Page 11 of Burn the World Down

“Twenty-five years.”

I whistled. I knew exactly how much that bottle of bourbon was worth.

Alessio shrugged. “It was a gift. For a job.”

I pulled in a breath. “Thanks.”

Moments later, we walked into the security office. The place was huge and Bastian had spared no expense. The computer and surveillance systems were top of the line. Right now, several of the security team sat monitoring the screens. They showed every angle of the casino. The system had advanced recognition and would alert them to any problems well before the human eye detected them.

When Bastian had first told me he was retiring and building a casino in Las Vegas, I’d thought he was crazy. He’d been one of the world’s best-known assassins. Las Vegas seemed like a bad place to hide. But the first thing he’d done was have subtle facial surgery to alter some key facial components, like the bridge of the nose and cheek contours. Enough to throw off facial recognition. He’d also had his fingerprints removed.

Combined with creating an entirely new identity, it had meant he could hide in plain sight as Sebastian “Bastian” Thorne.

I’d had the same surgery. We all had. We still looked like ourselves, but we didn’t register on facial rec as our old selves and we left no traceable fingerprints.

Alessio and I passed through to the large gym that was for the security staff’s private use. Bastian had decked it out with thebest machines and weights, a boxing ring, a large area covered in mats for training, and a shooting range.

There was a small group waiting for us.

“All right everyone, I’m Nash.” The trainees all straightened. “My helper today is Alessio.” I jerked my head at my friend. “We’re going to teach you to quickly neutralize a threat here in the casino. Containing them as fast as possible is the priority, to limit the chance of anyone else getting hurt.”

“What if they’re bigger and stronger?” one man asked.

“It doesn’t matter,” I replied.

The young man frowned, his brows drawing together. “What?”

“You’re going to learn the skills that you need to take anyone down. You’re going to train and learn to execute with confidence.”

The man didn’t look convinced.

“What’s your name?”

“Tyler.”

I gestured for him to step forward. We were the same height and pretty evenly matched.

“I’m going to—” I gave him no warning. I attacked and executed a throw. He hit the mats on his back with anoofand I pinned him down with a knee to his chest.

The guy grunted.

I straightened, then held a hand out to help him up.

“You took me by surprise,” Tyler said. “And we’re the same height and weight.”

“True. You have a few pounds on Alessio.”

The young man glanced at my friend, and I could see that he thought he could take Alessio.

Tyler took one step toward the ex-mafia enforcer.

Alessio put him down in under three seconds.

Tyler landed on his knees, arm twisted up behind his back, chest heaving. Alessio looked bored.

The rest of the group whispered and nodded to each other. When Alessio released him, Tyler rose and stretched his shoulders.

“You’re going to teach us that?”