Home to Me (The Andrades, Book 2)

by Ruth Cardello

  Rena collapsed on top of him.

  Nick removed her panties, tossed them onto the floor, disposed of his condom, then took her in his arms. Rena wondered if there was a medical term for how relaxed she felt. She vaguely felt Nick pull one of the bedsheets over them.

  In the blissful aftermath, her eyes began to close, but one final thing stood in her way. She whispered, “The vibrator is still on. I can hear it.”

  Nick chuckled and kissed her shoulder. “The remote is in my coat pocket. I’d have to get up to turn it off.”

  Rena snuggled closer to him and gave a moan of protest. “I’d offer to do it, but I can’t move.”

  Nick chuckled again. “No swimming?”

  Rena shook her head and laughed tiredly. “Maybe after a nap.”

  Pulling her even closer, Nick murmured, “If I only get one day a week, I can think of better ways to spend our time than swimming.”

  Rena was so relaxed that she couldn’t protest, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to.

  Skinning-dipping was probably overrated anyway.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “I’m sorry, what did you say?” Rena asked the young woman at the sub shop on the Cogent building’s first floor.

  The woman repeated herself in a rush. “Did you want the dressing on the side? I put it on the salad. I can make another but it will take a minute.”

  Rena smiled and held out her hand. “I’ll take it. It’s all good.”

  And it had been for nearly five weeks. Rena couldn’t remember a time when she had been happier. She and Nick had fallen into a routine of speaking casually all week at work, then running off together somewhere amazing each Saturday.

  Her cheeks warmed as she remembered some of the locations. By private jet, he’d flown her to Bermuda, where they’d made love in crystal caves illuminated by warm artificial lights. Nothing was off limits to a man with enough money. Although Rena wasn’t as well off as he was, she was financially comfortable. Comfortable enough to fly him up to Niagara Falls, where she’d chartered a private boat on which they’d made love to the roar of the water crashing down around them. Great sex, exotic locations— more than that, Saturdays had become a day when Rena felt free to be herself.

  She had joked that they were partners in crime, and Nick had responded that it was better than that—they were partners in pleasure. And pleasure was something her life was presently so full of, it spilled over into the weekdays that led up to her next rendezvous with Nick.

  He seemed just as happy with their arrangement. Everyone mentioned how much he had changed since he’d started working at Cogent. They said he’d grown into the confident businessman Gio had always said he could be.

  Rena liked to think she had something to do with that, although he didn’t need her help now nearly as much as he had in the beginning. If she explained a process to him once, she could bet not only that he had understood it, but that he would come back with an improved version of it soon afterward. She felt as good about how they worked together as she did about how they played together.

  “Ma’am? Ma’am?” the woman behind the counter pulled Rena back to the present.

  “Yes?”

  “You already paid. Did you need anything else?”

  Rena realized she was standing at the register, salad in hand, a huge smile on her face, as a line of impatient customers grew behind her. “Oh, sorry. No, I have everything I need.”

  And more, Rena thought and sighed with satisfaction as she turned away from the counter.

  “Rena.”

  Rena turned to find Julia, Gio’s fiancée, standing close beside her.

  “Are you on your lunch break?”

  Shaking her head to clear it, Rena said, “Yes, for a few more minutes. How are you? I haven’t seen you around much.” Before she stepped out of line, Rena asked, “Are you getting something?”

  Julia smiled at the grumbling crowd behind them. “No, I’m having lunch with Gio in a little bit.” They walked together to a small corner table and sat down. “I’m working like crazy now that my designs are selling. After Claire Danes wore one of my pieces to the Emmys, I couldn’t fill the orders fast enough.”

  Rena went to take a sip of water, then realized she hadn’t opened her bottle of water yet. As she fumbled with it, she said, “That’s so incredible. Can you believe how much your life has changed in such a short time?”

