Her stomach clenched when Gabe looked up. It was like he sensed her or something, because his gaze immediately found her. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday, and she had no idea what to expect from him.
One side of his lips kicked up as he straightened from where he was leaning on the island. He smiled—wasn’t a big one, but it was a real one, and her heart threw itself against her ribs in elation.
Nikki let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and smiled back.
“Hey . . .” Lucian turned at the waist. He only had eyes for Julia as he rose from the barstool and crossed the room. He picked up Julia, causing her to squeak as he spun her around. “I missed you, woman.”
Nikki felt her mouth drop as she watched them. There was a part of her that thrilled that they were so obviously in love, but the other half was shocked that it was Lucian.
The man had a reputation. . . .
Julia laughed as he buried his head in her hair. “You literally saw me about thirty minutes ago.”
“Still missed you.” Setting her down, he kissed her cheek and then smacked her rear before turning to Nikki. “Well, isn’t it Little Nikki, back from college, and all grown up.”
She rolled her eyes as she placed the tray on the counter. “Hi, Lucian.”
He chuckled as he walked over to her, giving her a less enthused greeting, but a nice one nonetheless. “How have you been?”
“Good. You?” She peeked around Lucian at Gabe, who was watching them.
“You know, nothing’s really changed. Just living a life of leisure with my woman.” Lucian turned, winking when Julia made a noise. “Do I detect a sarcastic snort from you?”
Julia sat on the stool, tucking her feet on the bottom rail. “Possibly.”
“My heart.” He placed a hand on his chest. “You wound me.”
“Whatever.” Julia grinned across the island at Gabe. “I don’t know how you’ve managed to deal with him all these years. He’s so needy.”
Gabe smirked. “I’ve learned to block him out. It’s a skill you’re going to need to work on if you want to make this long term.”
His brother flipped him off. “That’s rude.”
Lifting a shrug, Gabe walked away from the island. Those sea-green eyes focused on her. “How’s your Monday been?”
“Um, good. Busy.” Feeling incredibly awkward and unsure of how to proceed with Gabe, she clasped her hands together. “Yours?”
“Headed into the city to get a little work done and just got back, which reminds me.” Gabe opened the fridge door, and it was then that Nikki saw the thin layer of wood dust on his jeans. “Swung by D’Juice and picked you up a smoothie.”
Surprise scuttled through her as he pulled out a tall, reddish-orange smoothie. The smoothie yesterday had been shocking and the one today was equally surprising. He’d used to do this all the time back in the day, but it seemed . . . different now.
“Thank you.” She took it, tugging the paper off the top of the straw as she glanced over at Lucian and Julia. Both of them were staring at her and Gabe, but it was the de Vincent’s small, oddly knowing grin that caused her cheeks to flush. “That’s nice of you.”
Gabe lifted a shoulder. “Picked one up for myself. Sucked that down like water, though.”
She smiled as she took a sip, swallowing a moan of pleasure. It was like a mango-strawberry orgasm in her mouth. “Oh, this is so good.”
“Thought you’d like it.” He grinned as he leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. “Then again, pretty sure you’d like anything with strawberries in it.”
The fact he remembered that stunned her. “Just not blueberries. Not a blueberry fan.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re missing out on with your illogical distaste for blueberries.”
Unable to help herself, she giggled. “They’re gross.”
“Uh-huh. Yet you like raspberries.”
“They are not the same thing though,” she argued. “Blueberries are too tart.”
“But in real life, outside of your taste buds, raspberries are actually more tart than blueberries.”
“Liar,” she said, taking another yummy-filled gulp of the smoothie as she turned to Lucian and Julia. They were still staring at them.
Lucian had plopped his chin on his palm, watching them. “Sooo.” He drew the word out. “Julia is making dinner tonight.”
“Oh.” Nikki stepped away from Gabe, knowing she needed to get back to work. The reminder was stark. She wasn’t one of them. “Yes, I saw that there wasn’t a meal planned for tonight.”
