Chapter 14
ONYX
"Bella, I didn't do it on purpose!"
I stared at my bedroom door. Yeah, I was more than aware that he could knock it down and crash right in, but I had ordered him not to after his shoulder started ramming into it. Now he stood outside, probably sulking. Definitely pacing.
"Work took me longer than I thought it would. How long did you wait up for me?"
Stupidly, I had waited up for hours. I had prepared to sit down and go over who could be trying to pull strings around Lucero and to eat a good meal.
Neither of those things happened. Instead, I was left sitting at the dining room table, wine filling my glass on repeat, as I watched my phone and the time ticking by.
It was after one when I gave up and went to bed.
"Onyx. I'm sorry."
I snorted. Since when was sorry enough? Apologies were empty, pointless. They were lies spoken when someone had fucked up and just wanted to make you feel worse, as if you should jump up and embrace them because they uttered two little words. No, thank you.
A heavy thud grabbed my attention. It sounded like Lucero plopped against my door and sat there for a while. When he didn't say anything, I almost asked if he had died before he called me again.
"Onyx, let me make it up to you."
There was no way in hell he could do that. I never waited around for anyone. Never. I had waited around for him.
I scrolled my phone before I finally climbed out of bed.
Staying in bed all day was unfortunately not on my agenda.
I went into the bathroom and freshened up before I wrapped myself in a soft, dramatic red robe.
It felt good, like a suit of armor against the bullshit of the world.
Underneath, I wore only white panites, semi-sheer, and clingy. Lucero would suffer.
When I opened the door, he nearly fell inside. Lucero stared up at me, his eyes going wide, and his jaw dropped. He tried to speak, but it was like someone had snatched the words from his lips and he was left with only a gasp instead.
"Move," I said.
Lucero scrambled up. "Good morning. I made you something to eat."
"Not hungry," I said as I breezed into the kitchen and started making myself a cup of tea.
"I made tea as well. It should be perfect."
Glancing over at the table, my stomach ached at the sight of the food waiting there.
Sure enough, there was a mug of tea on the right, the place I always sat it.
I turned away and continued to make my own before I grabbed the porcelain pitcher of milk and poured that inside.
When I hummed happily, Lucero made a sound that sounded very close to a whimper.
"Onyx, please talk to me," he begged. Before I could move, he grabbed my hand. There were the big, round eyes again. He frowned. "I got you something."
"What?" I sighed. "Divorce papers?"
"No."
"Didn't think so. What?" I asked again.
"Wait here."
Lucero disappeared, and I sighed once more.
I wanted to walk away, but if I tried he would just follow me around.
When he returned, he was carrying a huge bouquet of orchids.
Pink. My favorites. I stared at them as he set the vase on the counter.
The vase. Not just a bunch of flowers shoved into my arms and I had to do the work, but already arranged with a bow wrapped around the glass and a card in the bunch.
"Did you have the shop do this?" I asked.
He shook his head. "No, uh, I had to go to a warehouse before they were open to pick out the best ones. They didn't have anyone to fix them up pretty, so I did it myself. Thought you might like it this way," he muttered. "And this."
Lucero slid a blue box across the counter as well. When I opened it, my breath caught. Okay, so everyone knew I was a fan of jewelry, but this one was a tennis bracelet that had been discontinued from Tiffany's ages ago. It was practically vintage. I reached out, touching the stones as he hovered.
"Do you like it?" he all but whispered.
I swallowed hard. I didn't want to say yes, because if I did, he would take it as forgiveness. And I was still pissed off at him. However, I couldn't lie; I really fucking liked it. What was wrong with me?
"Yeah."
Lucero lit up. "Yeah, you like it?"
I glared. "Don't push it."
Lucero moved closer until his fingers brushed the fabric of my robe. His fingers brushing against my thigh made tingles cover my body. As he touched me, however, I felt like I was going to slip and end up landing on his dick.
"I'm still mad at you," I muttered as I drank my tea.
"I know," he said. "I tried to get out of work, but I missed so much that it took me forever to make up for it. I tried to tell them…" he muttered.
"I don't care. You didn't even bother to text me. I sat up until one a.m. and you didn't come in until after four."
Lucero frowned, but bit his lip. "So you were still waiting for me to come home?"
I blinked at him. "That's it. Get out of my face."
"No!"
Lucero grabbed me before I could get past him and plopped me onto the counter. Tea sloshed and hit my robe.
"Hey!"
"I'll make it up to you," Lucero panted. "I know what you like. Everything that you like." His hand wandered between my thighs.
"Hey!" I smacked his hand away. "You can't just try to get in my panties because you want to apologize."
"Why not?"
I stared and stammered over my words. "That's not how life works!"
"Why not?"
Oh. My. God. He was endlessly frustrating.
I wasn't sure how I hadn't killed him yet, but he was getting me closer and closer to doing just that.
When I opened my mouth to protest, he pressed his lips against mine.
Heat flooded me, my body tensing. Slowly, he pulled back and when he gazed at me, I panted.
There was a little smile on his lips as my heart was tripping and pacing.
I slapped him.
"Don't think you can just do whatever you want," I snapped.
Lucero held his cheek, even though I knew my slap had hurt nothing except maybe his feelings. I jumped off the counter, and pushed him out of my way. I quickly drank a huge mouthful of tea to wash the kiss away.
"I shouldn't have done that," Lucero muttered.
"No, you shouldn't have." I stopped as I stood in the entryway of the kitchen. He stared at the floor, a frown still on his face as he rubbed his cheek. "Sorry, I shouldn't have hit you. I panicked," I admitted.
