by Piper Page
“Cole?”
“God damn it, Willie. It’s Jake. Cole is going to kick your ass and I may join him. Have you ever heard of an alarm?”
I could hear the rustling of sheets and what I thought was a feminine giggle. Willie must have placed his hand over the phone because all I heard after that was scratching muffled noises.
“William?”
I don’t have time for this.
“Yeah?”
“Get rid of the stripper and get your ass down to the event center to meet up with Cole. Droppa iced a newbie and we’re collecting some collateral now.”
“Fuck.”
“Yep.” I sighed. I could hear him in the background telling the girl she had to go. “Where’d you find this one?”
His smile was easily detected in the tone of his voice. “Piano bar.”
I shook my head. My younger brother may be a loose cannon, who was usually chasing after instead of leading, but he never seemed to have a lack of women in his bed at any given time.
“Hey Jake?”
“Yeah?”
“Kick ass tonight.”
“Thanks, Willie. See you at the club.” I hung up and then redialed my own hotel. The room number rang several times with no answer. I looked at my watch. I didn’t have time to get back to the hotel before the fight. I needed to warm up and get in my head space or this fight was going to be a red mark on my record. I texted Angelo to go do a check on Alyson and get back to me as soon as he had obtained a response.
Why couldn’t you have stayed the fuck with her, Angelo?
My taped fists punched through the air of the locker room. George was working the tense muscles in the back of my neck and shoulders. He was swearing at me for letting them knot up. I disregarded his onslaught of reprimands. My mind was on Aly. Angelo said she was in her room and he was bringing her to the event center. She never called him to ask him to drive her anywhere. He never even saw her leave the hotel. I couldn’t reprimand him now at this juncture, and I certainly couldn’t yell at Alyson without having to explain why she needed to stay in Angelo’s sight. If it were any other girl from the service or out of a bar, I could have cared less, but with Aly, it was different. From the first day, I knew she was not to be shared. She was to be protected and kept close, and with Droppa on to us, I needed to take extra precautions. What still baffled me was why I was feeling this way.
The announcer started revving up the crowd. By the waves of cheers and roars, I could sense it was a full house. By the volume of it, I could bet there wasn’t an empty seat available.
George clapped his hand on my shoulder. “You ready, champ?”
I snapped my gloves together and jumped from the massage table.
“That’s my boy. All of Freemont Street is out there waiting to see you quadruple their money. Don’t let them down, Jake.”
Never going to happen.
I wouldn’t let the fans, the gamblers, my brothers, or myself down. It wasn’t an option, especially with our recent developments. We needed to show the Droppa infiltrators that we were a force to be dealt with and this was our ground, operated on our terms. Losing an advantage player was difficult, but not detrimental. Another would swiftly step up and replace him. Our men were trained and efficient. They knew the rules and the risks.
When they were here in Vegas, they were in teams of two, one advantage player paired with one “wrong” counter. That way, we covered the full spectrum of the card table. Our men were armed with our money and acted as a filter. Our money went in and triple the casino money came back to us. It was rare that we lost a man; someone must have been a leaky crack for Donovan Droppa to be able to take a risk and hit us this close to home. He’d pay dearly; that I was certain of because I was the man that would be collecting that payment.
It bothered me that it had happened now. A month ago, I would not have given it a second thought, but I had Aly to consider now, and Cole had Sunny and their new baby. If Droppa was aware of Vegas and the new recruits, I was fairly certain he was aware of Sunny and Cole’s situation. The leak needed to be plugged on both sides.
I used my frustration to my advantage when I entered the ring and the bell clanged. My opponent became Donovan and my fists worked on him mercilessly. The man was staggering and gushing blood by the end of the first round. The sight made the crowd go wild. I kept my eyes on him as he stumbled to his corner.
Beg me to stop.
In the second round, I managed to split his lip, cut his eyebrow, and break his nose. If his trainer didn’t control the bleeding, the fight was finished. It wasn’t a knock out, but a win just the same. I’d take a knock out or a TKO just the same.
