2. Nico
two
Nico
I pull up to the side entrance of the hospital in my black Rolls-Royce Wraith and wait for Talia. I’d have preferred to drive the Porsche, but Talia thinks it’s too flashy and the seats are uncomfortable. She just doesn’t get sports cars. I don’t share the same issues. I love cars.
The faster, the better.
Talia texted that she’d be down soon, so I lean back and close my eyes.
Aside from the low purr of the engine, the car’s cabin is silent. It’s been a while since I’ve had a migraine, but I can feel it creeping in around the edges. My scalp feels sensitive as if the roots of my hair hurt and everything sounds too loud.
My eyes fly open at the cacophony of laughter coming from outside and search for the disturbance.
With a tote bag over her shoulder, Talia stands beside two women, chatting about something.
I watch as the woman in pink nursing scrubs waves goodbye and walks towards the parking garage, leaving Talia and the other woman behind.
My sister and the other woman—who are both dressed in regular clothes—continue their conversation.
Not wanting to rush Talia, I sit back and give her another minute to finish talking. Out of curiosity, my eyes slide over to the unfamiliar woman and down the length of her body.
Holy fuck, she’s hot.
Curvy in all the right places, she’s wearing light-blue jeans that cling to her flared hips and a sexy little white baby tee spread tight across her large chest. The caramel highlights that run through her chestnut-brown hair shine in the sunlight.
My cock twitches in my jeans. I should feel like a perv for checking her out so damn hard, but I don’t. Without trying, she’s got my attention.
As if she can feel my gaze, her eyes snap to mine.
My heart rate shoots through the roof as we stare at each other through dark-tinted windows. She can’t see me, but I can see her amber eyes flicker orange, like embers in a fire, begging for me to touch the heat.
She mumbles something to Talia, and I can’t tear my eyes away from her mouth as her pouty lips move. My sister looks over her shoulder and grins. She nods, then gives the woman a goodbye hug before she walks towards my car.
Hoping to get a better look at the stunner of a woman, I step out of my car and rush to Talia’s side. Behind my sister’s back, the woman shoots me a hostile glare, spins on her heels, and marches off to the parking garage.
What the fuck?
My dick is a masochist because he twitches again at her aggressive scowl. Or maybe it’s the way her plump ass sways as she walks away from me. Either way, I’m hot for the woman with no name.
“Nic,” Talia calls out.
Ignoring the strange feelings the mystery woman stirred up, I focus on my sister. She’s smiling from ear to ear at my presence. My mouth turns up, matching her smile.
“Sorellina.” Little sister. “How was work?”
I take Talia’s bag and throw my arm over her shoulders as I lead her to my car and pull open the door. It swings backward, and Talia rolls her eyes at me as she climbs inside. I slam the door and rush around to my side before I climb behind the wheel.
“Work was amazing today. All my patients will leave this place soon.”
“That’s great.”
Talia continues to gush about work as I steer the car towards Belladonna, the restaurant my mother and her sister own.
When I signed my first multimillion-dollar major league contract, the first thing I did was pay my ma’s mortgage.
The second? I remodeled our family restaurant and bought the building it’s in, preventing anyone from raising the rent in the future. I also own a few other pieces of real estate around Los Angeles, but I keep that on the low.
When I went to college on a baseball scholarship, I took advantage. I majored in economics and business management. I’m not just a dumb jock. But I like it when people underestimate me.
Talia and I keep up the chat as I weave in and out of traffic, pulling into the parking lot of the restaurant in no time.
Once a month, my mom and aunt take the night off to have family dinner and leave their most trusted employees to run the dining room and kitchen in their absence. It’s been a tradition they’ve kept since we were kids.
“My babies.” My mom, Caterina Romero, greets us at the door. She hugs each of us tightly, lingering a little longer on me, before she ushers us to our table. Ma is a beautiful woman with stormy-gray eyes and jet-black hair. Traits my sister and I share with her.
I throw my arm over Ma’s shoulders. “Hey, Ma.”
“I’m so happy it’s just the two of you here,” she croons.
Talia’s smile falls at Ma’s little dig at Cam’s absence as we take our seats. The forlorn look on my sister’s face rubs me the wrong way. I get the sense that Ma isn’t trying hard enough to like Talia’s fiancé, but she needs to try harder.
As flashbacks of all the times I badmouthed Cam to Ma come to mind, a wave of guilt washes over me.
I’m to blame for my mother’s indifference towards my sister’s future husband.
After spending time with him and getting to know him better, I’ve had the chance to change my opinion on him, but Ma hasn’t spent time getting to know Cam like I have.
I glance over at Talia, who’s sitting with her shoulders curved in and a crestfallen look in her eyes. Every time Ma overlooks Cam, I can see how it hurts Talia. Cam adores my sister and, like I did, Ma needs to get over the past and on board with Talia and Cam being together.
“Cam’s on his way,” I announce, frowning at my mother as she takes the seat beside me. No better time than to facilitate change than now.
“Oh, isn’t that nice?” My mother looks everywhere but at Talia as she twists a napkin in her fingers.
Is she still mad at Talia for spending the holidays with Cam and his family, or is there more to the story here?
Talia mouths, Thank you, as she watches the door for her man.
Fucking hell. Will it be like this if I meet a woman I care about and bring her home? Ma goes on about having grandkids, but if this is how she behaves, any woman in her right mind should run away.
My brain conjures up a vision of the gorgeous woman with chestnut hair standing outside the hospital. The way her amber eyes gleamed. Fuck.
Who was she?
Zia Rose bursts into the room with a platter of food, chasing my fantasies of the dream girl with attitude away.
“Nipote!” Nephew. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” Zia looks around the table as my three cousins—Valentina, Isabella, and Sofia—follow behind her with more platters of food. “Where’s Cam?”
Talia’s smile returns. “He’ll be here soon. He needed to pick something up before dinner.”
“Good. I made enough to feed an army.” I’ve never loved my aunt more for asking about Cam. She’s been an amazing second mother to me and Talia.
After my piece-of-shit father left, Zia Rose and her girls moved in and have been with us ever since. The women in my life are everything to me. I will go to the ends of the earth to protect them. Even stand up to my mother if she doesn’t knock off this hostility shit with Cam.
Fuck.
Guess it’s up to me to make a better effort to make Cam feel a part of the family.