E. She’d always felt comfortable around Miss E. and Kenzie, despite the tragedy in their lives. Kenzie and her brothers had Miss E. to fall back on. Nina’s family wasn’t so different. Her parents shared the same values with Miss E. “I need to juggle some things around. I can be in Reno on Wednesday. That gives me enough time to flesh some ideas.” She could do this.
“I know you’ll come up with a powerful campaign.” Miss E. rubbed her hands together. “I can barely wait.”
“I hope you’ll be pleased.” Nina’s fingers itched for her iPad, but she’d left it in the car. “What about your brothers? I know Hunter has already taken charge of the new spa. What about Donovan and Scott? I’ve never met Scott in all the years we’ve known each other.”
Kenzie leaned her elbows on the table. “Donovan is taking over the restaurants and updating the menus. Scott is done playing army man and is taking over security. He’s back in DC right now, packing up his condo and getting it ready to be sold. He should be back in another week or so.”
“And what about your job at Saks?” Nina queried Kenzie.
Kenzie grinned. “I’m working for the family now.”
“I can’t believe you’re leaving Manhattan.”
“Already done. Sold my apartment two weeks ago and I already have a lot of ideas for updating the boutiques.”
Mama Torres returned to the table, a plate in her hands.
“We’re spiriting your daughter away to Reno, Grace,” Miss E. said.
“Good, she needs to get out of this town for a while.” She set the plate on the table. “And now for dessert.”
“Chocolate,” Kenzie said reverently.
“Share,” Nina warned.
Kenzie frowned. “If you insist.”
Mama Torres distributed the tiny chocolate brigadeiros. Kenzie looked like she’d just died and gone to heaven. Her eyes practically rolled back in her head as she took a delicate bite of one of the candies. “Oh. Oh. This is... Words just aren’t enough.”
“Heavenly,” Nina finished for her.
* * *
Scott Russell stood in the center of his empty living room, looking around to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything. He owned very little. Military life did that to a person. Scott had never been someone to accumulate possessions. Everything he had was currently packed in a half dozen boxes, sitting in a stack by the front door ready to be loaded into his car. He wasn’t coming back.
The apartment was small, but he liked it. The living room opened to a balcony overlooking a tiny courtyard he’d shared with the family in the apartment below.
Danny Esposito opened a closet and looked inside. Danny was a tall, lean man with wavy black hair, deceptively calm brown eyes and olive skin showing his Latin parentage. They had met in Iraq and been friends ever since. When Danny jumped from military security to private security by starting his own firm, Scott had gone with him.
“Looks like you have everything,” Danny said closing the closet door.
“Not much to show for three years in one place.” Scott wondered how his footprint could be so small in such a large world.
“I’m the same way,” Danny replied. “You ready?”
“Yeah.” Scott opened the door and Danny maneuvered the dolly, piled with the boxes, through the door.
“I’m going to miss you, Scott,” Danny said.
“Yeah, me, too.” They reached his SUV parked in the carport to the side of the apartment building. Scott unlocked it and opened the rear hatch. The two of them shoved boxes in. After he closed the rear hatch, he and Danny leaned against it for a moment.
The day was warm, but overcast. Scott heard the distant rumble of thunder and knew the predicted storm was on its way. A few tentative drops splashed the asphalt.
“Reno is the ends of the earth, man,” Danny said.
“No,” Scott replied. “The Hindu Kush is the ends of the earth.”
Danny chuckled. Silence fell between them. Scott listened to the sounds of traffic on the roadway outside along with the distant roll of thunder.
Washington, DC, was a city that didn’t sleep. In a way, Scott would miss the energy, the sense of history being made and the undercurrent of power pervading the city. He wouldn’t miss the traffic, the crowds or the politicians who too often made his life miserable.
“Why Reno?”
“Because you’ve never met my grandmother.” Scott pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “When she wants something, it happens.” And right now she needed him. After spending the last few weeks at the casino, studying it, looking for ways to improve security, Scott could almost understand why his grandmother wanted it. “Reno and Miss E. have a lot in common. Reno has this sense of being wild and untamed. My grandmother is sort of the same.”
“I don’t know, Scott.” Danny shook his head.
“Come for a visit and take a look at the city. You’ll see. Reno is just different. And I like it. I didn’t think I would, but I do.” The pace was different and the people were different. Reno had no illusions about what kind of city it was. Washington, DC, was all about illusions.
A rumble of thunder sounded again. The rain increased in intensity until the sound of it on the metal roof of the carport sounded like gunshots.
Scott didn’t regret quitting his job. He was tired of self-important senators who thought they could get away with anything. He was tired of the political games that made the government look like Saturday Night Live. At times he felt like he was dealing with five-year-olds in ten-thousand-dollar suits. And watching their bratty, over-privileged children was like riding herd on Chihuahuas.
Suddenly he was anxious to get on the road. The drive to Reno would take four days, driving ten hours a day. He planned to make it in three.
He and Danny shook hands. Scott watched Danny climb into his SUV and drive away. Scott stood in the alley looking up at his apartment. He’d made his decision to leave. He’d lived a gypsy lifestyle long enough. The time had come to settle into something more stable. He’d felt for a while that something was missing in his life, he just wasn’t sure what.
A Cadillac Escalade roared down the alley and slammed to a stop in front of him. Water sprayed his shoes and he glanced down in irritation. The driver’s door opened and Anastasia Parrish jumped out.
“My father told me you quit your job and you’re leaving Washington.”
Scott’s eyes narrowed. Twenty-five-year-old Anastasia Parrish, daughter of Senator Richard Parrish, was tall with pixie-cut brown hair, brown eyes with a touch of green and skin the color of braised almonds. She was also crazy. Scott had been hired to keep her out of trouble while her father ran for re-election. Keeping her out of trouble had turned into a job and a half.
“How