I hung back on the ropes in my corner and scanned the front seats for Aly. She was sitting there flanked by Angelo, Sunny, Cole, and Willie. In the moment I saw her, I was struck with the feeling that the scene before me was complete. That was my family.
The bell rang and my mind went back into fight mode. By the fourth round, my opponent was done. He gave me a few good socks to my healing cheekbone, but nothing in comparison to the massive mess his face had become. The final blow had him reeling backward. The crook of his arm caught the ropes and slowed his impending connection to the floor. The crowd erupted, and the first fight of my night was awarded to me. There was no doubt in my mind that the second fight of my evening would end the same way, but with much less fanfare.
9
Alyson
Jake’s fists flew fast and furious. The movement of his gloves was a blurred vision and I watched as the other fighter’s head shook like a bobble head toy until his body finally collapsed and hit the canvas floor in a mangled, bloodied heap. The referee counted, and when he hit ten, a deafening ruckus rose up.
Do I clap?
The crowd was on their feet, yelling, cheering, and patting one another on the back. The woman “Sunny” from the lingerie encounter was sitting on one side of me, and Angelo was on the other. Angelo had introduced us prior to the fight. Sunny was Cole’s fiancé. He then had proceeded to introduce me to Cole and William Von Larsen, Jake’s older and younger brothers.
All I could do was smile and nod my head. I wanted to appear unknowledgeable about any of them, but inside I was taking an array of notes. Something was happening here. Why were they all here tonight, in Vegas? Was it commonplace for them to vacation together or attend one another’s events? Did I want to know? Of course I wanted to know. I supposed the better question was, did I want to tell anyone what the answers to these questions were?
Angelo was the only one of our group that stood up. I looked around to the others and they remained seated, seemingly unaffected by the celebration of the surrounding crowd. I watched Jake take his award-winning walk around the perimeter of the ring and then drop through the ropes and head back up the ramp with the crowd’s praise following behind him. I stood up to follow him.
“Hold up.” Angelo’s hand was on my bare arm, causing me to wobble on my black stilettos.
I glared at his fingers and then at his face.
I’m an innocent girl, naïve and weak.
“Please let me go. I want to make sure Jake is all right,” I begged in a timid tone.
Angelo looked over my shoulder toward Cole. My eyes went in the same direction. Cole nodded.
Short leash, hmmm?
“We will be at the club,” he said to Angelo, and then dropped his eyes to me. “He’s a big boy. Angelo will take you to him and then you and he can meet us at LAX.” He turned to leave, following behind William. Sunny hugged me and kissed my cheek before she took Cole’s hand and walked away with him.
I stared after the trio, thinking to myself that I was with the best brother of the three. It was unfair of me to judge, since I knew nothing of Cole or William, and perhaps that was my sole reasoning. Sunny was growing on me. She seemed sincerely happy to have me in their little circle, even if it was just for the evening. I took a step forward, and this time, Angelo moved aside and followed
me up the ramp, through the raging crowd and out into the tunnel.
“It’s this way, Ms. Gallagher.”
I paused mid-step. “Why so formal all of a sudden, Angie?”
Angelo didn’t respond. I wondered if Jake had told him to treat me differently now. We walked down the hall, and our footsteps echoed off the cinder block walls. It was surreal to be in this part of the event center, no longer surrounded by the glitz and the glam with fluorescent lights and gray painted cement while I walked in heels and a black sequined dress, the kind of fashion that you would see on the red carpet, not in a basement hallway. Angelo stopped outside a metal door and rapped his knuckles in a sequence of knocks before opening the door.
“Ms. Gallagher is here to see Mr. Von Larsen.”
I heard Jake’s voice from inside saying it was okay. Angelo opened the door all the way and stepped aside, allowing me to breeze by him. He closed the door and remained out in the hallway. Jake was perched up on a table that reminded me of a metal meat counter, while a stout older gentleman helped to remove his gloves.
