by Fields, MJ
Tonya huffs behind him, “We aren’t together like what?”
He turns on her. “Tonya, can you give us a minute? This is a private conversation between me and my girl.”
She looks at our table. “It doesn’t look very private. And what do you mean, your girl? You’ve been in my bed every single night for the last two weeks,” she practically screeches at him.
Our table has now garnered the attention of every guest in the ballroom. All eyes are turned toward us.
“Shh, you are causing a scene,” Brad hisses at her.
“Oh, honey, I haven’t even begun to cause a scene. You are not going to humiliate me in front of all these people. Now, get your ass back to our table. I came as your fucking date. She”—she points at Kelsey—“is the bitch who threw you out of her house, and you came running to me. Telling me how you were done with her anyway and that you wanted me and only me. Remember?”
I look over, and I can see the tears welling up in Kelsey’s eyes.
Jake clears his throat, and everyone looks to him.
“Bradley, I’m two seconds away from calling my father and having you thrown out of this club, and I do not mean for the night.”
At that threat, Bradley’s back stiffens, and he finally relents. He says, “This isn’t over, Kelsey,” and turns to walk away with Tonya on his heels.
We all sit there in silence for a moment, and then Daniel pipes up, “I don’t know about you guys, but that was entertaining as hell. Nicco, welcome to the gang.” He raises his champagne flute. “A New Year’s toast to new beginnings and taking out the garbage.”
We clink our glasses in a toast of good riddance.
* * *
“Thank you.”
Jake and I are on the dance floor, wrapped in each other’s arms.
“For what?”
“For pulling out the big guns earlier and getting rid of Brad before Nicco really lost it.”
“I could see that he was on the verge, and as much as I would have loved to see him have his way with Moore, I knew that wasn’t what Kelsey or you needed tonight.”
I cuddle into him as we sway to the music. He really is a good man. I catch Nicco looking our way. He has a sad smile on his face. I know that everything that happened back in New York was hard for him, too. Maybe we both can heal.
“Isn’t that the girl from the pool the other day?” Dawn asks when I make it back to our table.
“Which girl?”
“You know, the redhead who used to date Jake or wanted to date Jake,” she adds.
I turn to scan the room, and I spot Carlie in the corner, talking to Tonya. They are wearing matching scowls while watching Nicco and Kelsey dancing. Oh no, nothing good is going to come of those two conspiring.
“Yeah, that’s her.”
“Fabulous. Two bitches for the price of one.”
The DJ comes over the loudspeaker and announces that the countdown to the New Year has begun. As the entire crowd starts to count aloud, we all gather together on the edge of the dance floor. Jake wraps his arms around me from behind, and when the clock strikes midnight, he spins me around and dips me low into a breathtaking kiss. I cling to him as he pulls me back up, and we join the chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” with all the others.
I look over and spy Nicco and Kelsey. He has one hand wrapped in her hair and the other holding her to him. Her arms are around his neck, and they are kissing. Not a friendly New Year’s Eve kiss, but an intimate, longing kiss. He picks her up off her feet and walks her back toward our table.
My eyes meet Dawn’s, and we give each other a wide-eyed look that says, Eep. What do we do?
We silently decide to let those cards fall where they may.
We are all sufficiently drunk on bubbly and tired from shaking our booties on the floor all night, so we head outside to wait for the limo to pick us up. It’s a chilly night, and Jake is holding me close to shelter me from the night air. He is warm and solid, and I like having him wrapped around me. I feel safe. As crazy as it sounds, safe is scary for me. I’m much more comfortable on high alert.
Once we are home, we say our good nights, and Jake heads to my room.
Nicco watches him disappear and then turns to me. “I like him.”
“Good. I like him, too.”
“I never thought I would see you happy again. Maybe moving out here was the right thing for you.”
I move to the closet and bring him the spare blankets and pillows I stashed for him. I move to make the couch up.
He comes over and takes the pillows from my hands. “Go on to bed. I got this.”
I give him a stern look. “You are sleeping in here, right?”
“Of course I am,” he says, avoiding my eyes.
“I’m serious, Nicco. I’m not opposed to the idea of you and Kelsey, but it’s too soon for her.”
“Not everyone has to move at a snail’s pace like you, sis. Maybe a night with me is exactly what she needs to put that asshole out of her mind. I can remind her just how fucking desirable she is and that she does not ever have to take shit from another man.”
Well, all righty then. It is hard to argue with that.
“Fine. Just make sure it is what she wants.”
He gives me an offended look. “Like I would go there with a girl, any girl, if I wasn’t sure it was what she wanted.”
“I didn’t mean that. I just mean that she’s a little mixed up right now. I want you to be extra sure she isn’t going to regret anything in the morning.”
He gets a wicked grin. “Never had a girl wake up with regrets yet.”
Dear Lord, my brothers and their over-inflated egos. I roll my eyes.
“Okay, lover boy, just be quiet? These walls are kind of thin, and the last thing I need is to fall asleep to the sound of you and one of my best friends.”
