Blaze: Men of Inked Heatwave #4

by Bliss, Chelle

  I blink and freeze. “Um.”

  “We all call Lily baby, Uncle Mike,” Gigi tells him, trying to save my life and the dining room from turning into a fighting ring. “You know this.”

  Mike eyes me cautiously, not completely buying Gigi’s excuse, even if it was a good one. “It came off his lips a little too easy.”

  “I call everyone baby, Mr. Gallo, even Gigi.” I smile nervously, hoping Gigi keeps rolling with me and doesn’t throw me under the bus.

  “It’s all the rage right now. The kids are all using it. I think it’s sweet,” Izzy adds, because she knows.

  Dear fucking God, Lily cracked upstairs and spilled her guts to her aunt. The only person in the family I’m more fearful of than Mike is Isabella Gallo. The woman is a ballbuster, soul-crusher, and man-killer. Not literally, of course. But she, like her mother, is in charge in this family. Upset her, and your time is over, card punched, tossed out like trash.

  “It’s dumb,” Mike growls.

  “Jett, I made your favorite,” Mrs. Gallo, the grandma and boss of the family, says.

  “Why?” Mike asks, being the asshole he is and always has been.

  “Shush it,” she tells him, bringing her sweet gaze back to me. “I was so happy you were coming back this week, I went all out for you and made my banana split sheet cake.”

  My already full stomach rumbles at those words. “You didn’t have to do that, Mrs. Gallo, but I can never turn down your dessert.”

  “Smart man,” Lily’s grandfather says at the end of the table, having been unusually quiet throughout the meal. “I’m sure you missed home-cooked meals like this when you were on deployment.”

  “I missed home-cooked meals like this my entire time in the service, sir. No one cooks like Mrs. G.”

  I get an appreciative nod from the family patriarch. “Did you see anything interesting when you were deployed? Have a favorite place you visited?”

  “Dubai was interesting,” I say, and just like that, the mood in the room changes along with the conversation.

  * * *

  Three long hours later, I’m prepping for my first case with the ALFA team. The door to my bedroom creaks open, and Lily walks in, finding a spot on the end of my bed.

  “Be careful tonight,” she says, staring up at me as she fiddles with the hem of her skirt. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  I move away from the mirror, kneeling in front of Lily and taking her hand in mine. “I’ll be fine. The guys will make sure I’m protected and won’t put me in any unnecessary danger.”

  “Do you want to take Statham?” she asks so sweetly, as if we’re talking about a guard dog and not her gun.

  “No, sweetheart. I’ll be okay.” I move a lock of hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I promise.”

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  I cup her face as she lowers her gaze. “What else is bothering you, Lily?”

  She lifts a shoulder, dropping it quickly. “I know you may have to kiss someone else tonight.” She raises her eyes to mine, and they’re swimming in emotion. “I want you to know I’m okay with it.”

  “I’d never cheat on you. I’m going to do everything in my power to avoid her lips too.”

  “I know,” she replies, moving her cheek into my hand. “I do, and I know you may have to do things sometimes that will make me uncomfortable, but I’ll deal with them as they happen.”

  “It’s hard to wiggle out of this one without telling your family that we’re a couple. I could’ve maybe played that card if you’d have told them.”

  She shakes her head.

  “No one means anything to me except you. I’ve never felt the way I feel about you for anyone else ever, Lily.”

  “I have feelings for you, Jett,” she whispers. “And that scares me.”

  I lean forward, bringing my face close to hers, gazing into her beautiful blue eyes. “I have feelings for you too, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit saying those words terrifies me too.”

  She throws her arms around me, clinging to me. “Thank you for being so sweet to me.”

  I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight, rubbing her back. “Why wouldn’t I be sweet, baby? All I want is to see you happy.”

  “You’ve made me happy. I was so nervous last night, creeping into your room. I thought you’d turn me away.”

  I pull back, a smile on my face. This girl. She’s crazy if she thought I’d turn her away when all I’ve wanted is to be with her. “You offered me the most precious gift, Lily. I could never turn you away for putting yourself out there and telling me what you wanted.”

