“Great, now I’m out two pairs of shoes!” Nikki shouted limping her way into the living room. After a quick perusal of her, I noticed she had one high-heeled boot on and was missing the other. She mumbled a stream of curses. I’m not going to lie for a split second I wondered what else her dirty mouth was capable of. Nikki was proving to be the perfect distraction, making me forget all about the shitty predicament I was facing and why I was back in Brooklyn to begin with.
“You’re welcome by the way.” She sneered taking the drink from my hand much the same as I had grabbed the cigarette from her earlier. She tipped her head back, taking an impressive sip of the whiskey I had poured for myself. She shuddered as she swallowed and I went to take back the glass, but she shooed my hand away and gave me the evil eye. Nikki held up her hand to stop me from taking the drink and gathered her bearings before taking another shot.
“Thank you.” I said, taking a step closer to her placing my hand over hers. Her eyes met mine as I ever so slowly pried one finger at a time from the glass. I lifted the glass, noticing that the red lipstick that painted her lips now stained the glass. I pushed the thoughts of the many other places I wouldn’t mind her lipstick staining out of my head and reclaimed my drink finishing it off in one gulp.
That shit was strong and burned like a motherfucker going down. Color me impressed little Nikki could shoot a shot with the big dogs. I bent down to retrieve another glass and filled both glasses before handing her a drink.
“Your boyfriend’s an asshole.” I said, stating the facts before taking my shot.
“So does that mean you won’t be joining his fan club?” She asked me sarcastically rolling her eyes for good measure before slamming back her shot.
“It means I don’t like him.” I said, bracing my hands on the bar leaning into her. The alcohol must’ve been affecting her because her face became a little flushed.
She swallowed, placing her empty glass on the bar and leaned into me not affected by my stance in the slightest.
“I’m sure he won’t lose any sleep over it.” She said. There was that sass and sugar again. Then she sighed. “Rico’s not a bad guy Mikey. You don’t even know him.”
“I don’t care to either.” I bit back before pausing. “Just make sure he treats you right.”
Something changed in the way she looked at me after I said that. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it was as if her defenses went up.
“Or what? Posing threats when you haven’t been around in ten years and have no intentions of being around either is kind of pointless, wouldn’t you say?” She asked cocking her head to the side. It was almost as if she was daring me to stick around.
“You don’t know anything about my intentions.” I said, my voice sounding rough even to my own ears. I didn’t like dares. Never backed down from one in my life.
“Oh no?” Double dare.
I stepped closer to her invading her space. I could feel her breath on my chin as I leaned dangerously close to her. I lifted my hand rubbing my knuckles along her jaw. Silk. Her skin was soft like silk against my rough hand. She looked up at me through her lashes. Christ, they were long. She chewed on her lip. I was getting to her. Good. She had crawled underneath my skin and got to me. Evening out the score, I let my thumb trail along her lower lip.
“Trust me kid you wouldn’t know what to do with my intentions.” She blew out a short breath and I took a retreating step backward standing tall. “Let’s leave it at that.”
“Everything okay in here?” Victor asked curiously from the entryway. I wondered how long he had been standing there and if he had caught our little standoff. I decided I didn’t care. I decided something else too. I glanced over Nikki’s shoulder and met Victor’s curious eyes.
“All good Vic.” I licked my lips, tasting the whiskey still. “I’ve decided to stick around.” I shot a quick glance at Nikki and then diverted my attention back to her father. Victor looked at me surprised. “I’d be happy to work for you.”
Dare accepted Princess.
Chapter Five
I stared across the private room in Fiorintino’s Italian Restaurant at Mikey who was on his tenth scotch. Apparently, he didn’t have a drink of choice and would drink whatever you put in front of him. After Maryann’s memorial service and the burial, my father had insisted we all gather here for the repass. I was pretty impressed with how well Mikey had held up in church, but my heart broke for him when he said his final goodbyes to his mom at the cemetery. My dad had told us to go back to the cars to give him some privacy. I watched from the car window as he kissed the wooden coffin laying a single rose on top of it before he joined us in the limousine. He was quiet on the ride to the restaurant barely speaking at all.
“I feel so bad for him.” I said to my sister as I placed my drink down.