Scorned Love: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Scorned Fate)
Scorned Love: Chapter 25

“So you and Nico, huh?” Daniel said.

We were putting away the dishes from dinner. There wasn’t much since Nico brought a Japanese feast. He finally texted me before five and said he could pick up dinner. All things sushi and donburi were a default choice for the De Luccis when they couldn’t agree on what to eat.

The siblings minus Renz were playing monopoly in the living room. A game they’d been playing since childhood and a game where Nico always seemed to win, which had become worse since the cheater’s edition.

A sheepish smile crossed my face as I handed Daniel a dirty glass. “Yes. We’re official.” A difficult three days had passed since the fire, but I, and especially Xander, had been gaining perspective. The asset was his talent and those of our workroom staff. The outpouring of sympathy and the resulting outrage from the fashion community had worked in our favor. It wasn’t that we couldn’t deliver the goods on time. It was a spring collection after all. We just needed to increase the output.

And Daniel was making our requests a top priority with all the departments at Wheeler Corp.

“You cheated!” Bianca yelled at Nico.

“It’s cheater’s edition, Smurfette.”

Everyone laughed as he flicked a card on the board. “I can move your token. And you would have noticed if your eyes weren’t glued to your phone.”

“Ugh, why couldn’t we just play the regular one?”

“Because this is more fun,” Matteo said. The fourth player was Xander who got right along with the De Lucci siblings.

Daniel said, “I’m glad Xander is blending in.”

“Haven’t you heard? The De Luccis adopted him.”

A shadow came over my brother’s face and he averted his eyes. “And you, Mei? Am I losing you, too?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” The dishes could wait. I closed the dishwasher and dragged my brother past the living room and onto the balcony. I could feel curious gazes following us, especially Nico’s.

I realized my brother and I hadn’t had a heart-to-heart since he flew in the day of the fashion show. The fire happened and all the chaos that followed had overwhelmed us. We hadn’t discussed Wheeler Corp and the future. He had repelled our sneaky uncle’s attempt at a takeover, but at what cost?

“What kind of silly talk is that?” I crossed my arms, staring at him.

He flicked the leaves of the perennial plant, a gift from Renz, the De Lucci brother with a green thumb. He popped his shoulders without saying anything.

“See, I knew you shouldn’t have made me stay in the U.S. I should have been there in Hong Kong, helping you against Uncle’s machinations.”

“That’s not what Pa wanted.”

“Pa is not here anymore,” I yelled. “The Triad murdered him. And I’m afraid they might take you too.”

“I told you not to worry about that. It was an ancient vendetta that was a long time coming.”

“Then why don’t you want me to go back to Hong Kong?”

“Because your future is here, Mei.” He walked toward me and cupped my cheek. He rarely did this, but Daniel was feeling mushy, so I was feeling mushy right along with him. “You and Xander. I want to keep you guys away from the poison that’s infecting the power play at Wheeler Corp.”

“But you’re feeling alone,” I whispered.

“I’m feeling alone because I choose to be. And I have my staff who keep me company. Same workaholics like me. If you’re with me, I’ll drag you down and that’s not what I want for you. Plus, you’re not built for worksheets and numbers.”

“Hey—Stanford summa cum laude here.”

He laughed. “Because you’re brilliant. It was what Pa expected of you, but it’s not what I expect. I want you to love what you’re doing. Working within the confines of an office and boardrooms fuels my blood, not yours. It’s my choice.”

I cupped his hand that was on my face. “Well, you’ll never lose me. And you lost Sera because you didn’t deserve her.”

“Ouch.” He laughed. We joked about this often. As much as I loved my brother, he’d been totally wrong for Sera. Until Daniel found someone who he’d put above work, he was destined to be single. But he would never lose me as a sister. It seemed he and Matteo were getting along now, and Sera was becoming a non-issue.

Proof was we had dinner with no blood spilled. Xander said it had actually been pretty boring because he expected tension between Matteo and Daniel. There was more tension between Nico and Daniel and their avoidance of each other.

“So back to Nico. He’s not your usual type.”

“He’s not a rocker boy? I’d seen him in a leather jacket and jeans. Also, he’s got tattoos.” I was so glad the balcony was not bathed in natural light and had the twilight glow because I could feel my cheeks heating up. “Let’s just say he’s very James Dean.”

“He’s less broody than he was before.”

We both glanced into the living room. “How can you tell? You two barely spoke at dinner.” Nico’s default look was resting dick face, stemming from all those years of repelling bullies by appearing unapproachable. If only Manhattan knew how the broody brothers got their start. I wondered if Sera knew. We hadn’t discussed that either.

