20. ~Nico~
20
~Nico~
It had taken too long.
Every second that had elapsed since Julian had called to notify us that Caterina had returned had been too fucking long.
But I hadn’t been able to leave my men.
Five of them had been injured in that clash with the Erebus operatives who’d ambushed us out of nowhere like the interloping ghosts that they were.
My soldiers were my responsibility to see to.
To ensure they received medical treatment, that they were well, that their families were informed and comforted when anything befell them like it had tonight, and that they were also compensated while they were recovering and unable to work.
No one else could fulfill that duty for me. It had to be the Boss.
At least, that was the way I saw it, and the way I would ensure it would always be under my rule.
With that all in play, it had taken me three hours to pull back into Charon Manor.
It would have taken even longer if I’d had to coordinate the cleanup in that hell house of Angelo’s, but Stover had taken care of that. It was something I needed to confirm with Levi, though. I certainly wasn’t going to trust Stover’s word. He was an outsider, as far as I was concerned. An outsider who had taken Caterina from us. Yes, the circumstances had been complicated and multifaceted, but I wasn’t fool enough to not notice that he’d manipulated her in part to achieve that.
I’d sent Milo home right after the battle, while I’d dealt with everything else.
I knew he’d been incredibly on edge about Julian facing off with Angelo, and he’d wanted to be there as soon as possible, basically as soon as Angelo had arrived. With that being unable to happen because of the ambush we’d faced, it had only exacerbated everything for Milo. Then the news of Caterina showing up had intensified everything.
As I finally pushed through the doors and back into the house, I didn’t feel any of that intensity. Things were quiet. A calm ease.
At first glance, anyway.
I ventured further into the house, beyond the entryway, and voices reached me.
It sounded like they were coming from the patio just beyond the kitchen.
As I drew closer, the pain of the wait and every other fucking thing was powerfully transcended by the sound of her voice.
More specifically, her beautiful laugh.
Fuck me. That sound from her did things to me.
I stepped out onto the patio and even though I knew she was back, and I’d just heard her voice, seeing really was believing, and I just stood there staring for several moments, taking in the beautiful reality of her being here with us again.
Right where she belongs.
Caterina was in between Julian and Milo, the three of them turned sideways on one lounger, their arms around one another, while Levi leaned forward on another as they all conversed spiritedly and animatedly at that.
She was dressed down in her black Balenciaga yoga pants and a strappy white tank.
She hadn’t been back long, and already she was relaxed here again.
Like she’d never left.
But that wasn’t all. She was wearing one of my black hoodies against the chill of the night air.
I smiled to myself.
It wasn’t just a coincidence.
She could have put anything on to warm her. But she knew me well. Knew what a possessive shit I could be, especially when something came between us, or threatened what the four of us had.
And a lot of that had been happening lately.
Too fucking much.
It looked like a small gesture. I mean, it was just a hoodie. But to me and from her, it was a whole lot deeper than that.
It was her reassuring me.
It was her showing me that she was mine; she was ours, that nothing had changed with the physical distance between us lately.
“It sounds like you broke him,” Milo was telling Julian.
Julian looked deeply pensive. Rarely a good thing with him.
Tonight had been a lot for him, no doubt. What he’d done, facing that the way he had, it had been a hell of a thing. A major feat. A triumph. He hadn’t only shown great courage, he’d maintained control. He’d been smart about it. He’d held his own exceedingly well, too.
“He was already in broken pieces after being under Santino’s rule for so many years. He just finally realized that, instead of living in the delusion he’d concocted,” Julian said.
I saw Milo taking his words in.
Caterina reached out and stroked Julian’s hair. “It’s over. He’s gone. He’s finally gone.”
“Yeah,” Julian said, smiling out at her. He eyed Levi. “Thanks for being there. You know, in my ear, and all that?”
“No problem.”
“I know I didn’t make it easy.”
Levi lifted a shoulder. “You did what you needed to. And it all worked out.” He eyed Caterina. “Your timing was killer, sweetheart.”
“Yeah,” Julian said. “When those fuckers showed up… if it hadn’t been for those flashbangs… Jesus.”
“Hey,” Caterina exclaimed. “You dropped two of them in mere moments. You were handling it well. Amazingly well.”
