The girl was an unpredictable, courageous little adrenaline junkie, and I couldn't wait to find out what other surprises she had up her sleeve. I glanced at her again and she smiled at me. Thank God I had the afternoon free, because I needed to be with her.
Unfortunately, Bones must have felt differently. "Want us to drop you guys off somewhere?" he asked.
Cock blockin' bastard. I flashed him a look in my rearview and blurted out the first thing I could think of. "Or... we could do something crazy. Have either of you been on the High Roller yet?"
Bones's jaw dropped. He'd been trying to get me on that death trap for ages, but I kept putting him off. Especially when I found out the damn thing goes five hundred and fifty feet off the ground. Me and heights didn't get along so well.
"The giant Ferris wheel thing?" Markie asked, grinning.
Bingo. That got her attention. "Yep, that's the one. We should check it out."
"Let me make sure I got this straight.Youwant to go on the High Roller?" Bones asked.
Hell no, I didn't want to go on the High Roller, but with the way Markie was looking at me, I'd fly to the fucking moon if I had to. "Yeah," I nodded. "You in?"
Bones could have called me out. He could have revealed me for the chicken I am, but he saw opportunity knocking and flung open the damn door. "Hell yeah, I'm in. Ladies?"
Having dug my grave, I turned the Hummer toward Nero's Palace and a five-hundred-foot possible plummet to my death.
I parked the Hummer in a garage and we made it all the way to the replica Trevi fountain before my phone rang. My cousin Renzo's number flashed on the screen. Renzo was my uncle Michael's son. A few years younger than me, he'd grown up with my brother Dante, but unlike Dante, Renzo had focused on the family business. Father had recently put him in charge of his own team. Knowing my cousin would want to talk business, I excused myself, leaving the girls at the fountain, and hurried to the side of the building to take the call.
Bones drifted between me and the girls, keeping an eye on us all.
"Hey, Angel," Renzo said. "I have some merch I can't move. The boss said to call you about it."
If Father wanted me on it, it had to be some sort of tech. Hoping we hadn't stumbled upon the bombs already, I asked, "Is the merch clear?"
"Nope."
Shit. Clear meant free of tracking devices. Since this wasn't clear, I needed to get on it immediately and make sure the merchandise couldn't be tracked, which meant my afternoon was no longer free. I glanced at Markie, regretting that I'd have to let her go yet again.
"I gotta drop off something first," I said into the phone. "Twenty minutes, then we can join you."
"Great. I'll have tech send you the info."
I hung up and headed back to the girls, but Bones intercepted me.
"What's going on?" he asked.
"Renzo has some merch we gotta take a look at. We're gonna have to drop off the girls."
He nodded. "Probably for the better. We still don't know anything about them."
He was right, but that didn't make it any easier. "Yeah."
"And you get out of the High Roller," Bones added.
I chuckled, and we went to break the news to the girls. I had every intention of dropping Markie off and heading back to reality, but as I parked in front of their crappy little apartment, I couldn't do it. She reached for the door handle, and I grabbed her arm, stopping her.
"Hey, this thing I gotta do should only take a couple hours. Besides, I hear the High Roller's better at night anyway. Can I pick you guys up around eight?"
Ariana nodded.
"We'd like that," Markie said, beaming me another smile before she hopped out of the Hummer.
Bones shook his head at me and climbed into the front seat.
***
