Chapter Four

"Wow." Standing in the doorway, her eyes wide in amazement, Liz silently wondered if Francis made a mistake. The view that greeted her when the large bodyguard opened the massive doors took her breath away. Never in her life had she seen anything so extravagant. From the sunken living room, with it's over stuffed creme couch, to the enormous window that looked down at the city that never sleeps. "The cost of this suite probably costs more than my college tuition."

"Try both of your tuitions." Francis joked from behind as he nudged her forward, making her leave her position in the doorway.

"This is really ours for an entire week?" Emily grinned as she hurried past Liz to inspect their new home.

Liz's purse slipped from her shoulder as she followed Emily from the living room, not missing the large entertainment center that almost took up an entire wall. If she thought that the living area was impressive the rooms blew her away. Large king sized beds, draped by cloud like comforters promised a good nights sleep. The adjoining baths looked like sets from some steamy Skinamax movie. Large walk in showers with at least a dozen shower heads made a showering seem almost sinful. A white Jacuzzi, large enough to fit the NY Yankees, sat in the corner.

"Now this is what I call a bathroom." Emily came up from behind, peeking over Liz's shoulder. "Is that a phone?" Brushing past her and heading to the bathroom counter, Liz laughed as Emily picked up the phone and looked at her in question. "In a bathroom?"

"Well at least it doesn't have a fax." Both girls jumped as Francis's voice came from behind. "I need to get going. Nick will be outside if you need anything."

Emily frowned at the thought of a guard she didn't know standing outside her door. "I thought you were guarding us for the week?"

"I am, but it's Sonny's bachelor party tonight." Without any other explanation, Francis headed to the door but stopped. "I called Jason and told him that you're here, he said there was a few things he had to do before he came up."

"Have fun." Emily's eyes sparkled with mischief. "Don't do anything that Liz wouldn't do."

With only a shake of his head, Francis let himself out.

"Well?" Turning to her friend, Liz rubbed her hands together. "What shall we do first?"

"Well the bath does look inviting but that shower is just calling my name." Liz couldn't help but laugh at Emily's expression. "How about I take the other room, you can have this one."

"Sounds like a plan. I think I'm going to unpack first." Both girls headed back to the living room where their bags were all neatly placed side by side. "So what does one wear while painting the City of Sin in red?" Emily laughed as Liz wiggled her brows.

"Well clothes would be a good start."

"Shut up." Narrowing her eyes in mock warning, Liz stuck out her tongue.

"You should wear that black outfit you bought the last time we went shopping in Denver." Dragging her bags toward her room, Emily looked over her shoulder. "You know that black suede top that ties behind your neck with the matching low rise bottoms."

"Oh yeah. You should wear your that peach bandanna top with your black leather pants." With a plan in place the two headed to their separate rooms.

"I still think that this is completely and totally unfair." Slamming the door of their suite open, Brenda threw her purse on the couch before turning to confront the caveman she agreed to chain herself to for the rest of her life. "You can't force me to stay a prisoner all night long."

"Come on Brenda." Sonny sighed as he scratched the side of his head. "You know the only way that Francis, Johnny and Max can come to the party is if one of the newer guys watches the door."

"So you're saying that it's safe to stay in here with some newbie on door patrol, but they're not good enough at their job to take me down to the casinos?" Crossing her arms over her chest, Brenda glared.

"No. What I'm saying is... Can't you just do this for me? One night that's all I'm asking."

"Fine. But can I at least go up and visit with Emily and her friend?"

"No." Wincing at her exasperated screech, Sonny prepared himself for the fit Brenda was most likely going to throw.

Her arms dropping to her side, both her hands balled up into fists. "Are you kidding me? Why not?"

"Because I know you Brenda and with what information I have on Emily's friend, I can only imagine the trouble the three of you could stir up." His dimples flashed. "I don't think any of the guys are trained good enough to handle that."

Opening her mouth a few times without any sound coming out, Brenda spun around and stalked to the bedroom, slamming the door hard enough to register on the Richter scale.

"Oh you think I'm going to be all Suzy homemaker, doing everything you command with a cheesy ass smile on my face." Grabbing a brush from the vanity, she ran it through her hair in a few rough yanks. Talking to the reflection in the mirror, Brenda narrowed her eyes in anger. "Well I guess you forgot that I'm my own person, and after tonight you'll never forget it."

