Page 89 of Savage Little Secret

“Hello?” I say as I sit up in bed, the sheets sliding down to my waist.

“Diamond Plaza is on fire!”

My heart lurches into my throat. “What? What’s going on?”

Leo breathes heavily like he has been running. “I don’t know. I was doing my nightly patrol of your properties, and I drove past it to see it in flames. It’s bad, sir.”

“Shit,” I breathe out, hearing the shock in his voice.

Diamond Plaza isn’t mine, but it’s a Bratva-controlled casino, one of our biggest Vegas assets. And it’s evidently going up in flames as we speak. Are the Italians crazy enough to go after such an important building?

“I’ll be right there. Keep your eyes peeled. This could be part of a larger attack,” I warn him.

“Yes, sir. I’ll call in some of our men,” Leo replies, his voice toughening up.

I hang up the phone and throw the blankets off me, scrambling to get up and pull my clothes on. I don’t know what to expect when I show up at the casino, but I can only assume it’ll be total chaos.

Millions of dollars of cash flow in and out every single day, and I know that this is a deliberate attack.

I rush out of the room and fling open the door, making Denis jump in surprise as he stands guard out in the hallway. “Call the next guard on duty. Have him come in immediately.”

Denis frowns. “What’s going on, sir?”

That’s when his phone buzzes in his back pocket. I can only assume that word is spreading like wildfire right now.

“Diamond Plaza is on fire. I need to get there and figure out what the hell happened,” I tell him, feeling my own phone vibrate multiple times in my pocket. “I need you and someone else on Cara. Don’t let anyone in, and don’t let anyone get her out.”

The words taste like poison, but I can’t risk her stepping into a hallway at the wrong moment.

Denis doesn’t look thrilled about being on babysitting duty, but he knows that Cara is the most important person to me. This isn’t something he can afford to screw up.

“Yes, sir. I’ll call Mark in,” Denis replies before pulling his phone out of his pocket and scrolling through his contacts to find Mark’s name.

“Dmitri.”

I whip around to find Cara standing at the entrance of the hallway in a tank top and a pair of silky pajama shorts. Heat flickers low in my gut, but I snap back to the crisis at hand.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll be home soon,” I tell her as I motion for her to head back to her room.

Cara frowns as she crosses her arms over her chest, rubbing away the goosebumps on her skin. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing you need to worry about,” I say, fighting the urge to throw her over my shoulder and take her back to her bedroom. Or better yet, mine.

Cara’s eyes sharpen. I think this is the first time that she’s looked pissed since she came back. “Are you ever going to tell me anything again?”

I blink at her in shock as I consider her words. “What are you talking about?”

Cara exhales heavily and shakes her head, backing away from me. “Nothing.”

I frown and stride over to her, my hands carefully cupping her face. “One of the Bratva’s casinos is on fire right now. I need to go see what’s going on.”

Cara’s eyes widen. “Do you think…”

“Maybe it’s the Italians. I don’t know, but I need you to stay here. Denis and Mark will be on guard outside,” I tell her as my thumbs brush over her cheeks. “Don’t ask to come,” I tell her. “That’s a hard no.”

Cara purses her lips for a moment, but she then nods. “I’ll stay here. Be careful.”

I lean forward and press a lingering kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be back soon.”