“Same. I swear to God, if there is anything coming from your room, I will kick him out myself. I like him, but I have my limits.”
Great, I should have had the limo driver drop us off at Jake’s house. Oh well, we have waited this long. What is one more night?
I slip into bed beside Jake after I have showered and changed. I think he has already drifted off to sleep, so I try to be as quiet as a mouse, but as soon as I am settled in, I feel his hands snake around me and pull me into his body.
“I was beginning to think you had abandoned me in here,” he whispers into the dark as his hands start roaming my body beneath my tank.
“I just had to set my brother straight on a few things before I jumped in the shower.”
He chuckles. “Kelsey is a big girl. She can handle him all by herself.”
“I know. I just wanted to make sure he was careful with her heart. Mmm.”
I moan as one of his hands wraps around my breast and starts gently kneading it while he kisses his way up the back of my neck and across my shoulder. His other hand is flat against my stomach and firmly holding my back against the front of his body.
“Jake,” I pant, “we can’t tonight. My brother is in the room next door, and I just …”
“Shh, I know. I just want to touch you.”
He moves his hand down to trail his finger across the top of my shorts. I want so badly for him to explore lower.
“I’m going to stay on top of these. If I don’t, I am afraid I won’t be able to stop myself.”
He continues kissing my neck and shoulder, and the sensation has me curling my hips back into him. I can feel his erection against my backside, and I want so badly to turn around, but I don’t. I lie still and let him explore. He removes his hand from my breast and moves it under my tank. He now has my nipple between his fingers, flesh on flesh. His other hand moves lower, and he caresses me between my legs.
“Jaaaake,” I call with a shaky voice.
“I know, baby,” he whispers and moves his hand back up to my stomach. “Turn over.”
He removes his hand from my shirt, and I do as he said. He pulls me close, and I put m
y head on his chest.
“Close your eyes, pretty girl. We have all the time in the world for that.”
Then, he kisses my forehead, and as much as I want to continue, I can already feel my eyelids getting heavy. I snuggle in close and instantly fall sound asleep.
Thirty
Gabby - Past
I’m pacing while I wait for Adriana to pick me up. Cross’s meeting with my brothers was postponed, but they are now at a pub called Murray’s, a few miles from here.
I overheard Cross on the phone with Nicco, making the arrangements, while I was in the shower, and as soon as he left, I called Adi and told her to come get me and to call a couple of our girlfriends in New Rochelle to accompany us. The boys will not make a scene in front of all of us. At least, I hope not.
I did the best cover-up job I could on my eye and hid the bandage at my temple with my hair. It is still visible but not too bad. I decided I would tell everyone that I had lost my footing while carrying schoolbooks and taken a tumble down the last couple of flights of stairs at our apartment building. With our walk-up and my clumsiness, it sounds like a feasible explanation.
When Cross finally gave me back my purse he had retrieved from Dante, there were thirteen missed calls and voicemails from Adi. The first few were teasing because she thought I had decided to spend the night with Dante. The next few were angry because it was rude to stay the night with Dante and not call my roommate to let her know I was doing so. The last few were frantic and worried because she could not reach me or Dante, and she thought I must be dead in a ditch somewhere, being as I wasn’t calling her back. I felt horrible because it had never occurred to me to call her in my drugged and battered state. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have been a wreck, trying to find her as well. When I did call her at last, she was a sobbing mess on the phone, and by the time I got the entire story out, we were both sobbing messes.
I hear her car pull up, and I meet her at the door. When she sees my face, she bursts into a fit of tears.
“I am going to kill that motherfucker,” she says as she wraps me in a tight hug.
“I’m not sure he is even alive. Cross will not tell me anything about what happened when he and the boys went to get my things.”
“Whatever they did to him is not good enough.”
I doubt that is true. I’m sure my brothers dealt out sufficient punishment. I just hope that Dante is still alive and breathing and walking on two legs. I also hope that I never lay eyes on him again.
* * *
We drive over to Murray’s in Adi’s car, and the other four girls meet us there. Stacy already has a table for us near the front and a round of drinks on the table. I start scanning the place as we sit. It’s a large pub and one my brothers have spent many a night in. The owner’s son went to school with Stavros, and he has been letting the Mastreoni men call this place their home away from home for over a decade.
The pub is full. It is always full. It has a large mahogany bar against the back wall, and there are tables filling the space in front. Off to the right is a huge opening leading into the other side, which houses four large pool tables and a few dartboards. High-standing pub tables are scattered around the pool room, and to the left and a few steps up is loft-style seating for larger parties that overlooks the main bar. That’s where I spot them.
“Excuse me, ladies. I see my brothers up there, and I’m going to go say hello.”
“Oh, tell them to come say hi,” Noelle says as I start to walk off. She has always had a crush on Stav.
“Sure thing.”
I make my way to the stairs. None of the boys have noticed me yet, so I walk quietly, hoping to gauge the situation. It’s tense, to say the least. Tony, Stavros, and Lorenzo are wearing matching scowls that are aimed at Cross. I’m not going to stand for anyone else coming between us. Lilliana already cost us four years.
