Chapter Thirty-Two
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THEN
September 2019
“WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH them?” Elijah asks, motioning to the front window of Savoy, the bar Elizabeth demanded we come to before everyone heads to bed. Tomorrow is the big day. I think she’s trying to put it off for as long as she can. The sooner we go to bed, the sooner tomorrow comes, and the sooner we solidify this thing more than we already have. Through the front of the bar, I can see what Elijah is talking about: Nick and Nina. They look more comfortable in each other’s presence than during the earlier rehearsal. There is zero space between them, their hands intertwined standing on the other side of the street.
“It’s…complicated.”
“Obviously.” Elijah laughs. “He’s been watching her like a damn hawk, but she says nothing is going on. If that’s nothing, I must have been doing it wrong with some of my exes.”
I chuckle and roll my eyes.
“Are you talking about Nick and Nina?” Selena asks, stepping into the conversation. “Please tell me they’re gonna fuck this weekend. I mean, I would—”
“Sel, enough,” I cut her off.
“I’m just saying! Everyone can see it.”
“Don’t tell me you didn’t notice the tension between them when they were walking down the aisle earlier,” Elijah adds. He means earlier when Elizabeth had forced them to walk down the aisle together because Lola hadn’t arrived yet, and Nick needed “practice” so he could show Lola what to do tomorrow. Her true intentions were obvious, and if they weren’t, they became obvious when Nina grumbled something in Italian to go along with the tight smile on her face.
Nick and Nina approach the bar, and he brings the back of her hand to his lips, drawing her even closer. She says something when they stop a few feet from the door, the tension so thick between them, you could cut it with a knife. I wish they could just figure their shit out, but I’m not one to get involved in other people’s business. Especially not when it concerns Brina Villa. You couldn’t pay me enough money to get on her bad side and Nick did it for free. Besides, I have my own shit to figure out.
“I invited her to join us at Monroe’s for Christmas,” Elijah says. “Said she should bring Nick with her.”
“Dean’s place?” I ask.
He nods. “More the merrier. You know Dean’s mom loves having everyone there.”
“Can I come?” Selena asks, batting her long eyelashes at Elijah.
A wide grin spreads across his lips, giving her a once-over. I could see the mental drool forming in the corner of his mouth at the sight of the burgundy dress against her warm, cinnamon skin. “Especially you.”
I roll my eyes and notice Nina swimming through the crowd without Nick. Elizabeth greets her with a glass of champagne when she emerges in our little corner. Something happened, I can see it in Nina’s expression as she talks to Elizabeth before they both turn to look at Nick. He paces the front of the bar, his hand tugging at the end of his hair, talking to someone on the phone. Whoever it is has changed his demeanor, and I have one guess as to who it could be…
Nick stares inside the bar—stares straight at Nina, finds her in the crowd with ease—and sighs. A silent agreement with the person on the other end of the line. A moment later, he shoves the phone into his back pocket and takes a deep breath, entering the bar. I notice Nina starts to make her way to him.
Shit, that’s a bad idea.
I can’t let her get to him. She’s going to confront him. Demand to know what’s going on. She’s not stupid. She knows something is wrong. Knows there is a reason for the way he left things in Haven. The way he flipped like a switch so suddenly after he called me two months ago to tell me about Brina and Lee sleeping together. Do you know how hard it’s been to keep my mouth shut when I’ve seen Brina recently? I still can’t believe Nick just left Haven in the middle of the night, coming home and convincing Uncle Jim to fly to Boston on a whim. I understand that Nina may want answers, and she deserves them, but this isn’t the time or place to confront it.
“Everything okay?” I ask, reaching Nick before she can.
“Fine.”
“That was convincing.” I chuckle. “Was that who I think it was?”
“Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t getting any ideas while I’m here.”
“Dude, just tell Nina. She can take care of it.”
Nick sighs and stares past me. There’s a longing in his eyes, but as long as he refuses to come clean about Brina and Lee, it will always be there. I guess it’s not as simple as it seems. I know he wants to tell Nina….He wants to be honest, but what about his brother? What about his dad and the garage? Brina has made it very clear she will do everything to ruin their reputation and get Alex kicked out of college, blacklisting him from any other school. And Nina, all it would take is a few well-placed “clients” to tarnish her reputation. I have no doubt Brina would do every bit of it to keep her secret.
“I can’t, Josh. You know I can’t. I’ve already caused enough issues between her and her family. You said she’s barely speaking to Ric, why would I want to risk making things worse?”