“Kind of hard, Mei, when one of your friends is sleeping with your sister,” Daniel muttered. “Nico doesn’t go through girlfriends like Matteo. He’s more discreet and he likes older women.”

A pinch of jealousy tweaked my chest. “Are you worried I’m just a phase?”

“No.” The furrow that was creasing the area between my brother’s brows cleared as if he’d come to a realization. “No,” he repeated with a smile. “I think they were the phase. I knew how he was with other women. I wouldn’t describe him as sweet with them…” Daniel gave a self-derisive laugh that wasn’t quite mocking, but more perplexed at a discovery. “What he did for you during your runway show? Go by the stage to encourage you? That wasn’t something he would do. And Xander told me what he’s done for you. Hell, what he’s done for you when I should’ve been the one taking care of you—”

“Let’s not rehash that,” I whispered. “Nico stepped up. That should raise your confidence in him and prove he’s good for me.”

“My only worry is this Rossi business. He’s got a beef with that asshole. That confrontation in front of the restaurant was all over social media. It was like high school again and Rossi is picking on his girlfriend.”

I startled. Not sure if Daniel knew about Nico and Joe Rossi’s past or it was just a general observation.

“He picked the wrong girlfriend to bully.”

“Stakes are higher, Mei.”

They were. We weren’t in high school. The consequences wouldn’t be solved by suspension or grounding or withholding allowance. The consequences were our burnt warehouse, and if Rossi was behind the attack at this loft, the pattern of bullying had escalated.

Afterward, we rejoined the rest of the guys in the living room, Daniel substituting for Bianca. She was a sore loser at Monopoly. Always had been apparently. She joined forces with Xander in heckling Nico, but he’d also bankrupted my cousin. Next to fold was Daniel, who was a rookie at the game. Nico hit him with a bank steal. Sera had been busy talking to him so he didn’t notice the swipe. I was careful not to distract my boyfriend since apparently these De Luccis take their board games seriously. The broody brothers were squaring off.

The set was on top of my large square coffee table.

“Now I know why you ended up getting this mega coffee table,” I said by Nico’s ear. “So you can use it for board games.”

“The initial one you selected was damaged. This was the closest.” He shook his hands with the dice and held it in front of me. “Come on, princess. Let’s win this.”

I gave his closed palms a blow, and he rolled the dice.

“Looks like you’re bankrupt, bro.” Nico smirked.

“What happened?”

“I called in his loan.”

“He cheats,” Bianca declared. “How about milk and cookies?”

“We just finished eating,” I told her.

“That was two hours ago.”

Nico grinned at me. “It’s tradition.”

“We have milk. I don’t think we have cookies,” I said.

“I have it covered!” Bianca announced. “I stashed a roll of Mom’s cookies in your freezer. Can I borrow the oven?”

I made to get up, but Nico pulled me down. “I got this. Who wants milk?”

Only Sera, Xander, and I raised our hands.

“Bring out the scotch,” Matteo said.

I watched my man and his sister bicker on their way to the kitchen.

Sera scooted to my side and whispered, “So, things are looking good between you and Nico.”

“Hmm…he’s been a little preoccupied since the warehouse fire, but he seems back to normal.” At least tonight.

“Do you know if Dom can do anything about the stolen goods?” I whispered.

Sera leaned in to look over my shoulder. “There’s no proof yet. I know the guys have been talking. Why don’t you ask Nico?”

I glanced at the duo in the kitchen again. My heart warmed by how cute they were together.

“I see that adoring smile,” Sera laughed. “I know how you feel. They always say to see how your men treat the women in their family. I was afraid because I always thought mothers-in-law would be a problem, but I couldn’t ask for a better one than Ava.” Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, if things work out, we’ll be sisters-in-law, anyway.”

Once upon a time, when Sera still had a crush on Daniel, she teased me that we could be sisters-in-law.

“You’re jumping way ahead.” I couldn’t help laughing. “Are we going to compete?”

“We’ll lose,” Sera said. “Liz is the angel.”

“Ha! True.”

It was almost midnight when the De Luccis and Daniel went home. I could barely keep my eyes open. Whatever they said about warm milk was true.

“Come on, baby,” Nico murmured. He led me to our bedroom and I almost went straight to bed without my nightly routine. With the importance of being camera ready all the time, I tried to be consistent about skin care. Try being the keyword. Tonight was a definite try. The exhaustion suddenly hit me, and if I didn’t get to bed in the next few minutes, I would need chopsticks to prop open my lids.

