Gio stopped in front of Joker, his smile soft. “Hello, Sacha.”
“Giovanni,” Joker said through a grunt.
Gio gave Chip one last ear scratch before Chip returned to sit at Joker’s heel. Gio opened his mouth to say something as Ace and Lucky appeared to say hello to the guys, or more likely because they couldn’t be at ease if they weren’t breathing the same damn air as their men.
“You look handsome,” Gio told Joker.
Joker peered at him. “You’ve seen me in this before.” Same black tee with the Four Kings Security logo on the front left breast pocket and the company name on the back in bold white letters, black tactical pants, and boots. “I’m wearing the same uniform everyone else is.”
Gio leaned in, his lips quirked at the corners in that roguish way of his. “But no one looks as good in it as you do.” His voice was low and silky, not that Joker was paying attention to the throatiness of Gio’s voice.
Joker glanced toward the end of the stage, where Saint stood, the sleeves of his T-shirt straining against his bulging biceps. He was over six feet tall, all broad shoulders, thick thighs, and sculpted male perfection. The guy looked every bit the Navy SEAL he’d once been. Gio turned his head to see what had caught Joker’s attention, then turned back to Joker, his smile knowing.
“I stand by my statement.”
Joker snorted. “Right.” Not that he had any hang-ups about his body. He was toned, fit, and had twice the stamina most of the guys at Four Kings had, even the guys younger than him. He could run circles around all of them. He was agile, adept at sports, and a natural gymnast. Maybe if the universe hadn’t been such a dick, he’d have been given a little more height, but whatever.
“Will you and Chip be at Colton’s tomorrow for the barbecue?”
Joker replied without thinking. “Well, yeah. Obviously.” Shit, wait…
“Great! I’ll see you then.”
Damn it. Joker should have known. Fuck it. At first, he’d avoided any event where Gio might be but quickly realized there was no point. Gio was back for good and a part of their lives whether he liked it or not, even if Joker couldn’t figure out why the sudden return. The guy had traveled the world for years doing who knew what in the name of charity, and out of the blue, one day he calls Laz up and says he’s coming home for good? Why?
“Sacha?” Jack’s voice came through his earpiece.
Joker sighed. He hated to be called by his real name, but Jack had known him for decades, long before one of their fallen brothers-in-arms had given them their nicknames. “What?”
“One of the stagehands bumped camera three with a prop he was carrying onto the stage. Must have knocked it pretty hard. It’s out of alignment. Can you go check it out?”
“Sure thing.”
Aw, what a shame. “I need to go. Duty calls.”
“Stay safe,” Gio said, his expression sincere.
Joker nodded. He ignored the way his heart did a stupid little flip. None of his friends understood why he was such an asshole to Gio, which was funny, considering Joker was pretty much an asshole most of the time, but something about Gio got to him, and that pissed Joker off like nothing else. From the moment they’d first spoken, Joker had a visceral reaction to the guy, and he hated it. No one was going to have that kind of control over him. No one.
“Come on,” he told Chip. They headed backstage, where he removed the small tablet from his pocket and signed into the secure event portal Jack had created for this job. He located camera three and frowned. It was just outside Nia’s dressing room. Giving the command, Joker sent Chip to sniff around.
They’d already checked this area several times, but over the next few hours, they’d be making several more rounds. His earpiece came to life, and King’s low grumble sounded in his ear.
“Listen up, guys. Nia and her crew are on their way. Check in with your teams.”
“Copy that,” Joker replied, along with Ace, Lucky, and Jack. He followed Chip as his partner left no corner unsniffed. Joker stopped in front of camera three outside Nia’s dressing room and peered up at it. The camera hung at an odd angle. “Jesus, what did he hit it with, a brick?” He’d just returned the tablet to his pocket when Chip gave his low warning growl. Turning, he found Chip with his nose pressed to the bottom of Nia’s closed dressing room door. Joker tapped his PTT button. “Jack, is Nia onsite?”
“Not yet, but members of her entourage have started arriving.”
“Copy that. Chip’s not liking something in her dressing room. I’m going in to investigate.”
“Let us know if you need backup.”
“Will do.” Joker hissed out another command in German, and Chip swiftly returned to Joker’s heel. They slowly approached the dressing room from one side. He silently turned the knob, but found it locked. This couldn’t be good. He knocked on the door. “Security. Is everything okay in there?” No answer.
“Security.” He pounded on the door. “I need you to respond. Now.” Still no answer.
Chip growled again, his hackles up, and Joker took a step away from the door.
“Okay, if you don’t answer or open this door, I’m coming in. You have five seconds. Five, four, three—”
The door cracked open, and a pair of blue eyes glared at him. “What do you want?”
Joker arched an eyebrow. “Who are you?”
“Who are you?” the guy snarled. A low growl rumbled from beside Joker, and the guy snapped his gaze to Chip. His eyes went huge, and he swallowed hard. “I mean, uh, hi, sorry. Can I help you?”
Joker grabbed the edge of the door with a smirk. “Yeah, you can tell me who you are and what you’re doing in there.”
“I’m Jiles. I work for the props department.”
“Doesn’t answer why you’re in this dressing room, Jiles.”
The guy opened the door and stepped to one side so Joker and Chip could enter the room. Chip immediately began sniffing everything, and Joker remained alert as he scanned the huge room. The doors to the two bathrooms were open, the curtains to the changing rooms also open. It was a brightly lit space decorated in black and white with pops of bright pink. Multiple mirrors and vanities were positioned across the seating area.
Something red blinked from a vase of flowers on the bigger vanity, and Joker strolled over. Considering Chip hadn’t given him the signal, he was confident it wasn’t an incendiary device. He reached into the flowers and pulled out what looked like a small camera. Turning, he held the camera up to Jiles, who’d gone so pale Joker wondered if the guy was about to pass out.
Jiles didn’t pass out. He took off running like someone had shot him out of a cannon.
“Fuck!” Joker shoved the camera into his pocket as he shouted a command to Chip, who bolted after Jiles. Upon seeing the black demon dog on his heels, Jiles shrieked loud enough to shatter glass and plowed through the curtains onto the stage.
Jiles’s first mistake had been to run. His second and biggest mistake had been to run toward Leo, who was so absorbed in whatever was on his phone screen he didn’t hear Joker shouting at him. Gio, however, did hear Joker and sprang into action, putting himself between Jiles and Leo right as Chip tackled Jiles.