Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95049 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Wait,” I breathe out. “You haven’t had a guard on you this entire time?”
Nicole scrunches her nose up in confusion.
“The entire time I’ve been away at college, your dad’s insisted that I always have a guard on me, saying that it’s because of him being the mayor.”
But I’ve heard the rumors, and what I overheard today only confirms that Mayor Eric Vanderbilt is not the religious, upstanding family man he claims to be.
“No.” Nicole shakes her head. “Not until recently.”
A sense of unease washes over me, and I wonder if maybe he’s always known I was a virgin and had that guard on me as a way to make sure I stayed that way. The few times I met a guy I was actually interested in dating, he would cancel, or something would come up. I never thought about it, but now …
I hear about shit like this on crime documentaries, but I didn’t believe any of it was real. Now, I’m starting to second-guess everything I ever thought.
“The whole thing is a mess,” Nicole says. “And if you aren’t comfortable going on the trip, I’ll understand, but just know that while the Antonovs are the most dangerous family on the East Coast, they’ve also become my friends, and unlike my father, they’re loyal to those they care about. I don’t believe they’d let anything happen to anyone on the trip, and there will be tons of guards and protection. That’s why they booked an entire resort wing—so nobody can get close enough to touch their women. When you’re linked to them, they’ll make sure you’re protected.”
Her words solidify what I was already planning to do—get on that yacht and let it take me far away from here. And on the plus side, by association, I’ll be protected by the Antonovs from Eric and whoever this Santiago guy is who agreed to accept me as payment for Eric’s debt.
I consider telling Nicole what happened, but right now, I don’t know who I can trust, and while I want to believe I can trust her, once I spill what I heard, there’s no taking it back.
“I want to go,” I tell her. “It sounds like a fun, relaxing trip.”
And it beats the hell out of staying here and being sold to some psycho sex trafficker.
4
Lorenzo
This was a mistake.
I love Bri. She’s practically a second sister to me, and I want to support her in any way I can, including being there when she marries Kane for the second time. But I’ve only been away from my son for thirty minutes, and I’m already regretting this trip.
It’s not that I don’t trust Dani’s nannies. I know she would never allow anyone she doesn’t fully trust to watch her daughter. And on top of that, there are several guards watching over the building and babies as well. There are also nanny cams—which the nannies are fully aware of—in Alba’s room, where Leo will be sleeping, and in the living room and playroom. Matteo wouldn’t take any chances. But none of that keeps my heart from feeling like it has been clenched with barbed wire and is slowly bleeding out.
Fuck, I sound dramatic. People leave their kids all the time—to go to work, go on kid-less dates, go on vacation, or go to appointments. And then they return home, and their kids are happy and safe.
“A Corona, please,” a woman I’ve never seen before says, sidling up to the bar next to me.
I was on the phone with the nanny when Bri was making introductions, so I’m assuming she’s a friend of Bri’s, but I’ve never seen her before, and I have no clue what her name is.
She looks at me with a smile. “You look like you can use something stronger than that.” She nods toward the can of Coke and glass of ice in front of me.
“Probably,” I admit. “But I don’t want to be drunk in case something happens.”
Her spine goes straight. “What’s going to happen?”
With wide eyes, she glances around the luxury yacht that Kane rented for the occasion, and I realize how ominous that sounded.
“Nothing’s going to happen on the boat,” I assure her.
Between Matteo, Kane, and Dominick, they’ve made sure that security is locked down at home as well as on the yacht and at the resort we’re staying at in Bimini.
“Okay, then why can’t you drink?”
The bartender hands her the bottle, and once she shoves the lime wedge down, she brings it to her mouth. Her plump pink lips wrap around the top, and she tilts her head back, taking a long sip while looking like she’s in a beer commercial.
When she removes the bottle from her lips, a bit of beer dribbles out, sliding down her slim neck and landing on top of one of her perky tits. My dick swells slightly in my board shorts, not having gotten any action in months, and I force myself to look away.