Nikki’s eyes met mine once again as she touched her earlobe.
“Michael are you going to be staying with us? I can make up Adrianna’s old room for you.” Grace said, forcing me to look towards her and away from her daughter.
“No, I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble. I am going to stay with Anthony.” I looked over at the silent brute and he lifted his head to look at me.
“Don’t expect me to make up a room bud. Just be glad I change the sheets.” He said reaching for his beer and winking at Grace. It was the first time I saw him do something other than grunt or look annoyed.
“It wouldn’t have been any trouble.” Grace said.
I took a large sip of water from the glass in front of me wishing it were something a hell of a lot stronger wondering when I last had a drink.
“Have you decided if you’ll be staying after the service?” Grace asked me softly. Her eyes hopeful as they found mine. “We’d really love to have you back home.”
I felt everyone’s eyes fall onto me, causing me to shift in my seat and twist my body to glance at Victor. He looked at me expectantly before averting his eyes back towards his wife.
“I offered Michael a management position at Temptations.” His gaze wandered back to me. “Still waiting for that answer myself.”
I blew out a breath as I sat back in my chair. I really didn’t want to have this conversation now, especially with an audience.
“The grand opening is just around the corner…” Victor started to say, but was cut off by Nikki.
“Speaking of the grand opening Daddy seems like you have a few decisions of your own to still make.” Her tone was a matter of fact as she winked at me. I looked at her skeptically and then realized she was giving me an out. I raised my glass to my lips making a mental note to thank her for the save later on.
Rico took his seat next to me as I looked at my father. “You still didn’t give Rico an answer if he could work the opening.” I said. Normally I wouldn’t bust my father’s balls about giving Rico the gig at the grand opening but I opened my big fat mouth at the risk of hearing shit from both my dad and Rico. Rico didn’t like asking my dad for favors he didn’t need him. He was a self-proclaimed disc jockey who worked the hottest nightclubs in Manhattan. He didn’t need the work or the exposure, but I had thrown his name out to my father when I had overheard his plans for the grand opening. Initially, he sort of brushed the idea aside and told me he’d think about it. When I had told Rico that I brought up him headlining the grand opening well it caused a major argument between us that resulted in me throwing a pair of six hundred dollar Christian Louboutin’s at his head. Nothing says, “Fuck off” like being smacked in the head with a pair of red bottoms wouldn’t you agree?
So the only reason I brought it up again was to take the heat off Mikey who looked like he wanted to hightail it out of the dining room at the mention of him sticking around. I’d pin him as a flight risk, but still I decided to put my ass on the line and give him a pass. In my defense, I’ve been acting like a blithering fool since he walked in the door so what was one more thing to add to the list?
“Babe” Rico said warningly as he placed his hand over my kneecap squeezing it underneath the table. He leaned into me. “Drop it.” His voice deep with agitation.
I pried his palm off my knee and squeezed his hand just as hard before dropping his hand in his lap. “What’s the big deal Rico? You’re awesome and have an incredible following.” I looked back at my dad. “If you made Rico the headliner, he’d definitely draw in a major crowd for the opening night.”
“I said I’d think about it.” He paused. “I’m still thinking.” My dad looked at Rico. “Rico you don’t even seem enthused with the idea.”
“Well with all due respect Victor I don’t really need your opening night gig. It’s not going to change my life, whether or not you decide to have me work the mix or not. But being as it’s an important night for you and your family I’d be happy to do you the favor.”
I winced at my boyfriend’s words. Did he really just say he’d be happy to grant my father a favor? Christ. Jimmy chuckled beside my father. Even the old fool knew his words were almost comical. I glanced at Mikey, which was another mistake because the look in his eyes scared the shit out of me. He stared at Rico expressionless, but his eyes, they were calculating and spoke volumes. Did I mention I have a big fat mouth and needed to learn to zip it?
I bravely stole a glance at my dad. Ah, shit. That would be mistake number seven hundred and sixty five. I was on a roll. He gave Rico a silent lethal stare before looking back at me. I offered him my best smile, hoping the daddy’s little girl card still had some merit.
Rico stood from his chair, placing his hand on my shoulder, forcing me to look up at him. “I’m getting out of here babe got some shit to take care of. You staying with me tonight?”
My father slammed the bottle of wine back down on top of the table as the room awaited my answer. Oh Mikey, you owe me big time! “I’ll call you later.” I told Rico as he leaned down no doubt going in for the public display of affection because why the fuck not? Make that seven hundred and sixty six and counting. His lips covered mine in a kiss that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else other than a nice big ‘fuck you Victor’.
He pulled away once he was finished sucking face with me and grinned that sexy grin of his that normally would’ve had me jumping him, but under the circumstances all I wanted to do was crawl under the table and hide.
“Thanks for dinner Grace.” Rico said, looking around the table his gaze finally resting on my dad. I stood quickly noting my father was a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.
“I’ll walk you out.” I said quickly grabbing Rico’s hand and ushering him out of the house. I damned my big mouth and bright ideas to hell all the way to the front door.
