Scorned Love: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Scorned Fate)
Scorned Love: Chapter 19

Oakley, a New American restaurant, was hopping by the time we got there. Bianca and Xander didn’t join us because they had a prior appointment with Carlotta.

“I hope my aunt isn’t using Sera’s connections to ask you for favors,” Nico said.

“Of course not.” I winked. “Xander is getting adopted by the De Luccis, I hear.”

“Well, princess, you’re already an honorary member.” He tipped his chin to a table just as I spotted Sera waving us over.

We had to fight our way through the crush of the bar and tables, through a crowd of Manhattanites unwinding after a day at the office on a Thursday evening.

The tables were tiny and close together. I almost felt sorry for the De Lucci brothers. Nico was bulkier than Matteo, so when we took our seats, all available space had disappeared.

“Aren’t we feeling claustrophobic here?” I asked Sera.

“The food is great,” my friend said even when I caught Matteo rolling his eyes.

I glanced over at Nico, struggling to adjust in his seat without slamming his chair against the one behind him.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’ll live. Need a beer.”

“You just had ice cream.”

“Has no effect on my system,” he replied.

“I’m not really hungry,” I told Sera. “And the guys look like they’re sitting at a kids’ table.”

Sera laughed. “They’ll be fine. They have this black garlic hummus that I love. And get this, it’s thickened with walnut.”

“Yum,” I deadpanned. Nico’s hand sought mine under the table and squeezed. I looked at him, he stared at me, and we both exchanged a smile.

“Oh my God, you two,” Sera gushed and glanced at her husband. “Don’t they look cute?”

“I’m still debating what Daniel would say,” Matteo muttered.

“I’m not worried,” Nico replied.

“We have that big real-estate deal.”

“That’s a done deal,” Nico said. “He’s hardly going to back out of it.”

“I’ll handle Daniel,” Sera announced.

“No fucking way,” Matteo growled.

“Guysguysguysguys…” I said. “I can handle my brother.”

“Well…” Matteo drawled, raising his phone to show Daniel calling. “Do you want to talk to him now?”

“I’ll talk to him.” Nico reached for the phone.

“No.” I grabbed for his arm.

Matteo’s phone stopped ringing.

Sera’s phone went off. My friend was shaking her head when it showed Daniel calling. “Why isn’t he calling you?”

“Because Nico confiscated my phone and turned it off.”

Sera answered the call. “Yes, Dan, she’s here.” And then handed it to me.

“Hey…” I greeted my brother.

“What the hell, Ivy?” Daniel’s voice crackled. The reception was poor and the boisterous restaurant wasn’t helping, either.

I rose in my seat. Nico stopped me. “Where are you going?”

“Hold on,” I told Daniel and gestured toward the front of the restaurant where there was outdoor seating.

He pointed to his eyes and then pointed to where I was going. “Don’t venture too far.”

“Get me an iced tea, please,” I told him.

“So…” I returned to my call.

“Ivy. What is that I just saw on your Pixygram?”

“I didn’t know you checked my Pixygram,” I teased him as I pushed open the door to the outside. I walked over to where the planters demarcated the restaurant’s outdoor seating with the sidewalk.

“A friend of ours forwarded it to me. So, is it true or a gimmick?”

“It’s not a gimmick. That’s not Nico’s nature.”

“Then what?”

“Daniel, you never reacted this way with any of my boyfriends.” Silent disdain, sure. And he never knew about Edward. “Is this still about Sera and Matteo?”

“I can’t believe you would ask me that.”

“Then don’t butt into this thing between Nico and me. It just happened, okay? We don’t even know what we are, but Nico’s not taking advantage of me, I assure you. He’s been a perfect gentleman all throughout the time I stayed at their apartment.”

He didn’t need to know about our prior encounter. I still wouldn’t have believed that happened if it wasn’t for the evidence of the surveillance footage.

A black Escalade pulled in front of the restaurant. The front-row passenger seat opened and a man in a dark shirt and dark jeans stepped out to open the middle-row door. A man with a shaved head and a meticulously trimmed beard, outfitted in an expensively cut suit, stepped out. He looked familiar. He also made my hair stand on end, especially when he was joined by Al Scavo, which meant the brother wasn’t far behind.

