REESE

chapter sixteen.

Reese POV:

"I feel like I'm overdressed."

I looked down at my business attire and frowned. My dad had just picked me up from Cryptic and we were now driving over to one of his country clubs to have dinner. I was finally meeting the Rutherford family today. It had been almost three weeks since I rescued Kade from his kidnappers. After Kade reunited with his family, I was told they wanted to meet me but because of conflicting schedules, which consisted mostly of me being too busy to even have one day off, we hadn't had the opportunity to do so, until today. When Kade found out that we had finally decided on a date to meet, he called me almost six times a day expressing his pure excitement. His constant calling had gotten so bad that the Rutherfords had to threaten to take his bracelet away if he didn't stop. It was hilarious but adorable at the same time.

"You look fine Ree." My dad chuckled beside me.

"No I don't, I look like I'm attending a business meeting instead of a casual dinner." I whined, glaring at my clothes. I then moved my glare onto my dad. "You know this is all your fault, if you let me go home instead of insisting on picking me up from Cryptic, I could have changed." I huffed.

"If I let you go home and change, you would have taken an hour to get ready, which in turn would have led us to being late. Besides, you look perfectly fine right now." He replied amusedly.

I sent my dad a deadpanned look. "I'm going to text Pria to meet me at the club entrance with a change of clothes."

He took his eyes off the road and faced me smiling softly. "Okay Ree, you do what you need to do." He reached over and ruffled my hair. I quickly slapped his hands away.

"Dad!" I whined. "Why do you always do that?" I huffed while frantically patting my hair down to try and restore it to its original form.

"Because you're my little girl and I like annoying you." He shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes on him. "You're lucky I love you old man." I replied. He barked out a laugh.

Ten minutes later we pulled up to the Vanderbilt Country Club. I immediately spotted Pria's red McLaren and headed over to her while my dad handed his keys to the valet and walked inside. Pria was leaning up against her car door texting on her phone. She lifted her head when she heard me approaching.

"Hey Ree." She smiled.

"Hey Pri." I responded with a grin. I slumped against her car as she pulled out a backpack with what I assume held my clothes. "You, Pria, are my saviour." I breathed out while fishing through the contents of the backpack.

"Yes, I know I'm amazing." She gloated. I rolled my eyes at her antics and let out a laugh. "Even though I'm your best friend and I would have done this anyways, everything comes with a price." She mischievously stated.

"I think a simple thank you would suffice." I exclaimed.

"You can thank me by clearing your schedule on Friday night."

"What's on Friday?" I asked.

"Me, you and Nico are going to A.E." She excitedly beamed.

A.E stood for American Empire. It was an underground club that was reserved solely for American Mafia members and people in alliance with our mafia. It was widely known around the world for its exclusiveness. It was only open on certain days and hundreds of people try to get in every time it opens. Celebrities, political figures, and even other mafias have tried to get in out of pure curiosity. They obviously will never know who actually owns it or its purpose because if your name isn't on the entry list there is no way in hell you could even step foot anywhere near the grounds. The security I reinforced on the outside and inside of that place made the whole property impenetrable. It is the only American mafia location that is disclosed to the outside world. Technically on paper, the American mafia does not exist. I made sure that every single one of our warehouses, bunkers, safehouses, clubs, and any other properties we conduct business out of were hidden and untraceable to hackers. We were ghosts and it made us all the more powerful. A.E is the only location that can be found, and it is only because I allow it to be.