Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Romeo
The sun is setting while we all chill after the rehearsal dinner.
Asher is next to me while we drink a beer in peace. Nell is across the pool with my mother and my aunties, who I respect and know will not say anything to hurt Nell in any way.
Seeing her smile and laugh with my mother makes my fucking heart warm. Renata De Massy can be a hard woman if you get on her bad side, but she is warm and welcoming to those she feels are good people. My mother can weed out the bad ones.
Nell stayed close to me while eating with the family, but I did not miss the way she would tense every now and then. I kept quiet, waiting for the right time to talk to her, but I saw it.
At the table, I saw Daniella give Nell a hateful stare, then she looked to me, so I cocked a brow at her, and she looked away. She knew that it was Nell who kept her here, but she is still being a cunt about it.
I have been keeping a close eye on her, making sure that she does not start any more shit. Nell came here with me for a relaxing week, so she could do something new and exciting, yet sex got involved and so did feelings.
“What a fucking waste of money that was. What is the point in throwing away so much money just to sit around a table and eat like family, and call it a rehearsal dinner?” I gripe, and Ash nods.
“Brother, this is what happens when you have all the money in the world and a spoiled daughter.”
“My kids will fucking learn respect and to be humble when it comes to money. It can all be taken away just as easily as it comes.”
“Damn, Rome, you and Nell are that serious that you are already planning kids, huh?” He laughs.
I laugh with him, as images of Nell round with my kid flash through my mind. Fuck, I could see that.
“She is different, brother. Not one to brag, but I have been with many women in my time, but she makes everything feel different. It is like all of my senses are heightened.”
He regards me for a few minutes, not saying anything.
I drink from my bottle, waiting for him to laugh, say something funny and rib me for feeling like this.
He knows that settling down was never in my future, not yet anyway.
My clubs come first— seeing how successful I can become before I hand them over to managers while I enjoy the fruits of my labor and spoil my woman.
Nell has me wanting to bring my future plans to the present.
“She is good for you, Romeo. You smile more. We are all used to seeing you attached to your desk at Lux, but being here around Nell, you seem more relaxed. It is good to see, and if Nell is doing that to you, then keep her.”
He emphasizes the last three words.
‘Then keep her.’
Can I keep her? Will Nell want to be with me when we get home?
“Nell is nothing like the ones I used to date who wanted things from me. Do you remember Rebecca?” I chuckle just thinking about her.
“Oh, man, she was the fucking worst besides, you know, the obvious.” He nods his head to my ex across the pool, who is wearing a piece of string with little triangles and passing it off as a bikini, and yet she accused Nell of being inappropriate. Fucking hypocritical if you ask me.
“Yeah. Bragging to friends that I could get them into premieres, and throwing my name around. She is still power hungry from what I have been told by others.”
“I love how she arrived at the Oscars and demanded to be let in because she was sucking your dick; classy chick, that one.”
“That made the gossip papers go crazy.” We laugh again.
“Oh, man, what was the name of the one who put a tracker in your car and turned up at a family funeral, accusing you of cheating?”
“Cynthia. That chick was unhinged. I ordered food and somehow it got translated into I was giving the waitress my phone number in some kind of code.”
“I think we both have had some bat-shit crazy women in our lives,” he replies.
“Now that, I agree on. What about you and the one who said that she had a premonition that you were going to cheat on her, so she cheated first and then when you broke up with her, she said that you hurt her feelings, so she was breaking up with you?”
“She tried kicking me out of my own apartment, too.”
My stomach hurts from laughing; it’s nice to feel relaxed and have no worries about my clubs. My manager, Lindee, is handling shit back home; she is a mom of four, so I know she can handle my clubs.
Some of the women I have dated have been fucking crazy, which is why I stopped dating and just fucked. It was easier.
“Daniella looks like she could have her claws into someone else; you may be off the hook.” Asher points his bottle to where my ex is touching a man’s chest, then she looks at me with a smirk on her face.
I see right through her little show. She thinks that by flirting with another guy, it will make me jealous, and I will go begging for her to take me back. To be a petty prick, I raise my bottle to her in salute, and she scowls, making us both laugh.
It pisses me off when people do not earn their money. Hard work never hurt anyone. Daniella was more than happy to spend my money but refuses to get a job. She wants men to pay for her way of life, even her parents give her a fucking allowance.
“It is all about the money and power with her; she hides it well, but I see it. Sometimes feelings get in the way, but I know that women like her are all after one thing at the end of the day. Being here with her here has caused a mixture of emotions, but fuck, I need to keep a clear head and not get mixed up in her mess.”
Anger, fury, and disgust are the emotions that have been mixing in my blood. The way that Daniella has behaved this week has been in character for her, so I am not sure why I thought she would do better.
“I hear you. Best way is to stay single, Rome.”
“I hear you, man.” We laugh, then I finish my beer, signaling to the waiter to bring us two more.
“But Nell makes me want more. I am going to ask her to go on a date when we get back.”
He nods with a grin on his face. “Good.”
I look over to where my girl was sitting with my mom but find her chair empty. My gaze snaps to where Daniella was and she is still there, thankfully.
Where did she go?
My mom looks at me with a smile, and she nods while tapping her heart, telling me she approves of Nell, and I smile widely back at her.
I silently ask where she has gone and my mother signals to the restroom. Nodding, I go back to talking to Asher, knowing that Nell will be back soon.
We talk about a new club that I want us to look at; it has a rooftop pool which will serve well in the hot Houston heat. Time to add more to my profile; maybe Nell will be with me when we have a grand opening.