"It was my fault. Won't happen again."
My stomach tightened. Ugh, what was it about him?
Whenever I hurt his feelings I actually felt a little…
off. Even if that's what I should have been doing from the start.
The more I pushed him away, the less he smiled.
The more I got to him, the faster he would leave me alone and let me go back to my quiet life. It was what needed to be done.
So why was it so hard sometimes?
I went back to my room. Facing Lucero would have to wait until later. Right now, my body felt heavy, and I wanted to drag myself back into bed and forget about everything else.
******************
When I woke up for the second time, I groaned.
Something had ripped me out of the sweet release of sleep and I couldn't figure out what it was.
Blinking, I heard it again. Thumping, dishes moving, and music.
Lucero was obviously in my kitchen, probably cooking lunch or dinner.
I checked my phone on the nightstand. Dinner. I slept for a long time.
Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I groaned and stood up. I walked out of the room swiftly, the robe swishing around my body as I stalked toward the source of the sound.
"Hey, can you quiet down? I'm trying to?—"
I froze. Standing in my kitchen, with a wooden spoon in her hand, was Lucero's mother. She smiled at me, wrinkles around the outside of her eyes crinkling as she waved me forward. I turned and ran.
"Fuck!"
I slammed my door and leaned against it. What was she doing here? What was Lucero thinking?
Onyx: Did you invite your family over?
Lucero: They just showed up, I swear.
Onyx: … why don't I believe you?
Onyx: You could have told me! I'm half dressed and your mom is in my kitchen.
Lucero: Our kitchen. I'm sure she doesn't mind. Come say hi.
Come say hi . I was going to kill him once and for all. This was it, tonight I was going to sneak out to where he took up my entire couch and stab eight needles in his neck. No, ten. Eventually it would work. It had to.
I swapped out my robe and panties for jeans and a blue T-shirt. When I stepped out a second time, more of Lucero's family had gathered in my kitchen. They nodded at me or said hello, and I was overwhelmed by how many of them there were. His mother, however, grabbed my wrist and dragged me closer.
"Taste," she said.
I tasted the sauce on her spoon and nearly melted. "Wow, that's really good."
"You think so?" she asked, smiling at me. "Family recipe. Now that you're married to my Luci, you can have it."
I raised a brow. "Luci?"
"Oh, I've been calling him that since he was a spoiled ragazzino. Don't tell him I told you though." She walked around the kitchen, putting more things on the counter. "Are you allergic to anything?"
I shook my head.
"Try the fish as well."
I did. I loved it. Fuck, was she just amazing at cooking everything? It tasted better than some of the high quality restaurants I frequented. Better even than my favorite place, Emerald Grand.
"How are you so good at this?" I whispered.
"Years of practice. So I can teach you all of this. Although, you're not technically a Marino." She frowned.
My heart thudded. "That was not my choice. I've asked Lucero to change his name back a hundred times and he refuses."
"Yes, he can be stubborn, can't he?" She chuckled. "When he gets something in his head? Forget about it. All he talks about is that thing until he gets it. He was the same way with you. Saw you one day at a gallery, then talked my ear off for an hour straight."
I tilted my head. Lucero had met me at a gallery? I tried to think. How many years ago? I had been to many events, but I couldn't put his face to any of them.
"He said when you two spoke, he just knew you were the one for him." She sighed.
And we spoke? Fuck. Why am I drawing a blank?
"Ma, don't talk his ear off," Lucero said as he walked up and stopped to stare at me. "Hey."
"Hi," I muttered.
"Are you two fighting?" the woman asked, her eyes narrowing. "You know, couples get into fights. Marriage is all about how you navigate them. And good sex."
"Ma!" Lucero called.
She chuckled. "Okay, okay, Luci."
"Ma, please," he begged.
I snorted so hard I hurt my nose. Lucero was beet red.
I was pretty sure if he could wiggle his huge body between the floorboards, he would have at that exact moment, as his mother and I laughed over his reactions.
She picked up a container and shoved it at me while I was still laughing.
Inside were the best brownies known to man.
I immediately stopped laughing. Lucero reached for one, and I yanked the container against my body and hissed.
"Come on, share. Those are my favorites."
"Yeah, well… I'm just meeting my mom-in-law so I get dibs," I said.
"You heard him, now back off," she said, wielding that spoon like a weapon. "Go help your brothers."
I raised a brow. "What are you and your brothers doing, anyway?"
"Nothing!" he said quickly, looking like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "It's not all of my brothers, just Nash, Damian, and Elia."
"How many brothers do you have?" I asked.
"A lot!"
"They're not all our biological children," his mother explained.
"My husband, the saint that he is, has adopted many over the years.
Usually they grow up, start their own families, and move away.
As children do." She sighed. "Some have stuck around though.
The rule was always that if you proved yourself and you wanted a spot in the family, you would have one.
If not, you would have our love and support when you left. "
I stared at her. She was incredible. My stomach ached, and I took a step away.
I had never been intimidated by a woman that was so short she was even smaller than me.
Her gray hair, tipped in springy, purple curls, caught the light as she moved around.
Some part of her reminded me of my own mother. My chest ached.
"What's wrong?" she asked, her brows furrowing.
"Nothing," I said quickly. "I’m fine, Mrs. Marino."
"Lilian." She smiled. "Just Lilian."
"Lilian," I whispered.
"So, are you and my Lucero going to have any children? I'm excited for the sound of little feet again."
I nearly choked on my brownie.