YOU HAVE fun last night?” Rafael asked, his tone casual and innocent, as they took their seats next to each other at their table at Thalia, one of The Brotherhood’s restaurants, but Maria knew from experience that the conversation was beginning to exhibit all the earmarks of an interrogation.
The waiter slid in her chair, and Maria sat back and watched her brother. He wasn’t the only one with an impassive poker face. Controlling her features, playing it cool, she wondered if he’d found out about the dance that she’d shared with Alex that brought her over the edge. She knew that there was no way Alex would have told him what had gone down between them. However, it wasn’t impossible that someone else at the club may have seen them. Did he know that Alex had kissed her? Or anything else? “What do you mean?” she asked.
“Mr. Martinez,” the waiter thankfully interrupted them. “The rest of the party will be along soon.”
“Thanks, Nick,” Rafael said. They were waiting for the rest of The Brotherhood. Rafael had convinced her to join him in their monthly dinners. “I meant exactly what I said. How was your night out with your friends?”
She shrugged. “It was fine,” she told him, trying to keep her expression neutral. “Actually, Alex was there, and just so you know, he took the role of bodyguard very seriously.”
“Oh really?” Rafael seemed surprised. “I saw him this morning, and he didn’t mention seeing you. I’ve no doubt he took good care of you.”
A wave of heat flushed throughout her, and she knew exactly how well Alex had “taken care of” her. She still remembered the way his lips felt on hers, how his tongue had stroked hers. He’d made her come, for God’s sake. She’d never experienced anything quite like the wanton need she’d had for Alex. She had a wild streak, but she’d never had a guy get her off on a dance floor. And she wanted more like it. More Alex.
“What time did you get home last night?”
“Early enough, Mom,” she assured him, even though she’d regretted the late hour when she’d woken up tired and hungover that morning. Working with the children at the community center had exhausted her and, with a pounding head, had been a challenge until lunchtime, when her hangover had finally subsided. But she wouldn’t tell Rafael that. Not a chance. “I had fun. And despite having him loom over my shoulder, it was really nice hanging out with Alex again.”
“I know you think I’m overbearing sometimes—”
“All the time. You have to learn to trust me.”
“Maria, I do trust you. It’s men I don’t trust.” When Maria rolled her eyes, he continued. “I worry about you. You don’t know what it’s like out there.”
“I’ve traveled around the world, in some pretty dangerous areas. I think I can handle Las Vegas Boulevard.” Maria scoffed. “And as a woman, I think I may have a better idea than you do what men are like and what it’s like for us out there.”
“I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”
“Do you ever?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “Fine.” He raised his hands in surrender. “How is the new apartment?”
“I love it! Beth’s a great roommate.” Since she’d returned from her last mission in Haiti, getting her own place and moving out of her parents’ house had been a priority. But with only her meager salary at the community center, as the rent became due each month, her savings had started to dwindle. She loved working at the center, but needed a better job, so she could continue paying her bills.
“It’s not in a good neighborhood, you know.”
“It’s fine,” Maria insisted. “It’s close to the center, and Beth and I carpool. You know there have been hardly any home invasions or carjackings since I moved in.”
Rafael rolled his eyes and smiled, knowing that Maria was making fun. “Okay, I’ll drop it.”
“Thank you. I’m grateful that you want to look after me, but you’ve got to let me go, you know. I have to live my own life.”
“I know. But you’ll always be my little sister. And I will always look out for you, ready to destroy anyone who messes with you.”
She smiled. Maria loved her brother, even though he was frustrating and overbearing. “I appreciate that.”
Their conversation was thankfully cut short when they were joined at the table by Brett and Rebecca. Then Jessica, Rafael’s fiancée and mayor of Las Vegas, showed up, and Maria smiled watching her brother’s face light up when she came into the room. Gabe and Alana, arrived next.
Alex came shortly after, apologizing for being late. Her breath halted in her throat as Alex took his place at the table across from her, at the only empty seat, barely looking at her. She watched him as he studied his menu—she couldn’t get her fill. He was so incredibly sexy in his tailored black pants and white shirt, unbuttoned at his throat and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, so she could see the black and gray tattoos that swirled over his forearms. Her throat dried, and she drank some wine to quench it.
“So, guys,” Gabe started, looking in Alex and Alana’s direction. “I’m eager to know all about this ‘secret project’ you guys are working on.”
Alex and Alana made eye contact, and they both grinned. “Why do you want to know?” Alex asked.
“As your lawyer and business partner, it might be good for me to know if you’re planning on doing anything that might lead to an indictment.”
“Well, it isn’t exactly a secret project.” Alex’s voice lowered, and the rest of the table leaned in to listen. “But we’re trying to keep it under wraps. At least for a while. The Brotherhood is getting into the hotel business.”
“Really? What brought that on? The rooms at Di Terrestres aren’t enough anymore?” Rebecca asked of the exclusive, erotic club the group owned.
“After the recent exposure given to Di Terrestres when that tape of Rafael and Jessica leaked, membership applications have tripled.”
Rafael rolled his eyes. “Glad we could help,” he said, wrapping his arm around Jessica’s shoulders and pulling her closer. Their “help” had come in the form of a sex tape that had leaked of them in Rafael’s private suite. The club where they’d been secretly recorded belonged to the entire group and allowed their high-end clientele to explore their desires in a safe, discreet environment. They’d thought that the leak would spell doom for the club, but instead, it had had the opposite effect. It had garnered a ton of interest and been more profitable than they could have imagined.
Alana laughed. “We don’t have the capacity to accept everyone, even after the extreme vetting process we have. So we’re expanding. A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I brainstormed over a whiteboard and a bottle of whiskey. And we came up with Hedo.”
“Hedo?” Gabe asked.
“We want to take the erotically charged theme of the club and create a full-service hotel. The first adults-only playground in Las Vegas, right here on the Strip. Hedo will be a place where our guests can indulge in their fantasies. Each floor will have a distinct theme, and people can choose, depending on what they like. Unlike Di Terrestres, people won’t have to be members. Anyone can come and partake. It’ll draw people from all over the world, looking for some good, safe debauchery. You know, what they come to expect from the City of Sin. We’re thinking hip, but seductive, sexy overtones. Something completely new to Las Vegas. Like a luxurious adult playground. Only the finest offerings, the most beautiful people, luxurious, handpicked tapestries and decor, the hottest DJs, everything that one would come to expect from a nightclub experience before they head up to their rooms.”
Gabe nodded, a smile turning his lips upward. “I like it. Why all the secrecy?”
“You know nothing gets done in this city without everyone hearing