I stared back in defiance.
“Please wait here,” the guard said before turning and walking back to the shack.
Well, at least they were polite, which went against pretty much every mobster movie ever made. Hopefully, that would help my case and not shoot it all to hell.
When the guard came back, he was giving me the strangest look. It was almost as if he was afraid of me. I wanted to smirk, but I controlled myself.
I wonder if he would jump if I said “boo”?
“Mr. Castellano will see you, but I will have to take your weapons.”
I crossed my arms. “Not happening.”
“Sir, I can’t—”
“You can.” I pointed to the guard shack. “Call Mr. Castellano. He’ll approve it.” When the guard just stared at me, I rolled my eyes. “I’ll wait.”
The guard stared at me for a long moment before turning and going back to the shack. I watched through the window as he picked up the phone and started talking to someone.
The other guard stood just outside the shack, not moving as he kept me under watch. I wasn’t sure what these guys had been told, but I suspected they thought I was dangerous or something.
I was amused by that thought.
When the guard came back, he stilled looked me as if I was going to draw my gun on him at any moment, but there was also a gleam of respect in his eyes. Made me wonder what Vinnie had said to him.
“Mr. Castellano says you can keep your weapons, but you must be accompanied by a guard at all times while on the estate.”
I could concede that. I wasn’t going to attack Vinnie, but they didn’t know that. Not even Vinnie knew that for sure.
“Very well.” I waved my hand toward the closed iron gate. “Lead on.”
The other guard reached inside the shack and a moment later, the gate split into two and began to open. Once the gate was all the way open, the guard gestured for me to go ahead of him.
Yeah, not a chance in hell.
I walked slow enough, and off to one side of the guard to be walking with him, not in front of him. While he might not be sure of how I would act, I knew for damn sure I’d clobber the guy if he stepped out of line. Thug or not, I wasn’t going to be pushed around.
Another armed guard met us at the front steps to what I would consider quite an impressive mansion. It had to be at least four stories tall, designed in a very modern style with white stucco walls and lots of tall windows. While I knew the house had been here for a while—at least fifteen years—it had clean lines.
Reminded me of one of those waterfront mansions down in Miami, Florida. Made sense actually. I used to watch them on television. They were always the hideaways for drug smugglers. While we weren’t in Miami, the Castellano crime syndicate wasn’t exactly a law-abiding entity.
When I was escorted inside, I briefly noted that Lany would hate living here. The place was decorated a lot like my condo before I’d met Lany and moved in with him. The clean lines from outside carried into the house, only instead of stucco, they were done in marble and chrome and lots of metal.
It was very cold.
A woman dressed in a very tight-fitting white thigh-length dress stepped out of the room to my left. If I had ever been interested in women—and I hadn’t—this would have been the type of woman I would have wanted.
She was stunning. Her beautiful dark hair was piled high on her head in what I had heard was called a messy bun. It looks as if it was ready to cascade down her back at any moment. Her legs went on for miles, and with as short as her dress was, there was a lot of leg to see. With the exception of diamond stud earrings, she wore no jewelry. She didn’t need any.
“This way, please.”
Jeez, her voice sounded like pure sex. She could make millions as a phone sex operator. Maybe that was why Vinnie had her around. And that was even before people got a gander at her. She was one hot number.
Just not as hot as my Lany.
Even fully clothed, snuggled in his blanket, Lany was sexier. I was a tad bit prejudiced, but oh well. Lany was it for me. Most people didn’t even register with me anymore. I could appreciate the human form—kind of like the gorgeous one walking down the hallway in front of me—but that was about it. They didn’t do anything for me.
At the end of the hallway, the woman opened a large gray door. I thought I was being led to Vinnie’s office. I was wrong. I had been taken to a lounge of some sort. Except for the chrome and glass all over the place, the setup kind of reminded me of Lancaster Harris II’s “man cave” as Cynthia called it. It definitely had a masculine feel to it even with the beautiful eye candy.
