“I’ll figure this out. I swear it. And when I do, everyone will know the truth….about what happened, and about you.”
The doors of the elevator opened, but it was too late. Before I could stop myself I threw up all over Nico’s custom-made Italian leather shoes.
“Oh, gosh,” I said between heaves. “I’m so sorry.”
Nico, to his credit, didn’t flinch. He didn’t even step away. After the worst of it had passed, he took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed my face. At some point, I’d begun crying hysterically, but he handled it like a boss.
“There, there,” he said. “No need to cry. You’re alright now.”
The nicer he acted, the harder I cried. “Stop,” I said. “You’re making it worse.”
He held up his hands, befuddled. “How am I making it worse?
“You’re being kind. I can handle it when you’re crabby. I can handle it when you growl at me. I can’t handle it when you’re sweet and gentle. It’s…just…too…much.”
I now had the hiccups, on top of everything else. Great.
Nico’s lips twitched. “I shall endeavor not to be sweet ever again. I’ve never been called ‘sweet’ before, so it shouldn’t be terribly difficult.”
He was trying not to laugh, the jerk. He called the building supervisor to clean up the mess, led me into the elevator, and pressed the button for my floor. As I struggled to compose myself, I looked down at his shoes and winced. They were a complete mess.
“I can’t believe I threw up on your shoes.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “They’ve been through worse. Trust me. You should have told me you were feeling unwell. I wouldn’t have pressed you like I did if I’d known, but you have understand, Chloe. I need to figure this out.”
“I know.” I took a deep breath. “I’m also sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it. You’re great at your job.”
He raised one dark eyebrow at me. “And how would you know?”
“I’ve watched you. Alex trusts you completely. That kind of trust isn’t just given to anyone. It has to be earned.” The doors opened to my floor and I stepped out. I didn’t expect Nico to follow me to my apartment. “What are you doing?”
“Earning your trust. You have refused to let me come into your apartment and meet your family. I thought it was because you were a society snob, too precious to allow a servant into your private quarters, but, as I’ve gotten to know you better, I’ve begun to suspect it’s something different.”
My fingers rested on the doorknob, but I wasn’t ready to open it yet. “And what do you suspect exactly?”
His voice grew soft. “I think you have a secret, and I want you to share it with me. I want you to trust me. More than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. Also, I want to clean my shoes. They smell kind of funky. So what do you think? Will you let me come in?”
The man guarding our apartment stood off to the side, giving us privacy. Nico leaned against the wall near the door, his black hair falling across his forehead, looking desirable and perfect in spite of his dirty shoes.
I knew I was making yet another terrible mistake, but I couldn’t help it. I opened the door and let Nicolai Mercia into our apartment, and into our lives. The first stranger to walk through our door in three long years.
Looking at the empty vast, darkness from someone else’s perspective was difficult for me. It was late afternoon, but all the doors to the inner rooms of the apartment were closed, and the light in the spacious foyer didn’t work. I turned on a little lamp we had off to the side and waited for his reaction.
What did Nico see, exactly? Did he notice the bare spots on the walls where expensive artwork once hung? Could he tell the remaining bits of furniture consisted only of things too broken or rickety to sell or pawn? Would he be able to understand this had once been a home, a place filled with light, laughter, and love?
Probably not. I expected to find a look of pity in Nico’s eyes, and knew it might be my undoing. I didn’t have much of anything left. I needed to hold onto whatever dignity remained. But I couldn’t stop myself from looking up and meeting his gaze.
“What happened?” he asked. He didn’t make sympathetic noises or treat me like a charity case. I wouldn’t have been able to handle it if he had. Instead, he was matter-of-fact about it, like he visited the remnants of luxury apartments on Park Avenue all the time.
I must have needed to talk, because, before I knew it, the words came tumbling out of my mouth. I told him about the accident, my parents, and the situation we were in right now. I spoke openly, but kept my words as unemotional as possible, simply telling him the facts. It felt good to open up, like a dam had burst inside me, and he listened, nodding, until I finished.
