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“She is only gone for now, son. She’ll be back.”
My heart was shredded, and he talked about the future like it was a given that she would return. Was it really only two hours ago that my life had taken such a drastic turn?
Marko had been my best friend since grade school. We shared everything—victories, mistakes, dreams, and eventually Nicolette. What started as friendship became something neither of us had expected. While I was all Dom, Marko possessed a more nurturing nature, and somehow the three of us fit together in a way that should never have worked but did.
She got all the coddling she needed from him and everything else she needed from me. Unfortunately, Niki didn’t come from the best environment. Her mother had died of cancer when she was young, and her father had been a low-level soldier for a rival family, leaving his daughter to raise herself. Eventually, he wound up working for us, and his prospects for a better life picked up considerably.
Niki came to our school, and Marko and I took over the duty of keeping our girl happy, healthy, and protected. And then she’d just disappeared. It felt so hopeless, so final, but my father seemed to be convinced otherwise.
“How do you know, Papa?” I asked, desperate for some gleam of hope that she’d someday come back to me, to us.
He moved his hand from mine and leaned back in his chair, grabbing one of the bottles in front of me, and pouring himself a glass.
“Salute,” he said, clinking his glass against mine.
We each took a long pull of the dark ruby liquid before he answered my question.
“Because, Giovanni, you offered her the world and once she’s done running and sees how dark a place it is without you to protect her, she’ll be back. Eventually she’ll realize who has always stood beside her. That little girl isn’t meant to face the ugliness of this world alone. Sooner or later she’ll discover that for herself, and then it’s up to you to take her in, or cast her away but remember, my son, it’s not you she is running from, or Marko, but her demons. Or perhaps she is chasing and not running. Regardless, she still has a choice to make, one you can’t make for her.”
I felt like he knew something he wasn’t telling me, but I refrained from asking. Papa only shared what he wished and didn’t appreciate being questioned.
“When she returns,” he continued, “try not to be too harsh with her. Listen with an open mind before you demonize her, but also make clear that it will never happen again. Vitale women don’t run. Capiche?”
He stood and placed a kiss on the top of my head. “You have a good head on your shoulders, Gio, and with Marko at your back and your family at your side, you’ll go far beyond what I ever could. Don’t close your heart, my son. Just guard it until it’s time to let her back in.”
“Si, Papa.”
It turned out that was to be our last private conversation.
His last piece of advice should have comforted me. Instead, it haunted me. Because when Nicolette finally returned, I would no longer be the man she remembered.
The shoulder beneath my fingers shifted. My date leaned forward, reaching for her drink.
“Stay still. You move when I give you permission.”
She’d pulled me from the memory of my last day with Niki and the last intimate conversation between me and my father. The woman at my side flicked my hand off her shoulder.
“Seriously Gio, I’m done with this.” She rose to her feet, crossing her arms, and pouted down at me like I gave a shit.
Fire raged through my blood at her audacity, but quickly cooled. I searched for her name and came up empty. Did it matter? I couldn’t bring myself to care. “Of course you are. You may leave.”
The server I kept on hand for my personal service hovered nearby; her name tag read Kimberly. Neither of these women could replace Nicolette. Hell, neither of them would incite a wet dream, but to show the woman on the couch that she didn’t matter to me in any way, I snapped my fingers at Kimberly, who moved to stand beside my date.
“Yes Sir, Mr. Vitale?”
“That is the attitude I require,” I said sharply, looking pointedly at my companion, whose name was still eluding me. “Sit here, Kimberly, and be still.”
Once she filled the recently vacated spot and snuggled into my side, I draped my arm around her shoulders and ran my fingers lightly along her skin before gazing back up at what’s-her-name.
“I believe I told you to leave. Now go!”
Grabbing her purse off the table, and, with one last look over her shoulder, she fled down the stairs.
Now where was I…?
Chapter 1
Nicolette
