Total pages in book: 17
Estimated words: 16066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16066 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 80(@200wpm)___ 64(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Now, I have to come up with something exciting to do. I’m tired of being the boring friend. It’s time for me to show the girls how creative and adventurous I can be. It shouldn’t be hard to come up with something I’ve never done but always wanted to do. Right?
Wrong. It’s hard. Really hard. Freaking impossible. I’m a quiet, nerdy accountant with almost no real-world experience. My idea of an exciting evening is ordering Door Dash and watching the newest reality television show. So, what shocking stunt can I pull?
An hour later, I’m still debating my options when Mr. Winston’s PA stops by my desk.
“Mr. Winston wanted me to give you this.” Sheila hands me a manilla envelope. “He said to email me if you have any questions.”
I open the envelope and feel the floor drop out from beneath my feet. It’s a sign from God. Or maybe the devil. Mr. Winston wants me to take his place at the New Methods in Accounting Seminar in Las Vegas next week.
Surely, I can find something to do in Sin City that qualifies as something new and exciting. I stare down at the plane ticket sitting on top of my desk while a plan forms in my mind.
Can I do it? Before I’m able to talk myself out of the outrageous idea, I open the browser on my computer and bite my bottom lip as I type amateur strip clubs in Las Vegas.
What could possibly go wrong?
Turns out a lot.
CHAPTER
TWO
MARCO
“Let’s make this shit quick,” I tell Tony as we walk into Fresh, the new strip club down the road from my office. I fucking hate meat markets, but Ralph Rollen insisted we meet at his sleazy strip joint to discuss the possibility of me letting him live. I guess shit for brains thought I’d be too caught up in the hot bodies to remember how he fucked me over. Not likely.
“This asshole went all out, attempting to apologize.” Tony shakes his head, looking around the dark, seedy nightclub filled with Ralph’s highly-inebriated men. “He obviously wasn’t smart enough to investigate who he was stabbing in the back. These jokers won’t be able to help him if you decide not to accept his apology.”
My righthand man isn’t wrong. “We need to educate dipshit quickly.” I shake my head and glance around the dark smoke-filled room, attempting to find my victim. “I have two dogs waiting at home for their evening swim.” Tony smirks as I remind him why I’m rushing to get home. My two German Shepherds, Bert and Ernie, are waiting for me to take them swimming. It’s the only way I can exhaust the overgrown mutts so I can get some sleep, but my enemies don’t need to know about my other side.
My skin crawls watching the half-dressed, obviously inexperienced women stumble around on the three stages set up around the room. “Ralph really screwed the pooch.” My friend shakes his head. “These dancers are all amateurs.” I almost feel sorry for the dumbass.
The faster I set him straight, the faster I can head home for my relaxing night playing with my rowdy dogs. What can I say? I’m a very complex man. Most people see me as the untouchable “businessman,” but I’m really just a softy for my family.
Several years ago, my entire world changed when my older sister and her husband died in a car accident, orphaning their fifteen-year-old daughter. I immediately stepped in and brought Hunter here to Las Vegas to live with me. Living with a teenager turned my life upside down in a good way. Before then, I’d only ever had to worry about myself. I immediately realized what it was like to worry about someone else’s safety.
In the beginning, I went a little overboard with my security measures. Okay, I went a whole fucking lot overboard, but Hunter was all the family I had left. A while back, my niece met and fell instantly in love with Brendan Russo. I wasn’t too sure about him at first, but he ended up proving to me how much he loves Hunter. Before I knew what was happening, the asshole wormed his way under my skin, and I started thinking of him as family. Once Brendan got his ring on Hunter’s finger, I somehow inherited two German Shepherd puppies and the entire Russo clan.
I’m happy and content with my life, and I honestly thought love wasn’t in the cards for an onery old man like me. “There isn’t a chick alive who could turn me into a moron like you.” Words I muttered to my niece’s new husband years back flash through my mind as I stare up at the curvy little angel timidly walking across the main stage. Mine echoes through my mind on a constant loop while I follow her movements.