For those readers who call Blane
and Kade their book boyfriends.
Prologue
“You are hereby banned from the MGM Grand. Your names and photos are on record. Should you show your faces here again, you will be escorted from the premises in a very unpleasant way.”
Blane Kirk gave a curt nod, eyeing the seven linebacker-size security men flanking him and his brother in the nondescript room located in the bowels of one of the most well-known and largest casinos in the world. Tourists usually didn’t see this side of Sin City, and he’d rather not have either.
“Room service sucked anyway.”
Blane shot his brother a look at the comment, but Kade looked unrepentant, his gaze sharp and cold as he surveyed the men surrounding them.
“We’ll just be on our way,” Blane said, giving Kade a nudge.
The man in charge of the casino didn’t smile as he opened the door. Blane prayed Kade would keep his mouth shut as they walked out, but alas, it wasn’t to be.
“Coulda said thanks for providing something more for you guys to do than intimidating little grannies at the slots,” Kade said. “You’re welcome.” He rolled his eyes at Blane. “Some people.”
“Come on,” Blane muttered, grabbing Kade’s elbow and yanking him out the door and down the hall. He could practically feel the security guy’s eyes on their backs. “I’m not really in the mood to get my ass kicked.”
“Aw, we could’ve taken them,” Kade protested, pulling out of Blane’s grasp. He glanced back and grimaced. “Okay, maybe not.”
“Let’s not find out,” Blane said.
They hit the outside of the casino and Blane took a deep breath of the hot, dry Nevada air. Though still a couple of hours until sunrise, it was still a sauna even without the blazing sunshine.
A valet opened the door to a taxi and the men climbed inside. In minutes they were on their way to the airport and he heaved a sigh of relief.
Blane had known from the start that coming to Vegas was a bad idea, he just hadn’t known how bad.
Chapter One
Three Days Earlier
“We’re going to Vegas.”
Blane looked up from the file he was working on at his desk as his brother plopped himself down on the leather sofa in his study.
Dressed in his usual black T-shirt, jeans, and black boots, Kade appeared every inch the bad-guy, a look that notoriously drew women to him like candy. His hair was as black as his shirt and fell in a careless wave over his forehead. Even from this distance, his eyes were a piercing blue, framed by thick dark lashes and wickedly arched brows that women spent thousands of dollars in beauty products trying to achieve.
Even as his half-brother, Blane was hard-pressed to find a physical similarity between the two of them. Where Kade was dark, Blane was fair-haired as a dirty blond, his eyes a shifting gray-green rather than blue. Both were tall, though Blane topped Kade by a couple of inches. Blane was broad while Kade had a lean build, though both men pumped enough iron to be layered in muscle. Not for vanity’s sake, but for survival—a lesson being a Navy SEAL had taught Blane; a lesson the school of hard knocks had taught Kade.
Perhaps the brothers’ similarities were underneath the skin, rather than something that could be seen with the naked eye. Now that Blane could believe.
“Who’s going to Vegas?” he asked, tossing down his pen. Obviously, he wouldn’t be getting any more work done while Kade was there.
“We are. You and me,” Kade said. “A brother bonding trip.”
Blane’s brows flew up. “A brother bonding trip?” he repeated. “Really?”
“Don’t sound so thrilled.” Kade’s dry rejoinder made Blane’s lips twitch.
“I just didn’t realize you were in need of some family time,” Blane teased.
“We haven’t hung out in a while,” Kade said with a shrug. “I thought we could ditch ice cream cones and tossing around a baseball for tequila and showgirls with a side of blackjack.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“Have you been to Vegas before?” Blane asked.
“Nope. You?”
“A bachelor party a couple of years ago.” Blane shrugged. “It was all right.” He hadn’t been that impressed with the town or its visitors—people there to gamble away their life savings in the vain hope of hitting it big. Others were desperately looking for a diversion from the dullness of their lives, and still more were searching for something they couldn’t name—be it happiness, a future, or love.
“All right? Just all right?” Kade snorted. “Obviously, you didn’t do Vegas the way it should be done.”
“And you think you know how it should be done?” Blane grinned.
“I think the two of us could make one helluva dent in Sin City, brother.”