“Oh my God, Jake, are you okay?” I moved closer to him, genuinely concerned. I had seen him with a black eye already, but to see him overheated, dehydrated, and still swollen took me off guard. The unfamiliar inner twinge of worry pumping through my heart was disconcerting.
He looked at me and smiled. “You look fucking amazing, Aly.”
“Are you hurt?” I moved to him and reached for his face.
Jake shrank back and took my hands in his still taped fingers. “I don’t want to ruin you, you look gorgeous.”
Can’t ruin something that’s already been ruined.
I cringed. Jake gave me a suspicious look. I smiled. “Is this what you were looking for?” I turned on my heels, giving him the full three hundred and sixty degree view. There was a low growl that filled the room, and I took that for a positive response.
“What can I do to help you?” My fingers reached for gauze and ice packs.
“Shh, no.” He took my hands in his again. “You can go with Angelo. He will take you to the after party at the club. When I am finished here, I will meet you.”
I pouted. “Go to a party without you?”
Jake laughed, and the sound of it was like an explosion of fireworks in my head. Maybe it was the excitement of the evening, or the fact that it was Vegas, or the intoxication of spending mind numbing amounts of money earlier today. Whatever it was, it was having a major effect on me. Jake’s dark eyes twinkled and I was suddenly very aware of how my heart was beating in my chest.
What happens in Vegas, yaddah yaddah yaddah.
Was I truly going to let loose? Forget about the job? There were no restrictions here, no one to answer to but myself. Could I truly forget my past for a night and let go? I was willing to find out.
Jake was still smiling. “My brothers and Sunny will be there. Angelo will get you in to them and I promise I won’t be far behind.” I was seeing a different side of Jake Von Larsen. He wasn’t the cold, calculating, controlling man from Houston. I didn’t know if it was the fight or the air, or what, but something had changed.
“I can wait.”
“Aly, go. Grab us some champagne to celebrate and I promise I will be there soon.” There was that demanding edge I knew.
“Okay.” I gave him a weak smile and walked back toward the door.
“And Aly—”
I stopped with the door handle halfway twisted in my hand. I looked back at him.
“Don’t go anywhere without someone with you anymore, okay? Vegas is not safe to be wandering around on your own.”
If you only knew.
I gave him a flirty little smile. “Yes, sir.”
The nightclub was a sea of people seeming to move in waves on the floor to the beat of the thumping music. Angelo guided me through the mass of dancing bodies and up toward the front of the club, where a setup was highlighted in a mixture of colored lights, a table, a microphone, and several turntables. William was dressed in a technicolored tee shirt, a fedora, and jeans. He held a headset to one ear as he manipulated dials and levers on a soundboard while his body moved in rhythm to the music blaring through the speaker system.
“Is that William?” I yelled into Angelo’s ear.
“DJ WoW,” he yelled back.
So this was William’s gig. It would serve as a good cover and get him in with the right crowds. I had to give the Von Larsens kudos. They had their shit together. Angelo walked up past the DJ booth onto a second level from the dance floor. There were leather couches and marble tables gated off from the masses with ornate wrought iron fences. Several of the couches held people bouncing their bodies to the beats as they sipped from fruity looking drinks and tall frosted mugs.
A few feet down from “DJ WoW’s” position was a corner section that boasted a rounded leather couch with a round, marble, shin high table. There sat Cole and Sunny. An ice bucket sat in the middle of the table with a chilled bottle of champagne already uncorked. Several long-stemmed glasses surrounded the bucket. Sunny held one in her fingers as she lounged on the couch in her silver and blue, ombre, sequined mini dress. I found myself wondering what she wore underneath—would it be from La Perla too?
“Chiquita!” Sunny bounced up on her knees and held her arms open wide. I looked behind me to see who she was talking to and her laughter filled the space around us.
“She means you, Alyson,” said Cole from his seated place beside her.
“Oh.” I beamed at her and gave her an awkward hug before sitting down beside them.
“Sunny hasn’t been out much since the baby, and I’m afraid the champagne is hitting her fast and hard.”