“I’ve seen this happen before, in Europe,” he said. “There are many castles which look exactly like this, often for similar reasons. But explain one thing to me. Why live here when it’s obviously so expensive to maintain? Why not move somewhere else?”
“Two reasons. My father and my little sister, Ella. I’m not sure what would happen to my father if we moved. He’s barely surviving as it is. Because of the money I got from the interview with Dirk, I was able to pay for a therapist to come here once a week and work with him. I think it’s already helping.”
“And your sister?”
“She’s already lost so much. Her mother. Her father. Yes, he’s still alive, but he isn’t able to parent her, not even a little. Many of her friends disappeared as soon as our fortune did. This is the only home she’s ever known. How can I take that away from her?”
“Even if it means putting yourself into a hopelessly difficult situation?”
“It’s not hopeless anymore,” I said, giving him a wobbly smile. “I could not have been shot saving a prince at a better time. Mystery solved?”
To my surprise, he shook his head. “Not quite. I want to meet your father, and Ella.”
“Oh. Lovely. Well, my father is an absolute joy. Very easy to talk to. The only problem is he won’t answer you back. Minor detail, right? He’s been living like this, in a nearly catatonic state, for the last three years. The good news is, he’s easy to find because he never moves. He’s in that room,” I said, pointing to the door of the main living room of the apartment. “He does nothing but sit and stare out the window. He hasn’t spoken more than a few words since mother died.”
“And your sister?”
I looked at my watch. “She’ll be here soon. You can meet her, I guess, but I’ll have to feed her first. I hope you don’t mind. She’s always starving when she gets home. I’ll make her a sandwich right now.”
I turned to go toward the kitchen, but he stopped me. “I have a better idea. Why don’t we order some food in, my treat, and have dinner all together?”
I let out a laugh with no humor in it at all. “Like one big happy family?”
“Of course,” he said. “I’d enjoy it. I rarely have time to do things like this.”
I blew out a breath. “I don’t want your pity, Nico, or your charity. You don’t have to pay for our dinner, and you don’t have to be nice to me because you found out I’m poor.”
“I’m not being nice. I’m being nosy. I’m trying to understand you, and every time I think I do, you throw me for a loop. I’d like to have dinner with your family, and you owe me one. You got sick on my shoes. Speaking of which, may I use your bathroom so I can clean them off?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, cocking my finger and indicating he should give them to me. “The Burkharts always clean up their own messes.”
He took off his shoes and handed them over. “Good to know.”
~
Ella burst through the door right after the Chinese food arrived. We ordered from her favorite place, Chen’s, and she nearly bounced up and down with excitement as soon as she smelled the delicious aroma of garlic beef, green curry shrimp, and sesame chicken.
She shook Nico’s hand, perfectly comfortable w
ith the fact he was in our apartment and about to have dinner with us. My father seemed okay with it, too. I’d introduced Nico to him right before Ella got home. To my surprise, he nodded and said, “Nice to meet you,” before his attention went back to the window again.
“I thought you said he didn’t talk,” said Nico.
“He doesn’t.” I had to blink away tears. “Can the therapy be working this quickly?”
Nico shrugged his broad shoulders. “I have no idea, but I think it’s a good sign. Don’t you?”
I nodded, and rushed off to the kitchen to get plates and silverware. I bypassed the daily use stuff, and went instead for the most elegant dishes we owned, the Waterford china with an intricate gold lace pattern around the edges. They’d been a wedding gift for my parents from Grandma and Grandpa Burkhart, and had a golden “B” in the middle of each plate. Father smiled when he saw them, tracing the “B” with his finger, and managed to converse a bit with Nico during dinner. Nico did most of the talking, of course, telling us about Latovia, and his childhood spent in England, but when he asked Father if he’d ever been to London, he actually got an answer.
“Yes,” he said. “Many times.”