I excused myself from the table and went in search for something hard to drink. Surely, the man with the custom tailored suits had an impressive liquor cabinet somewhere in his house. Victor looked like his head was going to explode and I wasn’t quite in the mood to listen to his tirade. Well, not sober anyway. I had to hand it to him, he had remained quite calm considering the way Rodrigo, or whatever the fuck his name was mauled Nikki in front of him. Aside from the veins bulging in his neck, I had to respect Victor for his self-control.
Bingo! Nestled in the corner of the living room stood a fancy wooden bar with crystal decanters set neatly on top you know they had to contain the good shit. I popped one of the fancy glass tops off and grabbed a glass from under the bar. There was no ice in the crystal ice bucket slacker, but I still poured the amber liquid into my glass. I was swirling the liquid in the glass when the front door slammed.
“Great, now I’m out two pairs of shoes!” Nikki shouted limping her way into the living room. After a quick perusal of her, I noticed she had one high-heeled boot on and was missing the other. She mumbled a stream of curses. I’m not going to lie for a split second I wondered what else her dirty mouth was capable of. Nikki was proving to be the perfect distraction, making me forget all about the shitty predicament I was facing and why I was back in Brooklyn to begin with.
“You’re welcome by the way.” She sneered taking the drink from my hand much the same as I had grabbed the cigarette from her earlier. She tipped her head back, taking an impressive sip of the whiskey I had poured for myself. She shuddered as she swallowed and I went to take back the glass, but she shooed my hand away and gave me the evil eye. Nikki held up her hand to stop me from taking the drink and gathered her bearings before taking another shot.
“Thank you.” I said, taking a step closer to her placing my hand over hers. Her eyes met mine as I ever so slowly pried one finger at a time from the glass. I lifted the glass, noticing that the red lipstick that painted her lips now stained the glass. I pushed the thoughts of the many other places I wouldn’t mind her lipstick staining out of my head and reclaimed my drink finishing i
t off in one gulp.
That shit was strong and burned like a motherfucker going down. Color me impressed little Nikki could shoot a shot with the big dogs. I bent down to retrieve another glass and filled both glasses before handing her a drink.
“Your boyfriend’s an asshole.” I said, stating the facts before taking my shot.
“So does that mean you won’t be joining his fan club?” She asked me sarcastically rolling her eyes for good measure before slamming back her shot.
“It means I don’t like him.” I said, bracing my hands on the bar leaning into her. The alcohol must’ve been affecting her because her face became a little flushed.
She swallowed, placing her empty glass on the bar and leaned into me not affected by my stance in the slightest.
“I’m sure he won’t lose any sleep over it.” She said. There was that sass and sugar again. Then she sighed. “Rico’s not a bad guy Mikey. You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t care to either.” I bit back before pausing. “Just make sure he treats you right.”
Something changed in the way she looked at me after I said that. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was as if her defenses went up.
“Or what? Posing threats when you haven’t been around in ten years and have no intentions of being around either is kind of pointless, wouldn’t you say?” She asked cocking her head to the side. It was almost as if she was daring me to stick around.
“You don’t know anything about my intentions.” I said, my voice sounding rough even to my own ears. I didn’t like dares. Never backed down from one in my life.
“Oh no?” Double dare.
I stepped closer to her invading her space. I could feel her breath on my chin as I leaned dangerously close to her. I lifted my hand rubbing my knuckles along her jaw. Silk. Her skin was soft like silk against my rough hand. She looked up at me through her lashes. Christ, they were long. She chewed on her lip. I was getting to her. Good. She had crawled underneath my skin and got to me. Evening out the score, I let my thumb trail along her lower lip.
“Trust me kid you wouldn’t know what to do with my intentions.” She blew out a short breath and I took a retreating step backward standing tall. “Let’s leave it at that.”
“Everything okay in here?” Victor asked curiously from the entryway. I wondered how long he had been standing there and if he had caught our little standoff. I decided I didn’t care. I decided something else too. I glanced over Nikki’s shoulder and met Victor’s curious eyes.
“All good Vic.” I licked my lips, tasting the whiskey still. “I’ve decided to stick around.” I shot a quick glance at Nikki and then diverted my attention back to her father. Victor looked at me surprised. “I’d be happy to work for you.”
Dare accepted Princess.
Chapter Five
I stared across the private room in Fiorintino’s Italian Restaurant at Mikey who was on his tenth scotch. Apparently, he didn’t have a drink of choice and would drink whatever you put in front of him. After Maryann’s memorial service and the burial, my father had insisted we all gather here for the repass. I was pretty impressed with how well Mikey had held up in church, but my heart broke for him when he said his final goodbyes to his mom at the cemetery. My dad had told us to go back to the cars to give him some privacy. I watched from the car window as he kissed the wooden coffin laying a single rose on top of it before he joined us in the limousine. He was quiet on the ride to the restaurant barely speaking at all.
“I feel so bad for him.” I said to my sister as I placed my drink down.
