Page 190 of Menace in Vegas

Blankets are dragged out while wind howls outside the windows.

Gram suggests using body heat to keep warm “if it comes to that.”

I hear Daltyn pacing in the spare bedroom.

Peyton is silent. She’s probably trying to figure out how to survive a stormy night ten feet from the man she’s been actively avoiding and quietly unraveling over.

Allie nudges me gently, her voice low. “T-Think we’ll be okay?”

I glance toward the door. I know she’s talking about the storm, but there’s another threat we have to deal with.

My jaw tightens. Landon’s still out there. Somewhere.

“Yeah,” I say, wrapping an arm around her. “We’ve got candles, backup batteries, and a feral grandma who probably used to smuggle diamonds in her bra. We’ll survive.”

Hopefully.

90

ALLISON

The power is still out.

Rain pelts the windows like it’s trying to claw its way inside. Thunder shakes the walls.

Candlelight flickers across Connor’s face as he stares at the front door like he’s expecting Landon to kick it in.

We’re safe… but it doesn’t feel like it.

I pull the blanket tighter around my shoulders and glance over at the couch where Gram is sipping sangria from a pineapple cup and flipping through her erotica book by candlelight.

“Do you think a man can really untie a corset with his teeth?” she asks casually.

Connor doesn’t even flinch. “Not if he wants to keep them.”

She hums. “That’s fair. Jimmy used his to try and undo my bedazzled robe. The beads got stuck in his dentures for forty minutes. We had to call the front desk.”

I blink. “I thought he had teeth?”

Connor holds up a hand. “Don’t. Just… don’t.”

Gram waves him off. “Top ones are his. Bottom ones are dentures.”

Another crack of thunder rattles the windows.

I flinch.

Connor immediately wraps an arm around me, tugging me closer. His body is warm, solid, and vibrating with barely leashed tension.

“I hate storms,” I whisper.

“I know.”

“And Landon’s out there.” I tilt my head to look at him.

His jaw ticks. “Yeah. I wish we could’ve gotten a hold of the fucker before he disappeared.”

I nod, swallowing hard. “Peyton’s scared.”

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