“Listen, I need to go back in. I’ll call you tonight, okay?”

The suited man smiled at me as both Scavo brothers flanked him. Their eyes were on me, and I refused to react. I even tried not to let it register that I recognized them, so I hadn’t ended my call yet. Neither did I back away because I recognized two Arrows—or they could be De Lucci soldiers—closing in.

“I just don’t want you hurt. I know Nico’s reputation about his relationship with women.”

“Well, we haven’t discussed his past loves yet.” I laughed lightly, but my laughter died when the bald man had the audacity to invade my space.

I covered the mouthpiece and glared at him. “May I help you?”

“Miss Wu? I’m Joe Rossi—”

Something—probably the door—crashed behind me.

“Stay away from her, fucker,” Nico’s voice thundered.

“Ivy, what—”

I cut Daniel off with, “Call you back.” Then ended the call.

I spun around just in time to stop Nico from running full tilt into Rossi. He gripped my elbows and tried to set me aside, but Matteo came in from behind and held him back.

“Nico De Lucci.” Joe smirked. “Your face is unrecognizable when it’s not beneath my shoe.”

What the hell is he talking about?

Nico’s face darkened with a rage I’d never witnessed on his face before. “Let’s see whose face will be flattened against the pavement now, yeah?”

“Big brother always comes to the rescue, huh?” Joe sneered. “And now you have this beauty here protecting you.”

“Shut up, asshole. Nico’s the one protecting me,” I snapped.

“Really? I heard about your unfortunate home invasion—”

“As if you didn’t have anything to do with it,” Nico snarled, shaking off Matteo. He shoved me behind him and went nose to nose with Rossi, or nose to forehead, since the other man was about three inches shorter than Nico.

“That’s why I’m here to personally tell Miss Wu that it wasn’t us.”

“I don’t care,” I said behind Nico. “But these two assholes—”

“They’re here to apologize.”

“What? Three weeks too late?”

“What’s the sayin’, better late than never?”

I glared.

“Don’t trust him,” Nico spat.

I made a disgusted sound that indicated I wouldn’t ever but that seemed to have no effect in wiping off that annoying self-satisfied smile on Rossi’s face. Like he enjoyed getting Nico all lathered up. I was clinging to his torso, but rage bled out of his pores.

“Have you told her about Layla?”

Layla? Who the hell is Layla? And why did Nico freeze?

“Fuck you, Rossi. Come on, Ivy.”

Nico turned away and wrapped his arms protectively around me.

“He can’t hold on to pussy, that one. Whenever you’re ready for a real man, Miss Wu, crawl to me.”

It happened lighting fast. Nico let go of me and flew at Joe Rossi, and then they were on the ground, pounding on each other.

“Fuck,” Matteo growled and jumped in after his brother.

Al Scavo kicked Nico. I saw red and was about to wade into the chaos of limbs and grunting men, when a De Lucci soldier blocked me. “Miss Wu. Don’t!”

Sera also held on to me. “Don’t get involved!”

The sound of the police sirens did its job of untangling the combatants.

Nico was immediately at my side and led us to a waiting vehicle. Matteo and Sera climbed in, and the vehicle screeched away from the curb.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Matteo roared, twisting around from the front passenger seat to glare at Nico. “You don’t let Joe Lollipop bait you.” He faced forward and slapped the dashboard. “Fuck!”

Nico gripped me tighter, but remained quiet, brooding.

“Dom’s calling.” Matteo exhaled a breath before answering the phone. “Yeah…we got away before the cops arrived. The Grindhouse? Okay.” He ended the call and said, “Emergency meeting.”

Nico still wasn’t saying anything, just staring out the window.

“Are you okay?” I asked. “Let me look at your face.” I cupped his chin toward me, but he jerked it away.

“I’m fine.” His tone was clipped.

Oookay. Nico was in full broody mode, but at least I was tucked to his side like he didn’t want to let me go. I turned to Sera. I still had her phone gripped in my hand. “It’s been going off.”

