Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Zach nods and leaves the office. I watch him go, pleased that he’s taking this seriously.
“I’ve got other news,” Will says, stretching. “Took me a while, but I know where Shane Kiernan’s hiding.”
I steeple my fingers, letting that sink in. Casey’s brother is a part of this mess, mixed up deeper than I realized. I’m not sure if he understood what Tony really wanted from him when he started to work for the Oceanview, but it doesn’t matter anymore.
My only goal is to find a way to make Tony go away.
I can’t kill him. That would be too obvious. He’s running for office now, and a suspicious death would draw all sorts of difficult heat onto my family. Heat which we can’t afford.
No, Tony can’t disappear. There are too many national political figures watching his rise now. And there are his backers to consider: the dark money involved with his new hotel.
But the idea of cutting a deal with him is beyond distasteful. He pressed a gun against Casey’s head. My wife’s head. The woman I’ve obsessed over for a long time.
He would’ve killed her if Gianni hadn’t intervened.
There’s got to be another way to take care of Tony, but the solution hasn’t presented itself. Not yet at least.
“Bring him in,” I say.
“Are you sure about that? Will your wife be happy?”
“I don’t care. Give her brother a decent room. Keep it locked and guarded. Assign a doctor to help him through withdrawal.”
Will’s eyebrows raise. “We’re a detox facility now?”
“We’re a fucking casino hotel. We’re whatever the hell we need to be.” I lean back with a sigh. “Shane might have useful information about Tony’s operations, only he doesn’t know it at the moment. I need him sober. I need him nice and lucid.”
“Understood.” Will strokes his face. “I have to admit, I’m almost enjoying this.”
“I bet you are, you prick.”
“You’re stumbling all over yourself trying to make this girl happy. It’s almost cute.”
“It’s horrible. Get to work.”
He laughs as he leaves my office.
I get ten minutes of peace. I close my eyes and spend it thinking of Casey back in my apartment, back in my bed, still naked from the night before. Her body damp with sweat, her lips parted, her plump ass, her hard nipples. I crave her in a way I’ve never experienced before, an out-of-control need that won’t go the fuck away. I need to think—not daydream about fucking my wife.
Unfortunately, my secretary buzzes and rips me from my fantasy. “Your mother is here to see you.”
Nothing kills my mood faster. “Send her in.”
Mother enters. She’s in a gray pantsuit, her hair styled, looking like she’s on her way to a high-powered business lunch. “Morning, darling,” she says, sitting down in the chair Will just vacated. “You’ve been hiding from us, haven’t you?”
I give her a look. Mother smiles back thinly.
“I haven’t been hiding. I’ve been tactically avoiding you and my brothers.”
“Same thing.” She waves me away. “Why?”
“For one, you all meddle in my life far too much. One of these days you’re going to overstep.”
“Then what? I don’t suppose you’ll kick me out?”
I sigh, rubbing my face. “Of course not. The Sunrise is your home.”
“Then I guess I have no reason to stop.” She clucks her tongue as my sour glare. “Don’t pout, my eldest boy. We have your best interests at heart.”
“Even Conlan?”
“Well, maybe not him.” She purses her lips. “That one enjoys the smell of chaos far too much.”
“That’s one way of putting it.” I lean back with an exhausted sigh. “Why did you come up here this morning, Mother?”
“I want to have dinner with you and your wife.”
My eyebrows raise. “Really? I thought you didn’t approve.”
“I don’t, but she hasn’t gone away yet, and I’m starting to think I’m stuck with her for a while.”
“That’s lovely.”
“It’s the truth. I might as well get to know her since we’re living in the same casino. Though honestly, it’s a big place.”
“I’ll set something up. Should I bring the others as well?”
“Might as well.”
“Consider it done. Even if I think it’s a terrible idea.”
Mother pauses. She tilts her head, eyes narrowed, as if she’s considering what to say next. Slowly, she stands, but doesn’t leave. “You’re different.”
“Different how?” I ask, exhausted by the thought of another lecture on how to act as a proper Costa patriarch.
“You seem lighter.” She doesn’t look happy about. “Happy, almost. It’s the girl, isn’t it?”
“I can’t imagine why I might feel that way.”
“I felt that way about your father once.” I stare at her. She never speaks about Dad—not since he passed. “We were young and stupid. I thought he was forever, and then he was, except forever didn’t last forever, it only felt that way.”
“Casey is not like Dad.”
“No, she isn’t, and that’s the point, isn’t it? Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’m not approving of the girl, I’m only saying you seem happy.” She rolls her eyes. “I’m sure your brothers will ruin it for you tonight.”