I giggled when I saw Sunny stick her tongue out at Cole. “Party pooper,” she teased.
Angelo took up guard at our little personal fenced in area. I sat there amazed at the whole weird set up. It was as if we were untouchables observing the soiled masses below, and then I saw Nick Troventi.
“Is that, oh my God, it is.” I pointed toward the dance floor.
Sunny peered over our little black barrier and began to wave. “Hey Nicky,” she yelled. “Come have a drink.”
My jaw dropped. “You know Nick Troventi?” I was astounded. The action star of this year’s Oscar-winning blockbuster was on his way to have a drink at the same table I was sitting at. I had entered some weird dream state, a fantasy world, and at any moment I expected the bubble to burst and drop me back into the hellish reality of true life.
Nick sat between Sunny and me and drank the offered champagne. “Where’s Jake?”
He knows Jake, oh my God, famous people know Jake.
“He’s on his way,” yelled Cole, leaning in close.
“Send him over to my table when he gets here. I want to thank him personally for picking up my Vegas tab this trip.”
Cole and Sunny both laughed, and I looked on, confused.
“He means he made a lot of money on his bets because Jake won tonight,” yelled Sunny into my ear.
Several other people filtered through our little area wanting to thank Jake personally or drop off a fresh bottle of champagne or liquor. By the time Jake arrived, we had a vast array of alcohol to choose from, and I had been introduced to Bennington Storm, porn actor extraordinaire, Leslie Waldron, who held the current number one dance hit on the charts, and Lana Schulyer, diamond heiress. I was beyond star struck, I was star giddy. Add that to the effects of the champagne, and my reaction to Jake’s arrival was nearly equal to Sunny’s tipsy greeting from earlier.
“There’s my man of the hour.” I stood up and swung my arms around his neck and planted my mouth directly on his in full display of our personal passion.
Sunny hooted a cat call. “Our boy is gonna be getting him some tonight.”
She pouted when Cole took her glass out of her hands. “That’s enough for you.”
Jake winked at her and handed her his personal glass of champagne to take a drink from while Cole was
n’t looking. He sat down close to me and whispered in my ear. “Are you enjoying yourself, Aly?”
My head bobbed. “You are a very popular man tonight.”
William joined us several minutes later, and the three brothers gathered in close, leaving Sunny and I to enjoy the views. It seemed like everyone in the place knew who we were, and as they looked up at us, I could feel the sense of admiration and longing. It was as intoxicating as the alcohol that was flowing freely into our glasses. Sunny held a fresh drink in her hand and Cole paid no attention to it. We both smiled and waved from the security of our elevated island.
I could get used to this.
Being with Sunny was fun. It was new and exciting. I’d never experienced this part of life, having a female friend at my side and acting crazy just to say we could. Perhaps not everything about the Von Larsen family was bad. They may live large, and they may be involved in some less than honest activities, which still had not been confirmed yet, but they seemed happy together, like a real family. It brought up a longing inside me that I thought I’d lost years and years ago.
I wanna dance.
Jake was immersed in conversation with Cole and William. I told myself he probably wouldn’t be the dancing type. That was all William. Before I realized what I was doing, my fingers were laced into Sunny’s. “Let’s go dance.” I pulled her out of the security of the fenced box and down the stairs. Angelo followed us and stood off to one side.
This is crazy.
The beat of the music had us both swaying and moving on the dance floor. We turned to look up and saw Cole and Jake watching us as we gyrated in out tipsy states. Both men smiled, shaking their heads. Sunny pulled me in close as we continued to move in rhythm. “So tell me, Alyson, what is it like?”
“What do you mean?” I raised my voice so she could hear me.
“Jake, what’s it like to be with the controlling brother, the fighter, the hard one?”
I was confused. “The hard one?”
“Yeah, you know, the heavy?” She leered at me like it was a secret that Jake was dominant. He was a boxer, a business man, and wealthy; of course he had to be domineering and hard. That was how he earned his respect.