  “It really has,” Julia said in a happy rush. “Even my parents are happier. Not that Gio wouldn’t help my family if they needed it, but Dad was relieved when he made enough money from the sale of his company that he could afford full-time care for my mother. Now he can keep her at home.”

  “How is she?” Rena asked, reaching across the table to lay her hand on her friend’s. Julia was not only beautiful, she was the most giving woman Rena had ever met.

  “She’ll never be better—Alzheimer’s can’t reverse course—but she’s getting the best medical care money can buy, and my dad can spend more time with her now. That’s important to both of them. She’s less afraid when he’s with her. And Gio is amazing with her. He introduces himself to her every time he meets her and he does it in a way that makes her smile.”

  Rena squeezed Julia’s hand. “If there is anything I can ever do.”

  Julia smiled and returned the squeeze. “I know. And I hope you know it’s the same for me. I’m here for you. You can tell me anything. Even if it’s something you think you can’t tell anyone.”

  Rena withdrew her hand and asked, “Did Maddy say something to you?”

  Julia looked away. “No.”

  “Look at me, Julia. Did she?”

  Julia reluctantly met Rena’s eyes. “I don’t want to cause any trouble between the two of you. I just want you to know I support you in whatever you do—even if you’re doing something you think is wrong. Not that I think it’s wrong. Actually, I don’t really know enough about what you’re doing to know if it’s right or wrong, but—oh, hell, are you dating Nick?”

  “Yes,” Rena said, then added, “and no.”

  Julia rolled her eyes and leaned forward. “Well, that’s as clear as mud. Are you or aren’t you?”

  Rena ducked in toward Julia. “You have to promise you won’t say a word to Maddy. Telling her is like taking out an ad in a newspaper. I’m not saying anything unless you swear it’ll stay between the two of us.”

  “You can trust me,” Julia said with confidence.

  Once Rena started talking about Nick, she couldn’t stop. She told Julia about how long she’d known Nick and his brothers, and how important it was that nothing ruined the bond he and Gio were building by working together. She explained how she’d always had something of a crush on him, and how shocked she’d been the first time he’d kissed her. It wasn’t until she started to explain their arrangement that Julia broke her silence.

  “Wait, so you only see him on Saturdays?”

  “Well, I see him at work all week, but we make sure we act like nothing is going on.”

  “What about Sundays?”

  “No, never.”

  “Is that your choice or his?”

  “It was my idea. He agreed to it.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “You asked me if I was dating Nick and I’m trying to explain it to you. Dating is two people building toward a relationship. We’re not doing that. We’re like friends . . . but . . .”

  “With benefits?” Julia asked, her eyebrows rising.

  “Yes,” Rena said. “Corny, but accurate, I guess. Friends with benefits. Friends with very secret, no-one-can-know-about-them benefits.”

  “And you’re okay with that?”

  Rena smiled. “Oh, my God, it’s incredible. I’ve never been better.”

  “Oh,” Julia said as if she were still mulling over the idea. “If you’re happy and Nick is happy, then I guess it’s a good thing.”

  “A very good thing,” Rena said. “But no one can know about us. Gio wouldn’t un
derstand, and my brother would lose his mind if he found out.”

  Julia pursed her lips in thought. “Normally I would say I could bring Gio around to the idea, but he has a lot on his mind this week. That was the other thing I wanted to ask you. Is something going on at Cogent I should know about? Gio’s not himself and he won’t tell me why. He says it’s business related and leaves it at that. Did something happen?”

  “Not that I know of.” Rena sat up straight in her chair. “I have been distracted, though. You don’t think he knows about Nick and me, do you?”

  “No, he would have told me that. I guess I was hoping you’d heard something else. Nick hasn’t said anything?”

  “No. Nothing.” Suddenly, Rena remembered something. “Gio did get upset with me on Friday when I couldn’t tell him who had delivered a certain envelope. He was furious. I haven’t seen him that angry in a long time. I offered to look into it, but he told me he’d handle it himself. Then I just forgot about it. Now that you mention it, he’s been in a bad mood all week. I should have asked him more about it but I didn’t. Sorry.”

