Page 123 of Vegas Daddies

I harden my jaw.

Where is she going with this?

“Nothing silences the world, does it, like a pair of breasts?”

She wears six-inch heels on her feet, and they clack against the concrete floor as she maneuvers around frozen bodies.

Some of the contracted killers eye her cleavage.

I fist my knuckles so hard that they crack again.

“I’m resourceful to you, am I?” Alice says, spinning around to Vlad, hands crossed over her chests as if she’s trying to accentuate her breasts even more. One-dollar bills stick out of her bra and panties, so many that the money looks like part of the design. She smells divine too. It’s probably half the reason these guys all froze on the spot when she walked in—nothing falters a man in his step more than female pheromones.

“You are, honey.” Vlad removes the gun from Peter an inch. “Very resourceful.”

This next sentence requires a deep breath first. “You’re going to kill my father?”

“He wants my entire bloodline dead.” Vlad narrows his eyes. “Levi told me that the two of you are back together, but you strike me as an intelligent girl who knows her worth, so I assume that was a lie. Wanting into the syndicate, though”—he squints his eyes—“that I believe.”

She pouts her pretty pink lips.

She doesn’t.

I know she doesn’t.

“Yes, that part was true,” she says.

My chest leaps.

“So, if you murder my father, do you really think I’ll wanna keep working here?” Her heels click toward Vlad. “Like you say”—she slips a stash of dollar bills from her panties—“I’mveryresourceful to you.”

I count approximately one hundred in her hand.

There’s definitely four hundred more on her person at least.

I return my gaze to Alice, but catch Lifesaver’s concerned face staring my way instead. Fingers crossed she’s bluffing, but what if she’s not? Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure as hell makes for a much more comfortable life.

Comfort isn’t something Alice is lacking with us around, though.

I hope she understands that.

Besides, she loves her job. The first time she stayed at mine and got ready for work, she walked down the stairs with a stride in her step, eye glowing like two ninety-watt bulbs. Nursing isn’t a job. It’s a lifestyle, and she wears the scrubs like it’s the only uniform ever meant for her.

I shake my head subtly toward Lifesaver.

She’s bluffing.

Has to be.

I know Alice.

Vlad sharpens his eyes. They’re blacker than outer space. He takes one more look at Alice and says, “You will keep working here regardless of your father’s state.”

The gun redirects toward Peter, muzzle pressed hard up against his chest again.

The ragged breathing from both father and daughter continues.

And now I feel my own breath start to lose rhythm.

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