Wanting nothing more than to take her into his arms and put them both out of their misery, Justin contented himself with knowing that she’d be safe from her husband until his return. He’d have another talk with her guards when he was leaving in the morning to ensure they kept every male away from her. He wasn’t taking any chance that she’d meet someone while he was gone. He couldn’t have her, and he was going to make sure no one else could either. “I will be sleeping on your sofa tonight given your little visit from that bastard earlier.”
“I told you that I can handle Ralph.”
“I’m sure you can, but I’m going to make sure that asshole got my message.”
She finished stacking the dishwasher before turning to him with a cool gaze. “I’m not even going to bother telling you what to do. You’re going to do what you want anyway. So, I’m going to take my behind to bed. If I don’t see you before you leave, have a nice flight and have a nice life.”
Justin chuckled at her sass, but as she started leaving the room, he hooked an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. “Not so fast,” he said softly. He clutched her in a tight hug. “Be good and stay out of trouble.”
“If you’re not going to fuck me, Jay, please don’t touch me,” she told him coolly.
Justin chuckled and tightened his arms around her one last time before letting her go. Watching her leave was almost killing him. He had no idea what this mission would entail or how long he’d be gone or whether they would make it back out alive.
He spent the next hour trying to get settled on the sofa and ignoring Melissa’s text and voice messages. He knew that she wasn’t even in Austin tonight because she’d taken the firm’s jet earlier in the day. He hadn’t bothered trying to find out what she was up to or where she went. And then his phone started vibrating, indicating Melissa calling him. Looking at the phone monitor dispassionately, he again ignored her.
He stood to go check up on Nakia. It started with him poking his head in the door of her bedroom, and by a seemingly invisible string, he was pulled farther into the room. She was sprawled on her back with a hand on her stomach, the other arm thrown over her head, one leg bent in an almost ballerina pose. Shit! He found himself rooted to the foot of the bed, unable to look away or walk away from her. “Ah, what the hell!”
He took his shirt and pants off, leaving only his boxes on before climbing into bed with her. As soon as he stretched out on the sheets beside her, she immediately rolled toward him. He hugged her against him. He’d never known such peace. He slept.
The insistent vibration of his phone woke him a few hours later. This time whoever was calling clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer. Every time the phone stopped vibrating from the long wait, it would start vibrating again as the person on the other end pressed redial. Justin reached for his phone to turn it off but stopped when he realized that it was Colt calling. He left the bedroom to not disturb Nakia.
“It’s almost three in the morning. What the hell, man? Are Imani and my nephew okay? What’s going on?”
“Why didn’t you answer your fuckin’ phone?” Colt asked.
“What’s going on?”
“Melissa’s in Atlantic City with a few of her girlfriends, and they ran up a tab.”
“What did you say?” Justin asked.
Justin had heard him, but he was so embarrassed by his wife’s antics that he needed it repeated. No way had Melissa put them in debt again when he was just now getting their finances sorted. Colt told him again, but he also sounded worried.
“Something is off about this, Justin. Not only were they desperate to get a hold of you, Melissa was almost sobbing with gratitude when I told her if I couldn’t find you that I’d come get her. When I asked how much the girls owed, the casino owner insisted he wouldn’t accept payment by wire and wanted a personal appearance. What the hell is going on with Melissa? What was she thinking?”
“The better question,” Justin said, “is what this motherfucker wants from us. Why would a casino owner want us there physically? Can Imani check this place out? Find out if Baldacci’s involved? I don’t want to walk into an ambush. Clearly, something is off with this, and Melissa’s dumb ass fell into it.”
Colt chuckled on the other end. Even before Colt spoke, Justin was already on board with his brother’s “take no shit” stance.
“I don’t have a problem reminding motherfuckers of who we are,” Colt said, “mob or not.”
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes to get you,” Justin said.
“I’d better come get you in the chopper, and then we can take the jet to Atlantic City. That’ll be quicker. I’ll be there in ten.”
“I’m not home,” Justin said, “and I need to take care of something before we meet up.”
Colt whistled. “You sure you know what you’re doing?”
“Ever since I met her, I haven’t been sure of any damn thing.”
“We’ll deal with that later. When and where can we meet?”
Chapter Eight
Hours later, Justin stared coldly at Victor Bianchi, determined to not reveal the panic that was threatening to overwhelm him. “Mr. Bianchi, what do my brother and his wife have to do with these women owning some losses at your blackjack table?”
“Your wife owes me over half a million dollars in gambling debt and payment for destruction of hotel property.” Victor grinned as though he had an inside view of Justin’s accelerating heart rate.
Justin felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. He couldn’t have spoken at that moment if his life depended on it. How did Melissa and her friends find this place anyway? It wasn’t even close to the hotel and casino district of the Boardwalk.
“And I’ll bet your direct invitation to Melissa and your shady-ass dealing had nothing to do with her spectacular failure?” Colt drawled.
Melissa looked at him defiantly. Victor had Melissa and her two friends, all spoiled rich debutantes, sitting on a sofa in the corner of the room being guarded by two heavily armed men, who looked as though they were card-carrying members of a motorcycle gang.
“I run a respectable establishment here. Your sister-in-law earned much from us before she overestimated her card skills.” Victor smirked. “We can’t allow people to ignore our rules, flaunt their disdain for our less-than-glamorous clientele, and take no care of our properties. Mrs. Ragnarson seems to think that she should be given preferential treatment to mistreat our staff and destroy the lovely accommodations we gave her. We can’t have that.”
“You’re going to have to give us a few days to gather the funds for the debt owed.” Justin finally found his voice. “I apologize for my wife and her friends’ indiscretion.”
“I’ve told you what I want!” Victor growled. No longer did he wear that veneer of cool professionalism he’d been so certain of a few moments ago; his temper and nefarious intent surfaced. “We also purchased your other debts, mortgage, loans, credit cards. You name it, we have it. You owe us millions. Think you can raise that kind of cash?” Victor didn’t try to hide his glee now. “Getting the picture yet?”