“Well, what do you know,” Tane said, shaking his head. “It’s looks like we’ve managed to manifest an appearance from the Cardini family via instant message.Fuck. I need to go.”
“You want us to come with you?” Connor said, ready to stand and leave with Tane.
“No, it’s fine,” Tane replied. “You two stay out and have some fun. This is something I need to do by myself.”
Tane bade a quick farewell to his friends and headed out of The Rocks.
It was time to find Jacob Gosling and extricate him from whatever mess he was about to make for himself…
* * *
After a speedy drive of a few blocks, Tane thanked his driver and told him to wait just around the corner. Tane had called one of his doorman friends atLux Loungeand apparently Jacob had indeed been starting to cause consternation with his behavior.
This wasn’t good.
Tane knew that the last thing the Cardini family wanted was any kind of negative press. If Jacob was indeed acting the fool, the likelihood was that at some point he would push things toofar and could end up brawling with some other partygoers, or worse… the police could get involved.
As Tane strode toward the club, he saw a message pop up from his contact at Lux Lounge. Apparently Jacob had just left a few moments ago and was looking seriously the worse for wear.
“That damn boy,” Tane grumbled, suddenly furious that his night was being taken over by his wayward teammate.
The truth was that Tane had felt an undeniable attraction to Jacob.
Tane had initially reasoned that it was probably just a physical thing, but there was something extra about Jacob that Tane just couldn’t shake.
Of course, there was no way in hell that Tane was going to do anything about this attraction. It would not be looked upon very positively by the Cardini family for starters. But equally, Tane knew that inter-team relationships came with so many complications and potential pitfalls that it was really asking for trouble.
No, Tane would deal with Jacob in the most professional and reasoned way possible. Tane was the team captain, the elder statesman, and apparently also now a Mafia spy…
“There he is, the silly boy,” Tane muttered, noticing Jacob wandering aimlessly toward the road crossing with his head buried deep in his phone. “I’m assuming he’s going to look up at some point. But what the hell is that SUV doing though…”
Tane walked quicker with each step before breaking out into a full-on sprint.
If Tane didn’t know better, the SUV headed toward Jacob was doing so with the intention of hitting him. And the boy hadn’t even noticed it at all. As far as Tane was concerned, this could get extremely ugly very quickly indeed…
Fortunately for both Tane and Jacob, Tane got to the boy in time and literally swept him off his feet and away to safety. After checking that Jacob was okay, Tane called his driver and soon enough they were both safely in the back seat of Tane’s town car and headed back to his house.
But as a clearly shocked Jacob nestled up to Tane, Tane’s mind was whirring with possibilities…
Who the hell was in that SUV?
Some drunk asshole?
Or could it have been… the Cardini family?
* * *
“You’ve got a nice big house,” Jacob said. “I bet you’ve got other big things too.”
“And I’d bet that you’re absolutely way too drunk,” Tane said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “Here, drink some of this.”
Tane handed Jacob a small mug of warm milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.
“Thank you,” Jacob said, blushing. “But warm milk?Really?”
“Trust me. And… you’re welcome,” Tane replied.
They were sitting in the large kitchen of Tane’s house. With its granite kitchen units and sleek design, it was very much exactlythe kind of kitchen that Tane had always dreamed of. It was macho, but practical too.
