Chapter Eighteen
Milo
My spit tasted like battery acid. It burned to swallow.
Because what the fuck?
There was no way that kind of bruise came from anything other than being grabbed. Hard. Really fucking hard. The band was almost black, for fuck’s sake.
Roe’s eyes widened.
Her shoulders stiffened.
Something a little wary crossed her face.
Because, clearly, someone had been violent with her recently. The last thing she needed was my anger.
I had to rein it in.
“Baby,” I said, my voice as soft as I could make it with how sharp my emotions felt right then, “what the hell happened?”
“Remo didn’t tell you?”
“Remo?” I snarled. “Did Remo do this?”
I didn’t want to believe it, but I didn’t know the man that well yet.
“No! No, Remo saved me,” she said, her hand going up.
“I’m trying not to spiral here,” I told her, my voice as calm as I could manage. “What happened? Why did Remo need to save you?”
Why didn’t you call me?
“I was leaving the hotel last night. And I guess Frank was hanging around. He saw me. And he freaked out. He grabbed me and started ranting and raving about what a whore I was, how I was screwing the customers for cash, and that I was going to… give him what he wanted. Whether I wanted it or not.”
“What?” The sound was a growl. My jaw was too tight for the word to escape properly.
She sucked in a deep breath. “It was really bad,” she admitted, her voice small. “But then Remo came stumbling over acting drunk. He kind of distracted Frank and then, well, stabbed him in the neck with a needle.”
“What?”
What the fuck was going on?
And, more importantly, why had no one informed me?
“Frank went down hard, and Remo got me out of there. He had me call the police to report it.”
“I’m gonna fucking kill Remo,” I snapped.
If this happened last night, he had more than enough time to get to me and tell me.
“He was… nice. And he has guards watching me from a distance now.”
Oh, did he now?
Called up the whole network to set up shifts but didn’t think to tell me what was going on?
Christ.
I needed to calm down.
In Remo’s head, Roe was the Family’s asset. She wasn’t mine. Even though I’d been the one making contact from the beginning.
“Okay,” I said, trying to think through the soup in my mind. “Why would Remo want you to call the cops?”
“He wanted me to have a… story. So when I went back to work today—”
Why the fuck was she back at work?
What was Remo thinking?
Seeming to sense my cyclone thoughts, Roe offered me an understanding look. “I don’t know what drugs Remo used, but Frank doesn’t remember any of it. So, we… I had to rewrite it. Frank was… confused and shocked. He genuinely thinks he would never put his hands on me.”
Well, that was bullshit.
He was a predator, plain and simple. And one day, he would get too angry or too horny to keep his hands off her.
I wanted her out.
I wanted this danger behind her.
And I was going to have words with Remo about it.
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching for her arm, my hand landing beneath the bruise. My thumb moved out over the marks. The barely-there touch had her flinching.
“I feel a little better after work, actually.”
“How so?”
“It felt good to get the upper hand on Frank. Right now, he thinks he acted like a monster.”
“He did.”
“Right, but he doesn’t remember the trigger. So he just thinks he hurt me for no reason. And he seems to feel bad about that. It lets me get closer without—”
“I don’t want you closer. I don’t want you near him at all.”
Roe’s head cocked to the side at that, and I couldn’t decide if she looked more charmed or annoyed.
“On the one hand, I like that you’re protective of women. On the other, I was the one attacked. And I want to be part of making him pay for it.”
“Okay. Let’s… let’s not talk about that right now.”
I was too pissed off to do it rationally. And she had clearly dug her heels in already, since she had plenty of time to think shit through. While I was still trying to sort through my thoughts.
“I’m okay with that,” she agreed. “I’m kind of sick of thinking about it.”
“What do you need? A bath? Massage? A drink? Food?”
“Yes?” she said, giving me a sweet little smile.
“In that case, why don’t you go ahead and work on the bath? I’ll order up. Think they only do beer and wine this time of night, though.”
“Wine is good. Lots of wine,” she added.
“There are fresh towels and a robe.”
She seemed relieved for a little relaxation.
While I was glad for a moment alone to ring Remo and give him an earful.
I called down for the wine and some food, then moved to the far end of the suite so Roe wouldn’t hear as I called my cousin.
“Look, I don’t have time to talk about the Monroe shit right now.”
“Too fucking bad. Why the fuck—”
“Listen, Dom is MIA. As far as I can tell, no one’s been in touch with him since last night. You can chew me out over your girl later. Right now, I’ve got shit to handle.”
