Mr. Smith snorted in amusement. “Use only for friends, huh?” He looked at the sole security camera in the room. “There’s literally nothing on this phone other than the OS and a single contact – which is listed as Booty Call.”
“He’s clean too,” the minion announced, having only found a wallet, phone, a comb, and keys in Caelen’s pockets.
“Alright then, we’re pretty much done here,” Mr. Smith stated.
Just then, the door opened and two men entered the room.
“Vinny!” One cried out happily.
“Hey Dave. Mom told me to stab you a couple of times while I was here. Then break your arm and make it abundantly clear that you will be visiting her soon – before she has to send some men out to abduct you.”
“Ah shit!” Dave exclaimed in dismay, hastily pulling out his phone. “Donna? Cancel whatever it is I’m doing this weekend and book me a flight. I apparently have to go visit my sister.”
As Dave was talking, the other man patted Vin on the arm. “Pleasure to see you again, Vince. What brings you to my little corner of the world?”
“I’m seriously on vacation, Bernie. I’m not here to do any sort of business or cause any trouble,” Vin explained.
“Is that so? So I couldn’t interest you in handling a small problem for me?” Bernie asked.
“Nope!” Vin firmly declined. “In fact, my dad told me to remind you that you owe him a favor and should help me OUT of trouble, should I need it.”
“Ah. Pity. Oh well,” Bernie gave in with a small sigh. “I guess I’ll just have to handle it myself. Please feel free to enjoy anything our casino has to offer, and if you are looking for some mood enhancement, go to room 1171 and tell them I’m giving you anything you want. Also, if you find yourself in need of a woman or two, Mr. Smith can quickly arrange for a car to drive you out to one of our affiliate places.”
Mr. Smith smiled reassuringly. “I can have a car drive you anywhere you like, but if you plan to stay in our casino, I’ll need you to promise me that you won’t be counting cards – or using any other method of cheating.”
“I promise,” Vin stated.
“And your friend?” Mr. Smith asked, looking at Caelen.
“I promise too,” Caelen said, happy that it seemed like the situation was mostly resolved.
With a respectful nod, Mr. Smith and his four minions all stepped back and took up ‘at ease’ positions. As Vin and Caelen put their belongings back in their pockets, Dave finished up his phone call. He then gave Vin a hug.
“Sorry about this. I told them to just keep an eye on you via the cameras, but Bernie thought that if you were here for anything other than cheating, you’d have called ahead and let us know that you were going to be visiting us.”
Vin chuckled. ” I might have, if I remembered which casino was yours. We were actually just walking around and entered the first casino we happened upon once the urge to gamble hit.”
“Ah. That’s a bit of bad luck then,” Dave murmured in amusement.
Vin shrugged. “I don’t know. It seems like good luck to me. After all, this probably would have happened in any casino I entered, except this one had you guys to step in if things went south.”
“True!” Dave agreed with a grin. “Go on and have fun now, and here’s a couple of chips on me!”
After accepting ten 100 dollar chips and handing half to Caelen, they left the meeting room and returned to the casino. When they were far enough away to not be overheard, Caelen laughed softly. Vin gave him a curious frown.
“That seemed a lot more like an encounter with the police than I’d have thought,” Caelen pointed out. “I’d have assumed there’d be more punches and insults. Instead, that was rather polite and orderly.”
“That’s because I was cooperating and not doing anything to upset or provoke them,” Vin informed him with a grin. “It would have gone more like you imagined had I resisted in the slightest.”
“Ah. Good to know.”
Vin gave him a quick smooch. “Thanks for keeping your mouth shut and playing along. I don’t even want to imagine how things could have gone had you resisted or told them anything unnecessary.”
Caelen smirked. “I guess I just figured that if the situation was reversed, I’d tell you to shut up and do what you were told, so that’s what I did.”
“Good call.”
***
Since they had stayed two extra nights and didn’t arrive at the airport until almost 3:30, Vin felt he had no choice. He rolled his head around his shoulders with a long groan. “If I’d KNOWN this was going to happen, I’d have had us drive separate cars to the Airport to begin with!”
“Problem?” Caelen asked with an amused frown.
“Well, it’s not a problem so much as it could lead to a problem,” Vin replied. Then he sighed in defeat. “It’s just that I don’t have time to drive you home if I want to make it to dinner. If I miss it two Sundays in a row, there’s a high chance you will never see me again.”
“Oh… So… I get to meet your parents?”
“More like the entire inner group,” Vin grumbled. “I really REALLY don’t like this, but if you can promise me not to answer any personal questions, then I’ll bring you with me and do my absolute best to keep them all off your back. Otherwise, I have to drop you off at a hotel to wait until I’m done.”
Caelen slipped his hand in Vin’s. “Even if it’s only once, I’d like to meet your parents.”
Vin looked towards the heavens as if begging God to help him as he groaned reluctantly. Then he let out a sigh of defeat so heavy that his head dropped down to his chest. “Alright fine,” he agreed, giving his husband a kiss. “Just… please try really hard not to hear anything incriminating.”
“I mean if I see a murder about to happen, I am legally obligated to step in and stop it, but otherwise, I’ll be out of my jurisdiction,” Caelen pointed out. “I basically can’t do anything other than give a warning and call in the locals.” He gave him a kiss. “But I won’t unless I absolutely have to.”
Vin was so happy to hear this that he gave him a hug. “Man, I wonder if we have enough time to stop at a hotel after all.”
Caelen snickered and slipped a hand down Vin’s back, into his pants and underwear, and gave his firm ass cheek a good caress before squeezing.
Vin checked the time on his phone and groaned again. “Even though we’ll be early if we go straight to my place, we definitely don’t have time to stop at a hotel. Sigh…”
Hand in hand and carrying all their luggage – which had doubled due to souvenirs, but still wasn’t too much to carry – they made their way to where Vin had parked his nondescript car in the parking garage. The entire way home, Vin drove five miles under the speed limit. He also kept his eyes glued to the rear-view mirror and made random turns if anyone stayed behind him rather than go around when the chance presented itself. Eventually, he was certain no one had followed him home.
“You know, I understand you have a reason to be paranoid, but I really think you might be too paranoid,” Caelen remarked as they pulled up to a large black gate.
Vin once again looked all around suspiciously before entering the access code in the panel in front of the gate. The gate opened to reveal a long driveway that led to a secluded house surrounded by a luscious lawn that was surrounded by a thick layer of trees and bushes. He passed by an entire lot full of cars to park in one of the reserved spots near the garage.