Page 72 of Fight
"Anything else I should know about?"Bill asked.
"No."I shook my head despite knowing he couldn't see me."Everything's great.The room is way more than we expected, but it's wonderful."
"I'm glad to hear things are going well.Take care."
We said our goodbyes, and rang off.I went into the bedroom and gathered my things to start getting ready for the wedding in just a couple of hours.
Chapter 22
Devon and I slept late Sunday morning, at least late for us.We'd been out way past our usual bed time at the wedding, and it was close to two before we'd made it back to the hotel. We picked Alexis and Caden up at the airport Sunday afternoon, and took them back to the hotel to settle in.
"Bill said you already had our room?"Alexis asked.
"Yeah.He made all the arrangements and we didn't discover until we got to the room that it was a huge suite.We'll stop at the front desk and get you keys, but we're not even using half the room."Devon said, easing his way through traffic, on the way back to the hotel.
"There's only one bed in the bedroom but the sofa in the common area's huge, or we can have them bring up a roll-away bed," I tried to give them all the options."or we can split up, girls in one room, guys in the other."
"We won't be doing that."Caden shook his head.
"Why not?"I asked.“It’ll keep anyone from having to sleep on the couch or the floor."
"It's not safe.What if someone were to come in the window after the two of you?"He asked.
"But we're on the nineteenth floor; no one's going to come in the window."I argued.
"Hopefully no one will, but we'll be safe rather than sorry."He insisted."We'll figure out sleeping arrangements once we get there, and I have a chance to look things over."
"I agree with Caden."Devon said."I don't think it's a good idea to put either of you in a room by yourself."I saw Caden nod in the mirror.Devon continued."I think there's a recliner in that bedroom, there is in ours.You might like that better than a roll-away."
"We'll see."Caden said before changing the subject."You've met the Anikitos, right?"
"We did," I said."we met with him briefly."
"Give me your impressions of him."Alexis asked.
I was quiet for several minutes trying to find the right words.
"I'm not looking for proper and politics, Nickie.I just need to know what I'm dealing with.I don't want to walk in there blind tomorrow."She clarified.
I nodded, understanding."He struck me as polite, all business, not unfriendly, but not like Bill either.In all honesty, we spent less than five minutes with him, but he struck me as fair.He had a sense of humor and he and Bill are good enough friends that Bill had me relay a message, one that pissed off his enforcer."
"What was the message?"Caden wanted to know.
I repeated the message for them, and Caden looked shocked as I continued."The enforcer started for me but Ridges stopped him.He said I was only relaying the message, not disrespecting him."
Alexis looked thoughtful.She turned to Devon."Do you have anything to add, Dev?"
"No, Nickie about covered it."He said."I am curious though, who's going to this meeting tomorrow?"
Alexis glanced around the car, meeting everyone's eyes though Devon's were in the mirror, before answering, "Obviously, I have to go.I think Nickie needs to go as well.The simple answer would be, that if both of us are going then both of you go too but I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?"I asked, confused.
She looked at me."Because I don't think it's a good idea to have a meeting with the local Anikitos, who will have a single enforcer with two of our own.It could be taken as a challenge to his authority."She took a breath and explained further."Even though we're not here to challenge him, if we show up with two enforcers, it may be seen as one, putting him on the defensive and making things more difficult than they need to be."
I nodded, understanding what she was trying to say."So which one goes?"I asked.
"That's going to be up to them."She said, referring to Devon and Caden."I can make recommendations and argue logical and political answers but ultimately, they're the ones in charge of security and the decision is up to them."