Walking out of her bedroom towel drying her hair, Emily almost missed the person sitting on the couch. Dressed in one of the hotel's fluffy white bathrobes, she padded halfway into the room, letting out a startled yelp when she heard his greeting.

"Jason!" Dropping the towel, she flung herself into his arms, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. Stepping back, she made a face at him. "Thanks a lot for picking us up at the airport."

"Sorry about that. Something came up." Taking a close look at his sister, he couldn't help but feel proud of the young woman she had become. Perhaps Sonny was right, she wasn't a little kid anymore.

"Story of your life." With a wave of her hand to let him know that there were no hard feelings, she led him back to the couch. "Liz is in the shower."

His brows lowered a little, feeling a little uneasy about what he was going to have to say. "You two weren't planning on going out were you?"

"Well yeah. Seeing that we're in Las Vegas and it's our Spring Break."

Letting out a long sigh, Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "You can't go out tonight."

Emily sat staring at Jason, wondering if she heard him correctly. "You're joking right?"

"It's Sonny's bachelor party tonight, most of the guys are going and there's no one to guard you."

"What about Rick, no that's not it...Nick! Francis said that some guy was guarding us tonight." Watching Jason's jaw tense, Emily groaned. "Oh come on you've got to be kidding."

"Emily, there's a couple of families that aren't too thrilled that Sonny and I went in on this casino. I don't want you and your friend going out without Francis, Johnny or Max." Standing up, he refused to look at her, knowing that her big doe eyes would make him change his mind.

"So what are we supposed to do? Play Monopoly all night? Or perhaps sit around braiding each other's hair." Emily's sarcasm dripped from her words.

"I promise to make it up to you, both of you." Feeling as though he could look at her again, he turned around and knelled in front of her. "I know this isn't what you had planned, and I am sorry."

Emily calmed at his sincere words and guilty expression. Deep down she knew that he was just looking out for her safety. "You better make it up to us." Giving him a shaky smile to let him know that everything was fine between them, Emily leaned forward and hugged him again. "Even though you're a major downer sometimes, I really did miss you."

Before he could reply his cell phone rang. "Morgan... I'll be right down."

Giving her an apologetic look, Jason hugged her one last time. "I'll take the two of you to breakfast tomorrow morning. No phones, no meetings I promise."

"You better." Walking him to the door, she watched as Jason left. Muffled voices could be heard from the hallway. She didn't need to hear what was being said, knowing her brother like she did. He was probably threatening the poor guy to keep them safe.

"Are you ready to party?" Jumping at Liz's exuberance, Emily spun to where Liz was standing already dressed for a night on the town.

"Oh you are sooo going to hate me." With a wince, Emily prayed that Liz would understand.

Some of the excitement left Liz's features. "Nothing good ever comes after those words."

"Jason was just here."

"And?"

"Well 'something' has come up."

"Okay."

"Well this 'something' kind of has all the trusted guards tied up."

"Uh-huh."

"Liz I'm sorry but we can't go anywhere tonight." Emily rushed seeing that Liz's nerves were getting thin. "Jason really feels bad and said that he'd take us to breakfast."

"Oh now that sounds like a thrill. I heard that everyone comes to Vegas to have breakfast. The nightlife is just something to do while they wait to eat crepes." Grinding her teeth together, Liz wished that she had just a few seconds alone with Mr. Morgan so she could tell him how she felt about being told what to do, or what not to do.

"We could rent a movie." Having a brother who worked in the Mob, Emily had long ago learned to tolerate last minute changes. But she still empathized with Liz.

"Is your brother paying for the room?"

"Yeah why."

"Because I feel a movie marathon in my future. And I know there has to be a wet bar somewhere in here. OH! And room service is a must." Spinning on her heel, Liz stalked back to her room.

"Where are you going?"

"Well I'm going to have to change into something a little less tight. How am I going to eat all the food I'm going to order wearing these?"

Putting a hand over her mouth, Emily tried to control the laughter that almost threatened to spill out. She had never realized just how alike Liz and Brenda were. Jason had once said that it took a woman like Brenda to make a mob wife. Someone who was strong and never backed down. Though at times it could be irritating it was a trait that many admired.

If Jason thought that Liz was going to be some well-mannered, silent schoolgirl he was sadly mistaken.