“I’ll call Gloria and let her know you’re coming. She will get the place ready for you.”
My mother smiles brightly.
“And you said this is only temporary, right?”
Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help Evelyn, but in the past she and I haven’t always gotten along for extended periods of time. I’d like to hope this will be my chance to form a relationship with her, but I’m also not going to be stupid.
She places her hand on her chest. “Definitely. As soon as I finalize things with James, I can move out of your space.”
Nodding, I pull my phone out of my pocket and make the call. I can’t help but hope and pray I’m not making a mistake.
After a long day at work, I walk out of the bathroom with my towel wrapped around me. I startle when I spot my husband in my room. For the past few days, he’s been MIA. I wasn’t expecting to see him today. Had I known, I would have hidden the object that’s lying on my bed in my closet. Fuck.
Nico is standing over the red gown, his hands stuffed down in his pockets.
“Beautiful dress,” he says calmly. However, the way his jaw is tensed coupled with the fact that he hasn’t looked at me tells me he’s not calm at all.
“It’s uhhhhh,” I think about telling him the bogus shit Ezra said, but I wasn’t going to lie to him. I never have before, and I never will. “Ezra and his sister bought it for me. I tried to get them to take it back, but they said it was a gift. If it’s an issue, I won’t wear it.”
Slowly, those dark brown eyes turn in my direction. If I didn’t know this man loved me, I’d be scared shitless right now. The way his gaze seems so blank is frightening.
“Do you like it?” he asks.
Something about that question feels heavy. It’s almost like he’s asking more than if I like the dress. I’m almost too terrified to answer that. I feel like saying yes makes it seem like I’m doing something I shouldn’t be doing. As if I’m saying yes to liking Ezra and not just the dress.
I squeeze the front of my towel tighter as if it could possibly go anywhere. Licking my lips, I stick to my routine of not lying.
“It’s a beautiful dress, but,” I quickly say. “I have no problem sending it back.”
He remains calm. I can’t read him at all, and it bothers me. He’s quiet for so long it’s almost as if he’s gone to sleep standing up. I don’t try to fill the quiet. I wait for him. Finally, he dips his head and turns back to the dress.
“Keep it.” He glances back at me before turning to walk out of the room.
“Nico,” I call out to him before he can leave.
He stops but doesn’t turn to face me. I don’t know what I want to say. Part of me wants him to demand I give the dress back. I want him to tell me I couldn’t wear anything another man gives me. I want him to show me he really wants me. The other part of me knows that isn’t fair to him.
“Nothing,” I finally say.
He glances over his shoulder at me before turning back and walking out of the room.
I look over at the red dress. For some reason, it’s not as stunning as it was before.
chapter Fourteen
New Leaf
Nico
The last few days have been a blur. It had been years since I had an episode like I did the night in my office. The rage inside me boiled over and didn’t simmer down until the morning.
I never knew how hard it would be if I lost Tiffany. Having her tell me to my face she couldn’t love me had me seeing red. Now I know that if she ever left me, I’d be gone forever. I doubt even Mason could bring be back.
It also didn’t help that I'd been dealing with bullshit coming from every angle. The water damage at the hotel caused some structural damage that will now delay the grand opening for another six weeks on top of the already five months they initially said. I had another issue with my guns. This time, someone attacked the cargo that brings them over. I lost another shipment of weapons in the middle of the fucking Atlantic Ocean. That’s one hundred and seventy million dollars gone. Plus, despite scouring the city, I couldn’t find the captain of that first cargo ship.
With my hands stuffed down in the front pockets of my slacks, I stare at a graffiti-style painting depicting two women with umbrellas.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A woman says from beside me.
