“Are you okay?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.
She smiled softly. “Mhm.” I tried to ignore the distance and chalk it up to her being lost in her own thoughts.
We needed to have this conversation sooner rather than later.
Chapter 12
Nick
“To a job well done!” Alessandro held his glass of Scotch up as we sat at a table, celebrating the success of our first official deal together.
“And to a future of many more,” my dad agreed, nodding and clinking his glass against Alessandro’s.
I joined them in the toast, but I was ready to get home. It had been a long few days and I was ready to see Ava. It was strange how strongly I had missed her. She occupied my every spare thought, and I ached to get my hands on her. Maybe a few days would be the final catalyst she needed to fully submit. We had hooked up plenty, but she was still holding out on having sex with me. It was her one attempt to have some control in our relationship, and I couldn’t blame her no matter how badly I wanted to be between her legs. I just had to get through another dinner with Alessandro and my father, and then I could see her.
We were on our way home from St. Louis, where we’d been dealing with a weapons dealer the last few days. Finally, we’d agreed on the terms, and hopefully this deal would bolster our arsenal enough to be ready for anything the Russians threw at us.
“Anxious to get home, Alessandro?” my dad asked, making small talk.
Alessandro chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “Traveling is like pure bliss for me. I’m telling you, you lucked out having all sons. I love my girls, but they are so much harder than the boys ever were. Guess you’ll get a taste of that soon enough, Nick. By the way, how are things going with Ava? She seems to be coming around.”
I grimaced, feeling oddly defensive of her, even from her own father. “Things are great. We’re getting to know each other and she’s wonderful.”
“Give her time.” He chuckled. “She’s the most trouble out of all my three. You’ll need to keep a close reign on her. Feisty, that one.”
My brow furrowed. I hated the condescending tone in his voice when he spoke about Ava. It was so old-school Mafia, like women and girls were just annoyances, like he was in some way superior to them. Ava was lively all right, but it was one of the things I loved most about her. It was a wonder she turned out the way she did, under Alessandro’s thumb.
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, it doesn’t seem like she knows the whole story about Andrew. She was surprised that I knew him at all.” I finished what was left of my glass. I didn’t actually like the taste of Scotch, but my dad taught me early on that you drink whatever the person you want something from drinks. That way you already have a connection.
Alessandro stiffened at the mention of his younger son. It seemed like anything to do with Andrew was off limits in that family.
“She doesn’t. Sonya and I decided it was best to tell the girls as little as possible. They think he killed himself, but they don’t know the finer details—end of story.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him as he confirmed my fears. He had taken the coward’s way out, and it seemed like I was going to be the one to have to tell Ava the real story. “And Vince?”
“Vince, he’s a different story.” Alessandro let out a heavy sigh. “He has always blamed you guys. After Andrew died, Ava pretty much lost her mind. They’d always been so connected, she just . . .” He shook his head slightly. “It was bad, I think she blamed herself. We went through a period where she was constantly out partying, almost threw her entire education away, and very nearly killed herself while she was at it. After all of that, we decided it was best to let her think what she did and we didn’t broach the topic with her again.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. This was all news to me. I knew vaguely about her partying and drug use but I hadn’t realized it was that extensive. It didn’t change my feelings for her at all; if anything, it made my heart break for her more. She was working through the loss of her brother, and Alessandro didn’t even have the decency to tell her the truth. He severely underestimated her. The Ava I knew was strong and courageous, and knowing what happened wouldn’t break her. Hell, it would probably even help her if she knew there was nothing she could have done.
“It’s your choice, Nick, but I don’t think it’s in either of your best interests for her to know that you shot her brother,” Alessandro cautioned, effectively ending the conversation.
He was a bastard for leaving her in the dark like that, toying with her mental health and making her think she was crazy. He was worried she’d be upset with him, and now he was passing that off to me. He never had any intentions of telling her.
Soon, a day would come when I would have to tell her. I could only hope we’d be able to work through it together. If not, who knew what would happen.
Ava
Even though Nick had promised we could take things slowly, everything seemed to go into hyperdrive once I agreed to marry him. A family dinner was scheduled, an engagement party after that. A wedding date was set for six months from now. He would have preferred two, and I would have preferred twelve, but we were both making some concessions.
I knew in the grand scheme of things, this marriage meant more for Nick than it did for me in terms of how much his daily life would change. Three months after our marriage, he’d take over as Don and have control over both of our families. They would still be separate entities, but he and my father, and eventually Vince, would have to work together cohesively and ultimately Nick would have the final say. That was a lot of pressure to be under, and I wondered what that meant for me as his wife.
So far everything had been great. Nick was nothing but a complete gentleman, and while I knew it wouldn’t last forever, I was soaking it up. I could see myself falling for Nick; in fact, I was already starting to. Angie was right, if I had to be involved in an arranged marriage at all, one with Nick didn’t look all that bad. He treated me well, he respected me, and he’d actually been open and honest with me.
The last few days, he’d been on a job and I hadn’t been able to see him. It was a pleasant surprise how much I missed him. I was going a little stir crazy, so despite my better judgment, I had let Bella convince me to go with her to Jaguar. She had always been an instigator, just better at sneaking around than me, which meant she never got caught for any of the things she talked us into. She specifically liked to go wild child when her fiancé, Max, was out of town, and that was more often than not. I’d bailed on her a lot lately, and was starting to feel guilty, so after a lot of convincing, I caved. With Nick gone, I needed something to keep my mind busy.
The Jag was one of the only clubs where we could avoid being seen by anyone who knew our dad. It was in Newark, and drew more of a local crowd than some of the clubs in the New York City. It was a small, dark place, and probably had about a hundred health violations, but the music was good and the drinks were strong. We’d been doing this since we were teenagers, and even though we were old enough to be out drinking now, we still chose it most of the time. It was a hefty drive, but being far away meant that we were less likely to run into someone we knew or someone who could let our father know what we were up to. I guess that’s what they mean by old habits die hard. Would we ever outgrow the fear of getting caught doing something by our disapproving parents?
The club was packed when we went in, but we’d been here enough over the years to know the bouncers, and were ushered in right away.
