Chapter 21
NICK
I’m getting awfully tired of my brother forcing my hand.
The second I kicked him out of my penthouse on Wednesday, he ran to Ma to tell her all about Riley. She called me Friday, and the usual weekly invitation to Sunday dinner wasn’t a request this time.
Bringing Riley along wasn’t optional either.
It’s not like I hate my family—far from it.
I even care deeply for Bruno, no matter how much he pisses me off at every opportunity.
I do what I do to make sure Bruno, Marcus, and Ma are well taken care of.
It’s my job to keep the family name on the up and up.
They do what they do to keep our position of power from disappearing so we can all stay out of the line of fire.
Bruno’s less concerned with keeping the peace than the rest of us, but it’s just part of his shitty personality.
I just don’t want my life to be overrun by the shadows that he thrives so well in.
I don’t want Riley anywhere near that part of my life either.
Hell, I didn’t even want her to meet Bruno in the first place, but there’s not much of a choice if I want her to stick around.
The biggest show of trust I can offer her is bringing her home and letting the truth bare itself.
She needs proof that I’m serious about this, about us, and this is as serious as it gets.
Something I’m still not entirely sure of. I’ve never felt like this about someone before but with her… I can’t lose her.
Ma sets her empty wine glass down, leaning back in her chair, as the three of us all jolt to attention immediately. Riley looks between my brothers and me in confusion at the sudden shift in mood, as dinner was amicable and relaxed up until now.
“Nicky,” Ma says, level and cool, as she rakes steely eyes over me and then Riley. “As lovely as it is to have you over again, I don’t think you came by just to introduce us to your wonderful girlfriend.”
Riley swallows nervously out of the corner of my eye. My hand instinctively reaches beneath the table to give her a reassuring squeeze.
My mother can be… intimidating, to put it kindly.
She’s brusque and stern in a way that makes most people cower at a single word, never quite soft even when she’s totally relaxed.
I get the sharper edges of my personality from her, but I could never hope to measure up to her level of unwavering control.
“Ma, you know very well that you were the one who insisted that she come.” I remind her, watching her smile twist into a knowing smirk as she nods her head. “But… I do want Riley to know about the family and I was hoping you would be okay explaining everything. She’s important to me.”
Bruno stiffens at my words, as I meet his gaze. My lips twitch slightly before they curl into a full-blown smirk. He wanted to force my hand, so I’m going to show him what happens when he pushes me. I’ll go somewhere, but it’s not going to be in the direction he wants.
If my mother approves of her, there’s nothing he can do to change the situation.
My mother’s ruling is final and he damn well knows that.
Riley shifts uncomfortably beside me as silence falls like lead, heavy over the entire room. Ma arches an elegantly groomed brow, drumming her manicured nails over the tablecloth as she drags her eyes over Riley, obviously sizing her up.
Could I tell Riley myself? Yes. But that isn’t how things are done in our family. Ma’s the head of the household, and things like that have to have her approval.
Ma pushes up from her chair, the pearls around her neck glimmering softly in the light from the chandelier overhead. She’s dressed to the nines, as always, in a silky cream button down tucked into tailored slacks, along with heels that give her a slight boost.
“Very well. You boys can stay here and chat,” she says breezily, her lips curling up in the barest hint of a smile—which is about as welcoming as she gets with strangers. “Riley, join me in the parlor, would you?”
Riley stumbles for words, glancing between me and my mother in nervous confusion. “Right. Yes, ma’am.”
“Ask her anything,” I tell Riley, squeezing her hand one last time before letting go so she can stand. “She’ll tell you the truth.”
Ma flicks her eyes over to me in cool amusement, but we both know it’s true. She’ll do damn near anything I ask of her, and she trusts my judgement.
I’m also her favorite, although neither of us will say so out loud.
“We have a lot to discuss, Riley,” Ma says, rounding the table and gesturing toward the doorway. “Would you care for some more wine?”
Their voices fade away as they leave the dining room and make their way down the hallway toward the parlor room, leaving me alone with my brothers.
Anxiety prickles at the back of my mind in a way I’m not used to as I listen to the click of their heels grow softer.
The parlor is both soundproof and halfway across the house, so I won’t be able to hear any of their conversation.
I don’t open myself up like this to anyone, and while I’ve already come around to the fact that I care about Riley far more than anyone I’ve ever met before, that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable introducing her to the darkest parts of my life.
I have no control over what she asks or what she wants to know, and I have no control over what Ma will tell her, either.
Lucy D’Amico is in charge in this house, in this family, and she always has been, even when Dad was alive.
If she decides to tell Riley the truth like I asked her to, I have no idea how Riley is going to react. I’ll just have to deal with it as it comes.
“Mommy’s boy,” Bruno says with a snort when we can no longer hear anything from down the hall.
Of course he’s going to start in on me again. God forbid we have a single moment of kinship between us.
“Bruce, can you not?” Marcus asks, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.
“Calling it like I see it,” Bruno says with a shrug. “Not so big and bad in front of Mommy Dearest, are you?”
I breathe out sharply through my nose, clenching my hands into fists beneath the table, careful to keep my posture loose and carefree where my brother can see it.
“Just because I don’t respect you doesn’t mean I don’t respect Ma,” I drawl with a bored arch of my brow.
Bruno’s scarred face goes a mottled red with embarrassment, and he sneers at me, crossing beefy arms over his chest.
“If you respected any of us, you wouldn’t be running away from your fucking duties, kid.