Somehow, I made it to the bed. When Nico got in beside me, he was being more amorous than he’d been since the fashion show. Maybe he thought I’d recovered my lusty mojo after the fire. Well, he was sadly mistaken. All I wanted to do was sleep.

He kissed my bare shoulder.

I did have on a sexy negligee.

“I’m too sleepy for sex,” I moaned.

He laughed softly, but continued kissing down my body, capturing my nipples and they responded, especially when his hand trailed up my thighs, spreading them and going in between. And since Nico forbade me from wearing panties at night, he had easy access. I’d woken up enough times with his mouth between my legs, woken up by an impending orgasm. Just thoughts of him going down on me made me spasm. It was like a sex dream where I just lay there and let him have his way with me.

I thought he was going downtown when his mouth returned to my lips and kissed me deeply. “I’ll take care of you.”

I laughed briefly. “Knock yourself out.” Or knock me out.

He kissed his way down my body again. The mattress shifted with his weight as he settled between my thighs. The first lash of his tongue had my back arching. I moaned, and it didn’t take him long to make me come. I was still pulsing madly when he wrapped himself around me, letting his fingers prolong my orgasm.

“You?” I asked.

“I just want to hold you.”

And that was all I remembered he said before I fell asleep.

Someone’s blasted phone was ringing, and it certainly wasn’t mine.

I cracked my lids open, the man behind me shifting and groaning while reaching over me to grab the device that so rudely awakened us.

“It’s six a.m., Dom,” Nico grumbled in a sleepy voice and paused. “You’re here? Dammit. Give me a few minutes.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, sleep slowly being replaced by a jolt of anxiety. Early morning wake-up calls would give me panic attacks for some time to come. “Please tell me nothing else is on fire.”

Nico had already sprung from the bed and gone into the bathroom. “Dom is downstairs. Can you tell the doorman to send him up?”

After I contacted the doorman, I joined him in the bathroom but Nico was already striding past me and back into the bedroom, throwing on a shirt and sweatpants. “What’s going on? Why is your cousin here?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say.” He tipped his chin at me. “Put on some clothes. I have a feeling this might involve you.”

His phone rang again. When he answered, “Yeah,” his eyes went to me and made a gesture for me to get ready, then he walked out of the bedroom. I hurried up and put on decent pajamas and topped them with a robe.

Dom was already in the loft when I joined them. Even Xander was awake and thank goodness he already had the coffee going.

The cousins were facing off in the living room.

“This is an early morning surprise,” I said. “To what do we owe this visit?”

I had never seen Dom this agitated, his face etched in foreboding that only escalated the acid churning in my gut that came with the anxiety. Coffee might not be a good idea.

“I was just making sure of your whereabouts last night.” He was addressing Nico.

“He was here,” I said sharply. “Why?”

“Joe Lollipop was gunned down early this morning. He’s dead.”

I swayed and clutched Nico’s arm. “Wh-what?”

His arms wrapped around me. “Well, as you can see, cuz,” he drawled lazily, not in the least bit perturbed. “I’m right here. Have been since last night. Do your sources in the NYPD have a time of when it happened?”

“Around two to four. The coroner made an estimate.” Dom looked longingly at the kitchen. “I could use some coffee. I drove down here straight from the house when I got the tip. Christ.”

I herded them into the kitchen where the coffee machine was almost done dripping. Xander leaned against the counter beside it, while I went to the cabinets to get the mugs.

“I can attest to Nico being here,” Xander said. “I can attest that he’s a shark at Monopoly.”

“Cheater’s edition,” I piped in.

“Hey…” Nico uttered in mock indignation.

“Can we be serious here?” Dom glared at his cousin before addressing me. “Do you know what Nico did the other day?”

I lowered the mugs on the counter and pointedly looked at Nico just as he snapped, “Dominic.”

But his cousin ignored him and continued, “He confronted Joe at a restaurant while having lunch—with his mistress.”

“He had it coming,” Nico countered.

“What, having a mistress? You think his wife doesn’t know? He just had to keep that on the down-low, but what did you do? You caused an incident, so it’s all over the fucking internet. You insulted his wife.”

“Whoever killed Joe Rossi did his wife a favor,” Nico said, a mask of hatred on his face. “Did everyone a favor, actually.”

“She’s not your concern,” Dom said. “But know what should be your concern? You’re suspect number one.”

“Nico was with me all night,” I protested. My phone went off. It was the concierge. “Ivy.”

“Miss Wu, we have the detectives from the NYPD to see you.”