Sera stared at the screen, sighed, and turned off her phone too. “I don’t want to deal with it.”

“Dom has to do damage control.” Matteo was addressing everyone in the car.

“Damage control for what? He was defending me,” I countered.

“But it was Nico who attacked.”

Oh my God. “Would he be charged with assault?”

“Rossi will not file charges,” Matteo said. “We have a record of his men extorting your business. That’s the ace we hold over him. But he would like the De Luccis to owe him.”

“Owe him for what? He was the one who harassed me.”

“Yeah, but Nico attacked a made man without physical provocation. And Joe is the acting boss of the Rossi crime family. He could raise a stink about that.”

“Zio Luca said the made man culture has become a thing of the past,” Sera said. “There’s noise about allowing more women to join the ranks and a member doesn’t have to be a full-blooded Italian anymore.”

“I’m sorry if I caused problems,” I whispered.

Nico’s head whipped around. “You didn’t. That confrontation was a long time coming.”

“What do you mean?”

Nico

“What the fuck, cuz?”

As expected, Dom was not happy. We were in The Underground, the building’s basement, and I delayed explaining my long beef with Joe to Ivy. I was still raging and too pissed that he breathed the same air as her. If I hadn’t had my arms around Ivy, I would have lost my shit on the way here. I realized this in the vehicle. Her nearness and physical touch calmed me.

Both the De Lucci crime family and the Archer Syndicate crew were scattered around the basement for the pull-up meeting. Trevor was standing by the wall, his arm still in a sling. Sera kept Ivy company on the third floor.

“Joe and the Scavos surrounded Ivy. What did you expect me to do, go pussy?”

“Don’t give me that shit. Your encounter is all over social media. The brawl could have been avoided if you just walked away.”

“You have to admit, Joe had it coming,” Trevor spoke up.

I shot our sergeant-at-arms a grateful look for supporting my actions. “It puts you in a difficult position, I get that, but no way was I going to let that insult slide and be his last word.”

“All I’m sayin’, give me a heads-up before you cause more problems.” Dom shook his head. He was more perplexed than angry, judging by the glint in his eyes and the self-deprecating smile. “You have to do it big in one day. Announce to the entire world that you’re in a relationship with the social media star who kicked the ass of the Rossi soldiers on tape and the family might have been the ones who retaliated, and then…” He made a dramatic pause. “Get into a full-on brawl with Joe in public. All in the space of two hours.”

“Obviously, he’s been stalking Ivy’s socials and followed us.”

“I’m glad you guys are taking Arrows or my crew whenever you go traipsing around Manhattan,” Dom grumbled.

“As much as I’d like to keep Ivy in a bubble, she’s not built that way.”

“That girl has a steel spine,” one of the soldiers spoke up. “She was about to dive in and rescue you.”

Everyone laughed, but it set my teeth on edge. Today was the first day she was acting and feeling like herself.

“That wouldn’t have gone over well,” I muttered. “I’d blister her ass.”

“TMI?” Dom mumbled under his breath. “Get out of here.”

I frowned. “We’re not talking about how to take out Joe Rossi? The man’s gotta go.”

“Be thankful I’m not putting in a vote to have you exiled again,” Dom warned.

“You’d have to roll me in a carpet and put me on the fucking plane yourself.”

“Just cool it for a bit, huh?” Dom said. “I’m talking to the other families. They’re not too keen about Joe being the acting boss either, but we gotta have a reason he shouldn’t be.”

And that was speaking in code for having him whacked.

“Should have been Sandro.”

“He’s happy in Harlem,” Dom muttered. “Wait, didn’t we have this conversation before?”

“We’ve had this conversation a lotta times,” a soldier spoke up. “But these two”—he nodded to Matteo and me—“want him to stay in Harlem.”

“You know if Bianca—” Dom started.

“Shut up,” Matteo and I snapped in unison.

“You talk to your boss like that?” Dom said this with a smile.

“We’re talking to our cousin,” I gritted. “So, are we done here? We could have settled this shit over text.”

“We could have if you were responding to my messages,” my cousin said dryly. “Has the police released Ivy’s loft yet?”

