Page 73 of His Lair

I then make my way into the office, fish around my desk until I find what I’m looking for, and make out a check for five hundred grand to Lailani Miller. I can’t wait for that name to bechanged. When I walk back into the bedroom, Lailani is sitting on the bed. With way too many clothes on.

“Why are you dressed?” I ask her.

“Because we have a wedding to attend. I can’t stay naked all day.” Lailani laughs. It’s a sound I want to hear more often.

“Here, I want to hire you to protect someone for me.” I hold out the check to her.

Lailani takes it and reads it. “I’m not taking your money, Sammie.”

“Why not? My money is just as good as E’s,” I say.

“Because I’m not. Who is it you want me to protect?” she asks.

“You.”

“What?”

“I want you to protect yourself. At any and all costs, Lailani. You are the most important person in my life. I need to know that you will put yourself first,” I tell her.

“I’m not planning on being a martyr, Sammie. I promise you do not need to worry about me,” she says.

I watch as she picks up her pistol from the ground and straps it to her right ankle. “Is that all you have?” It’s not enough. Now that I know what she can do, I want her fully fucking loaded. Especially today.

“Yeah, I mean, I can go back to my apartment and get more. You need something specific?”

I chuckle. “No, but you do need more than the six rounds you have in that thing.” I nod towards her ankle. “Put your boots on. I need to show you something.” I walk into my closet, throw on a sweatshirt, and slide my feet into a pair of sneakers.

Once we’re both dressed, I take hold of Lailani’s hand and guide her out to the foyer. My finger taps the button for the elevator.

“Shit, where are we going? I haven’t even brushed my hair?” Lailani says. She drops my hand and starts running her fingers through her hair.

“You look perfect. No one is going to see us where we’re going, though.” The doors open. And placing my hand on her lower back, I guide her into the elevator and scan my access card over the reader. “Six, two, nine, one,” I say the numbers aloud as I press them down. “I need you to remember that code.”

“Six, two, nine, one. Okay, what’s it for?” Lailani asks.

“You’ll see.” I smile. No one other than Louie and Carlo knows about this place. And, well, I guess now Lailani, but It will make me feel better if she has everything she may need at her disposal.

The elevator descends, and minutes later, the doors open and lights flick on as we step out into the basement. Lailani doesn’t say a word as she steps farther into the room to take it all in.

Then she spins around and faces me. “Holy fucking shit, you have a freaking lair and I’m just discovering this now?”

“It’s not a lair.” I laugh. Although…

I look around the space. There are screens that monitor the entire casino covering one wall, computers in the middle of the room, and another wall is fully stocked with a range of guns in all sizes. There’s a shelving unit that holds a variety of other weapons, including grenades and knives. Pretty much whatever you can think of, it’s in this room. I consider myself more ofa collector. But she’s right. It does kind of look like a lair.

“This is so freaking cool, Sammie. Shit. I think your hotness level just went up tenfold,” Lailani says as she walks over to the wall of guns.

“I’m hotter because I have guns?”

“No, you’re hotter because you have a fucking lair,” she says.

“Again, not a lair. I’m not Batman,” I remind her.

“That’s good because I’m more of a Joker fan anyway,” she tells me. “Why do you have a flame thrower and have you ever actually used it?”

“I haven’t, but you never know when you’re going to need one, right?” I lift a shoulder as I walk over to the wall, pick up two small pistols, and then turn to the shelves and collect two knives. “Here. I want you to take whatever you want from my inventory. Make sure you’re always strapped, Lailani.”

“I feel like a kid in a candy shop,” she says, taking the weapons from me. “And just so you know, I don’t actually need any of this. I can kill someone with my bare hands just as easy.”