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 naturally 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 were kind of 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 over her chest her tits rising as she did. She looked rather smug all proud of her comeback and all that.
“Tell me more about your intentions Princess,” I said huskily. If her intentions were anything like mine I’d take my two Nikki’s (The one that was really in front of me and the clone my drunk ass saw) into the bathroom and show her just how well I could handle them.
She frowned, her perfect lips pouting. “You weren’t supposed to say that.”
“What was I supposed to say?” I said as I swayed a bit. It was getting harder to keep my balance. Hell, it was getting harder to stand period.
“Oh, forget it. What does it matter anyway? You’re bombed,” her eyes wandered behind me. She quickly straightened her posture, speaking to me through the fake smile planted on her lips. “Sober up my dad’s coming this way.”
“How would you like me to do that?” I asked incredulously. I shrugged my shoulders and scoffed at her. “I don’t give a fuck. I had a few drinks big fucking deal.”
“You drank half the bar,” she said again through her tight smile. Those braces paid off, she had a gorgeous smile.
“Hi, Daddy.”
Victor walked over wearing a big smile. He placed one arm around my shoulders and the other around his daughter. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one feeling no pain.
“You don’t know how happy it makes me to see you two hanging out again. Just like the old days when you two were kids,” he said, patting me on the back. “I’m glad you decided to take me up on my offer.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, turning around to try to get the bartender's attention. No fucking way was I cozying up to Victor without a drink. Wouldn’t it be a sight if I threw up on his fancy loafers? It was a very possible scenario.
“Mikey and I were just about to get out of here,” Nikki said sweetly. “It’s been a long day.”
I turned around and looked at her. Maybe she was more of the actions speak louder than words kinda chick and she wanted to show me her intentions. I was game. I winked at her to the best of my ability, but I’m pretty sure it wound up just being a blink.
“That’s a good idea. You didn’t have anything to drink, did you? Because if you did Jimmy could drive you home.”
“God no. Please, I don’t think I could handle Jimmy right now,” I said, looking past Nikki to Jimmy Gold who was standing at the other end of the bar wearing a mink coat and oh I don’t know twelve chains around his neck.
“I didn’t drink dad,” she said leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. “Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.”
“All right,” Victor said before his gaze found mine. “I have big plans for you Michael. Anthony is going to be working tonight, but tomorrow he’s going to bring you by Temptations and we will discuss your role in all of this,” he paused before turning back to his daughter. “Oh, that reminds me tell your boyfriend, he’s hired.”
Nikki’s eyes widened in surprise.
“Really?” she shrugged her shoulders. “I was sure you weren’t going to give it to him.”
“I wasn’t,” Victor said, his lips widened into a smile and his eyes were back on me. “Tomorrow around noon?”
“Yeah,” I said, knowing there was a pretty good chance I would be sleeping past noon tomorrow. I started to chuckle to myself thinking of standing up the Don in front of me. I covered my mouth with the back of my hand trying not to laugh in his face. Nikki looped her arm through mine.
“Okay, let’s get out of here buddy,” she said, dragging me away from Victor.
“See you later Daddy.”
“Be careful,” he said, kissing her forehead before he patted me on the back. “I’ll see you tomorrow son.” I rolled my eyes and let Nikki drag me out of the restaurant. Literally, she dragged me by my hand and didn’t let go even once we were in the parking lot. I didn’t have much fight in me and it wasn’t like I minded tagging behind her it allowed me a prime view of her ass. She had a perfect ass one you just wanted to sink your teeth into.
She came to a stop, holding the remote to her car up as she unlocked it.
“Stop staring at my ass,” she said looking over her shoulder, forcing me to lift my eyes from said ass.
“It’s a great ass,” I said honestly. I wasn’t going to hide the fact that I was ogling her ass. What was the point? It was like she had eyes behind her head or some shit. She treated me to an eye roll, and I wondered if she did that a lot or just towards me. It seemed like every time I opened my mouth, she rolled her eyes. She looked at me expectantly, then back towards the candy apple red Mustang that we were standing in front of. I balanced myself and looked back at her.
“You’re kidding me, right? This is your car?” I ran the palm of my hand over the backside of the car in awe of the piece of machinery in front of me. I looked back at Nikki who looked completely unfazed.
“It’s just a car,” she said with a shrug of her shoulders.
I looked at her as if she had lost her ever loving mind. It was a beauty that was making me regret all the drinking I had done because I wouldn’t mind ripping the key out of her hand and taking both beauties for a ride. I watched Nikki walk around the car climbing into the driver’s seat, turning the ignition. The car roared to life as Nikki looked at me expectantly reaching for the door.
“You coming or what?” she asked before pulling the door closed. There were a lot of ways I wanted to answer her question, but she hadn’t given me the opportunity. I stumbled around to the passenger door, pulling it open I climbed inside and slid into the seat. Some song from Flo Rida blasted through the speakers. Nikki barely waited for me to shut the door before she cranked the shifter into reverse and peeled out of the parking lot.
