“Ok, she can be your Old Lady as long as I get still be your princess.”
“Sounds like a good deal.” Puma says, kissing her cheek before depositing her back into her chair.
“What am I?” Asks Mal.
Puma rubs his hand over his son’s head. “You are my son and, therefore, the prince. I thought we covered that last night.”
He smiles before turning to Elina.
“You can be my Old Lady.” Mal asks Elina.
I fight back my laughter as I share an amused look with Puma.
“Ok.” Elina accepts.
“This ought to be interesting.” Puma whispers to me as he digs into his breakfast.
CHAPTER ELEVEN: PUMA
“You don’t need to spend money on us.” Corinne protests as Alisa gets the kids buckled up in the SUV.
“I want you both to feel comfortable here since I don’t know how long you’ll have to stay.” I tell her. “Besides, I’m hoping Mal will want to come visit after you move back into your condo. I want you to know that you’re welcome to stay here, too.”
Corinne glances at Alisa. “I don’t want to cause problems between you and Alisa.” She starts, but I stop her with a laugh.
“Alisa knows I love her. She’s the one who suggested this shopping trip. She hopes you both will be in my life now that I know about Mal.” When Corinne grimaces, I touch her arm. “None of that. No more guilt. We’re friends. Hell, we’re family. Ok?”
After she lets out a long breath, she gives me a small smile. “Family. Good. I like that.”
“Speaking of which. Mal has taken Elina to be his Old Lady.” When she gives me a look of confusion, I laugh. “Alisa can explain it to you.”
As I watch Mad Max drive the SUV out of the gate, Wildcard comes outside. “Sal called. He’d like a meet at his warehouse.”
“Do you know what it’s about?”
“Probably wants to thank you in person for not killing his idiot son.” Wildcard says and I bark out a laugh.
“Who’s going?”
“Spark, Chill, and Dice are coming with us.”
I nod and head to my bike. Twenty minutes later, we pull up to the warehouse where Sal keeps his main office in Vegas. He owns several warehouses throughout the city, including the one where Josef took me. This one was less of a warehouse because he’d converted most of the building into office space for his sons and himself. They still stored items in the remaining storage space, but never anything illegal. While his other warehouses hold weapons and cocaine, here it is only art and antiques.
Sal and his bodyguards come outside to greet us before leading us into his inner sanctum.
“Thank you for not killing my son.” Sal begins as we take seats around the conference table. “He acted without talking to me first. If we hadn’t been out of town, this wouldn’t have happened. I penalized the boy and he’ll pay for any damage to your bike.”
“What about the attack on my son?” I ask him.
Sal frowns and I can tell by his expression that he doesn’t know what I’m talking about. “You have a son?” Sal asks and I nod.
“I didn’t know myself, not until yesterday. But someone in your family knows.” I explain to him about Corinne and Mal and how I was on my way to them when Josef grabbed me.
“Son of a bitch!” Sal explodes before pulling out his phone and bellowing into it. “Josef, get your ass in the conference room now!” He turns to me. “I swear I didn’t know about your son. I would never condone…”
I hold my hand up to assure him I don’t hold him accountable.
When the door opens, I watch Josef pale when his eyes land on me.