We were so much better at sex now than we’d been all those years ago.
I took the phone into the large bathroom. The call had been from Ryan. There was also one from Vinny that I must have slept through. I called him first, getting an update on the refrigeration unit. After I made noises about coming in as soon as I could, he told me not to worry about it and promised he’d call me if anything happened. It wasn’t as if I had to be at the office today. I could check my email from here and make any phone calls I needed to make.
I was supposed to meet Danny this morning, but given he was one of Carson’s crew, I thought he’d understand. I sent him a quick text that was sure to get his attention. Won’t be in the office today. At the hotel with Carson. Have a feeling we’ll be talking later.
He responded very quickly with a string of emojis, question marks, and exclamation points. Then one word. Lunch?
Probably. He’s still sleeping.
This resulted in the eggplant and water squirting emojis, clapping hands, and a few thumbs up. Go back to sleep, he said. Do you want me to feed your cats? We’d talked about them the other day at work, in between discussing his responsibilities.
Relief washed through me. I had been going to ask Maddie, but I hadn’t been looking forward to the cross-examination. That would be a lifesaver, I sent. Food is in the cabinet to the right of the fridge. Are you in the hotel? Can you come by and get the key?
No. But do you have an alarm system? he asked.
No.
Then I’m good. This was followed by a wink emoji.
I burst out with a laugh. It really was a brave new world. Of course, you don’t. I sent him the address. Don’t let Smoggy convince you they get wet food in the morning. She’s a liar.
Aye aye, boss. See you later. Welcome aboard. This is going to be fun.
It was going to be something, that was sure. With less dread than I’d been feeling in a while, I listened to Ryan’s voicemail. Oh shit. I hurried out of the bathroom to wake up Carson, and not in the fun, sexy way I’d been planning.
We gathered in the sitting room of Leo Shook’s two-bedroom suite to listen to the voice mail. Leo was the handsome man with salt and pepper hair who had golfed with Carson. He was Big Daddy. I couldn’t imagine ever calling him that.
He sat at the breakfast bar with his phone, a pad of paper, and a pen in front of him on the countertop. He was wearing suit pants, a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to right below his elbows, and a paisley tie in various shades of blue.
I instantly felt under-dressed in yesterday’s jeans and a T-shirt. There was a reason hockey players were contractually obligated to wear suits to and from the rink. Left to our own devices, most of us were walking fashion disasters. It was hard to find a middle ground between a suit and athletic wear.
Carson had thrown on a pair of dark blue fitted jeans and a thick brown Henley while we were listening to the message the first time. Between the outfit, the glasses, and his only-slightly tamed bedhead, he looked edible. I hoped we’d be able to figure this out quickly and get back to bed.
Leo had propped the door open with the safety latch, and one by one the rest of the crew gathered. My jaw dropped further with each person who entered the room. I’m sure I looked like a total idiot, but since I felt like one, I supposed it was okay. I recognized everybody except the tall thin redhead with dark circles under his eyes who was introduced as Wesley, call sign, Neo. He was a hacker known as Don Juan Zero Zero One, or Zero for short, which I had to admit was a cool name. He was also Danny’s boyfriend.
Steele, the big bodyguard I’d met at the restaurant, arrived with Breck, because of course, the twins were in on it, too. I should have known from the timing alone. But really, who met a bunch of new people at several different places and thought, oh, they must be some sort of a gang? Steele’s real name was Castille, which seemed like a more likely name than Steele. I couldn’t imagine a