good swim. “Maybe.”
“The pool downstairs has a lazy river around it. Or you can use the one on the balcony.”
I’d thought he was kidding, but I should’ve known Marco didn’t joke. Or smile. Or laugh. Or feel human emotions.
“There’s a pool out there?”
He jerked his head toward the floor to ceiling windows.
Going over to the sliding glass doors, I peered out to see a small balcony with two lounge chairs and an infinity pool.
A pool.
All the way up, a billion stories in the air.
On the balcony.
It was terrifying. It was also beautiful, but there was no way in hell I was stepping foot out there when the design made it look as though I’d plummet to my death at any moment.
“I’d rather not die today,” I muttered, backing away as my heart raced and my palms grew clammy.
“Then what do you want to do?”
I thought about what I’d seen the night before in the atrium. “Uhhh… Arcade?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Or we can just hang here and watch movies?”
“Whatever you want.”
“Oh! We could get those big twisty cups with the blended drinks.” At Marco’s look, I added, “Mine being non-alcoholic, of course.”
“Whatever you want.”
“Is that all you can say?” I asked Marco.
“No.”
I growled my frustration, and it was small, but Marco’s lips tipped. Just a hint.
Maybe I’ve given him a tic.
“Can we walk the Strip?” I asked.
“No.”
My eyes narrowed. “You said whatever I wanted.”
“Boss wants you on the property, so anything you want that keeps you here.”
“So that means hookers, blow, and roulette are still on the table?”
Marco chuckled, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard it before. “No.” He picked up his phone and typed as he spoke. “There’s the arcade, bowling, shopping—”
“You’d go shopping?”
“You wanna shop, we’ll shop,” he said without a hint of a grimace or dread.
Babysitting duty must suck. What kind of badass wants to follow a woman around all day?
“I can always go on my own…” I started before catching his glare. “Never mind.”
Much like his boss, Marco was too observant and the pieces clicked. “You worried I’m gonna be bored?”
“Maybe,” I muttered. “I just feel bad someone’s always forced to babysit me instead of creating badass mayhem.”
“We’re not forced. Maximo asked, we agreed. We could’ve said no.”
That was surprising. I’d just assumed it was an order.
Maximo was good at giving those.
“And I don’t know what you think our daily life is,” he continued, “but Ash is currently driving Maximo all over the city. Cole is banging his head against a wall, trying to supervise a new booking system installation at Star. That ain’t mayhem.”
“Seems like you’ve got the better assignment,” I admitted because anything beat Vegas traffic or technology frustration.
“I do. But, Juliet, I’m a bodyguard. My job is to guard, not be entertained. I take it seriously. I take it even more seriously because one, I like you, and two, you’re important to Maximo. And him trusting me with you means I’d fucking eat a bullet before I betrayed that trust.”
It was the most I’d ever heard him say at one time, and he’d made it count. His words swirled around me like a warm sense of security I’d rarely felt in my life.
“Now I’ll ask again,” he continued, “what do you want to do?”
“Walk around and see the place.”
He jerked his head toward the room. “Put some shoes on and let’s go.”
Hurrying into the room, I dug around my bag for my gray shoes and slid them on. I came out to find Marco ending a call. He took another minute to type something on his phone before scanning his thumb to open the elevator.
Once we were closed in, I asked, “Can you add my thumbprint to the scanner or do I have to be James Bond?”
“Ask Maximo.”
“How many other people have access to this elevator?
“Ask Maximo.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you talk entirely too much?”
He smirked. “No.”
“I’m shocked.”
When the elevator slid open at the main floor, I followed Marco because my sense of direction was off. Like the lack of clocks, the confusing layout was undoubtedly by design to keep people in the casino and spending cash. We walked a different route than Ash and I had, but we still ended up in the atrium.
I glanced around, but none of the shops looked familiar. “Wait, this is a different place than yesterday.”
“Figured we’d start at one end and work our way across.” He turned into the first store.
I hurried to follow into the minimalist store. There were shelves displaying purses and other