Page 32 of Vanished in Vegas

“Well, hello there,” I laughed.

“Hello, Beautiful,” he grinned. His finger strummed my hand that held the gun. “Where did you find a gun?”

His question made me laugh. Clearly, he knew nothing about me. I was a Romano.

“I’m a Romano, Antonio.” He stirred at my use of his name. I sucked in a sharp breath as his hard-on pressed against my ass.

“A beautiful Romano. I might add,” he smirked. My cheeks warmed and I turned my head to hide it. “Don’t know why you’re so bashful about your looks.”

“Anyway,” I shook off my thoughts and faced him again. “The gun was in my carry-on. Your guys never searched my bags.”

“Figures,” he groaned. “Unacceptable.”

I recognized the tone in his voice. He was furious with his guys for not doing a thorough job. If Antonio and I hadn’t gotten along so… well, I could have killed him easily.

“Don’t be so mad,” I whispered. Softly, I pressed my lips against his. “It was an honest mistake. In their defense, most women don’t carry weapons in their carry-ons.”

“Kiss me again, and I’ll think about letting them live,” he smirked.

“Are you blackmailing me into saving them?” My eyebrow rose. I fought to keep from laughing. His childish antics were both amusing and flattering… in a sense.

“I mean, you can still kiss me and I’ll handle them how I deem fit,” he shrugged.

“But if I kiss you, they’ll–”

My hand that held my uncle’s cell phone vibrated. An annoying oldie song played loudly as the ringtone for the caller. My dad’s image flashed across the screen.

“Who’s he?” Antonio asked, pointing to the phone.

“That’d be the man himself.”

“Your father?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Going to answer?”

“Do you want me to?”

Antonio gestured for me to answer. Reluctantly, I pressedtalkon the call and held the phone up to my ear.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Sofia?” my father retorted in a questioning tone.

“Papa.”

“Why the hell are you answering your uncle’s phone?” he snapped. “And why are you ignoring my calls? I’ve been calling you since last night.”

“Things got complicated. Did you talk to Uncle Tino last night?”

“I asked you a question, Sofia Romano.” My father’s tone was deep and filled with anger. I could picture the vein in his neck bulging. I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t give me great satisfaction.

“Why are you smiling, Beautiful?” Antonio whispered into my ear. His warm breath caused a shiver to run up my spine. I bit back a moan and stared at him.

“Sofia Romano?” my dad roared into the phone. I pulled the phone away from my ear briefly then put it back up to my ear. My father was rambling on about how I never listened to him and how he was tired of being disrespected by everyone around him.

“Did you know Uncle Tino likes to have women imported into Las Vegas so they can be murdered?” I asked with a smug grin on my face.

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