“What do you mean he’s MIA? Why didn’t you call me?”
“I was chasing down leads to make sure no one had made contact before I got you worried. But now that I got you, any chance you got a key card for his room?”
“Yeah,” I said, glancing at the door to the bathroom where the water cut off in the tub.
She wouldn’t know if I left for just two minutes.
“One second.”
I fished out his key card and my gun and quietly went into the hallway.
My pulse was throbbing in my ears.
Because what the fuck?
I’d been sleeping and working out and acting like not a fucking thing was going on. Meanwhile, Monroe had been attacked and my cousin was missing.
“I’m in,” I whispered, letting the door close but not lock as I moved inside.
It was eerily silent.
And Domenico was neater than I would have expected. There were no overflowing wastebaskets or clothes strewn about.
My stomach clenched as I reached the bedroom, praying I wasn’t walking into a scene that would stick with me forever.
But the room was empty.
The bed was made.
There were no signs of Dom.
“There’s nothing here.”
“I dunno if that’s a relief or not. What about the bathroom? Is the shower wet? Is his toothbrush? I could use a timeline.”
“I know what time he left my suite last night,” I told him. “I assume he made it to his room. His shower is dry, but the toothbrush feels a little wet. Maybe he just fell off the radar and you missed him going into the casino?”
“I got someone inside looking for him. Anything else look out of place or too neat?”
“Well, it’s neat. It’s a lot neater than I’d expect.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Spent how many years in a six-by-eight? Would feel messy quick. Probably used to keeping things clean.”
That was a fair argument.
I moved back through the suite, looking for something, anything.
“There’s nothing. He must have his cell, wallet, and his gun. I don’t see them anywhere.”
“Look, I’m trying to be rational about this,” Remo said. “He’s a grown-ass man. One on a job, but also in a vacation town. There’s nothing saying he didn’t come across something pretty and go back to her place.
“Think we’ve all burned through a phone battery while distracted by someone sweet and enthusiastic before.
“I’m hoping he charges up and gets in contact. But I’m putting out a dragnet just in case.”
“What about Frank?”
“He’s right where your girl said he’d be. Having dinner with his shady buddies. And his main henchmen all went home. There’s nothing pointing to him or his crew having taken Dom.”
“Okay,” I agreed, going back into my suite.
“I’m contacting Luca. Right now, I’m not asking for backup. If we don’t hear anything in the next four or five hours, though, I might be requesting help.”
“What can I do?”
“Seeing as you got a girl in your room right now, not much.”
“How the fuck do you know what I’m doing but lost track of Domenico?”
“Well, I wasn’t watching you. I was watching her.”
Something heavy hung in the air then.
I didn’t know if I should fess up or not.
“I don’t give a fuck where you dip your wick, Milo. Not that kinda boss. Have fun with Monroe. If I need you, I’ll call.”
With that, he ended the call just a second before room service knocked on the door.
It felt wrong to go on like my cousin wasn’t missing.
But once I shot off a few texts and calls to both his burner and his real phone, there was really nothing else I could do. I didn’t know the area or its players like Remo did. It was better to let him do the search.
“Are you okay?” Roe asked, making me jerk and turn to find her standing in the bathroom doorway in one of the fluffy white robes.
It was the wrong time.
But knowing she was naked under that, skin likely still flushed pink from the hot water, had my cock getting all sorts of ideas about finishing what we started the night before.
I’d been so fucking frustrated by the interruption just when I got to feel her tight, wet walls closing around me.
But in retrospect, it was probably a good thing.
We’d never had a talk. About tests, about bundles of joy neither of us were ready for. We really needed not to let that continue on.
That didn’t mean my body wasn’t aching for it, though.
“Did you happen to see Dom today?”
“Dom? No. Why?”
“He’s… missing. No one’s been able to get in touch with him since he left here last night.”
“What? Oh, my God. What can we do? Should we get changed and go—”
“Love that your first instinct is to try to find him yourself, but no. Remo is handling it right now. But if we don’t get in touch soon, I might have to go out and start looking. Not you, though. I want to make sure you’re safe.”
“Are you okay?” she asked, coming closer to put her hands on each of my arms.
“I know he’s probably out having the time of his life touring some woman’s bedsheets. But I don’t like it.”
“I’m sorry.” Her hands slid down, then around my waist, wrapping me up tight.
And, fuck, if a hug from her wasn’t exactly what I needed right then.