“Still. You coming in when you did, and how you did, was perfect.” His eyes hooded. “And it was also hot as hell, darlin’.”
“ Hot as hell,” Milo chuckled to himself.
“Is that so?” Caterina teased him back.
Levi chuckled and rose from his lounger. “And I’m out. It’s clear where this is heading, and I’ve got my own video call fuck session to get to.” As he passed by, he laid his hand on Caterina’s shoulder, and told her earnestly, “I’m glad you’re back. See you in the morning.”
She grasped his hand on her and smiled up at him. “Thank you for everything you’ve done here while I’ve been gone. For saving my life too, Levi. I don’t know how to repay—”
“There’s no repayment between true friends, Rina.”
With that, he grinned, gave a chin lift to Milo and Julian, then turned on his heel.
As he headed off the patio, he caught sight of me.
“Don’t worry about the cleanup. I checked, and it was completed by Joe and done well. You don’t need to concern yourself with it. Just enjoy your night, and Rina being back with you.”
“Thank you. Truly.”
“Of course.”
“Enjoy your night, too.”
“I’ll try to keep the noise down.”
“You’re on the other side of the house to where we’ll be, so be as loud as you want.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” He smirked to himself, then took off back into the house.
And then I was across the patio in the next few seconds.
No more waiting.
I was just a couple of feet out when Caterina noticed me.
And then she was basically leaping from the lounger at me.
I caught her and hoisted her up against me as she wrapped her thighs around my waist.
Our mouths clashed, hot and heavy.
I could barely fucking breathe through the intensity of it.
But I didn’t care. Not for a moment.
All that mattered was her being here, having her wrapped around me again, breathing in her familiar scent, feeling that connection again.
My hands were all over her in seconds, touching every fucking inch of her as our lips and teeth clashed, our tongues dueling like it was the first and last time all at once.
It took me near superhuman strength just to pull back and break our kiss. “Are you—I mean, have you recovered enough to—”
“Am I good to go for a hard and dirty fucking?” she asked, as she dropped down from me and took a step back, shoving a hand through her now mussed-up hair a couple of times. She clearly needed the distance to be able to think and summon any semblance of rational thought, too. And I fucking loved it.
She looked out at the three of us. “I’m good. Healed up. You don’t need to worry where that’s concerned. I promise.”
I went to reach for her, to put an end to the disconnect again after she’d stepped back like that.
But she took another step away and even held up her hand.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing. It’s just… we need to talk about—”
“No talking. Not about anything. Not tonight.”
“I hear you. And, believe me, I know where you’re coming from. But there is something we need to—”
I snarled and grasped her hips, shoving her onto the patio table.
I smacked her thighs apart and a cute little gasp of undeniable excitement escaped her.
I stepped between them as I loomed over her, breathing her in. “ Principessa, there’s no rational thought for me right now. You’re here within our reach after far too long. You’re ours and the need to reestablish that, to lay claim all fucking over you, is all I can see, all I can think about, all that’s currently driving me. It’s only through sheer force of will—and a little decency too—that I haven’t already pulled my knife, shredded your clothes to pieces, shoved you down on the hard stone floor on your hands and knees and slammed deep inside your sweet cunt, then fucked you like an animal.”
A little tremble of need went through her.
Yeah, she was on the same page.
In my peripheral vision, I saw Julian with his eyes hooded looking out at us, and Milo digging his fingers into the lounger to prevent himself from losing his shit, too.
“Do. You. Understand. Me?” I ground out, growling each word with how on edge I was.
I trailed my fingers over the tops of her breasts in her sexy little tank.
But then she snatched my hand and stopped me.
A loud, exaggerated throat clearing behind me drew my attention.
I swung my head to see Joseph Stover standing there.
As if that wasn’t enough of a surprise, there was the fact that he wasn’t still decked out in his go-to tactical gear and armed to the hilt, the way we’d known of him this entire time.
He was dressed down in just a pair of blue jeans and a teal T-shirt. In casual and relaxed attire. In our home.
Before I could get a word out to demand what the shit he was still doing here, considering it was my understanding that he’d disappear back into the ozone after finishing his cleanup and facilitating Caterina’s return to the city, he glared out at the sight of me looming over Caterina, and bit at me, “ Fuck her like an animal? Do you believe that’s any way to treat the woman you supposedly love? Especially after everything she’s endured of late?”