Ella and I stared at him in shock. Those three words were more than we’d heard come out of his mouth in months. I ducked my head, not wanting to ruin the moment, and terrified I might burst into tears. Nico, sitting next to me reached under the table and gave my hand a gentle squeeze. I looked up at him, unable to contain the grateful smile on my face.
“Thank you.” I mouthed the words to him.
“You’re welcome,” he said back, but didn’t let go of my hand immediately. Instead, he caressed it with his thumb and stared deeply into my eyes, before finally letting it go. Ella asked a question about Corossa, the capital city of Latovia, and the spell was broken, but it took a solid five minutes for my heart rate to return to normal.
Holy cow. If Nico could do that to me with a simple touch of his hand, how would it feel to kiss him? To hold his big body in my arms and let myself be enveloped in his warmth?
I was still thinking about it as we said our goodbyes in the dismal foyer. It made me act oddly nervous around him. “Thank you for dinner,” I said. “And sorry again about your shoes.”
“Warn me the next time you feel car sick, okay?” He gave me a sexy half smile, and the effect it had on me was amazing. A full body, head down to my pinky toes kind of reaction.
“Yeah. Car sick.” I looked down at my toes. I’d changed into a comfy pair of black stretchy pants and a sweater when we’d gotten home, and my feet were bare. We stood next to the door, but I didn’t open it, instead, I stood there, wringing my hands. That was a new thing for me. I’d never been much of a hand wringer before.
“What is it, Chloe?”
Did his voice sound huskier, his accent thicker than usual? I couldn’t tell, but it seemed that way. I looked up at him, sure my emotions were written all over my face.
“Thank you, Nico. For tonight. It meant more than I can ever express…”
My words were cut off when his lips met mine in the sweetest and softest kiss I’d ever imagined. How could someone as big and strong and hard as Nico kiss like this? He made me feel as delicate as the porcelain plates from Grandpa Burkhart, and as valuable.
His large hands cupped my face as the kiss deepened. I covered his hands with mine, stretching on my tiptoes to get closer to him. We broke apart when Ella closed a door from somewhere inside the apartment and called out my name.
“Sissy. Do you know where my new socks are?”
I’d finally gotten her a new uniform, socks and all, and she was setting it out to wear to school tomorrow. “I’ll be right there,” I called out. Nico still stroked my face with his fingers, his eyes on mine. The man was positively hypnotic. He should come with a warning label, Don’t drive or operate heavy machinery after kissing Nicolai Mercia. It could be dangerous.
“Good night, Chloe,” he said, giving me one last brief kiss. “Sleep well.”
After he left, I closed the door and leaned my back against it with a happy sigh. The post-kiss bliss lasted about ten seconds, until I remembered two very important things. First of all, Nico hadn’t been able to pick up the recordings from the police department today, but he would probably do so first thing tomorrow. When he did, when he saw exactly what happened that morning, he would hate me. He’d never buy take out for my family, chat with my father, or charm my little sister ever again. And he definitely wouldn’t kiss me. Not once he knew the truth. He didn’t seem the type to kiss people who were big, fat liars. He was far too noble and way too honorable for something like that.
And there was another thing, and it was important. I still had to pretend to be dating the prince, his boss. How would it make Nico feel to watch me as I went out with another man? How could I pretend to be interested in Alex, when Nico had kissed me senseless? We were supposed to go out to dinner at Le Charles tomorrow night, one of the nicest restaurants in the city, and I had to flirt with Alex…in front of Nico.
I covered my face with my hands. Gah.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave…I thought to myself, and it was true. One lie had led to another and another and now I was trapped in a mess of my own making.
Even if I wanted to tell Nico the whole truth at this point, I couldn’t. He would hate me. And I could handle a lot, but not his hate. Anything but that.
Sadly, there was no way out. I was well and truly stuck.
~
Le Charles was even better than I remembered. Low lighting, comfortable seating, a fabulous menu, and a gorgeous view of Central Park. Sitting at a table for two with Alex, the Crowned Prince of Latovia, was something most girls could only dream about. Charming, handsome, wealthy, and incredibly nice, Alex covered all the bases without even being a prince. The royalty thing? Icing on an already yummy cake, but I craved something different at the moment. Something dark, decadent, and delicious.
