I stared at him.
Did I miss him?
Yes.
The whole situation was too confusing for me to wrap my head around having feelings for Nico Luciano. Or any of them. I knew I was an idiot for letting any of them touch me.
But I wasn’t a good girl anymore.
“What are you doing here? I thought you had to work late.”
Nico set the box on the counter with the wine bottle, his back to me as he searched my cabinets. “I figured you didn’t eat yet and wanted to have dinner with you.”
I sat on a barstool at the counter as Nico uncorked the wine and poured two glasses. He breathed in the grapes, swirling the liquid in the glass before handing it to me. Then he set two plates with slices of pizza on the counter and took the chair beside me.
“You never answered my question. Did you miss me?”
I lifted an eyebrow at him. “Should I have missed you?”
“Ouch.” He put his hand over his heart and wrinkled his nose. “And here, I thought you would’ve been more excited to see me.”
He stuffed the pizza into his mouth and watched me as he chewed. Even with grease sliding down from his bottom lip, he looked hot. And for a split second, I considered licking the pizza grease from his face.
I rested my elbow on the table and invaded his space. “You’re the only Nico I’ve ever met that’s Nicodemus instead of Nicodemo or Domenico.”
He rolled his broad shoulders. “Nicodemus was a devout follower of Jesus. My mom thought maybe I would be my father’s salvation. She’s always worrying about his soul.”
I stifled a laugh, which turned into a forced smile. “Are they still together?”
He bobbed his head. “Yeah, but Mom lives in Vegas. She doesn’t want to move to AC. It’s better if she stays on the West Coast. Dante and the twins get mad when she comes to town.”
My heart ached at his words. He had to sacrifice having a closer relationship with his mother to make his brothers happy.
I took another bite of pizza. Nico was already on his third slice and didn’t look like he had plans to stop until the box was empty.
After finishing another bite, I said, “Your dad raised you, right?”
“My mom was around between gigs. But she’s a dancer, a showgirl. She works everywhere from AC to Vegas.”
“Like a professional dancer?”
He nodded. “She trained at The Juilliard School.”
“Wow! She must be good.”
“The best.” He smiled. “When I was a kid, my dad would fly us out for her shows in Vegas, and we’d spend the weekend with her. Just the three of us.”
“I’m sure your stepmother loved that.”
Nico sighed. “She hated my mom and me.”
“That must have been hard for you with your brothers. They had to know your mom was taking your dad away from theirs.”
Another nod as he drank from his glass. “My dad married their mom out of obligation. She was a Mafia wife. But he loves my mom. He would have married her if not for his other sons.”
“That sucks not to be with the person you love.”
He spoke between bites. “You saw how much they hate me at dinner. I still don’t get along with my brothers because of it. They don’t consider me their equal. And they resent me because their mom died knowing our dad didn’t love her. My mom isn’t just his mistress. She’s the love of his life.”