Scorned Love: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Scorned Fate)
Scorned Love: Chapter 13

I didn’t recognize the woman in the mirror.

My entire face was purple. I couldn’t tell if there was any place that wasn’t swollen. My bottom lip was uneven. Nico and all self-consciousness were forgotten. I inched closer to the mirror, scrutinizing my reflection, hoping to find the woman I had fought so hard to become. But this was what I’d been reduced to: a giant bruise.

“I look terrible.”

“What did I tell you?” Nico said quietly. “You look gorgeous and fierce.”

I laughed, but it was tinged with derision. “You should quit being so nice because that’s when I really know you’re lying.”

He let out a long exhalation and touched my shoulder. My whole body froze when he turned me away from the mirror to face him.

My default reaction was to avoid his eyes, but I raised my chin in defiance.

“That’s my girl,” he murmured with satisfaction. “That right there is fucking sexy.”

At my puzzled look, he said, “I find courage amazing. I didn’t know how hot I would find it until you, Ivy, and you have it in spades.”

If he only knew my past. I looked down, but his finger lifted my chin so our gazes locked.

I shuddered, and goose bumps erupted all over my skin.

His brows drew together. “Cold?”

“Yes,” I lied. This time it wasn’t from the cold. My reaction had nothing to do with arousal either, but something he said and his intimate, caring actions did strange things inside me. Strange, because swooning wasn’t a reaction I associated with Nico.

“Come on.” He backed me into the counter and lifted me to sit on it. “I had a man bring me back the liniment from the boxing gym.” He tucked the lapels of my robe together as if that would keep me warm.

I glanced around the spacious bathroom. I had stayed in Renz and Liz’s unit before. They occupied the second floor, a convenient location since they operated Jabbin’ Java in the building. I gave up my keto coffee because Nico’s brother made evil but delicious carby stuff. Lorenzo “Renz” De Lucci didn’t follow his brothers into the cutthroat world of real-estate business and whatever other endeavors encompassed De Lucci Transnational interests. His passion was his family, baked goods, and kick-ass coffee. In a way, we were similar. Wheeler Corp had many subsidiaries. I wasn’t interested in balance sheets and profit-and-loss statements. Xander broke away from our family too because his father, Uncle Jimmy, and Daniel’s nemesis, couldn’t accept that his only son was bisexual. And that was why I was determined to see Xander succeed. It was a fuck-you to my uncle, and I was determined to do everything in my power to see Xander’s designs be on Glamourique’s fashion edits.

Nico returned with a familiar bottle of the ancient liniment. He looked at my head and frowned. “The Steri-Strips on your forehead should hold for a bit.”

Nico had put on athletic shorts, but he was still shirtless, and for the first time, I was aware of our mingled-soap smell. It wouldn’t last once he put that stinky liniment on me.

“I’ll massage this Dit on you.”

“Okay.” Might as well. I wasn’t going to be shy.

He uncorked it and gave it a whiff. “I forgot how strong this is.”

“It’s the scent of my ancestors,” I quipped.

He poured the liquid in his palms and immediately dribbled it on my thigh and worked up to my right hip area where the bruising was more prominent.

“It might be best for you to stand.”

I did so without additional prodding. He went down on his haunches and I was acutely aware that my pussy was right in front of his face. His mouth twitched.

“Are you going to say hi?”

“Hello, kitty.”

He moved his face in front of it and gave it a reverent kiss.

A bubble of laughter burst from my mouth, but I immediately sucked in a pained breath.

“Later.” He glanced up at me and winked. “I want you to be in fighting form.”

“Didn’t I tell you we really shouldn’t?”

“Talk later.” He continued rubbing my hip. “Does this hurt?”

“No. Don’t get it near any of my holes.”

“Yes, ma’am. We don’t want to cause another emergency.”

“Got that right.”

We continued with the lighthearted banter. It was a side to Nico I’d never witnessed before and it was a side I was finding extremely attractive.

I blocked two blows from the middle man before I got him close enough to strike him on the chest with my palm. He staggered back.

I side-kicked the third dude, just in time to see the deadly arc of the steel pipe. I leaned away, but it caught me right across the forehead.

Blood filled my vision. I didn’t even feel pain. A blow across my cheek sent me crashing to the floor. Fear finally sunk in and robbed me of breath.

“Nico!” I screamed.

Overwhelming pain raced up my arm. I realized I tried to break my fall with my right hand. Rookie mistake. I landed hard on my hips. The kicks to my ribs started.

“You fucking bitch.”

“Think you can kung fu your way out of this?”

Blindly, I rolled away from their voices, and propped myself up with my left hand. Sweeping my leg in an arc, I sent one of them to the floor.

“Shut her up,” someone screamed.

A foot kicked me onto my back.

I was still clearing the blood from my eyes, but I saw the outline of Steel Pipe above me, his giant shoe about to cave in my chest.

Rapid gunshots echoed throughout the loft. There was a split second where I didn’t care and just wanted to lie there. My insides were on fire and my head was throbbing. What followed was shame. Shame that I had given up.

Our assailants limped out of there. One of them wailed that he was shot. I rolled onto my chest and tried to push up. My wrist bitched at me. I sagged back to the floor, but not before I saw Trevor.

He was on his knees, his arm with a gun hanging limply by his side. “Ivy, you o…kay, girl?”

He didn’t sound too good. I tried to lift my head.

He fell facedown on the floor.

“Trevor,” I cried. On my left side, I crawled toward him and midway I saw the blood pooling under him.

“No. No. No. Trevor.”

“Trevor!”

I woke up in darkness and pain. The bed beneath me shifted and the light from the lampshade illuminated an unfamiliar room.

“He’s okay.”

Confusion made me squint my eyes to see Nico in bed with me. But it was the smell of the liniment that reminded me of how he took care of me tonight.

I was already sitting up. Nico grabbed the glass of water and dropped two pills in my hand. “It’s time for this.”

“You didn’t have to stay beside me.”

“Don’t argue.”

“See? You’re already testy.”

After I downed the pills, he took the glass from me and switched off the lights. “I’m testy because I hate seeing you struggle in your sleep.”

“Was I babbling?”

“I was debating on waking you when you woke yourself up.”

“Oh.”

“Go to sleep, Ivy.”

“I’m not sure I want to.”

“Was it the attack?” He carefully arranged me in the crook of his arms.

“I smell.”

“Shut up,” he grumbled. “Was it the attack?”

“Yes. So much blood. I think it was exaggerated. I’m not sure…the sequence of events is blurry.” And skewed. Trevor in my dream fell forward unconscious. In reality, we crawled to each other. My subconscious was still grappling with the fear that my assailants killed him.

“It’ll come back. Sleep.”

“Nico…”

“Sleep. I got you.”