Page 81 of Chained By Fate (Dark Billionaires: Vegas #1)

“Detective?” Ryan pressed a hand to his chest in mock offense. “Please, I prefer concerned brother conducting routine reconnaissance . And it’s only been a few days.”

I frowned, the timeline not adding up. “A few days? I’ve been feeling eyes on me for almost a couple of weeks now.”

“Actually,” Ryan’s expression turned serious for the first time, “I only flew in yesterday morning. Though now I’m concerned about who else might be watching you.” He paused, then grinned. “Maybe you’re just that paranoid? Dating a billionaire can do that to you, I hear.”

Fin snorted. “So instead of hitting the casinos or clubs like a normal Vegas tourist, you decided to stalk my best friend? That’s some quality vacation planning right there.”

“Not stalking.” Ryan rolled his eyes with the practiced exasperation of someone who’d had this argument before. “Investigating. There’s a difference. One involves binoculars and creepy notes; the other involves… well, okay, maybe some binoculars, but definitely no creepy notes.”

“Oh, well, that makes it so much better,” I deadpanned. “Glad we cleared that up.”

“Look,” Ryan leaned forward, his amusement evident, “when your super-private, trust-no-one older brother suddenly starts dating someone, you get curious. Matt’s idea of sharing personal information is telling you what he had for breakfast—three days ago.”

“That does sound like Matt,” I admitted, thinking about how little I actually knew about his family life.

“Exactly!” Ryan exclaimed. “So when I heard he had a boyfriend—a real, actual, living-in-his-penthouse boyfriend—I had to see for myself. I mean, the last time Matt showed interest in anyone, I was still in high school. That’s practically ancient history!”

Ethan, who’d been quietly observing, finally spoke up. “And what’s your verdict after all this investigating ?”

Ryan studied me thoughtfully, taking a slow sip of his drink. “Well, he’s not a gold digger?—”

“Thanks for the character reference,” I muttered.

“—because a proper gold digger would have better shoes.”

I glanced down at my perfectly acceptable sneakers. “Hey!”

“He’s got spirit,” Ryan continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “which Matt needs because God knows he can be a stick in the mud. And”—he gestured to Fin and Ethan—”he’s got good friends who come to his rescue when they think he’s being harassed by a mysterious stranger. All points in his favor.”

“Glad I pass the brother inspection,” I said dryly. “Though you could have just, oh, I don’t know, introduced yourself like a normal person?”

“Normal is boring.” Ryan waved dismissively. “Besides, this was way more fun. The look on your face when you marched over here, all ready for confrontation—priceless. Though I have to say, you’ve got guts. Most people would have just sent the muscle.” He nodded toward Bruno and Tyrone.

“Yeah, well, after getting kidnapped by a cartel, one random stalker seemed manageable.” I shrugged.

Ryan’s eyebrows shot up. “Kidnapped by a—” He turned to stare at Bruno and Tyrone. “Okay, we’re definitely circling back to that story. Matt conveniently left that detail out of our last chat.”

“There’s a lot Matt seems to leave out,” I pointed out meaningfully.

“Oh, honey”—Ryan’s grin turned wicked—”you have no idea. Want to hear about the time he tried to convince our parents he could totally handle a pet tiger?”

Fin practically bounced in his seat. “Yes! All the embarrassing Matt stories, please!”

“Ryan,” I interrupted, “exactly how much trouble am I going to be in with Matt when he finds out you’re here spilling his secrets?”

Ryan’s eyes sparkled with mischief. “Who says he has to find out? Unless…”—he pulled out his phone—”you think he’d be interested in seeing these surveillance photos I took?

You know, for posterity?” He scrolled through his phone with exaggerated interest. “There’s this particularly adorable one of you tripping over your own feet outside Starbucks?—”

“I did not trip,” I protested. “The sidewalk was uneven.”

“The sidewalk was perfectly flat, darling. I have video evidence.”

Fin leaned over to peek at Ryan’s phone. “Oh my God, is that the time Andy walked into a glass door at the mall?”

“That door was unnecessarily clean!” I defended myself while Ryan and Fin cackled like hyenas.

“Matt’s going to love these.” Ryan grinned, typing something on his phone. “Especially the one where?—”

“Ryan Alexander Caine.”

The commanding voice cut through our laughter like a hot knife through butter. Ryan’s head snapped up, his face lighting up like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Big brother!” He practically leaped from his chair, arms spread wide. “Come give your favorite sibling a hug!”

Matt stood there with that particular mix of fondness and exasperation that only an older brother could master, like a man who’d spent his entire life dealing with Ryan’s brand of chaos.

“I told you to call before showing up unannounced.” Despite his stern tone, he didn’t resist when Ryan wrapped him in a bear hug.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Ryan’s voice was muffled against Matt’s shoulder. “Besides, I brought my bodyguards.” He pointed vaguely toward a distant corner where, sure enough, two suited men tried their best to blend in with the potted plants. “And I’m in disguise!”