“I love to cook. I don’t get to do it often here, but—” Julia dipped her chin “—when the grumpy cat’s away, the mice will play.”
Nikki laughed, knowing she was referencing Devlin.
“That is one of the big reasons why I can’t wait to move into our place.” Julia elbowed Lucian. “And it’s why it’s taking so long to move in. Kitchen renovations.”
Nikki imagined that Julia would probably end up with an amazing, gorgeous kitchen just based on the way Lucian looked at her. “Where did you guys find a place?”
“Over in the Garden District. The realtor swears it’s not haunted,” Julia added with a grin. “But I’ve resigned myself to the fact that every place around here probably has a ghost or two.”
Shaking his head, Gabe sighed. “You could always have the house blessed first.”
“Can we do that?” Julia looked at Lucian. “Can we—”
“Whatever you want, babe. House blessing. Cleansing. Full exorcism. As long as you’re happy.”
Julia beamed, and there was a twinge in Nikki’s chest, because there wasn’t an ounce of condescension or sarcasm in his tone. He’d meant what he said, no matter how crazy it might sound.
That was love, like, true love, and Nikki had no idea what that felt like to be on the receiving end of. Worst part, if she was being honest with herself, Calvin could’ve been that man for her, if she had let it happen.
“You should join us for dinner,” Lucian announced suddenly, and it took her a second to realize he was talking to her.
What the what?
“I’m making spaghetti—home-cooked spaghetti with meatballs and garlic bread, full of carbs and fat and calories.” Julia patted her stomach. “The best kind.”
That sounded amazing actually, but . . .
Nikki glanced at Gabe. He wanted to be friends and had attempted to go to the shelter with her, but she hesitated. Friends or not, she was still staff and staff never ate dinner with the de Vincents at their table. “I don’t know. I should—”
“You should stay and have dinner with us.” Lucian leaned over, dropping an arm around Julia’s shoulder. “Right, Gabe?”
Gabe nodded from where he stood. “Julia makes amazing spaghetti.”
“Thank you. It sounds delish, but I don’t know.” Nikki fidgeted with the straw. “I don’t think Devlin would be thrilled about me doing the dinner thing—”
“Do any of us look like we give a fuck what Dev thinks?” Gabe asked. “Because we don’t. At all.”
“Not even remotely,” Lucian added.
Julia grinned as she nodded. “I’m not going to say what they’re saying, because Devlin still kind of scares me.”
“Devlin scares everyone,” Nikki murmured.
“Come on.” Gabe faced her. “Join us for dinner. It will be fun.”
“Lots of fun,” Lucian chimed in.
Nikki glanced between the brothers, knowing she should say no, because she wasn’t one of them. She was never really one of them.
“Have dinner with us, Nic.” Gabe reached out, tapping her arm. “Please?”
And it was suddenly like being that little girl again with a huge, undying crush, because she couldn’t say no to Gabe.
Chapter 13
Gabe found he was having a hard time not staring at Nic during dinner. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because when she showed up at
the beginning, she’d taken her hair down and now looked less like someone who’d spent the day dusting furniture and compiling the week’s grocery shopping list.
Maybe it was because she was holding a wine glass and smiling at Lucian and Julia in a way she hadn’t smiled at him in a long time.
Or maybe it was because when her cheeks got flushed and those big brown eyes started to dance, she was fucking beautiful.
It didn’t matter.
Sitting back with his cheek resting on his palm, he knew he needed to stop staring at her, because he wasn’t exactly being inconspicuous about it.
He didn’t stop.
Gabe couldn’t even blame it on liquor. All he’d been drinking tonight was water and sweetened tea.
“So what made you decide to go into social work?” Julia asked, picking up her glass of red wine. “That has to be a hard job.”
“Can’t be any harder than nursing,” Nic said as she reached for a piece of garlic bread. She hadn’t been watching him. Hell, it was like she barely knew he was there, which he found fucking irritating, because they were friends now.