  “Promise me you won’t sleep with anyone else? Promise me I’m enough,” she begs as my smile falters.

  “You’re everything. There’s no one else and can never be anyone else to fill your shoes. I’m head over heels, hopelessly gone for you, baby.”

  “I believe you,” she whispers.

  “There’s no one as beautiful, inside and out, as you. No one as silly and sweet as you. No one I can be myself with, never having to pretend to be someone I’m not. I love that about you. I love that about us,” I tell her. “And I love everything you are. The crazy things you say, how easily you blush, how shy you can be, and the tiger you turn into.”

  Her eyes widen. “I’m not a tiger.”

  “Baby, crawling into my bed last night, touching me, you were.” I kiss the corner of her mouth as she snaps it shut. “Loved that shit so much. Hotter than the sun.”

  “Crawl into bed with me tonight when you get home?” she asks against my mouth.

  “Count on it,” I tell her before pressing my lips to hers, sealing that promise with a long, deep kiss.

  21

  Lily

  I’m curled under a blanket, the stars dotting the sky above me, reading my cousin Bianca’s newest book, when the doorbell rings. I check the security camera because I’m too comfortable to move, and at this hour, I’m not answering without knowing who’s here first.

  Gigi’s standing there, a tall man behind her, his back to the camera. The man isn’t Pike, based on his build—wide shoulders and nearly a foot taller than Gigi. “Bitch, open the door,” she says like she knows I’m watching. “I have a surprise for you.” She pushes against the man’s back, keeping him facing away from the camera on purpose.

  I set down the book, lifting the phone closer to my face to try to get a better look at the stranger. “It’s late, Gigi. I’m not really in the mood for company.”

  “Trust me, you want to see this person.” She smiles, moving her face closer to the camera outside the front door, blocking out everything except her mug. “I can just pick the lock.”

  “Don’t you dare,” I hiss, knowing full well she could, and probably would, jimmy her way into the house. “I’m coming down.”

  “Good,” she says as the smile spreads across her face, and she backs away, covering the camera with her hand. “She’s coming.”

  The man grunts, leaving his identity a complete unknown as I throw back the blanket and abandon the peaceful sanctuary Jett has built for me on the rooftop deck. I toss my phone aside, leaving it next to the book I had been devouring until I was rudely interrupted.

  After walking slowly down the stairs, I throw open the door with a scowl on my face. “Who’s so important you had to come over at this hour?”

  Gigi’s smile widens as she taps the man’s back with her knuckles. “Wipe that sourpuss look off your face, princess, because I’m about to blow your mind.”

  Then the tall, broad-shouldered man turns around, facing me. “Nick?” I gasp, covering my mouth with my hand, my eyes wide.

  He blinks, gawking at me like he doesn’t recognize me. “Lily?” he whispers, his gaze moving over my face and down my body. “What happened to you?”

  “What happened to me?” I ask, studying him. “What the hell happened to you?”

  My cousin Nick, Thomas and Angel’s son, has been away at boarding school
for the last year. He didn’t even bother coming home for summer break, spending it backpacking across Europe instead. Something my parents never would’ve let me do while still in high school. But Angel and Thomas…they treated him like he was a god who could do no wrong in their eyes.

  “Grew up. Filled out. Became a man,” he mutters, a cocky smirk playing on his lips. He’s eighteen, and even though he’s inches taller than the last time I saw him, he’s still just as arrogant.

  I chuckle, shaking my head. Became a man. I hate to burst his self-confidence bubble, but he is not and has not become a man.

  “He’s clearly still the same asshole, though,” Gigi says, reading my mind about our smug little cousin.

  “It’s part of his DNA,” I mumble, knowing he’s every bit a Gallo man. “But what the hell are you doing here?”

  It’s October, and school’s in full swing. It’s his senior year, and he’s not supposed to come home until Christmas break. Uncle Thomas wanted him to get a leg up on the competition, meaning other boys his age, so he could attend West Point and someday be an officer in the military.

  Nick swipes his massive palm over his face and lifts a shoulder. “School and I didn’t agree anymore.”

