Sleight of Hand (The Kings Wild Cards #3) - Charlie Cochet Page 0,1

on you.”

Fitz lifted his gaze to the nearest camera and blew a kiss at it. A ridiculous sigh met Joker’s ear. Yep, total sucker. He shook his head in shame. Then again, his best friend and partner in crime had always been a sentimental sap.

“Yeah, you enjoy that smugness while you can,” Jack said. “One of these days, when you least expect it, love is going to hit you so hard, you’re going to get whiplash.”

Joker thrust a finger at the camera. “You take that back, asshole!”

“Nope, and I’m going to be there when it does, laughing my ass off and enjoying every fucking minute.”

“That’s it. Your best-friend status has been revoked. From this point forward, Ace is my best friend.”

“Yes!” Ace whooped over the line. “I’m going to have matching T-shirts made!”

Joker pinched the bridge of his nose. “Never mind. Jack, your best friend status has been reinstated.”

“Oh no!”

They could all but hear Ace pouting.

“I’m still having matching T-shirts made. Mine will say, ‘Say hello to my little friend,’ and yours will say—”

Joker groaned. “Don’t you say it.”

“Little Friend.”

The guys all cackled in his ear, and Joker flipped them off. “Fuckers.” He was not going to get suckered into love like the rest of them. Nope.

Someone walked through the heavy black curtain onto the stage and headed toward Chip. It was him.

Joker’s heart sped up, and he hissed at Fitz, “What’s he doing here?” And with the Boyfriend Collective? Okay, so the guy was best friends with Colton, and Laz was his brother, but he wasn’t a Boyfriend. After all, they were out of Green Berets. Well, except for Joker—and no. Never gonna happen. Fuck no. Joker wouldn’t fall for Giovanni Galanos if he were the last human on the planet.

Fitz followed Joker’s glare. “Oh, Gio’s the one who got us tickets to the concert and backstage passes. Did you know he and Nia are good friends?”

“Of course they are,” Joker grumbled. Saint Fucking Gio. Media heartthrob, philanthropist, billionaire, friend to one of the hottest pop stars in the world. And just how “good” was his friendship with the gorgeous singer? Not that Joker cared. None of his business. He was here to do a job.

The arena, one of the largest in Florida to date, had hired the Kings to work security for one of the biggest concerts to hit the state in decades. Tickets sold out in minutes. Over twenty-five thousand people would be in attendance tonight, meaning the Kings weren’t the only ones working security. The venue hired the Kings to secure the interior of the arena and Nia’s people during setup. A second security company would handle the actual concert, while Nia’s security was taken care of by her usual team.

With that many security teams in place, they had a high risk for fuckery, which was why he was glad King was in charge. If anyone tried to give him or any of their team shit, it only took one look from his friend to send them crying home to momma. The guy might bake his boyfriend cookies, but he’d also been their unit’s second-in-command. No one was stupid enough to fuck with Ward Kingston, and if they did, they’d be regretting their life choices real quick.

“I’ve never been in an arena before a concert,” Fitz said, taking in all the scaffolding, scattered equipment, and various pieces of machinery.

Joker shrugged. He’d been working the entertainment side of security for years now. He’d seen it all. “It’s not much to look at right now, but in about another six hours, it’s going to be pretty impressive. Speaking of six hours, what are you guys doing here so early?” He’d been here several hours already, and the last thing he needed was Gio hanging around while he worked. If he’d known Gio was going to be around, he wouldn’t have volunteered to work a fucking twelve-hour shift. For events this size, overtime meant he got to take the next couple of days off.

“After the backstage tour, we’re all going out to an early dinner to some fancy VIP restaurant before Nia’s got to come back for the concert.”

Joker frowned. Dinner for who knew how many at a restaurant with one of the hottest singers on the planet? Talk about a logistical nightmare. “Whose bright idea was that?”

“Nia’s manager. Nia wanted a private dinner with us, but he didn’t want her to miss such a big promo op.”

Gio laughed, and Joker’s eyes darted to him on instinct. “Promo op?”