Gabe noted she hadn’t answered Julia’s question so he opened his big mouth. “Nic has always been a helper.”
Her gaze shot to his from across the round table. Finally.
“A helper?” Lucian slid a long look in his direction.
Gabe ignored it. “Yeah, she’s always wanted to help people.”
Nic blinked slowly and then focused on Julia. “My friend Rosie says I have a savior complex. I don’t think it’s that extreme, but I do want to help people. I know that sounds cheesy—”
“It doesn’t,” Gabe interjected. “The world needs more people like you and Julia and fewer people like us.”
“Agreed,” snickered Lucian around the rim of his wine glass.
Julia put her glass down. “You guys donate a lot of money to charities.”
“Giving money is easy,” Gabe replied. “Giving time isn’t.”
Nic bit down on her lower lip as her lashes swept down.
“So are you done with school or not?” Julia asked.
“I have my bachelor’s and I’m currently deciding if I want to get a master’s or PhD. Kind of going back and forth on it,” Nic answered, breaking a part the piece of garlic bread into little sections, getting crumbs all over her plate. “I could get started and take evening classes.”
“That would be really hard.”
“It would be,” Nic agreed, popping a piece of the buttery bread into her mouth. “But getting out there and doing the job sounds more enticing than grad school.”
“No doubt.” Lucian rocked back on his chair as he toyed with a strand of Julia’s hair. “Did you know that Gabe isn’t the only one good with his hands when it comes to woodwork?”
Julia looked over at Nic. “You?”
“Um.” She took a rather long sip of her wine. “I used to be able to create like these stupid little charm bracelets and figurines—”
“They weren’t stupid.” Gabe straightened in his chair, frowning. “Nic has a talent.”
“I wouldn’t call it a talent,” Nic began.
“I’m not going to sit here while you’re being all modest and shit. The little pieces of jewelry she used to make were amazing.” Gabe was speaking the truth. “So were the figurines. You’re still doing that, right?”
She avoided his gaze. “With school and everything, I didn’t have a lot of time to mess around with that stuff.” She lifted a shoulder. “It’s not something I really do anymore.”
“Really?” Surprise flickered through him. “I thought you wanted to open up a little shop and sell your work. It was all you talked about—”
“People change. I’m just not into the same things I was when I was a kid.”
A kid? She’d been into it right up until that night, and she sure as fuck hadn’t been a kid that night.
Nic turned to Julia. “How did you and Lucian meet? You’re from Pennsylvania, right?”
His eyes narrowed as Nic changed the subject. She obviously didn’t like the focus being on her, which was new. The younger Nic loved to be the center of attention—the center of his attention.
Julia glanced at Lucian. “Well, I was . . .”
“She was hired to care for Madeline,” Lucian finished for her since it was obvious Julia didn’t know how much she could share. “Did you know she returned?”
Since she was chewing on a piece of bread, Nic only nodded at first. “I was told that she had returned, but nothing beyond that. How . . . is she doing?”
Gabe raised a brow, letting Lucian take the lead on this since anything he had to say about Madeline would most likely upset his younger brother. Lucian now knew just how messed up Madeline had been, but she was still his twin. That biological connection was hard to get over.
“Not well,” Lucian said after a moment. “She’s dead.”
“What?” Nic gasped, and he’d swear a tiny piece of garlic bread fell out her mouth. Her wide gaze swung to his before darting back to Lucian. “Oh my God, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you, but don’t feel sorry. Not for Maddie.” Lucian sat back with a sigh. “How much do you know about what’s been happening here?”
Nic had lost the pretty flush in her cheeks. “I knew that Madeline had come back and something happened with Daniel? He threatened you and Julia?”
“That’s the watered-down version, but Madeline did show up. Found her one night floating in the pool outside,” Lucian explained. “She was virtually comatose and we had to hire someone.”
“Which was me.” Julia’s arm moved under the table, and Gabe knew she was comforting Lucian. Most likely placing a hand on the tapping leg of his. “We believed she was in some sort of locked-in state of consciousness, but that wasn’t the case.”
