I think I may have a better idea than you do what men are like and what it’s like for us out there.”
“I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”
“Do you ever?”
“No,” he said with a laugh. “Fine.” He raised his hands in surrender. “How is the new apartment?”
“I love it! Beth’s a great roommate.” Since she’d returned from her last mission in Haiti, getting her own place and moving out of her parents’ house had been a priority. But with only her meager salary at the community center, as the rent became due each month, her savings had started to dwindle. She loved working at the center, but needed a better job, so she could continue paying her bills.
“It’s not in a good neighborhood, you know.”
“It’s fine,” Maria insisted. “It’s close to the center, and Beth and I carpool. You know there have been hardly any home invasions or carjackings since I moved in.”
Rafael rolled his eyes and smiled, knowing that Maria was making fun. “Okay, I’ll drop it.”
“Thank you. I’m grateful that you want to look after me, but you’ve got to let me go, you know. I have to live my own life.”
“I know. But you’ll always be my little sister. And I will always look out for you, ready to destroy anyone who messes with you.”
She smiled. Maria loved her brother, even though he was frustrating and overbearing. “I appreciate that.”
Their conversation was thankfully cut short when they were joined at the table by Brett and Rebecca. Then Jessica, Rafael’s fiancée and mayor of Las Vegas, showed up, and Maria smiled watching her brother’s face light up when she came into the room. Gabe and Alana, arrived next.
Alex came shortly after, apologizing for being late. Her breath halted in her throat as Alex took his place at the table across from her, at the only empty seat, barely looking at her. She watched him as he studied his menu—she couldn’t get her fill. He was so incredibly sexy in his tailored black pants and white shirt, unbuttoned at his throat and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, so she could see the black and gray tattoos that swirled over his forearms. Her throat dried, and she drank some wine to quench it.
“So, guys,” Gabe started, looking in Alex and Alana’s direction. “I’m eager to know all about this ‘secret project’ you guys are working on.”
Alex and Alana made eye contact, and they both grinned. “Why do you want to know?” Alex asked.
“As your lawyer and business partner, it might be good for me to know if you’re planning on doing anything that might lead to an indictment.”
“Well, it isn’t exactly a secret project.” Alex’s voice lowered, and the rest of the table leaned in to listen. “But we’re trying to keep it under wraps. At least for a while. The Brotherhood is getting into the hotel business.”
“Really? What brought that on? The rooms at Di Terrestres aren’t enough anymore?” Rebecca asked of the exclusive, erotic club the group owned.
“After the recent exposure given to Di Terrestres when that tape of Rafael and Jessica leaked, membership applications have tripled.”
Rafael rolled his eyes. “Glad we could help,” he said, wrapping his arm around Jessica’s shoulders and pulling her closer. Their “help” had come in the form of a sex tape that had leaked of them in Rafael’s private suite. The club where they’d been secretly recorded belonged to the entire group and allowed their high-end clientele to explore their desires in a safe, discreet environment. They’d thought that the leak would spell doom for the club, but instead, it had had the opposite effect. It had garnered a ton of interest and been more profitable than they could have imagined.
Alana laughed. “We don’t have the capacity to accept everyone, even after the extreme vetting process we have. So we’re expanding. A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I brainstormed over a whiteboard and a bottle of whiskey. And we came up with Hedo.”
“Hedo?” Gabe asked.
“We want to take the erotically charged theme of the club and create a full-service hotel. The first adults-only playground in Las Vegas, right here on the Strip. Hedo will be a place where our guests can indulge in their fantasies. Each floor will have a distinct theme, and people can choose, depending on what they like. Unlike Di Terrestres, people won’t have to be members. Anyone can come and partake. It’ll draw people from all over the world, looking for some good, safe debauchery. You know, what they come to expect from the City of Sin. We’re thinking hip, but seductive, sexy overtones. Something completely new to Las Vegas. Like a luxurious adult playground. Only the finest offerings, the most beautiful people, luxurious, handpicked tapestries and decor, the hottest DJs, everything that one would come to expect from a nightclub experience before they head up to their rooms.”
Gabe nodded, a smile turning his lips upward. “I like it. Why all the secrecy?”
“You know nothing gets done in this city without everyone hearing about it. Alana and I want to keep it on the down-low for as long as possible. In case anyone else gets a similar idea. We’ve even got a property picked out to buy and develop.” He leaned in closer, and lowered his voice, not wanting anyone else to hear the next part of their plan. “And that’s just the first step in our plan to buy up, redevelop and revitalize the north end of the Strip.”
“Lofty goals.” Rafael nodded. “I’m on board. This is big.”
“We’re on track for The Brotherhood to be the next big name on the Strip. If we all focus on this one goal in the next several years, we can be bigger, better, richer than anyone who’s ever had a piece of Las Vegas Boulevard. We’re going to make everyone at this table a lot of money.”
“Put me down for some of that.” Gabe chuckled and extended his glass in cheers. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Maria couldn’t help but stare at Alex as he dived into talking about their new project. His passion and fire for his new hotel was infectious, and it spread around the table. She leaned closer. There was nothing sexier to her than a passionate man who could hold a group in the palm of his hand.
“And you should see the designs we came up with,” Alana said. “Hedo’s going to be amazing. Kind of a throwback to the hedonism of ancient Greece, and in keeping with the themes of our other businesses.”
“Clothing optional,” Alex added, cocking an eyebrow. “It’s going to be large, but intimate. Very sexy. Especially since the increase we’ve seen in membership at Di Terrestres, we need more space and more services.” He smiled at Rafael and Jessica. “And again, you guys, we can’t thank you enough.”
Rafael and Jessica shared a wry look, but they both laughed. While Maria had felt bad for Rafael and Jessica, having their privacy invaded by a local reporter, it had been refreshing seeing her older brother as something other than the serious and infallible golden child.
“But speaking about that,” Rafael said, turning to Gabe. “I’m going to need that blind trust set up again. With the Senate run coming up, I need to be kept as clean as possible, which means not associating with you known degenerates.”
“I don’t know, Rafa,” Maria interrupted.
