He stared at me without explaining or contradicting me, and for the first time, I noticed that the music had stopped. Maybe he turned it off at some point or maybe it was life’s way of confirming fairytales didn’t exist. While things may appear perfect on the outside, more often than not they concealed secrets and a whole lot of ugliness.
Not a minute too soon his doorbell rang and my shoulders sagged with relief. The tension stretching between us had thickened to the point where I didn’t feel like I could take in another breath.
“Excuse me. I should get that.” He pushed back his chair and crossed the room, his polished black Ferragamos clipping over the hardwood floors.
The door squeaked open. Lowered voices floated down the hall. One of them was a woman, piquing my curiosity. Nico and I weren’t anything to each other. Not yet anyway. Sure, we were in the middle of negotiating our potential marriage and we’d kissed at Gian and Evie’s wedding, though in spite of all of that, I didn’t believe for a second either of those things would keep Nico from playing the field. At this point, I truly didn’t care either way. After we married was another story. I didn’t want his infidelities waved in my face. I wouldn’t spend my life playing the tragic wife role.
I padded down the hall, freezing with one foot suspended in front of the other. “Ava, what are you doing here?”
“There you are.” She took a step back, dropping her hand from Nico’s upper arm. Her gaze darted to Nico, then back to me. “I was looking for you.”
“Why’s that?”
She yanked on the hem of her black midriff-baring shirt. “Your mom said you were here and I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop by and see if you needed a ride.”
“Thanks for thinking of me. You shouldn’t have bothered, though. Nico can take me home or I’ll catch a cab.”
“Oh, well, I should get going then.” She twisted her honey colored hair around her finger. I didn’t understand why she lightened it. It was so pretty and soft before she started playing with it. “Tell your mom I said hi.”
“Don’t be silly. Come in and have a drink with us. We were finishing up with dinner. You can share our dessert.”
Nico shot me a dark look, and I smiled blandly. I wasn’t anxious to get back to our conversation. I couldn’t promise Nico a future right now. I had to come to an agreement with Kon and his father before I could move forward with Nico, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. Outwardly, he had several of the things women yearned for in a man: a lean athletic build, a swoon-worthy face, money, and power. Only I wanted more—a deeper connection. I wanted to share some level of affection and trust with the man I married even if it never amounted to love.
“I don’t want to intrude.” Ava kept her brown eyes trained on Nico rather than me. “I’m sure Nico has all sorts of things planned tonight.”
“No, come in,” Nico gritted out, opening the door wider. While his gesture was welcoming, his voice was unforgiving and terse, leaving little doubt he didn’t like her barging in on our dinner.
Ava swallowed hard, then glanced over her shoulder. “No. I need to get going. I have early morning plans.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, call me soon and we’ll go out for dinner or drinks sometime next week.”
“Sure thing.”
Nico closed the door the minute she turned her back.
“That was strange. Has she been here before or something?”
“Yeah, most likely.” Nico draped his arm over my shoulder and ushered me to the dinner table. “Ava and my sister Gemma were best friends back in the day. They don’t hang out much anymore. Gemma got caught up in a bad scene. Drugs, parties, booze. She’s cleaned up her act and has a sobriety buddy, Lanelle or something. They seem to be keeping each other outta trouble. That’s all I care about. Her son needs her.”
I shifted on my feet, uncomfortable with the mention of his sister. Gemma had become somewhat of a taboo subject in the past few years. Everyone pretended like she didn’t exist.
“Yeah, and I’m sure Ava wouldn’t forget where you lived. I think she has quite the crush on you,” I said, trying to change the subject.
He rubbed the back of his neck, and his face hardened. “She’s talked about me to you? What’d she say?”
“Nothing unflattering.” I forced out a stilted chuckle. Despite the fact that Ava got on my nerves sometimes, I owed her my loyalty. That’s the way my family worked. “I don’t think she’s a stalker or anything if that’s what you’re worried about.”