“Remember the night our mother died?” Lucian asked.
Nic nodded. “How could I forget? I was young, but that kind of stuff sticks with you.”
Gabe remembered Nic crying when she heard the news, not because she really knew their mother, but because she was so upset for them—the brothers.
“Turned out Mom didn’t kill herself. She and Maddie had been up on the rooftop arguing.” His brother’s voice sounded detached, but Gabe knew better. That whole mess still cut him deep. “Fighting over our cousin Daniel. Maddie had been with him, and yeah, as in having relations with him.”
“Oh my,” whispered Nic.
“The argument escalated and—” Lucian drew in a deep breath—“Maddie pushed her off the roof.”
Nic jolted. “Oh my God.”
“It gets worse.” Gabe reached for the water, wishing it was liquor. “She’d spent the last ten years hiding out with Daniel. They ran out of money, concocted some wild-ass plan for getting ahold of the de Vincent fortune.”
“Almost worked,” Lucian said quietly. “She had me fooled, right up until the night Daniel threatened Julia.”
Surprised that Lucian was opening up, he sat back and said nothing, glad that his brother was talking about it.
“I . . . I don’t know what to say.” Nic reached for her wine again, then stopped herself. “How did she even think that she could get the money?”
Julia sipped her wine while Lucian seemed to choose his words wisely. “Her plan was ridiculous, but well, you know it’s never been a secret that Maddie and I weren’t the offspring of dear old dad.”
If Nic hadn’t heard that rumor, she didn’t show it.
“Come to find out, Maddie knew the truth about who father’s true heirs were.” Lucian smiled but there was no humor to it. “Maddie and I were Lawrence’s children. Dev and Gabe were not.”
Nic’s lips parted as her gaze darted to Gabe. Her face had paled considerably, so much so that he was a bit concerned. “I . . . I really have no idea what to say.”
“It is what it is.” Lucian picked up his fork, lazily dragging it through what was left of his spaghetti. “Not much has changed. Dev
is still the heir. Gabe is still the spare.”
Gabe raised his hand.
“And I’m still Lucian and I don’t have to worry about business meetings or deal with Senator Dickhead. And honest? Maddie was a true sociopath, but in a way, I’m thankful.” Lucian looked at Julia. “If she hadn’t come back, I would’ve never met Julia.”
“That’s . . . sweet,” Nic murmured, blinking rapidly.
Gabe grinned as her gaze connected with his. “It’s a lot to process. Besides your parents and our doctor, no one outside of the family knew that Madeline was back.”
“It has to stay that way.” Nic picked up her wine glass and finished it off. “I understand.”
“Well, that was a bit of a conversation killer, wasn’t it?” Julia laughed nervously. “I think we need to stop telling the truth.”
“We did meet at a bar first.” Lucian grinned at her. “We should just go with that version.”
“Yeah, I think you should most definitely go with that version,” Nic said, eyes widening. “It’s a lot less intense.”
Julia kissed Lucian’s cheek and then turned to Gabe. “Are you heading up to Baton Rouge this week?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“What do you have going on in Baton Rouge?” Nic asked.
The question was innocent enough. Gabe knew damn well neither Livie nor Richard would’ve said a single thing about his now-frequent trips.
“A few personal things,” he said.
“Oh.” Disappointment flashed across her face, and he felt like an ass. He could’ve come up with a better answer, but that was just something he wasn’t ready to talk to her about.
Or talk to her at all about it.
Lucian came to the rescue. Sort of. “So, are you seeing anyone, Nikki?”
Gabe’s hand stilled along the arm of the chair. This was an interesting question.
Nic’s brows flew up. “Um, no. No. Single.” Her nose scrunched. “Well, I was seeing this guy in college.”
“And that didn’t last?” Gabe asked before he could stop himself.
Her gaze darted to him. “We broke up a bit ago.”
Moonlight Seduction_A de Vincent Novel Page 14