that bullshit that you’re the only one who gets hurt.”
Turning, I leaned back on the railing to look up at the building we were staying in. “What the fuck did we do right in our lives to end up here, with her as our wife? Must have been in a past life because I know I’ve done fuck all with this one.”
Wes didn’t answer, just took a long pull from his beer. “You taking her out tonight?”
“No, tonight is going to be hot tub, back rubs, mind-blowing orgasms, and then putting her ass to bed,” I said. “I have to tell her about it all since she figured it out. Have to admit, I’m surprised you didn’t lead her to the answer sooner than this once you put the pieces together.”
“Only reason I found out was because of your old man. Bastard doesn’t know when to stop talking or take notice when he’s spilling the beans about something we didn’t know,” Wes grumbled.
I let out a heavy sigh. “He knew exactly what he was doing when he told you all that. I have to remind myself that I’m lucky to have him in my life, even if he drives me fucking crazy.”
“What, he thought by outing you to me that I was then going to force you to tell Dax? That’s a stupid assumption I learned a long time ago that there are some secrets you take to your grave.
Doesn’t do anyone any good to know all the dirty laundry you have in the closet.
Fuck, I’m not sure I even know all of Dax’s secrets for all that we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long,” Wes reasoned.
Shoving off the railing, I took another long look at the sunset behind the city skyline. “Everyone needs a secret or two to keep, just human nature. Come on, let’s figure out food so she doesn’t stab me as I fill her in because she’s hungry.”
“Smart plan,” Wes agreed. “I really want to be able to play in the hot tub, and getting stabbed would make that challenging.”