Indecent Protection (A Dark Mafia Romance)

And I’m bending Joey’s ear about it. Joey and I have an unwritten rule. Anything that really pisses one of us off, we say it. But for a minute and a half, max. That way we can download, we know what’s going on for each other, and we can have each other's backs. But there’s no time for self-pity.

Neither of us have patience for that.

I tell him, “Dad said if I do well with this job, he’s got a ballerina lined up for me to marry.”

“Sounds interesting.”

“Seriously, Joey?” I shake my head. “Aren’t you glad you stepped away from your family’s business? For one, she’s probably just the daughter of some family Dad wants an alliance with. Two, I never even met her. And, three, I’ll decide who I’m going to marry, and when.”

Joey nods.

I say, “I wish Dad would let me have some more responsibility. I want to feel like I’m making a more important contribution to the business.”

“You’re a captain in the family firm. You have responsibility coming out of your ass.”

“I want to be taken seriously. The body guarding gig Dad has me doing is beneath me. It’s glorified child-minding. Babysitting the daughter of a visiting a crime boss doesn’t feel like a leading role. I need to step up, Joey.”

“Okay, I get you.” Joey beckons for more drinks. “Sounds pretty important. But it also seems like something a soldier could be doing.”

“And she’s an influencer, of all things.”

Joey’s eyebrows rise. “A girl in the life?” His mouth tightens. “I felt sorry for you if you’re going to be welded to an influencer. What’s a princess from the life doing courting all that media attention?”

“I know, right? Literally the thing she needs to avoid. And Dad wants me to bodyguard her, as a favor to the O’Malleys and to make an impression on Leo Franconi. I’m being used as a Roflecopter prize.”

“Well, she’ll certainly take you out of your comfort zone.” And he asks, “You’ve watched her videos?”

“No.”

“You weren’t curious to go and look them up?”

“Are you kidding? I saw an influencer once. ‘Look at this car. Nice, right? Watch me drive. Oh, yeah. Look at these clothes. Look at the reality star life I’m living.’ I can write the script. I don’t need to see that again.”

That’s more than enough for my ninety seconds. I move us on. “So. How’s your week, Joey? The big video gamers’ convention is all over town.”

“God, yes. I managed to forget.” He smiles ruefully, “I won’t see much trade from any of that crowd. Maybe some of their backers and lawyers will come in and play.”

“You set your casino and your rooms up especially to avoid that kind of excitable tourist trade.”

“True. And there is a convention of media lawyers.” He lifts his cocktail. “We had a few of those in last night. Some damned fine, smart and sexy attorneys out there, I’m telling you.”

“But you’ll get some business from the adult film convention, won’t you?”

“Oh, man!” He laughs. “I had forgotten about that. And that’s this week as well, right?” He laughs. “Last year, Sparkle Pussy, Sean Python and the Slick Velvet crew were fucking each other over all the tables in the gaming rooms downstairs. Horse Hanson and Ginger Slapz were banging in the craps table. I had to replace all the blue baize throughout the whole casino.” His head shakes. “Fantastic weekend.”

As always, I’m amazed at the index of celebrities Joey carries in his head.

But he says, “What’s really odd is how often you see people who are famous, and no matter how well you know them from the screen, they look completely different from how you expect them to. Something about camera angles.”

“Yeah, and makeup, I guess.” And I remember, “Bruce Willis was in the Stratosphear bar last week. I have no idea how many movies I’ve seen him in, but I walked straight by him. Odd thing was, when I realized, I felt like I’d been rude, not saying ‘hi.’ What’s that about?”

A couple of out-of-towner jocks get loud by the pool. Joey’s watching. Me, too.

One of the jocks reaches to grab Christen, a lovely off-duty waitress. She finished her shift about half an hour ago and loves to chill in the pool with a tequila sunrise before she heads home.

She smiles as she brushes the jock’s hand away. He smiles and moves closer. She shakes her head and backs away from him. He reaches out again. Lurching to grab her.

Joey’s moving in a blur. But I get there first. The jock turns to me as the heel of my hand connects with his forehead. His head goes back, his gut pokes out and I give him a sharp jab under his ribs. His pal leers and takes a swing at me. I slam a hard punch between his eyes and hook his ankle with my foot.