  Julia’s looked down at her hands, then back up. “I don’t understand why it’s so hard for Gio to tell me what’s bothering him. I could help him.”

  “Have you met his mother?”

  With a visible shudder, Julia answered, “Yes. Okay, I guess I do understand. But what do I do?”

  Rena gave Julia’s arm a supportive pat. “I’ll talk to Nick. Maybe he knows something.”

  “Would he tell you if he did?”

  Rena thought about it, then with confidence said, “Yes, he would.”

  Later that day, while Gio was out for an extended lunch with Julia, Rena dropped by Nick’s office. His drop-dead gorgeous secretary asked her to wait a moment while she checked if Nick could see her. Rena wanted to tell her what she could do with her ridiculously long nails and overly bleached hair, then lectured herself that it didn’t matter what Nick’s secretary looked like because she and Nick didn’t have a commitment. That was part of the arrangement. No questions allowed about what either of them did when they weren’t together.

  Not that Rena was interested in anyone besides Nick.

  And she didn’t think he was seeing anyone else.

  Certainly not this bimbo.

  Before Rena had time to chastise herself for a moment of weakness, Nick was standing before her with that sexy, I’d-do-you-right-here smile on his face. “I love it when you come to me,” he said, turning the simple declaration into an innuendo, wiggling his eyebrows for effect.

  Janet rushed back to her desk.

  Rena gave him a playful swat on the arm. She wanted to be upset with him for being less than subtle, but she also wanted to throw her arms around his neck and kiss him senseless for not caring what his secretary thought. “Stop,” she said with a smile. “That’s not why I’m here.”

  He took her hand in his. “It could be.” His smile was all invitation as he whispered in her ear, “Have you seen the size of my . . . desk?”

  Rena shook her head, torn between being drawn into his sexual banter and remaining businesslike. She forced herself to focus on the reason she’d sought him out. “I spoke to Julia today. She’s worried about Gio. Can we talk?”

  Instantly serious, Nick guided her into his office. “Absolutely.” He closed the door behind them. “What’s going on?”

  Rena told him what Julia had said and then shared how Gio had responded to the envelope he’d received the week before. “Julia said Gio hasn’t been himself this week. He told her it was work related. I don’t know of anything that is going wrong at work. Do you?”

  “No,” Nick said, but he didn’t look surprised.

  He knows something.

  Why did I think he would tell me if he knew?

  We’re just friends.

  Barely that on Sunday through Friday. She fought back against the insecurities that nipped at her. And I’m okay with it.

  I have to be okay with it.

  “Well, if you hear anything, please tell me. Gio has been in a bad mood all week, so Julia might be right. There could be something wrong.”

  Nick shrugged. “Gio has been in a bad mood for years.”

  “Not since he met Julia. Not like this.”

  Nick pulled Rena into his arms and tipped her face up to his. “Hey, you’re really worried about this, aren’t you?”

  “I am,” Rena said, fighting the desire to wrap her arms around his waist and bury her face in his chest. She extracted herself from his embrace. If she gave into the pleasure of being with him even a little, she feared she would lose the tight control she’d maintained over her feelings. And she couldn’t risk that.

  “Rena,” Nick reached for her again but she evaded him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she said quickly. “We’re at work, Nick. I don’t want to . . . I can’t . . .” She gave up trying to be strong and, in a moment of panic, turned and fled. She cursed herself the whole way back to her office.

  Don’t do it.

  Don’t ruin the best thing you’ve ever had because you can’t follow your own rules.

  ***

  Following Rena’s abrupt departure, it didn’t take Nick more than a moment to decide it was time to tell Gio he was seeing her. In the beginning, Rena’s rules had been fun. The secrecy had made their time together even more exciting. But lately, Nick was becoming less able to contain what he felt for Rena to Saturdays.