“How long? How long has this been going on?” Tony roars.
“How long have I loved her? Or how long have we been together?”
“Both.”
“I have loved her since the day I met her, but that love changed into something else around the time Nicco and I got home from college.”
“When you got home from college? She had to be, what? Fourteen? Fifteen?”
“It changed, but I did not act on it. I just knew that it was not the same brotherly love I had had for her all those years. In fact, I started actively avoiding her for the most part until she was sixteen or so, and she started seeking me out. I had hoped it would go away, but by then, she was feeling it, too, and making it a little harder for me to avoid her. When she upped and left for Paris, I thought that was that. I left her alone because I thought it was what was best for her.”
“And now?”
“I cannot fight it anymore. I can’t, and I don’t want to.”
“I don’t like this. You are too old for her.” That came from Lorenzo.
“She is almost twenty-one. It’s different now.”
“Do you think Vincenzo is going to think it’s different? Do you think he will be okay with you and his daughter?” Stav asks.
“Honestly? I don’t care. I am here to talk to you guys out of respect, but whether you give us your blessing or not, it doesn’t matter. It is done. No going back now. Tony, you know me. You have known me most of my life. No one will love her more than I do, and no one will protect her like I will. No one.”
I have heard enough. As good-intentioned as they are, who I do or do not choose to date is not their decision. It is mine and mine alone. It is time they understand that.
“Hi, fellas,” I say as I come up next to Cross.
“Baby.” He sits up and puts his arm around my back. “What are you doing here? Are you alone? You shouldn’t be out alone.”
“I’m not alone. The girls called and asked me out for drinks, so they came and picked me up. Besides, you can’t keep me locked away in your home forever. I have to start living my life again. I won’t let him take that from me.”
His eyes soften, and he pulls me a little closer to him.
“The girls just happened to call and ask you out for drinks here, tonight?” He totally has my number.
“Yep.”
“Bullshit. You need to let me and your brothers work this out.”
When he realizes what I am wearing, he pulls back and turns me around.
“What is this?” he says as he tugs at the hem of my slip dress.
“It’s a dress.”
“It’s a shirt,” he states firmly.
“No”—I laugh—“it’s a dress.”
“Where is the rest of it?”
He is crazy if he thinks he is going to start telling me what clothes I can wear. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this dress. Yes, it’s short, and, yes, it is backless, except for a series of thin straps that crisscross down my spine. But it covers all the important parts, and I like it. I hear snickering coming from across the table, and I look to see all four of my brothers trying hard to hold in their laughter.
“What do you guys find so funny?”
They all look off in different directions. They know this will not end well.
I turn my attention back to Cross. “There is nothing wrong with this dress. Besides, I thought you liked my back?”
“I do”—he slides his hand across my bare back—“but I don’t like every guy in here seeing it and deciding they like it, too. And, after the past couple of days, I’m sorry, baby, but I am on edge when it comes to you. I can’t help it.”
At his admission, I lean into him and drop some of the attitude. I know this has been hard for him. For all of them actually. Every one of them carries guilt over what happened even though it had nothing to do with them. I guess, no matter how old I get, they will always see me in pigtails and curls.
Cross continues in a soft tone that only I can hear, “And, right now, I have to convince your brothers to let us be together without shooting me in the head. The la
st thing I need to be concentrating on is you in this dress.”
“Okay.” I give in. “Take your shirt off.”
He has a tee on under his button-up, so I come up with the best solution I can.
“What?”
“Give me your button-up.”
He does as I asked and removes his shirt, leaving him in a white V-neck. I put his shirt on over my dress, and it swallows me whole. I tie the ends in knots and roll up the sleeves. I look ridiculous, but at least I am covered better.
I splay my arms out in front of him and do a quick turn. “Better?”
“Much better.”
I bend down and brush a light kiss across his lips. “Do not get used to this. You act like a caveman again, and I will go out in nothing but my underwear next time. Try me.”
Now that that’s taken care of, I turn my attention back to my brothers. Tony is looking between the two of us with an odd expression on his face.
“What?” I snap.
“Nothing, cara. Nothing at all.”
Cross draws my attention back to him. “Go enjoy your drinks with the girls. Your brothers and I need to finish our conversation. I will come and get you and drive you home when we are done.”
I walk over to Tony, and he bends over to place a kiss on my cheek.
“Take it easy on him, Tony. I love him.”
He searches my eyes, trying to see the truth behind them. Then, he gives me a small nod.
“I know, but I still have to make him suffer a little. Keep him on his toes.”
“Just a little?”
“Yes, cara, just a little. He still has to declare himself to Papa, so he has to save some courage for that.”
I roll my eyes because he is not wrong. Papa could take the news very well or very, very bad. There is no way to tell.
I make my way around the table and kiss each of my brothers.
When I make it to Nicco, I whisper in his ear, “I hope you are his ally in this confrontation.”
“I haven’t decided yet. Are you sure this is what you want?”
I give him an incredulous look. Of course I’m sure. Christoff Scutari is all I have ever wanted.