“Me too, but at least he’s not going back to Pennsylvania by himself. Did you hear anything about where he will be staying?” Adrianna asked as she handed Luca a piece of bread. I smiled at my nephew as he kicked his legs in the high chair. He was the most adorable two year old. Yes, I’m biased but you would be too if he were your nephew.
“He’s staying with Anthony.” I said carefully. Anthony was a real touchy subject when it came to my sister. Her shoulders tensed as she lifted her head. I looked over to where Anthony was standing and noticed he was staring at my sister. After all these years, he still only had eyes for her. Well, maybe that wasn’t a hundred percent accurate. He had women lots of them, but his heart belonged solely to my sister. I just wish the dumbass would realize it. “Oh.” She said simply as their eyes met. The two of them were chicken shits because they quickly looked away.
“You’re pathetic.” I said honestly.
“Excuse me?” Adrianna said, turning to me with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh don’t pull that shit with me. I don’t know what you two are waiting for but it’s obvious that you both are miserable as you pine away for one another. Shit, A life is short. What are you waiting for?”
“Nikki leave it alone. You’ll never understand.” She said, standing to her feet to pull Luca out of the high chair. “I have to go.”+
Did I mention I suck as a sister? “A, don’t leave. I’m sorry.” I blew out a frustrated breath. “Look you’re right, I don’t understand, but you never made me understand either. I just want to see you happy. I’m tired of watching my sister be sad all the time.”
Adrianna balanced Luca on one hip and slung her diaper bag over her other arm. She leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “I love you. Promise me something?”
I sighed as I looked at her expectantly.
“Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”
I didn’t know what mistakes she was referring to but I was pretty sure it had everything to do with Anthony. I nodded my head. “I promise. Be careful going home.” I stood up and placed a kiss on my nephew’s forehead. “Bye bye my sweet boy.”
Adrianna started to walk away, but she paused and looked over her shoulder at me. “Hey Nikki Michael looks like he could use a friend.” She nodded in his direction. “Don’t leave him hanging.”
I diverted my attention back towards Mikey. He was standing by the bar alone, staring at the drink in his hand. He had taken off his suit jacket and the sleeves to his dress shirt were rolled up to his elbows. By the way, I was a hundred percent right when I thought he would be lethal in a suit. He was just as lethal though in his current state. His hair was messy from all the times he ran his fingers through it. The top button on his shirt was undone and he still hadn’t shaved.
I looked back at my sister but the traitor she was disappeared poof vanished! It was probably a bad move walking towards Mikey but still I decided that my sister was right. What can I say? I’m a glutton for punishment. He looked like he could use some company and why shouldn’t it be me? So what if I acted like a fool around him? If I could stop picturing him naked, I would probably be able to pull this friend thing off. Maybe he’d let me feel his muscles. I flinched before scolding myself, stop it Nikki! I blamed it on Rico and the fact that he was still withholding his penis from me. I thought only women withheld sex during a fight. Apparently not.
If one more person came up to me and told me they were sorry, I was going to punch them in the face. I wasn’t in the mood for people I hadn’t seen in years telling me how sorry they were. Besides, they were only there out of respect for Victor. On the other hand, maybe it was fear. Who the fuck knows?
I didn’t know half the people here, but they all knew me. They patted me on the back and told me I looked just like my old man. Victor showed me off like I was a prized filly he bought and was about to race at Aqueduct. Everyone was talking about the fact I was going to be working for Victor. They were all eager to see me fill my father’s shoes. The thing was my father didn’t run a nightclub. My father ran illegal card games he took bets on everything from football to horses and when the sucker placing his bet didn’t pay my dad was the one who put him in the hospital. Instead of punching a clock my father broke kneecaps and left you eating through a straw. He carried a piece at all times and never left the house without being locked and loaded. Me? I didn’t even know how to work
a fucking water gun. But I was going to be Victor’s nightclub running protégé. This should prove to be interesting or comical I wasn’t sure which yet.
I polished off the rest of my drink despite the fact that my head was pounding and I was seeing double. In fact, right now I was seeing two of Nikki as she stood beside me. Two Nikki’s hmm… imagine the fun I could have with that. My dick got hard just thinking about it. What the fuck was wrong with me?
“What do you want?” I slurred placing my empty glass on top of the bar.
“Nice to see you’re acting like your usual charming self.” She said as she slid onto the barstool. I wondered if she was trying to be sexy or if it just came natural to her. She crossed her legs, causing her tight little black dress to inch up her thighs exposing more of that olive skin. “Seriously, are you always a dick or just around me?”
I lifted my eyes from her legs and watched as she cocked her head to the side her eyes questioning mine. “When have I been a dick to you?”
“I didn’t say that you were a dick towards me, but rather that you act like a dick around me. But now that you mention it, you kind of were a dick to me the other night when you found it necessary to tell me you didn’t like my boyfriend. Oh, and how about when you told me I wouldn’t know what to do with your intentions? Maybe you couldn’t handle my intentions ever think of that Mikey?” She crossed her arms under her chest her tits rising as she did. She looked rather smug all proud of her comeback and all that.
Illicit Temptations (Tempted Series Book 1) Page 5