I clicked my seatbelt into place as she sang along with the radio, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. I took every inch of her in as she danced in her seat.
“Hey, I heard you were a wild one, if I took you home it would be a home run…,” she sang off key and louder than the actual radio. She threw one hand up in the air holding the steering wheel with the other and shook her head from side to side getting all into it. She was a sight, and a welcomed one at that. I heard a foreign sound my own laughter. She glanced at me smiling and then turned down the volume on the radio. “That’s my jam.”
I stared at her for a few moments before leaning my head back against the seat. Even in the state of mind that I was currently in it was apparent that Nikki was a handful. The thing was I didn’t mind it not even one bit. In my otherwise fucked up world, she was a breath of fresh air.
We were silent as she drove allowing me to get caught up in the streets that I once called my home. She put her signal on to make a right turn onto 86th street. I swallowed hard against the lump that had emerged in
my throat. Just a few blocks ahead stood the bakery where my father was murdered in front. I wonder if it looked the same as I remembered it. The universe apparently wanted to fuck a little more with my emotions and as we approached Rosalie’s Bakery, the light changed to red causing us to come to a standstill right in front of where my father’s bloody body had stained the concrete.
There was no more caution tape. Why would there be? People walked in and out of the bakery carrying their baked goods. Pedestrians walked along the pavement seemingly without a care in the world. No one was thinking how a man had died in front of that bakery. No one was thinking how his blood pooled out around his lifeless body. No one thought about Michael Valente no one but me.
The light changed to green and Nikki drove off, leaving the bakery behind. I glanced up and noticed we were only a few blocks away from the house I grew up in the house I shared with my parents. My parents, who were dead.
“Turn left here,” I said my voice was barely above a whisper and I wasn’t even sure she heard me.
Nikki glanced over at me.
“You sure about this?” she asked me her voice all soft and concerned.
I nodded, encouraging her to make the left as I had asked her to. She turned down the street where my parent’s home stood, the fourth house from the corner.
“Slow down,” I said. She slowly rolled up in front of the house, giving me time to take it all in. It was exactly as I remembered nothing on the exterior had been altered at all. I knew that Victor had taken care of the house after we picked up and left. He had rented it out and would mail my mother a check every month. I always wondered why my mother never sold the house. Funny how she hung onto it even though she tried so desperately to escape this life of ours.
“Do you remember my Aunt Gina? And my Nana, Big Red?” Nikki asked pulling me away from my trance. I tore my eyes from the house I apparently now owned. I think I owned it if not me who else? I looked blankly for a moment, trying to remember what she had asked me.
“My Nana, Big Red,” she repeated.
“She’s about four feet eleven we’ve dubbed her the incredible shrinking women,” she lifted her hands to the sides of her head. “Big poufy orange hair that she thinks is red talks like a truck driver although Aunt Gina says she’s slowed down on the f-bombs.”
“You’re talking about your grandma? Of course I remember her,” she used to slip me five dollars, ask me to rob her a few cigarettes from someone, and then stash them in her straw pocketbook. That was our little secret though no need for Nikki to know about her grandma’s shenanigans.
“She and Aunt Gina used to rent the house,” Nikki said, nodding towards my old house.
“They don’t anymore?” I asked curiously.
“No, Aunt Gina packed up Red and her two dogs, Pepsi and Cola and moved to a fifty-five and over community in Florida. She said there weren’t any viable men left in Brooklyn.” Nikki smiled and for some reason that made me smile too.
“So, who lives there now?”
She looked passed me at the house as she answered. “Nobody.”
I didn’t know how that was possible considering how my mother had received a check from Victor last month for the rent. I glanced back at the house for a moment before hitting the heel of my hand against the dashboard.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said.
“Where do you want to go?” she asked as she changed gears putting the car into drive.
“Anywhere but here,” I said, rubbing the stubble along my jaw. I needed a shave desperately.
“So back to Anthony’s?” she asked.
“Or there,” I said, feeling my pockets for my sunglasses. Fuck they were in my suit jacket that was well I had no idea where I had left that. I opened the glove compartment and smirked because girls were so damn predictable. I snatched the sunglasses that I knew would be in there and fitted them to my face. Girls were so predictable.
“Hey!” She exclaimed. “Those are my Gucci’s!”
“They’re only sunglasses,” I said, mimicking her reaction to the mustang. She snarled and damn me straight to hell if that wasn’t the sexiest snarl I’d ever seen. I needed to get laid. I must’ve been going through withdrawals or something because there wasn’t any logical explanation for what I was thinking or feeling every time I was around Nikki. It’s as if my dick had a mind of its own or something.