Nico Mercia.
Ever since it he kissed me, I couldn’t think of anything else but doing it again. When he picked me up for my date with the prince, he acted like a total professional
“How are you feeling today?” he asked.
“Much better,” I said. “And you?”
“I’m very well, thank you. Although we’ve had a bit of a setback. I picked up the tapes from the police today. They weren’t as helpful as I’d hoped. Although we saw the moment you ever-so-gracefully leapt on the prince, we couldn’t get a clear view of the shooter. The tapes are basically worthless.”
I made my face look as serious and as disappointed as possible while internally doing a happy dance. “Oh, that’s too bad,” I said, but heaved a huge sigh of relief. Nico didn’t hate me. Not yet at least.
“Yes, but please don’t be concerned. I’ll catch him eventually. It’s just a matter of time.”
And would he catch me, too? I thought worriedly. Would he figure out the truth? I hoped not, but Nico was as tenacious as he was thorough. He wouldn’t rest until all the questions in his mind were answered, including those involving me.
As he helped me into the limo, he held my hand a bit longer than necessary and gave my arm the briefest of caresses. It made a wave of delightful shivers erupt all over my body.
Alex, already seated inside the limo, didn’t notice. He greeted me with a smile. “Glad to see you’re doing better today, Chloe, and thank you for accompanying me this evening.”
Alex chatted the whole way to the restaurant about the work he’d been doing, especially about building schools in remote villages in Africa. An interesting topic, but not as interesting as staring at the back of Nico’s head. He sat in the front seat of the limo next to the driver, and I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off him. I loved the way his dark hair just brushed his collar of his shirt, and the strong set of his broad shoulders. It practically made my mouth water.
He must have sensed my eyes on him. He put down his sun visor, and I caught
him staring right back at me in the mirror.
Busted.
He gave me a saucy wink, and I ducked my head, trying not to giggle with pleasure at the way he made me feel. It was unexpected, this thing I had with Nico. It’d come at me out of nowhere. I had no idea what would happen in the future, or how to deal with him in the present, so I chose to go with the flow and enjoy it for what it was—a meaningless flirtation with a beautiful, interesting man. A man who could very well hate me soon, so I might as well make the most of it.
I smoothed the fabric of my emerald silk dress. The color matched my eyes, and the dress fit the curves of my body like it had been made for me. Norah had found it for me, of course, and she’d come to help me get ready before my date.
“What do you think of the prince?” she asked as Ella worked on my makeup.
“He’s nice. Very sweet. And I admire the work his foundation is involved with. It’s pretty amazing.”
“So you aren’t, like, interested in him or anything?”
“No. Why?”
She shrugged, her expression inscrutable. “He’s handsome, hot, and rich, and he seems like a decent human being as well. And he’s smart, too. I mean super smart. Even smarter than Ella maybe.”
“Hey,” said Ella. “Watch it, No-No.”
Norah rolled her eyes. “Not you, too. Why does everyone in your family insist on calling me by that stupid nickname? It’s ridiculous.” She shook her head. “So back to the prince, what do you think? Would you do him?”
I gasped. “No. I don’t feel that way for him at all.”
For some reason, Norah looked at bit…relieved? I was about to ask her about it when Ella interrupted my thoughts. “Ask Chloe who she does feel that way about. I think I know the answer.”
“Who?” asked Norah, comprehension dawning in her gaze. “Oh, baby. Does Chloe have a thing for Mr. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy? Now that would be interesting. He’s almost as hot as the prince.”
“Hotter,” I said, before I could stop myself, and they both laughed. But I wasn’t laughing as Nico watched me from across the room as I wined and dined with another man. Tall, Dark, and Grumpy didn’t even begin to describe it. He was beyond grumpy now. He was positively brooding.
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