  Gigi slaps him with the back of her hand, shaking her head. “He got kicked out.”

  My eyes widen. “You got kicked out?” I whisper.

  I’d never seen Uncle Thomas completely lose his shit. Not like his brothers, including my father, had in the past. But if there were something that would drive him over the edge, this would be it.

  Nick nods, the cocky grin faltering for only a second. “Shit happens.”

  “How are you still alive?” I ask, blinking at the impossibility of it all.

  Gigi pushes past me, opening the door and kicking off her shoes as she wanders inside. “Get in here. We have a lot to talk about,” she says, motioning for us to follow her as I peer over my shoulder.

  “Come on,” I tell him, tipping my head back toward the foyer.

  I think Nick’s going to step around me and walk inside, but he doesn’t. Instead, my little cousin—well, younger is the right word—grabs me, wrapping me in a giant bear hug. “I missed you most of all, Lily,” he says, his voice too deep for his age.

  I’m helpless, my arms plastered to my sides and my feet dangling off the ground. “Missed you too,” I bite out, struggling for breath in his freakishly large arms.

  He steps forward, me still in his arms, and kicks the door closed before setting me on the floor. “Swanky joint,” he says before whistling. “Better than the shithole she lives in.”

  “I take offense to that statement. My apartment is the best in the city,” she tells him, collapsing onto the very large sectional in the living room.

  “Do your parents know you’re here?” I ask, running my hand along my ribs, which he, no doubt, bruised with the way he manhandled me.

  He shakes his head. “Not yet, but they will tomorrow.”

  “Well, shit,” I mutter, knowing things are about to get interesting.

  “Sit, Nicholas.” Gigi pats the spot next to her. “You have a lot of explaining to do.”

  I follow him to the couch and take the spot next to him, both of us caging him in on the sides. “Spill the beans,” I tell him, folding my leg underneath me. “What the hell happened?”

  He collapses back, letting out a long-exasperated exhale. “I was running a side hustle and got caught. Simple as that.”

  Naturally, my cousin had a hustle. All the kids at boarding school had one, according to him, but he was the lucky one who was actually caught and reprimanded for his actions.

  “I guess making and selling fake IDs is not only against school policy, but also against the law. I begged for mercy and leniency, but they told me to fuck off.” He shrugs one shoulder, his lips snarling. “Especially after Malcolm Harrison was found drunk and passed out, my well-crafted ID in his pocket. The asshole was told to either give up his supplier or get kicked out. The rat sang like a canary, I got the boot, and he’s recovering in his fancy-ass room back in North Carolina.”

  My mouth’s hanging open, my eyes sweeping over my cousin’s face as the reality of his words wash over me. “You sold fake IDs?”

  He grins, running his hand through his thick, dark, messy hair. “Made them too.”

  I roll my eyes, annoyed at his cockiness, but not surprised he’s proud of the fact either. “Your dad is going to straight up murder you.”

  He waves off my comment. “He’ll be pissed for a minute, but he’ll get over it.”

  Gigi tips her head back, laughing. “You’re so dead, Nick. So, so dead.”

  “Nah. My parents aren’t going to kill me. Who would carry on the family name?”

  I cock my head, raising an eyebrow. “The other Gallo boys.”

  “There’re only two others, Lily. Stone, Asher, and me. We’re the only ones who carry the Gallo last name and have the ability to procreate.”

  “Um,” I mumble, pulling at my bottom lip, trying to hold back my giggle. “I’m pretty sure the two of us—” I wave my hand toward Gigi “—can procreate too, dumbass.”

  “But your baby daddy would want his child to carry his name, so the weight of the family rests on my shoulders.”

  I roll my eyes, trying to remind myself I’m dealing with a smug, self-centered high school senior. Reality doesn’t always mix with whatever’s going on inside his brain.

  “Just because my imaginary baby daddy would want his child to carry his name doesn’t mean it would happen,” Gigi tells him, smacking him in the shoulder. “I know you think men run the world, but I hate to burst your bubble, little cousin. They don’t.”

