Madison very obviously leaned her chair backward to get a better look at them before letting it thump back down to the floor. “You guys owe me money. I told you they slepttogether.”
“Goddamn it,” Annabelle muttered before sticking a piece of syrup and whipped-cream drenched waffle into her mouth. “Iknowbetter than to betagainstyou.”
“Pay you when we get home,” Trevor said before digging back into hisomelet.
Madison grinned and poured herself some more orange juice. “I’m holding youtothat.”
Sean clenched his hand into a fist to keep from touching the bruise on his neck that was only half-hidden by his dress shirt collar. “Seriously?”
“You had a bruise on your throat when you came back last night that could’ve only come from Alexei.Easycall.”
“It could’ve been from someone else at theparty.”
Alexei slanted him a narrow-eyed look even as Madison snorted. “With Alexei as your date? He’d have knifed them if theytried.”
“Is true,” Alexei said with a shrug before taking a seat at the table. “Come sit,kotyonok. Be angrylater.”
“I’m not angry,”Seansaid.
A little embarrassed, maybe, but not angry. He sat at the table with them anyway and ate breakfast, shrugging off the gentle mockery. If there was anything he’d learned about Alpha Team over the past few months, it was that if they liked you, they teased you. If they didn’t, they would freeze apersonout.
Between the five of them, they managed to demolish nearly the entire order of room service, stacking the dirty plates and serving platters back on the serving cart tucked out of the way near the wet bar. The maid would get itlater.
“So what’s the plan?” Annabelle asked as she holstered her handgun beneath her own suitjacket.
“It’ll look odd if we walk through the casino without stopping anywhere, so it’s time to play tourist,”Seansaid.
“Gambling?” Alexei asked, soundinginterested.
“Don’t let him near the blackjack tables,” Trevor warned. “He countscards.”
Sean watched Alexei school his expression into one of pure innocence no one at the table would fall for. “Not my fault you have bad hand every timeweplay.”
“It’s not in our cover to try to steal from the house. Bad for business,” Seanremindedhim.
Alexei waved off his warning, already heading for the door. Sean took that as a sign he’d probably have to pry Alexei away from a gambling table at some point before the lunch meeting. Madison nudged him in the side as they left the penthousesuite.
“You could always be Alexei’s lucky charm at the blackjack table. Sit on his lap, bring him a drink,” sheteased.
“You’ve definitely been watching too many Vegas heistmovies.”
“They’refun!”
“I’m not sitting onAlexei’slap.”
“Would let you,” Alexei said withaleer.
Sean pointedly ignored him and Madison’s snickering as they all stepped inside the elevator. The ride down was quick, and they exited into a bustling stream of people with luggage coming and going. Trevor, Annabelle, and Madison put their game faces on and formed a protective circle around Sean and Alexei as they moved through the wide hallway containing theelevatorbank.
Alexei wrapped an arm around Sean’s waist, pulling him close. Sean hesitated only a second before wrapping his arm around Alexei in return. Security cameras were everywhere, both hidden and obvious, which meant he and Alexei needed to show a unitedfront.
They had three hours to kill, and Alexei seemed determined to start at the gambling tables. To get there they had to go through the slot machine area first. The main room closest to the casino entrance and lobby was dimly lit so as to not overwhelm the holographic displays flashing over each slot machine. The constant noise of each game going off with the old-style sounds rang loudly in Sean’s ears as they maneuvered through the people and wait staff. Hovering drink trays spun around women and men taking drink orders and delivering alcohol to the guests planted in front of numerous glowingscreens.
The clinking sound of coins that no longer existed crashing into a metal catch bowl indicated someone had won a jackpot of some denomination. Bright green dollar signs exploded and reformed above a nearby slot machine. The man monitoring the display seemed ecstatic as he swiped his hand over the payout sensor to accept the reserved amount he would cash outlater.
“You could play slot machines,” Sean said as they kept walking, his eyes drifting over the area to map out the quickest route to nearbyexits.
“Boring,” Alexeiscoffed.