There’s that too. Nina and Ric have not been the same since Haven. It’s not entirely Nick’s fault. Nina knew the risks of lying to her dad about her new relationship, but she did it anyway.
“Besides”—he glares at me—“you’re the one who told me not to tell her—”
“No.” I stop him. “I told you to be ready for the consequences when you do tell her. To be ready for everything to come out, and you weren’t. You made a decision—the wrong one, in my opinion—and that’s on you.”
“I’m just trying to protect her.”
“And look how that turned out.” I grip his shoulder when he lets out a heavy sigh. “C’mon, let’s get a beer.” I try to guide him towards the bar, but he pulls away.
“I’m just gonna go.”
“Nick—”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He turns away, swimming back through the crowd to reach the exit.
“What the fuck is going on?” I turn to find Elizabeth staring up at me. “You know something.”
“I don’t know anything.” The lie flows easier than it should. I hate lying to her, but I know that I can’t tell her this. She would never be able to keep this from Nina, or Ric for that matter. Hell, I don’t want to keep it from them, but it’s not my place to inform them about Brina’s extracurricular activities—that’s Nick’s job. And I can’t betray Nick’s trust because, at the end of the day, he’s the one who is going to be there when this all comes to an end. I can’t risk blowing up the Villa family—the only family she has left. Despite how screwed up their family is, it’s still family.
Not to mention, we’re already on thin ice after Ric found out about me and Elizabeth. I don’t know how, but he found out the truth about our upcoming nuptials and now he and Brina aren’t coming to the wedding.
Alaric Villa has always been a kind and gentle man, but sitting across from his desk two weeks ago after he found the truth was a place I never wanted to be again. I was sure this was going to be over before it even started.
“Can either one of you give me one reason I should allow this to continue?” he asked, his hands folded neatly on top of his desk.
Brina rolled her eyes from the corner of the room. “Dear, I’ve already told you—”
“I didn’t ask you , Bri,” Ric said, cutting his wife short. “I might have expected this from my other two children, but never from you, Elizabeth. What in God’s name could have possessed either of you to enter into an arranged marriage? I can only assume you have a good reason for going along with this nonsense.”
“Yes, sir,” Elizabeth said, adjusting in her seat.
“And that is?”
“Well, my parents put certain stipulations on—”
Ric scoffed. “I see. So, this was all about your inheritance?”
“And being able to choose my own future. They had my whole life planned out for me. This was my chance to do what I wanted.”
“By entering into a contractual marriage? Doesn’t sound very freeing to me.”
“With all due respect, sir,” I jump in before Elizabeth can respond. “This relationship has given us both an opportunity that we wouldn’t have had without it.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of your situation, Joshua.” Ric’s fury turned on me. “I just never took you for an opportunist.”
There was no way he was going to keep it a secret. If it wasn’t for the contract we signed four years ago, I’m sure he would’ve canceled the whole thing. After we left, Elizabeth and I waited all night for a phone call from Nina, but it never came. I guess that was one benefit of the aftermath from Haven. The truth about Nick and Nina’s relationship was far worse than the truth about ours—“hiring” someone to be her boyfriend wasn’t exactly Villa behavior. I suppose this anger towards Nina was justified to some degree, but it put a huge rift between them, something that had never happened before. Thankfully, Ric’s focus was on what he did wrong there, instead of what he did wrong here .
Elizabeth stands before me with her hands on her hips, glaring at me. “Josh.”
“Elizabeth,” I say in a warning. “Let it go.”
“If we’re going to be stuck together the next six and a half years, we might as well get used to sharing secrets,” she pushes.
“You first.”
Her eyes narrow, and her lips pull into a firm line.
“Now.” I wrap my arm around her hips and lean down. “Give me a laugh and kiss because everyone is watching.” After a brief moment of consideration, her face falls, and she takes a breath. She laughs (it’s not as good as it could be) and she grips my chin to pull my lips to hers. “Good girl,” I mumble against her lips.
“Normally, that would be a turn-on,” she says when I pull away. There’s a hint of mischief in her eyes, biting down on the corner of her lip.
“I didn’t know you had a praise kink.”
“There are things you don’t know about me, Joshua Isaiah Davis,” Elizabeth whispers against my ear. “And you never will.” She gives me the sweetest smile when she pulls away, placing another peck on my lips and skipping back to where Nina and Michaela are waiting for her.
I stand there a moment longer, admiring the woman I’m about to marry. Her head is thrown back in laughter as Selena tells an animated story. The longer I stand there, the more I wonder how much more we can take before the dam of lies and hidden truths begins to break.