For once, this one was for me.
Before I could make it outside, my phone rang. It was Benny Santone, the only man in my circle that I trusted with my life. He was always by my side, except for today. I wanted to deal with Vince on my own.
Once out the doors, I answered. “What’s going on?”
There had to be a good reason for Benny to call me. “You have visitors waiting,” he replied, his voice low. I hopped in my car and waited for him to elaborate as my engine roared to life. “They’re your father and a couple of his guys, including my uncle.”
The news hit me unexpectedly. My father rarely left New York these days unless something big was about to happen.
I held the phone to my ear and sighed. “I’ll be right there.”
* * *
Two black sedans were parked in the driveway when I drove up to my house. Benny and his uncle, Darion—who had worked for my father since he was in his late teens—were waiting on the porch. Both bore a striking resemblance with their tall physiques and shaved heads, the only difference being that Darion was in his fifties while Benny was thirty-four.
I pressed the button on the remote for my garage door and drove inside, parking next to Benny’s car. As I stepped out, Benny was right there.
“Did Pennington give you any trouble?”
A wry laugh escaped my lips as I shook my head. “He knows not to mess with me,” I said, smugly picking up the hotel contract from the front seat of my car.
Benny snorted. “Yes, but your father doesn’t understand that. If anything happened to you, it would look terrible for me.”
I placed a hand on his shoulder. “It was my choice to go alone. If anything happened to me, it’d be my fault, not yours.”
Benny flourished a hand toward the door. “Tell the boss that. He’s by the pool. I’m going to stay out here with my uncle.”
I went inside and walked through the kitchen toward the living room, which had a whole wall of windows giving a view of the Vegas Strip in the distance. I wasn’t planning on buying a house in Sin City, but I figured it’d be a good investment with all the earnings I’d made with the fights at the Labyrinth.
My father was standing on the far side of the pool with his back to the house, gazing out at the Strip in the distance. I walked outside and he didn’t even turn around when he heard the door shut behind me.
“You have a beautiful place here, son,” he called out.
“Thanks,” I said, joining him.
He glanced over at me and smiled, but there was tension behind the gesture. Julian Michelson was a force to be reckoned with. He was both admired and feared among other mafia families. It’d been a few months since I’d seen him last, and it seemed he’d aged quite a bit. His hair was the usual gray, but it used to be sandy blond like mine and Nikolai’s. There was a tiredness on his face I’d never witnessed before. My brother and I looked exactly like him, but I didn’t share the same icy blue eyes. I had inherited my mother’s golden hazel.
His gaze dropped to the contract in my hand. “What do you got there?”
Smirking, I held it out to him. “I think it’s something that’ll make you happy.”
With furrowed brows, he read over the first page, and a genuine grin took over his face. “Well, I’ll be damned. I haven’t seen Vince Pennington in years.”
I chuckled and took the contract from him once he had finished reading it. “I don’t think he’s changed. He’s still an arrogant jackass.”
My father placed a hand on my shoulder and laughed. “And a Michelson finally took that hotel from him. Good job, son.”
His smile faded as he turned his attention back to the horizon. Silence filled the air, and I could feel the trepidation rolling off him.
“What’s going on?” I asked. “Is everything okay in New York?”
A heavy sigh escaped his lips. “It would be better if you were there. You haven’t been back in months.” And he knew exactly why.
“There’s a reason for that,” I grumbled.
He sighed again. “I know. Your brother’s been a little unpredictable.”
I could feel the anger well up in my chest, but it wasn’t directed at him.
