my coffee and let out a groan of relief.
"You're a little coffee addict." Kaden points out, walking in and looking bright fucking awake.
I scowl as River joins us, everyone relaxing into how comfortable this is, being together like this is now completely natural for us. So of course, someone has to ask the tough question.
"What did you guys find out at the casino last night?" Royce rumbles.
Blaine offers a smile as he nods toward Kaden’s laptop. “Paired with what we observed last night and the transactions we saw completed, we should have enough to prove what’s occurring. We were placed at a table with one of the buyers, some asshole, and for someone that was so ‘smart’ he was pretty fucking bad at poker. Although, he played mostly roulette which made it a bit more obvious than he probably realized. That was the point by the way, so cross referenced with the cost of the paintings and how much he was losing? That alone is enough proof. We think that the codes are somehow either hidden in the paintings or on them, it’s the only possibility because they didn’t exchange anything last night. It all looked like plain old regular gambling.”
“Do they have purchase numbers?” I ask softly.
“Like a serial code?” Royce tilts his head.
“Fucking genius.” River kisses the top of my head.
“So tonight we need to try to get a look at those paintings, and I am going to contact Walker—”
Kaden pauses as Royce speaks up interrupting.
“We also need to be on the lookout for Pierce apparently.”
The room freezes as I realize Kaden updated him. I intertwine my hands and speak, feeling worried about being judged even though I know they wouldn’t.
“I’ve been getting a weird feeling like I was being watched and I thought I kept seeing Pierce … and then Kaden found a fucking camera in our room and we think maybe he faked his own death.”
Blunt. Yeah, it’s my middle name.
“Fuck,” River snarls as I stand up breathing in.
“We’ve got this.” I nod. “Let’s just get through today.”
“I don’t want you without one of us.” Royce warns as I nod.
I absolutely love how protective they are.
“That motherfucker better not come within two hundred feet of me or my kitten, or he’s fucking dead. This time for real.” I hug myself tight to River’s chest, I understand how what happened in that boathouse in Seattle might still be haunting him. It certainly haunts me.
“Ready, guys? Let’s go finish this shit,” Kaden prompts us. “And remember, one of us is to have eyes on Sloane at all times.”
With our mission in mind and feeling more confident about the direction the day is going, I stand up and go to get dressed. Stepping into the master suite, I find my way to the closet as I examine the small dress I'll be wearing today. Honestly, at this point I may as well go naked. I mean what the hell would the difference be?
The entire hot pink dress is tight from where the diamond straps hold it against my breasts down to the floor, only relieving the pull on the fabric slightly with that thigh high slit Alicia seems to love. I shake my head before shimmying it down my form and placing my heels on, sliding my feet into the diamond encrusted designer shoes. I’m not willing to guess the price of them and instead slip on the diamond drop earrings and necklace she’s left with the outfit.
Alright. I look like a diamond studded Barbie. This is an outfit I’ll never forget, I can promise you that shit.
"Motherfucker." Royce swears as I grin. What? The man acts like every time I wear something new it’s killing him. River lets out a wolf whistle, both of them wearing their tuxes and looking absolutely delectable.
"You like it?" I spin as he shakes his head leaving the room. I take River's arm as he walks with me toward the main room. I know they will be expecting us soon, so I pop another muffin into my mouth. They’re those adorable mini ones. What? I totally am not worried about having a bit of a food baby in this dress. You can see everything. Literally everything. So I really just don’t care.
"Damn Sloane," Kaden sighs as I sit down on his knee, a small case of those same nearly invisible microphones on his lap. Blaine walks out, seemingly the last one to get ready and his gaze flickers over my outfit, a smile