Page 27 of Hunt Me
“Where’s your protégé tonight?” I asked him in passing.
“I heard you had a run-in.” He lifted his eyebrows and I knew what he was asking. If I wanted him tossed back down in ranks.
“Just a slight misunderstanding. He needs to be taught how to approach women.”
His gaze remained wary. He more than the others knew I had a short fuse. “Then perhaps you can teach him. You are the master at handling women.”
Sasha coughed. “Careful, sensei.” He’d given Sergio the honorable name since he’d also been chosen as a young brother years before.
Sergio grinned while Sasha arched an eyebrow. “He knows what I’m capable of, Sasha.”
“I’m sure you’re curious as to why I’m here.” Sasha lowered his voice.
“Don’t you have a casino to run?” I retorted. While he was our CFO, and brilliant with numbers, he’d imagined a smaller, boutique-style resort catering to kink while including all the necessities as required in Las Vegas. Dreamscape was his baby and I was happy to see it was doing well.
“Don’t you have a life to live?” He pushed away from the wall, nodding toward the door and far enough away from our guest he wouldn’t hear our conversation.
“How’s Nina?” I asked as I did every time I saw him. My second cousin was more a niece or a daughter to everyone, since there were no other children.
Yet, as my mother consistently reminded all of us.
“She’s growing like a weed and chattering about everything. Including my love life. Or lack thereof.”
“Ouch. Almost four going on sixteen.”
“Look out, world.” Sasha whistled as he wiped imaginary sweat from his brow. “Incidentally, don’t forget about Nina’s birthday party tomorrow.”
“Who plans a birthday party on a Monday?” I chided, although I knew the answer.
“Because that’s my only day off and the quietest one of the week in our illustrious business.” Sasha grinned as he shook his head.
He was right. We had little downtime. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
We laughed, but he threw a look over his shoulder. “I followed our friend over there to Ecstasy. He’s been in Dreamscape twice. Neither time participating in any of the activities, which is fine. He paid a pretty penny to be allowed to sit at the bar, but something about him bothered me. I had a hunch. When he came here, I asked Sergio to help keep a look out.”
“A fucking Irishman,” I hissed.
“How do you know?” Sergio asked.
“I can smell them from a mile away. Did he steal from the house?”
“He did, but I honestly think that was a ploy. He cruised the entire facility, hovering over the internet betting site. Might mean nothing, but he was paying close attention.”
I shifted so I could glance over my shoulder. “Very interesting. Any idea who he is?”
“He goes by the name of Jax Shane.”
“So I was right,” I hissed.
“He has no brogue and I’ve yet to enact a requirement that guests state their nationality before acceptance.” Sasha grinned.
“Very funny. Good catch. Let’s see what he has to say for himself.” I returned to where Jax was hanging, taking a full minute to think about what I wanted to say. It finally came to me. “You stole from the resort, which means you stole from all the employees who work on commission, Mr. Shane. In other words, you made the mistake of stealing from my family. In the world of casinos and gambling, any theft is egregious, but doing so to a resort owned and operated by the Dmitriyev family is like having a death wish. Is that the case? Do you wish to die?”
When he did nothing more than sigh, I gripped his chin, forcing him to look at me. “It’s not polite to remain silent when asked a direct question. I assume you know English.”
“He’s fluent,” Sergio stated from behind me. “He made certain to let me know what he thought of me when I escorted him here.”
“Since that’s the case, my strong recommendation is that you answer my questions without me needing to ask twice. But I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt since you’re concerned about your welfare. Let me assure you that if you answer every question, you’ll walk out of here.”