“Your disguise is lousy.” Matt sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You still look exactly like Ryan Caine.”

“Hey! I put effort into this disguise,” Ryan protested, gesturing at his leather jacket and ripped jeans.

“I even tried the whole Elvis thing yesterday—sequined jumpsuit, big hair, the works. But Mitch said I looked like Elvis had a baby with a disco ball, and it was attracting way too much attention.” He pouted.

“Though that might’ve been because I kept breaking into ‘Jailhouse Rock’ in the casino. ”

“You did not,” Ethan gasped, while Fin practically howled with laughter.

“Oh, I did. I have video evidence.” Ryan pulled out his phone again. “Want to see? I even tried a black wig, but it made me look like a reject from a Beatles tribute band. Too pretty for disguises, that’s my curse.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at the mental image, and beside me, Matt looked like he was seriously reconsidering all his life choices that led to this moment.

“Besides,” Ryan continued, his grin turning smug, “that’s the point! I’m hiding in plain sight. Nobody expects Ryan Caine to look like Ryan Caine.”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“It makes perfect sense if you don’t think about it.”

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you have any idea how worried I was when Bruno texted me? After what happened last time?—”

“Oh, come on.” Ryan rolled his eyes, dropping back into his chair. “I was fourteen the first time, sixteen the second time, and seventeen the third time. I’m twenty now. Nobody’s going to kidnap me anymore.”

“You were kidnapped?” I blurted out, then immediately regretted it when Matt’s expression darkened.

“Three times.” Ryan held up three fingers proudly, like they were Olympic medals. “Once for ransom, twice for being irresistibly gorgeous. Though the last two were more like attempted kidnappings. Barely worth mentioning.”

“They are absolutely worth mentioning,” Matt growled. “Which is why you can’t just wander around Vegas without?—”

“Without my crack team of bodyguards?” Ryan gestured toward his men again. “The ones currently doing their best impression of ficus trees? I’m being responsible!”

“Responsible?” Matt’s eyebrow shot up. “You call stalking my boyfriend responsible?”

“First of all”—Ryan held up a finger—”it wasn’t stalking. It was reconnaissance. And second”—another finger joined the first—”can you blame me for being curious? You’ve never let anyone move into the penthouse before. Not even that supermodel from last year who?—”

“Ryan.”

“Right, right. Ancient history.” Ryan turned to me with a conspiratorial wink. “Though I have to say, you’re much prettier than she was.”

Fin, who’d been watching this exchange like it was the best reality show ever, said, “I can’t believe Matt Caine has a baby brother who’s this… this…”

“Charming? Delightful? Roguishly handsome?” Ryan supplied helpfully.

“I was going to say chaos incarnate ,” Fin grinned.

“I’ll take it.” Ryan beamed, then turned back to Matt. “See? Your boyfriend’s friends love me already. I’m practically family.”

Matt’s expression softened slightly, though he was clearly trying to maintain his stern big brother facade. “You’re impossible.”

“Impossibly lovable,” Ryan corrected, then turned to me. “Now, about that time Matt tried to adopt a tiger cub…”

“Ryan,” Matt warned.

“It’s such a good story though! He actually convinced our parents it would make a great guard cat?—”

“I was twelve!”

“And apparently terrible at distinguishing cats from tigers,” Ryan stage-whispered to me. “Though in his defense, it was a very small tiger.”

The lunch crowd had thinned considerably by the time we wrapped up. Ryan’s stories had somehow managed to fill nearly an hour, and I’d learned more about Matt’s childhood than I had in all our time together.

Later, Matt insisted on personally escorting Ryan to his suite one floor below the penthouse. “Try not to cause an international incident while you’re here,” Matt warned as Ryan dramatically flopped onto the luxurious couch.

“Me? Never.” Ryan’s innocent expression wouldn’t have fooled a blind man. “I’ll be a perfect angel for the whole week. Scout’s honor.”

“You were never a scout,” Matt pointed out.

“Details, details,” Ryan waved dismissively. “Besides, I came at the perfect time. The tech conference gala at the Bellagio is tomorrow night, right? I wouldn’t miss seeing you in action for anything.”

Matt’s expression turned serious. “This isn’t a social event, Ryan. There’s a lot at stake.”

“All the more reason to have your favorite brother there for moral support.” Ryan grinned, then turned to me. “You’re going as Matt’s plus one, right? The way these tech galas go, you’ll need someone fun to keep you entertained while the billionaires play their power games.”

“Andy is my date,” Matt said firmly. “And the guest list is already finalized.”

Ryan’s grin only widened as he pulled out his phone. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I already got myself a gold-tier ticket. Being a Caine has its perks.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Plus, I heard Xavier Kingsley might be there. This is going to be better than reality TV.”

I’d been watching Matt navigate the first half of the conference this week, disappearing to endless seminars and closed-door meetings.

Tomorrow’s gala at the Bellagio marked the halfway point, and from the way Matt’s jaw tightened at Xavier’s name, I had a feeling the remaining days of the conference were going to get very interesting.