Your little fortune isn’t worth shit when no one is scared of the D’Amico name anymore.
” He leans forward, fingers clenched tight on the edge of the table, eyes laced with anger.
“We used to be something, Nick. People respected us. They feared us. And you threw it all away to go run a fucking investment firm.”
As much as I want to leap across the table and start a fistfight right about now, I have to remind myself that tonight isn’t about me, and it certainly isn’t about Bruno.
Riley’s going to have enough to process after her talk with Ma without having to come out and see my brother and me with bloody knuckles and split lips after laying into each other.
“This is getting old.” I sigh harshly. “D’Amico Global finances the entire family, and people still have plenty of respect for the name. They just don’t have any respect for you. Find a new schtick or shut the fuck up, Bruno.”
“I’m a bit busy running the family on my fucking own to do that,” he responds, sharp and angry.
“Careful,” I say, raking my gaze over him disinterestedly. “Wouldn’t want Mommy Dearest to hear you talking like that.”
She’d string him up by his toes for the implication.
Marcus slams his hand down on the table, snapping the two of us out of our staring match, rattling the dishes on the table.
“Shut up!” he snaps. “Can we just have a nice dinner for once? Stop arguing for five minutes, please. I’m tired of listening to this shit.”
Bruno turns his vitriol on Marcus without a moment’s hesitation, baring his teeth in a way that makes him look more like a rabid dog than a man.
“You’ve always been such a fucking pussy. You can’t handle an argument, much less a real fight,” he spits. “If you had any balls, I wouldn’t have to waste all my time trying to get Nick back in the fucking saddle. The biggest coward in this family is you, Marcus.”
Marcus shoves up from the table while Bruno’s still laying into him, sending his chair toppling over backward, before stalking out of the room without a single word, obviously done trying to play mediator.
I send a hateful glare Bruno’s way as I stand to follow him.
Marcus is the youngest of us, and it’s true that he’s the most sensitive.
That’s the whole point of having the rest of the family around, though.
He’s supposed to be protected, not thrown into the line of fire just because Bruno doesn’t like getting his hands dirty alone.
If anyone’s the coward here, it’s Bruno.
The oldest of three, and he still can’t do his job without someone holding his hand.
Before I manage to catch up with Marcus, Bruno’s shoes clip behind me on the glossy hardwood floors.
His massive hand closes around my bicep as he yanks me into an alcove off to the side of the hallway, pressing me up to the wall with his arm against my throat.
My fingers itch to slam into his face, coming away bloody, but that would only be giving him what he wants.
I force my face to stay impassive, only the slightest curl of my upper lip into a sneer giving away my annoyance.
“I’ve had enough of this game,” he snaps, biting the words out and spraying my face with spittle. “I’ve been patient with you for long enough, kid, and I’m over it.”
“You haven’t been patient a day in your fucking life,” I grit out, shoving him back so I can breathe properly.
“Enough with the attitude! Get your shit together and act like an adult, Nick! You need to get over this stupid little distraction with your bitch and your bullshit fucking company and step up to the plate for the family.” My back hits the wall as he shoves me, his eyes meeting mine with hatred and annoyance in their depth.
I know that he doesn’t like the fact that our mother gave me permission to get part of this family on the legal side of things, but he was always the hot headed one always choosing to get his hands dirty.
“You want to let Marcus be a pussy? Fine. Let him run the company and come do your goddamn job. I’m having issues with suppliers left and right and I need the manpower. ”
I don’t even think about it before answering him.
“No.” It’s sharp, succinct, and the only answer he’s going to get from me. “I’m done with that. The company might be run by me but it was founded for this family and with Ma’s approval. If you’re having problems, talk to her.”
“The fuck is wrong with you?” he hisses, stepping back to push an agitated hand through his slicked-back hair, staring at me like he doesn’t understand the problem.
“You can’t tell me you really don’t miss getting your hands dirty.
You lived for it when we were younger. Come back and have some fucking fun, kid. ”
My lip curls in disdain, and I shake my head.
“Bashing in skulls isn’t my idea of fun anymore,” I say drily. “Solve your own problems. This isn’t my life anymore.”
“Too fucking bad, it needs to be.” Bruno stares me down, angry and itching for a fight, but he hasn’t truly scared me for a long time. “Family comes first. Unless you don’t care about your family anymore.”
I laugh, scalding and bitter, and the realization hits me that Bruno isn’t the man I used to know anymore. He’s not the brother I grew up with; he’s just a desperate man trying to get everything he wants, no matter what he ruins in the process.
“Fuck off,” I say sharply, shaking my head at him in disgust. “I love my family. I always will. That doesn’t mean I’m going to throw away my life just to make your job easier. If you really needed me, Ma would know, and she’d tell me to come back. Until then, I’m going to keep living my life.”
Bruno’s answering laugh is razor sharp and full of hate, dark eyes hollow as he stares straight through me.
“Your life,” he spits, “is fucking pathetic. That girl is going to get you in trouble, and you know it.”
“Riley’s none of your business,” I bite back. “She’s mine. You know the rules. Follow them.”
There’s an undying rule in our family. We don’t retaliate against each other or anyone we claim as our own. If the rule is broken, there are consequences.
“I’m not the only one who doesn’t like how much time you’re spending up her skirt.” He glares at me, the edge of a genuine threat shining in his eyes. “Get rid of her before something unfortunate happens.”
My vision goes red at the threat, tension filling me down to my core.
I’m not about to let anyone—family or not—talk about my girl like that.
And he crossed the line for the last time.