What the ever-loving fuck?
What was this interference? In our lives, our personal lives?
“That’s not your concern,” I ground out.
Julian rose from the lounger, blatant hostility coming off him. He’d developed a dislike of Stover ever since their interaction during the Shawn Price takedown. “And you clearly have no comprehension of the dynamic between the four of us.” His eyes narrowed dangerously. “Nor should you. Nor will you ever.”
I eyed Milo. “Why is he still here? And why wasn’t I informed?”
Milo pushed off the lounger and held up his hand. “Let’s just take a moment to allow cooler heads to prevail.”
“That’s not answering my questions.”
“I didn’t tell you yet because you had other priorities. You were dealing with a lot. It wasn’t the right time. As for why he’s still here, he has knowledge of Erebus that we need.”
“That’s far from being the only reason that I’m here,” Stover spoke. “Nor the only reason that I will remain here for the foreseeable future.”
The guy had some balls.
“ Vaffanculo ,” I muttered under my breath.
“Nico, it’s okay,” Caterina said, hearing me.
She pressed her hands to my chest, but eased me back in the process so she could get down from the table and remove me from between her thighs.
As if that was going to help the situation.
Why was she allowing this unwanted interloper to have any power here? Over us?
I grasped her hand tightly, as I seethed at Stover, “You took her away from us for long enough. That won’t be happening again.”
“Took her?” he scoffed. “Do you really think anyone can make Caterina do something she doesn’t want to do?”
“In the state she was in when you showed up, yes. And you fucking well knew it. You manipulated the situation to your advantage. You manipulated her.”
“I did what was needed to keep her safe. Something you couldn’t accomplish.”
Son of a bitch!
I pulled from Caterina and burst toward the motherfucker.
“Nico, stop!” I heard her calling out to me.
The fuck I would.
Blood was roaring in my ears as I went at him.
The arrogant shit moved forward, too.
I was just two feet from him when the mass of muscle that was Milo blocked my path.
But then Julian was there, right there with me, wanting to put the piece of shit down as well.
Milo shoved a hand to both of our chests, holding us back.
That wasn’t going to last.
“Move,” I bit out. “Fucking now, Milo.”
“God, stop! Stop it! All of you!” Caterina cried.
The distress coming from her cut into me, and it actually managed to jar me.
She rushed over to us, and then rounded us to get to Joe.
“This isn’t what you agreed to,” she told him, standing right in front of him while he was primed for a fight. “You promised me, Joe. You promised me you’d respect my wishes when it comes to my men. This is the fucking opposite of doing that.”
“What I heard when I walked out here—”
“It was private. You came out here like a ghost and overheard and witnessed an intimate moment between me and Nico.” She grasped his arm. “What you heard was Nico expressing how much he’d missed me. It just wasn’t done to your liking. But, for the record, it was to mine. They don’t treat me like I’m weak or fragile. They treat me like the equal and the warrior that I am. There’s no pretense between the four of us. It’s raw and open. And sometimes that comes out in explicitly erotic ways, animalistic ways. And that part of my relationship with them isn’t your concern. For your own peace of mind, you need to stay away from that entirely.”
What was happening?
Why was she taking the time to explain all of this to him?
I could see that she wasn’t the shadow of herself anymore, that she had been the night she’d left, the night he’d spirited her away from the chaotic hell that had been bearing down on her at the time. She was a little off, but nothing like she had been. So she had to have recognized his manipulation too by now. So why was she seemingly giving him a pass?
“I just… hearing that… it unsettled me. Concerned me,” he uttered, his voice now calm. He even relaxed his stance and took a step back.
“There’s no concern necessary. The three of them are with me. They love and adore me. I promise. There’s just been a lot of buildup with me being away. It’s been hard for all of them.”
The surprises kept on coming when Stover looked out at me and said, “I apologize. It was also no fault of your own that she couldn’t be kept safe here at the time. There were a lot of factors at play.”
I stepped back from Milo. Julian did the same.
“What’s going on, Caterina?” I pressed.
She turned from Stover, so she was looking out at all of us at once. Sucking in a breath, she revealed a hell of a thing. “Joe is my biological father.”
What. The. Fuck?