Page 70 of Under His Protection

I cleared my throat, annoyed that they’d caught me staring. “Yeah. Of course. What were you saying?”

Romeo laughed and scooted his chair to the side, further blocking Nina from my line of sight.

Just as well. My focus isn’t worth a damn when she’s swimming so close.

“The Devil’s Brothers’ men have made a habit of coming into the Hound and Tea rooms more often.” Franco lost his teasing smirk, scowling as he repeated this news. “The security staff are turning them away, but sometimes, they come without their usual biker clothes and sneak in disguised as others.”

I shook my head, more than peeved about this. “I never wanted them in there in the first place.”

“They never should have come into those rooms.” Romeo zoned out, stuck staring at his water glass covered in beads of condensation on the table. “It’s only with invitation that anyone gets in the doors to begin with.”

“Yeah, but when the Dominos tried to stand up to the bikers with those drug deals, it seemed they turned our gambling rooms into common grounds, a neutral zone to meet or argue.”

That was the only way the MC men got their feet in the door. Someone from the Domino organization likely told Reaper or his other bikers to meet at the Hound and Tea. None of the Mafia members would’ve willingly met up or discussed anything at the motorcycle gang’s clubhouse, and none of the bikers would’ve volunteered to set foot on the Domino turf.

“Unless Stefan facilitated the MC men coming to the gambling rooms,” I said. “He allied with the Dominos, so maybe it was his role to set up meets. And he chose the Hound and Tea rooms to host them.”

Franco nodded. “That wouldn’t surprise me.”

“It does add up,” Romeo said. He yawned and rubbed the back of his neck. “He brought them into the Sarround Gala. He could’ve coaxed them to become regulars at the gambling rooms too.”

“Regardless of how or why those fuckers got in, they’ve overstayed their stay. It’s time for them to understand the doors will remain closed to them—for good.”

“So far, it hasn’t caused issues,” Franco said.

I shot him a rotten look. “No issues?”

Romeo scoffed. “You forget about Ricky Bardot betting on Nina there? With Reaper?”

Franco winced. “Well, that.”

That was a very critical issue for me, personally. “By the way, has anyone seen him recently?”

“Reaper?” Franco guessed at the same time Romeo asked, “Ricky?”

I pointed at my son. “Ricky.”

Both of them shook their heads.

“I’ve asked around,” Franco replied. “Ever since Nina came to live here with you, she became a case, and I’ve had men looking for intel about Ricky.”

“Same,” Romeo reported. “When Nina mentioned that he’d bet on her with Reaper?—”

“She told you?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “When I drove her home from Escott’s. She blurted out how she’d come across you.”

He’s known that long. That we started out as faking it all.

Yet, the knowing smirk he gave me suggested that he hadn’t bought it.

“I’ve had people looking for him,” Romeo added. “In case he tried to reach Nina and still hand her over to Reaper.”

“Has she heard from him?” Franco asked.

“Once,” I answered. “She showed me the text he sent her, but other than that, no calls, no texts, no voicemails.”

Romeo shrugged. “Makes me wonder if maybe the MC took him. If they could try to use Ricky as a hostage to get Nina to come to them.”

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