“Who knows.” Ryker chuckled and shook his head. “You unleashed a sex-goddess.”
“You said you saw it in her eyes when she tasted pain for the first time while we were fucking her. I guess you were right about her desires.” I nodded and took another drag off my cigarette. “She loved it.”
“I got a little worried last night, though. I wasn’t sure. The way she reacted when we suggested it made me think I didn’t read it right.” Ryker leaned forward and took the pad from me.
“We just have to remember that this is all new to her. She hasn’t had a chance to discover the places her desires want to take her.” I leaned back in my chair.
“Well, where I want to take her is breakfast. I’m fucking starving and while the room service is nice, that shit ain’t cheap.” Ryker looked towards the bedroom.
“Yeah. I’m going to shower. Maybe I’ll make enough noise to rouse sleeping beauty.” I put out my cigarette and stood.
Ryker and I showered and made a trip downstairs to pick up some new clothes before Aurora was finally awake. Once she was showered and dressed for the day, we headed down to o
ne of the restaurants in the main part of the Bellagio. It was still expensive, but it gave us an opportunity to pay instead of her having to charge room service to her card. After breakfast was over, we did some window shopping so Aurora could see some of the famous stores they didn’t have in Tennessee. I wished I could afford to buy her all the nice things she stared at, but the stores were mostly tourist traps. Everything was marked up way out of my price range. Once she had her fill of seeing things she couldn’t afford, we headed out to our first destination.
We hadn’t said the words out loud yet, but we were all aware of what was in front of us. It was Aurora’s last day in Las Vegas and our last night together. Her flight was scheduled for noon the following day. There was an eagerness in her eyes. I could tell that the sights of the city were still mesmerizing, but they were no longer as interesting as what we did when we were alone. She wanted to go back to the hotel room before it was even dark. She wanted to explore more of the passion she experienced the night before, and neither of us were going to argue with her. We got in the back of an Uber and headed back to the Bellagio, already teasing each other with our hands when we came to a stop in front of the hotel.
“Hold up.” I stopped when I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. “Just a second, I need to take this.”
“What’s going on?” Ryker raised his eyebrows.
“It’s Johnny Ciampa.” I sighed and walked away from the two of them once we stepped into the Bellagio. “Hello?”
“Hey, Cole.” Johnny’s voice echoed on the other end of the line.
“What’s going on, man? I thought we were set for the week.” I walked towards a quieter part of the hotel.
“Yeah, well—we were. That’s why I’m calling.” Johnny’s voice was hurried and almost panicked. “Earlier today, I got a visit from Thaddeus.”
“Oh shit.” I put my hand on my head. “Did he put you out of business?”
“No, I’d say what he did was a bit worse in my profession. He bought all my outstanding debt for pennies on the dollar—it wasn’t a negotiation.” Johnny sighed loudly.
“Bought your debts? Why?” I held the phone against my shoulder and waited for him to answer.
“I don’t know, but I wanted to give you a heads up because you had the biggest balance in my ledger. His guys asked a lot of questions about you—where you lived, if you had any family in Vegas, where you hung out.” Johnny voice echoed remorse. “I’m sorry, Cole.”
“You didn’t tell him about my sister, did you?” I felt my stomach clench in a knot.
“No, no fucking way, man. I wouldn’t do that to you, but one of my guys was quick to tell him that you hung out at the Bellagio. If you’re staying there, you might want to clear out. I don’t think it’s safe.” Johnny exhaled into the phone. “You might want to leave Vegas entirely until you have the money to pay him back.”
Fuck!
“Thanks. I appreciate the heads up.” I ended the call and pushed my phone back into my pocket.
“Is everything okay?” Ryker looked at me with concern as I walked back to the lobby.
“No, I need to get out of here—now. Honestly, it might be best if you come with me.” I stared at Ryker and swallowed hard. “Thaddeus made a play for Johnny’s loan shark business—it’s only a matter of time and it might be tonight.”
“What are you two talking about?” Aurora looked at Ryker and then to me. “Loan sharks?”
“Long fucking story, but I’m afraid this is where we say goodbye.” I closed my eyes and sighed. “Meeting you—god damn it—it’s been amazing. I wish I had time to say more, but just know that I’ll never forget you.”
“You two are just messing with me, right?” Aurora tilted her head. “You’re not really leaving, are you? This is our last night together. Ryker?”
“This is a bad situation, Aurora.” Ryker sighed angrily. “Do you remember what we told you about in the Mafia museum, about all the kingpins that used to run Vegas?”
“Yeah.” Aurora nodded quickly.