I reached behind me taking his hand off me and took a step backward to meet his gaze. Rico and I fight occasionally. We’re both hot tempered individuals so when we fight well, let’s just say things get heated, but I’ve never seen him look at me like he was at that moment. His eyes were murderous as they held me captive.
“I went out with Mikey last night.” I said suddenly feeling angry. “You bailed on me and I didn’t feel like staying home so I went out with my friend.”
“Your friend.” He repeated.
“Yes.” I said firmly, crossing my arms under my breasts as I peered at him matching his vicious gaze with one of my own.
“Nikki your two o’clock is here.” My manager said from the reception desk.
I cocked my head to the side still staring down Rico. “I have work to do.”
“You’re my girl Nikki. Mine.” He leaned in closer. “Not daddy’s and not Mikey’s but mine.” He said warningly. I couldn’t help but notice how he sounded so patronizing when he spoke Mikey’s name as if he mocking me.
I stepped to him my finger poking against his rock hard chest. “I am no one’s property Rico. Not my dad’s not Mikey’s and not yours. ” I took a deep breath reigning myself in I dropped my accusing finger balling my hands into fists at my sides. “You should leave.”
He swiped his hands over his face and looked as if he was trying to erase the tension in his face. “I’m sorry.” He said, sounding exasperated. “I heard you were out with him last night and I was so fucking angry. I was angry with myself because we’ve been fighting and I canceled our plans knowing very well that we needed to spend time together.” He reached for my hands. “I didn’t mean to sound so fucking condescending.”
Rico rarely apologized he wasn’t a man who owned his mistakes, but rather one who pawned them off on others. His apology caught me off guard, as did his admissions. I sighed heavily. He was right, things were already strained between us, and I felt a lot of that had to do with my attraction to Mikey. I needed to get over that and I needed to get over it real quick because I was fucking up my relationship and for what? It’s not like Mikey was pining away for me. If anything, he wanted a quick fuck. He wasn’t the type to settle down and build something. And he was most certainly not looking to start something with me or anyone for that matter his plate was overflowing. I was his friend. Probably his only friend these days. Friends don’t dream of other friends naked every time they close their eyes.
“I’m sorry too. I should’ve told you.” I said. “I guess I was mad that you ditched me, forcing my hand when Mikey asked me to show him around town. My father told him he needed to be more familiar with the nightclub scene before Temptations opened that’s why we went out.”
He leaned into me cupping the back of my head, guiding my mouth to his claiming it as his own. Our lips fused together in a heated frenzy trying to reclaim what was slipping dangerously through our fingers. We both could feel the demise of our relationship lurking over our heads and we were desperate to lure it back in we were na?ve to believe that one kiss and a few apologies could fix what was already broken beyond repair.
“You don’t have to explain Nikki.” He said against my mouth. “I love you.”
I didn’t say I love you back I just hugged him, wondering if I did love him still.
The ride back home from the shooting range was relatively quiet no surprise there. I actually welcomed the silence still reeling from what took place. I overheard Jack tell Anthony how the last fifteen minutes of my session was like watching my father. Fifteen minutes was all it took to gain the respect of the President of Satan’s Knights affirming that I was in fact my father’s prodigy.
I sat in the passenger seat of the truck staring at my hands. I could still feel the gun in them the adrenaline was still coursing through my veins. I didn’t know what to think about what had happened back there. It was like some higher force overcame me almost like a natural instinct. It was scary to know that something I didn’t think I was capable of came so easy to me.
“Victor told me you and Nikki went out last night.” Anthony said shocking the hell out of me and pulling me away from my darkened thoughts. It took me a moment to process that he had actually initiated a conversation.
“Yeah, we went out for a few drinks.”
“Did you learn anything?” He asked, eye on the road ahead of him. He was like a goddamn statue.
Were these people kidding me? They made it like they were training me to be a solider fighting in a cold war.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I suppose so. We weren’t there very long before Nikki wanted to leave.”
“Nikki wanted to leave?” He let it stir for a moment. “That’s unusual.”
“She seemed tired of it all.” I said, remembering that she had been upset with the drug scene. “There were a lot of drugs in there.”
He gripped the steering wheel tightly while stealing a quick glance in my direction. “Anyone approach either of you?”
I didn’t even know what he meant by that. “Excuse me?”