  He had started to call her during the week, but she’d asked him to stop.

  He’d offered to drive her home from a dinner party they’d attended separately, but she’d refused. He was beginning to see that the very rules that had brought them together were now keeping them apart.

  Although their escapades were fun, they weren’t enough for him. He wanted Rena in his bed on more than just one day, and he was prepared to do anything to achieve that goal.

  If he’d thought being around her would make him want her less, he couldn’t have been more wrong. She’d become an obsession to him.

  He sent Gio a text to come see him when he returned to the office. It was time to remove every obstacle standing between him and Rena.

  As he rehearsed how he’d tell Gio, he remembered what Rena had asked him. If something was bothering Gio, it would be better to ask him before rather than after his announcement in case it was something urgent.

  Nick didn’t doubt for a moment that Gio would storm off in a huff as soon as Nick told him he’d been seeing Rena, but he was confident they were now close enough that he’d get over it.

  Rena would be the harder one to win over.

  Why she clung to her rules so adamantly was beyond him, but he was sure if he planned their makeup sex just right, not only would she forgive him, she’d also be in his bed whenever he wanted—which would be every night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rena was back at her desk sorting Gio’s mail when her cell phone rang. She hesitated before digging it out of her bag. If it was Nick, she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet. If it was Maddy, she definitely didn’t want to talk to her. Kane? Not now. Mom and Dad? Please no. Really, the list of who she was in the mood to speak then was near nonexistent.

  Still, her phone continued to ring, so she gave in and answered it. “Hello.”

  “Rena, I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.”

  Almost dropping the phone, she was so surprised by the voice that greeted her, Rena strove to sound casual as she said, “Patrice. I didn’t realize you had my number.”

  “Of course I do, dear, you’re practically part of my family.”

  Her tone set the hairs on the back of Rena’s neck standing on end. Like a snake trying to hypnotize its prey, Nick’s mother was always nicest before she struck. “How are you feeling?” Rena asked, attempting to be polite. Patrice could have won an Oscar for the performance she dove into. She made a small, pathetic sound as if she were in pain, then claimed to be feeling better. Rena
rolled her eyes heavenward and prayed for strength.

  “Are you with George?”

  “No, he’s still at lunch.”

  “So, you’re alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m worried about Nick. He and George have never gotten along well. It must be difficult for him, trying so hard to fit in where he knows he’ll never be welcome.”

  “It’s not like that, Patrice.”

  “Really? How is it?”

  Don’t trust her. Don’t say anything. “They’re getting along really well. I’ve never seen Nick happier.”

  “And you would know what makes Nick happy, wouldn’t you, Rena? I hear you’ve been spending time with him lately.”

  Maddy wouldn’t have said something to Patrice, would she? “We do work at the same company, so yes, that’s true.”

  Patrice laughed, but the sound held more malice than humor. “Don’t lie to me, dear. I know what you’re up to, but I won’t tell anyone—as long as I can count on you to help me.”

  As much as Rena wanted to hang up on Patrice, she needed to know what the old bat was after. “What do you want, Patrice?”

  “What you want—the best for Nick. He’ll never be happy as long as he lives in George’s shadow. Help me convince him to quit Cogent. He doesn’t need a job. He has more money than he could ever spend in his trust fund.”

  Rena let out a harsh breath. “Patrice, your sons are finally getting along. You should be happy.”

  “Don’t tell me how I should or shouldn’t feel. If you care at all about Nick, you’ll help me.”

  “It’s because I care about him that I won’t.”

  “You think you know everything, don’t you? I’ve had to stomach watching you insert yourself into my family for too long. I was hoping to avoid this, but you’ve left me with no other choice. You can either convince Nick to quit Cogent, or you can watch me destroy him.”

  Rena gasped at the ugliness in Patrice’s voice. “What are you talking about?”