As well as his reaction to the accusation.
I’d been around enough men and even women who’d been extremely good at disguising both their emotions and reactions. Like trained operatives who’d mastered the art of subterfuge. Damien wasn’t one of those. The fact there’d been a ring of truth to his denial had sent red flags into my mind.
Sadly, I had no idea who else could have been so brazen as well as skilled. From what I’d been able to tell and confirmed by Jaxon, whoever had bypassed the security system had skill. Ordinarily, any tampering with the system would have resulted in a warning being sent. That would have gone to Lainey’s phone, mine as well and the police department.
That hadn’t occurred.
“Your daughter is beaming. You made her birthday party,” my sister Nadia added. At least I think she was the one who made the comment. Every word remained a dull echo.
My thoughts were still embroiled in the darkness, far too many questions interrupting my thinking. Something seemed off, yet there was no mistaking the message had been very personal.
“Her birthday. You made her year and look at Emily and how happy she is. I think hearing little girls scream is perfectly acceptable.” There was no doubt Alexsey had made the statement. His adoration of the little girl he was in the process of adopting and her mother Halle had been the most recent talk of the family.
When DiAngelo Costa joined the group, immediately sliding his arm around my sister, the entire group raised their eyebrows. He was our Italian cohort, a son of the powerful Costa family out of Reno, whom people had started to reference as being our partners in crime.
Even though after trial and effort and years of building our entertainment regimes, we now had little to do with crime.
Other than offering an occasional reminder that messing with our families wasn’t in anyone’s best interest. Our alliance with the powerful Italian regime had been useful over the years, their expertise in computer security more than once saving our bacon. His crush on my sister had been kept in secret for almost two years, but recently, they’d been spotted out together more, something my father had taken much longer to accept.
“You have the perfect location for a party,” DiAngelo said as he offered me his hand. The Costas had certainly become excellent allies, watching our backs while we watched theirs. Word had already gotten out that we had Nevada locked down regarding resorts and casinos. While there was competition,something we even encouraged, no corporate entity had managed to break into the top tier.
Whether criminal or otherwise.
That had kept some smaller groups of organized crime out of our respective cities.
Yet there was always a shadow looming, a need to be cautious. We ran regular checks on our employees. We kept several of our employees trained to spot issues. In other words, we were constantly on edge someone would try to crash our parties.
No pun intended.
“Nina likes it.” My answer was clipped for one reason only. The house had been built for Selena, my deceased wife. It had taken me two years to find the courage to move in.
“I bet she does,” he returned. “How’s business?”
I glanced at Mikhail, realizing DiAngelo had likely taken the opportunity to appear at the party for two reasons, including spending time with Nadia. The other would be to conduct business with Dmitriyev Enterprises. Rarely a day went by where we didn’t have a significant contract or potential issue to contend with.
“Excellent on my end. Even with Lainey’s residency now closed, bookings are still way up for months.” Which was true.
“Ours as well,” DiAngelo offered. “Maybe before I head back tomorrow or the next day we can get together.”
That meant for business.
“This is a party, dude,” Nadia huffed while punching him in the gut with her elbow. “No business talk.”
That was extremely difficult to do when we were all together. However, I wouldn’t mind taking a couple of extra days of relaxation, maybe spending a little more quality time with Lainey. I shut down a smile while a number of filthy thoughts rattled my already foggy brain. She had that kind of effect on me.
With a deep sigh, I glanced toward Lainey, still furious at what she’d been forced to go through. Granted, you couldn’t tell it by her performance. She was rocking it, just sitting on a stool with her acoustic guitar, singing her heart out in front of several little girls who thought the sun rose and set on the talented performer.
She was even more beautiful with little makeup, wearing a stunning sundress and her hair sweeping in the light breeze. She’d even donned cowboy boots, which suited her personality.
I heard the family chatting and I stepped closer to the makeshift stage, enjoying doing nothing more than watching her.
“Are you with us, brother?” Vissarian asked. When I didn’t answer right away, he stepped in front of me, blocking my view.
My growl was instant and I tried to shove him aside. Everyone laughed again.
“The boy is smitten.” Katya’s voice was almost the same pitch as Lainey’s. I shifted my gaze to my cousin, wrinkling my nose as I used to do to try to make her laugh.
“I think she could be the one,” Kazimir added, winking at me. He did so love to tease me.
