Page 15 of Redeeming Bosley

Not wanting to wait for the elevator, I ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time. I wasn’t surprised to hear the pounding of Cory’s feet as he followed me. I didn’t blame him. Dante and his crew had been one thing. They were trained to exist in the background. Even in their suits, they’d looked likenothing but normal security. With Rocco’s normal swagger and irreverence, God only knew what customers would make of him.

As I double-timed it past the elevator on the ground floor, Everest waved, eyes widening an alarm as Cory and I threw him a cursory greeting and kept going. It took me two seconds to find Rocco, leaning against the desk at the check-in station, flirting with the girls.

As soon as I got close enough, I hissed, “Rocco, what are you doing here?”

“This guy, huh?” he said to the young lady in front of him. Then his gaze moved past me, and a slow smile crept across his face. Bypassing me, he held out a hand. “You must be the intoxicating Cory Letterman. I’ve been so eager to meet the man who convinced Romeo to settle down.”

Hesitantly, Cory slipped his hand into Rocco’s. The little shit immediately turned it and kissed the top. Cory’s smile faltered as Rocco said, “Charmed to make your acquaintance.”

For fuck’s sake, the day hadn’t even started, and I was ready to put my fist in his face. Pulling Cory back next to my side forced Rocco to let his hand go. “I thought I was picking you up.”

Rocco shrugged. “I thought I’d save you the trip.”

Moving closer to him, I glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention. “What are you doing out and about without a bodyguard?”

Rocco rolled his eyes. “Don’t be dramatic. No one cares about me.”

Just great. Nico had stuck me with a man-child. If Rocco didn’t understand how his life impacted his brother, therefore, the rest of the Family, they had an even bigger problem than I thought.

“Stop frowning already. I wasn’t alone. I rode over with him.”

He pointed over to the entrance to the hallway to Vigor and the spa where Dante leaned nonchalantly against the wall, staring at his phone screen.

“Why is he back?” Cory asked.

With everything that had happened last night, I’d forgotten to tell him that it looked like he had a permanent security guard for the foreseeable future. I knew he wasn’t going to be happy about that since I was less than thrilled myself. No matter how Nico tried to spin it, the reality was, Dante was here to keep an eye on Cory. In other words, keep me in line. Lucky for all of them, I was a man of my word and had every intention of doing everything I promised them. That, and I trusted Dante with Cory.

Before I could answer, Rocco said, “Romeo’s familia. You’re his man, and since we don’t know exactly what he’s gotten into, my brother wanted to make sure you’re protected. It’s good to know the right people, am I right?”

If Cory’s facial expression was anything to go by, then no, Rocco wasn’t right. I pulled him into my arms for a quick hug, whispering in his ear, “It’ll be fine.”

“I thought you planned on asking for Dante to work with you,” he whispered back.

“I’ll explain it later.” I took a step back. “I promise.”

Cory scowled. “You bet you will.”

Rocco followed me as I headed toward the door, saying loudly, “Is that your thing? Leaving hickey’s all over your man? I saw two on his neck.”

Hoping Cory hadn’t heard him would be too much to ask, especially since Dante, who was much farther away, barked out a laugh. “Just come on.”

“So where we going?” Rocco asked ten minutes later.

I glanced at him over in the passenger’s seat. “Do you really care?”

He shrugged. “Nah, not really. But Vin will be pissed if we don’t handle Family business first.”

Yeah, I was well aware of the parameters Vin set in our meeting yesterday. The middle brother wasn’t taking kindly to my presence in Takoda at all. At this point, I wasn’t sure that Nico was either, but he knew me well enough to know that if I said I was staying, I was staying. The only two people who hadn’t been completely antagonistic were Rocco and Dante.

Dante liked me, even though he tried not to show it. In the beginning, it might have been because of my reputation. But we’d formed a mutual respect while he’d overseen security at The Gin Mill. Even though he and his guys hadn’t caught the culprit, they’d tried. I also appreciated how respectful and attentive they’d been while hanging around Cory’s place of business. Like I’d told Dante, not embarrassing me was a point in his favor.

Rocco, on the other hand, barely made it ten minutes at the table before reminding his brothers that I was familia. “Ya know, you really fucked up, Romeo,” he said, interrupting my thoughts.

“They’ll get over it.”

“Maybe Nico will, but I don’t know about Vin.” He shook his head. “When Vita had her troubles, I think he expected you to show up, ya know?”

“So you’re not talking about what happened the other day back at the hotel?”

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