“Yesterday,” I said. “Trevor and I are going over there to check the damage and what cleanup is needed.”

“You need help from my crew…let me know,” Dom said.

And just like that, we were back on the same page.

When Matteo and I entered the third-floor apartment, Sera and Ivy got up from around the dinner table and met us.

“Is everything all right?” A worried look crossed Ivy’s face. And it reminded me of the blind fury that hit me when I saw Joe approach her through the restaurant windows. I had surged to my feet, not caring if my chair had banged against the one behind me, that the customer yelled at me for being an asshole. All I cared about was getting to Ivy.

Now, I reached for her again, needing to be close to her. “I’m fine now.” I breathed into her hair. My feelings for her had me in a choke hold. She could make me lose my mind as well as calm the anger inside me. In the vehicle, pumped full of adrenaline, I was drowning in dark thoughts that I could have ended Joe Lollipop right there. I could have broken his neck or cracked his head against the pavement. But where would that have left me?

In jail for manslaughter and possibly murder.

“Sera and I are heading out.” Matteo broke through the resurgence of my homicidal thoughts. He looked at me warily. “You okay?”

I nodded over Ivy’s shoulder, still inhaling her closeness. We broke apart momentarily to walk them to the door, but I kept my arm around her.

“Since you have Ivy’s phone,” Sera said. “Xander called to tell me he’s staying over at Mom and Dad’s.”

“He’s really getting adopted by the De Luccis,” Ivy teased.

I nodded briefly. That meant Ivy and I were going to be alone tonight. I needed something from her. “Later.”

After the door shut, I turned her around and rested my hands loosely on her shoulders. Too much tension was thrumming through me and I hated transferring it to her.

“Are you really okay?” she asked.

Instead of answering her, I looked her straight in the eye. “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”

“They pissed me off.”

“Ivy,” I growled. “You’re kick-ass and all, but for once, please let your man protect you.”

“My man?” Her mouth twitched.

“That’s the price, princess.” I brought my mouth close to hers. “For putting my face on your social media.”

“You’re so cocky.”

“No, I just claimed you in front of the world.” I was getting more worked up by the second at the face of her denial.

“Where’s my phone?” she demanded.

“Later,” I mumbled.

“No. Not later. It’s a good thing I called Daniel again using Sera’s phone.”

With a bit of impatience, I slipped it out of my pocket and handed it to her. She turned it on, and as the rapid beeps of notifications had her attention, I started backing her in the direction of my bedroom, taking advantage of her preoccupation with the apps on her device.

When she realized what room I’d taken her to, she squeaked. “This isn’t my room.”

“Nope, it’s mine. Your bed still stinks of Dit.” I inhaled her neck. “I’m liking this smell better.”

“What?” she laughed. “New York smog?”

“Did you know pheromones are in sweat?”

“Uh, I think I’ve heard about it somewhere.”

“So, do you think I wouldn’t love this smell? It’s very sexy.” Primitive. Primal. A consuming basic instinct. I licked the shell of her ear and tasted salt and Ivy. I grew rock hard.

“Nico.” She laughed and turned around, her breath hitching when she caught the look on my face. Did I look serious enough? Did I look like I wanted to devour her? The urge to rut into her with abandon was overwhelming. She wasn’t fully healed yet, but I had the perfect way to help her relax after a long day at work.

I grabbed the phone from her hand and tossed it on the night table.

“I want to taste you.”

She looked away. “Let me shower.”

I cupped her face gently and locked our gazes. “What’s this obsession with showering before sex?” I remembered this annoyed the fuck out of me our first time. It removed the spontaneity and erased all the mouthwatering goodness working up to it.

“I’ve been out all day, okay?”

She was making me harder. I dragged her into my arms. “You know what that means, Ivy?”

“What?”

“The taste of soap is gone, and all that’s left is pure Ivy flavor.” My gaze dragged down her face. “Are you wet?”

She was panting. “You know I am.”

I grinned slowly. “Then the more I’m not letting you wash away what belongs to me.” I closed my eyes. I ached to bury my tongue and cock inside her.