Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80014 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
“There’s no need to thank us. That’s just what family does,” Nana said. Then she asked, “Do you think we can still make our dinner reservation? I’m fucking starving!”
“Probably not, but you wouldn’t have liked it anyway,” Dante told her. “The portions would have been tiny, and everything would have been way too pretentious. How about going back to the suite and ordering the entire room service menu with extra dessert?”
Nana’s face lit up, and she said, “Now, there’s a peach of an idea!”
“Sounds great,” I said. “We just need to make one stop along the way.” I called to Pete and gave him an address.
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of Romy’s apartment building. His light was on, and of course he was home—just like every other night, because the kid was a total homebody.
Jack came with me, and we went up to the second floor landing and knocked on the door. When Romy answered, dressed in gray sweat pants and an oversized UNLV sweatshirt, I tried my best to look serious and told him, “You need to come with us. Grab your shoes, and let’s go.”
My brother instantly went into paramedic mode. He stuck his feet into a pair of sneakers, then grabbed his keys and first aid kit as he asked, “Is someone hurt? Do we need to call 911?”
“No. It’s a different kind of emergency,” Jack said. He was maintaining an excellent poker face.
Romy stepped out onto the landing and locked the door behind him. Then he turned around and spotted the pink limo, and he asked, “What the hell is that?”
“Our sweet, sweet ride,” I said, with a big grin. “Just a heads up, it’s stuffed full of Dombrusos.”
Romy took a step back and said, “Oh. Um, I’ll pass.”
“Like hell you will. We just faced off against Greco, and it was a huge victory. Now I want to celebrate with my family, and that includes you. I would include Mom too, obviously, if she wasn’t still in L.A.”
“Yeah, but—”
“But nothing. I love you, Romy, and no celebration is complete without you. Also, just in case you need to hear this, the Dombrusos aren’t going to replace you. My heart’s big enough for five brothers, a shitload of relatives, and a boyfriend.” I glanced at Jack and grinned, and he flashed me a gorgeous smile.
Because he was as stubborn as the rest of the family, Romy still tried to resist. “I know, but I wasn’t really planning to go out tonight.”
“So, change your plans,” I said. “Remember Pete, your friend from high school? He’s our limo driver, and he’s going to be partying with us. So’s Zan Tillane.”
“The pop star?” When I nodded, Romy raised a skeptical brow and asked, “Are you on drugs?”
Jack leaned over the railing and yelled, “Hey, Zan!” When the singer poked his head out of the sunroof, he called, “Tell Adriano’s brother Romy to come with us!”
“Come along, mate,” the man called, with a friendly smile. “The more the merrier.”
Romy muttered, “This is fucking surreal,” but he headed for the stairs.
Around three a.m., when everyone else had fallen asleep, I brought a blanket out to the suite’s balcony. Then I got comfortable beside my boyfriend on a cushioned lounge chair and tucked both of us in.
We had an incredible view of the Strip, all lit up and gaudy and actually really beautiful from way up here. Jack was far more gorgeous and fascinating though, and I ran my fingertips along his jaw as he grinned at me and said, “That was a hell of a party.”
“It really was. No one parties like the Dombrusos, which figures. They don’t seem to do anything halfway.” There’d been mountains of delicious food, and the cocktails and champagne had flowed freely. Nana and Ollie were the life of the party, dancing, eating, and drinking with abandon—for about forty minutes. Then they’d fallen asleep, fully dressed and snoring, on top of the covers in the center of Zan and Gianni’s king-size bed.
“I’m really glad we picked up Romy. He seems to be warming up to all the newcomers in your life. It also seemed like he and his friend from high school picked up right where they left off.”
“Yeah, they did. Hey, how great would it be if I just found Romy a boyfriend?”
“I hate to break it to you, but god no,” Jack said. “Those boys are two peas in a pod—and by that I mean two sweet little bottoms in search of big, burly tops. Pete was asking Romy to be his wingman at some new leather daddy bar in town.” When I grimaced, he asked, “What?”
“That’s just a little too much information on my kid brother’s sex life.”
“Reno, he’s twenty-seven. He’s not a kid.”
“I know that…mostly. But some part of me will always think of him as a skinny, defenseless little ten-year-old.”