“About two hours ago.”
I hop off my bunk. “And you didn’t wake me because…”
“Because I don’t know how to wake the dead.” He shrugs. “You looked exhausted. Full-on zombie-mode. We figured we’d let you sleep. What’s the big deal?”
My eyes cut to her empty bunk again.
“Ah.” Recognition jolts into him. “Felicity is the big deal.”
My jaw clenches.
“Don’t grimace at me.” He smirks. “She’s with Carly. They already checked into the hotel. We’ve got sweet rooms overlooking the whole strip.”
I couldn’t give less of a shit about the hotel. My only priority right now is finding her and making sure she’s holding up all right, after everything that went down with her mother.
Last night, when I stepped out of the building, I knew instantly who the drugged-out woman clawing at Felicity had to be. I’ve never moved so fast in my life, getting to her side. And I’ve never seen that look on Felicity’s face before — so small and defenseless and subdued. Standing there like a child as her mother said all manner of horrible things.
Ungrateful whore.
Common thief.
You’re not special.
Who would ever love you?
I could’ve strangled that woman with my bare hands, but doing so in front of the swarming paparazzi probably would’ve gotten me arrested again.
God, it’s no wonder Felicity keeps her walls so high. Her family makes mine look like a fucking picnic.
I’ll take your alcoholic, anger-prone father and raise you one drugged-out, physically abusive mother.
Yanking on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, I run my hands through my sleep-mussed hair, shove a pair of sunglasses on my face, and sling my bag over one shoulder.
“Where’s Aiden?” I ask, finally ready.
“Waiting outside. Figured we’d drag you to breakfast with us.”
I smirk. “Afraid if you two went alone, everyone would assume you were on a date?”
Linc grins wide. “Please. He should be so lucky.”
We both laugh as we step through the bus doors into the bright sunshine. It’s nine in the morning, but Vegas is swelteringly hot. The pavement around us steams as we cut across the parking lot to the veranda outside our hotel, where Aiden is smoking a cigarette in a narrow slice of shade. Linden and York are hovering a dozen feet away, our ever-silent shadows, keeping watch as tourists mill about the entrance. I duck my head, hoping to go undetected for as long as possible.
“Took you long enough,” Aiden says when he spots us, stubbing out his cigarette with one heel. “What were you doing in there, primping?”
“Just making myself pretty for you.” I bat my lashes at him.
He shoves my arm. “Come on. I’m starving. There’s a restaurant out by the pool.”
“Bacon with a bikini view.” Linc grins. “I like the way you think, my friend.”
As we step into the air-conditioned lobby, I pass off my bag to a waiting bellhop, pressing a crisp twenty in his palm before he scurries away. The hotel is opulent and overdone — decorated in rich reds and gleaming gold hues, frescoes painted on every ceiling. We pass a gaudy decorative fountain filled with Roman emperors of old, then wind our way through row after row of slot machines used to lure fresh arrivals into the adjacent casino before they’ve even checked in.
This place is a zoo, and we’re the damn animals.
By the time we find the restaurant, nearly an hour has gone by and we’re all ravenous. A hostess shows us to a table in the shade, overlooking the sprawling series of aqua lagoons and waterfalls below. Calling this place apoolis like calling Niagara Falls astream— the sheer scope of it is hard to take in all at once. Bevies of beautiful women flock in clusters, holding mimosas in their hands as they stroll the perimeter, weaving between imported palm trees and tacky faux-talian columns. They remind me of the tropical birds outside Grayson’s treehouse in Oahu, chirping and preening as they attempt to lure in potential mates.
Lincoln unleashes a shameless growl as a blonde in a sarong saunters by on the pool deck below.