Unfortunately, no contact had been made with Pasquino, the man they were determined to use Charles to bring into custody, if he was still alive, which she simply refused to believe. She always knew she came in second to his business in his life, but Piper never thought the man who had so faithfully visited her overseas up until those last few months cared so little for her that he would simply drop out of her life without any contact for so long, not if he could help it.
Shifting against Brody, she tightened her arm around his waist as she nestled her thigh over his, his longer, harder frame a big comfort to her as she contemplated how far she had told both him and Ian she was willing to go to prove Charles wasn’t still living. She vividly recalled the scenes at the last private party on the thirty-fifth floor she had witnessed, the arousal she had felt watching various decadent activities she had only read or dreamt about. Now, the plan was not only for Brody and Ian to get into Pasquino’s party, but for her to accompany them as a paid escort, one expected to participate willingly, eagerly to whatever demands they made. It would be what Pasquino expected and while the thought of what they might do, in public, turned her on, she didn’t know if she would enjoy it faced with the man responsible for killing her beloved adoptive father. She couldn’t escape the worry and fear he was the one responsible for her disappearance.
“Go to sleep, Piper, and quit worrying, neither Ian nor I will let anything happen to you. We’re well covered,” Brody assured her, her small tense body giving away her thoughts.
“What happens if you don’t get asked upstairs tomorrow night?” Would the angst from this whole trip be for nothing? On one hand, Piper would be happy to return home tomorrow without going through with attending that party, but on the other, she wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she didn’t do what she could to help, even in such a small, insignificant way, bring down the man who had killed Charles.
“Pasquino’s ego is about the size of this casino and hotel put together. Our source assures us he won’t be able to pass up inviting his nemesis’s former bodyguards, a blatant attempt to make Charles wonder if he was going to follow up with a job offer. We’re not sure if Charles became aware that we were feds before he slipped away, but we are sure Pasquino doesn’t know.” Pasquino would’ve let something slip by now if he knew his money man had been made and was under such personal surveillance, Carlos assured them, just as he had sworn that Pasquino had never hinted at knowing anything about Piper, which was why he had allowed her to threaten her way into accompanying them.
As if she read his mind, she asked, “You don’t think he was behind those missing days, do you?”
“We could be wrong, but no. He hasn’t even hinted that he knows about you, and our colleague swears he wouldn’t have simply returned you safely to your cabin if his plot backfired and brought us instead of Charles. Now, go to sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”
Ian met them in the hall the next morning, his surly ‘it’s about time’ making Brody wonder what he was so out of sorts about. “Get up on the wrong side of the bed?” he asked as they walked down the carpeted hall to the elevators.
“No, it was the noises coming from my adjoining room that kept me up half the night that’s responsible for my mood. Deal with it.” His cock had been so hard listening to those two, Ian had no choice but to wrap his hand around it and pump himself to climax. But it was the memory of Haley’s slim body moving under and over him that he jerked off to, the feel of her pussy wrapped around his cock that had his balls drawing up tautly and her soft, breathless cries as she came, over and over, that he ejaculated to. He had never had trouble putting a woman out of his mind once he left her bed before, and that he hadn’t been able to do so with Haley just pissed him off as much as how much he wanted to fuck her again.
“It seems you’re the one having trouble dealing with something.” Piper knew he had spent Friday night with Haley and knew Haley had loved every minute of it. She was grateful to Ian for being the one to pull Haley back into enjoying sexual pleasure, but she worried that Haley had stronger feelings for Ian than she’s admitted, and Ian was about as much a staying man as Brody was.
“Anyone ever tell you you have a smart mouth?” Ian smiled down at her as they exited the elevator into the casino and headed toward the huge buffet he couldn’t wait to dig into.
“Yeah,” she sighed without an inkling of remorse. “Several people. I ignored them.”
“I like your smart mouth,” Brody told her as he held a chair out for her at one of the few remaining empty tables in the casino’s largest restaurant.
“You would.” Ian ordered a Bloody Mary then didn’t wait for either of them as he headed straight for the buffet determined to put all thoughts of sex and Haley out of his mind.
It was mid-afternoon when both Brody and Ian were seated at a twenty-one table and were approached by two men, one of Hispanic descent in his middle thirties, about their age, the other a rather pale looking older man with cold blue eyes. Piper had been standing behind Brody, simply watching the play, but when those cold blue eyes came to rest on her face, she inched closer to his back, the man making her decidedly uncomfortable.
“Brody, Ian, this is my boss, Antony Pasquino.”
“You used to work for Charles Sandoval I hear,” Pasquino wasted no time saying as he shook their hands. “Hear from him lately?”
The casual way he inserted the inquiry was belied by the man’s stiff posture and the way his lip curled over Charles’s name. “Not since he took a few rounds upstairs several years ago. Ruined a damn good party.” Brody stood in front of Piper, shielding her as best as he could from the other man’s shrewd gaze.
“Let me make it up to you by inviting you to join me tonight. If all goes well, I’ll be taking over the Empire in a year or two and will be able to use a few extra hands who know the ropes.”
Not wanting to sound too eager, Brody turned to Ian, asking, “What do you think? Want to skip the private game and play tonight instead?” He made up the game quickly knowing Ian would have no trouble following along.
Ian shrugged as if either option was fine with him. “There’ll be another game tomorrow or the next night.” Turning to Pasquino, he accepted the offer. “You providing entertainment or do we bring our own?” He let his look shift to Piper, his meaning clear. Brody stiffened next to him, which was why Ian pushed to include her. The less baggage Brody had to deal with when this was over the better for all three of them.
“Paid pieces only, willing to do as told.” Cocking his head, Pasquino looked at the young woman stepping out from behind Brody’s back, wondering where he had seen her before. “Have we met?” he asked abruptly, his tone rude.
“Not that I recall,” Piper managed to answer without inflection despite the instant hatred she felt for the man. Unable to keep from getting a dig in, she added, “Then again, there have been so many men, the faces and the bodies do tend to blur after a while.”
Pasquino narrowed his eyes for a brief, menacing second then shifted his cold look to Ian and Brody. “Make sure she learns some respect before tonight. Carlos.”
The two of them left without a backward glance and not by a word or look did Carlos, Brody or Ian let on they knew each other aside from the introduction, but Piper suspected Carlos was their source.
“Damn it, Piper, it’s not smart to goad the man.” Brody felt like shaking her, but doubted it would do any good. He’d much rather vent his worry and frustration on Pasquino and hoped he got the chance tonight.
“I promise I’ll be good tonight,” she told him just to set his mind at ease. Truthfully, she didn’t know if she could be around Pasquino for very long without either throwing up in fear of the man or using her nails to wipe that sneer off his face.
“See that you are,” Ian answered for Brody. “We have enough to deal with without you stirring things up.” Ian walked away, still surprised at how angry he had become out of fear for Piper. He had become fond of Brody’
s girl, and would regret it until his dying day if something happened to her because he had talked Brody into letting her come this weekend.
Brody was thinking along those same lines as he and Piper left the casino to get ready for tonight. With feds and cops stationed in and out of the casino, the odds of anyone getting away or hurting her were slim, especially with both of them sticking to her side all night. But good odds weren’t guarantees. They did verify one important fact from that meeting. Pasquino didn’t know who Piper was, something that was in their favor despite still leaving them in the dark about her disappearance.