I wonder if I was transparent and Nikki knew exactly what I was thinking. If she did, she didn’t mention it. I didn’t ask where we're going. It didn’t matter. She turned onto the belt parkway. Apparently, little Nikki had a heavy foot because once we were on the highway, she took off with her mustang like a bat out of hell. No more than fifteen minutes later she was pulling off the shoulder of the Belt Parkway where there were a few cars parked. She turned the car off, and I looked out the window. The Belt Parkway Promenade was off the side of the highway. People came here to walk, jog, ride their bikes and enjoy the view of the water and the Verrazano Bridge. When I was a kid, my dad and I would even fish here. When I was a teenager, I’d bring girls here to make out. Good memories.
“This okay?” Nikki asked beside me. I removed the sunglasses I was wearing and met her skeptical gaze.
“It’s perfect,” I said. Her full mouth blossomed into a smile before she reached for her door. Suddenly I had an overwhelming urge to keep making her smile. Besides her incredible ass, her smile owned me.
We were out of the car, walking side by side along the water in silence for a while. I knew what was consuming my mind, but I wondered what she was thinking. She wrapped her arms around herself and I cursed myself for being a drunken fool and not knowing where the hell I had left my jacket.
“Are you cold? We can go back to the car.”
“No, it's fine,” she said.
I sighed running my fingers through my hair I stopped walking. She looked at me over her shoulder after taking a few steps. Her eyes questioned mine as I shoved my hands into my pockets.
“I’m sorry I’ve been a dick,” I mumbled.
“What?” she asked. Fuck, she was going to make me say it again. I refrained from rolling my eyes you know another dick move.
“I said I’m sorry for being a dick,” I held her gaze, trying to figure out what was running through her head but Nikki had a pretty good poker face.
“I wasn’t all that serious about that,” she said taking a few steps towards me. “I just figured you had a lot of shit going on.”
“You give me too much credit,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Sure, I have some shit going on but don’t kid yourself I’m a dick,” she laughed at me forcing me to smirk.
“I won’t take offense then,” she said with her lips still curving into a smile. The wind was stronger by the water and her hair was blowing all around her face. I reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“It’s been a long time Nikki…”
“Yeah, I guess it has,” she replied, not missing a beat.
“You’re all grown up,” my fingers lingered behind her ear as I stared at her. “I hardly know the girl in front of me,” I cocked my head to the side trying to choose my words. “Or maybe I knew the girl the woman standing before me once was. I’d like to know who are now, though.”
“Everyone says I’m a pain in the ass,” she said. Her words were accompanied by a little nervous laugh.
“Probably,” I smiled. “Still, I’d like to come to that conclusion on my own. You okay with that?” I dropped my hand from her ear shoving it back into my pocket as I waited for her to reply.
“Sure,” she whispered. I smiled at her before throwing my arm around her shoulders and bringing her against my side.
“Good, but can we start tomorrow? Because I’m freezing my balls off and I’m pretty sure your lips are turning purple,” she laughed, and I decided I really liked the sound of her laugh.
“Okay, Mikey,” she said pressing herself against my side. I know she was only doing it to seek
warmth, but I let myself enjoy the feel of her anyway. We walked briskly back to her car and cranked the heat once we were inside. The ride back to Anthony’s apartment was a quick one not allowing much conversation. She pulled up in front of Anthony’s apartment and left the car running. I guess she wasn’t coming in.
“Thanks for getting me out of there tonight,” I said as I unclasped the seatbelt.
“Anytime,” she twisted her body in her seat so that she was facing me. “Give me your phone.”
“Why?” I asked as I lifted my hips and pulled my phone from my pants pocket. I handed it over to her. Nikki rolled her eyes, her fingers maneuvered my phone quickly before she handed it back sporting a pretty smug smile. I glanced down at the screen. She had stored her number in my phone.
“Call me when you’re ready to get to know me,” she said.
I leaned over the center console and pressed my lips quickly to her cheek.
“I will,” I murmured against her cheek. I regretfully pulled away, allowing myself one more glance of her before getting out of the car and walking into Anthony’s apartment. I heard her car peel away from the curb as I closed the door.
I turned around and flicked the lights on. Anthony was sitting on the edge of the couch staring at the gun that was on the coffee table. I didn’t think he realized I was standing there. He didn’t look at me or try to hide his gun. He remained perfectly still as if he was in another world. I wasn’t sure how to approach him or if I even should, I was afraid that if I startled him, he’d shoot my ass.
“Nikki, drop you off?” he asked. I sighed a breath of relief maybe I wasn’t meeting my maker after all. At least not tonight.
“Yeah,” I said. He leaned over taking the gun in his hand. He did something to it something like they do in the movies. I wasn’t sure if he was putting the safety on or off. Fuck. I should’ve read a handbook or at least watched The Godfather before coming back here. He tucked the gun into the back of his jeans before he shrugged on his leather jacket. He lifted his eyes to mine. He was a scary motherfucker.
The Tempted Series: Collectors Edition Page 6