  Nick places his hand on my knee, smiling his beautiful white smile. “Want to grab me a beer, babe?”

  I blink, gawking at this kid sitting on my couch, pretending he’s a man, looking pretty damn comfortable too. “Uh, sweetheart, you can have Coke, because there’s no way in hell I’m giving a beer to an underage kid.”

  “Kid?” He laughs, patting my leg. “I haven’t been a kid in years, and anyway, I drank my weight in Europe over the summer.”

  I pat his leg, mimicking his movements. “Well, you’re not in Europe anymore, kid. Time for you to come back down to reality with the rest of us simpletons.”

  He blows out a breath, running his fingers through his hair again like he’s obsessed. Which he probably is, because Nick always has been. He’s good-looking. Even as his cousin, I can appreciate his handsome face, looking every bit like Uncle Thomas. “I’ll be high school royalty here, cousin. Don’t ever mistake me for anything less.”

  I roll my eyes, pushing myself off the couch using my hands instead of smacking him across his pretty face. “Three Cokes it is, then,” I mutter, leaving him and Gigi on the couch.

  “Between you and Austin, the girls in this town aren’t going to know what hit them.”

  “Austin?” Nick asks her.

  “My boyfriend’s brother,” she tells him. “He moved here from Tennessee to finish his senior year. So far, he’s big man on campus.”

  “He’s about to lose his title.”

  I chuckle, shaking my head, thankful I’m no longer in high school. Not because the men are any more mature at my age, but at least I don’t have to deal with the hierarchy, the backstabbing bitches, and the drama. Oh, the high school drama.

  “That’s if you survive,” Gigi snickers. “We’ll see after tomorrow if you’re still breathing.”

  “Lily,” Nick calls out as I fish three cans of Coke out of the fridge. “Can I crash here tonight?”

  “Uh, sure,” I blurt out, not thinking about asking Jett first or talking anything over with Gigi.

  “Fuckin’ kick-ass. You got a hot tub around here?” he asks, looking around, spotting the lanai in the backyard.

  “It’s closed for the season,” I lie, holding out a can to him, shaking it when he just gawks at me.

  “Closed for the season?
” He lifts an eyebrow, taking the can from my hand. “Do people believe your lies?”

  “Do they believe yours?” I throw back at him, handing the other Coke to Gigi. “Anyway, there’s no time for lounging in the hot tub. You’re not having friends over. You can crash on the couch, and in the morning, I’ll drive you home.”

  “Fuckin’ great,” he mutters, popping the top of the can without a hint of a smile on his face anymore.

  “Jett still gone?” Gigi asks, looking around the room.

  “Yeah, the guys said it would be a late night.”

  Nick is about to take a swig, placing the can against his lips before he pauses. “Wait.” His gaze swings to me, and his head tilts. “Jett Michaels?”

  I nod, smiling. “We’re roommates,” I tell him.

  “Roommates?” Gigi laughs, bumping Nick’s shoulder. “They’re way more than roommates.”

  He blinks, gawking at me. “Uncle Mike’s letting you live in sin?”

  “He doesn’t know,” Gigi whispers. “He thinks they are, in fact, only roommates.”

  His smug grin is back, and he’s judging me. I can feel it in the way he looks at me. “You’re lying to your parents?”

  I shake my head, glaring at my big-mouthed cousin. “No.”

  “Omitting a fact is still a lie, Lily,” Gigi tells me, giving me a know-it-all grin.

  “It just happened,” I groan. “It’s not like we’ve been having wild monkey sex for months and hiding it from them.”

  Nick gags a little. “I can’t talk sex with you two. It’s gross.”

  “Gross?” My lip curls. “You’re seriously going to sit here, after all the shit we’ve had to hear from you over the last two years, and tell us we’re gross?”

  He nods, lifting the can to his lips. “Mm-hm,” he mumbles against the rim of the can before taking a swig. “And seriously…Jett Michaels?”

  “What’s wrong with Jett?” I ask defensively.

  “Nothing.” He lifts his shoulders, resting the can against his knee. “Just never pictured you with someone like him. I figured you more for a Bill Nye type.”