Page 85 of Sweet as Sin (Bad Habit 1)
His face turned ashen. “You don’t know anything.”
Taking a risk, I reached out and touched his arm. “I know you loved her. And that you and Nico did the best you could. I don’t know if you blame yourself the way he does for not being able to save her, but I do know that it’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”
I watched him crumble. His face was transfigured with misery. He put his hands over it to hide as he began to cry. “It is my fault,” he whispered, his voice cracking. “She’d still be alive if only I’d never—”
“Shh. None of that, now. Stop.”
He leaned toward me. I put my arms around him. He sagged gratefully against me, resting his chin on my head as he wrapped his arms around my shoulders. It was awkward and strange, but also sweet.
The men in this family weren’t exactly what could be described as stable.
“I’m sorry I said that. I’m a fucking asshole.” His voice was ragged against my ear. His body shook.
“Apology accepted. And you’re not an asshole. Actually I don’t know you well enough to make a determination, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt under the circumstances. We’ll start over from here and get to know one another, and then I’ll let you know.”
He laughed, or made a sound close to a laugh, and I was glad as that’s what I’d been aiming for. After a moment, he pulled away and looked down at me. His cheeks shone with tears. I looked up at him, smiling.
“You’re gonna be my sister-in-law. I’ve never had in-laws before.” He sounded as if he was unsure if that was a good thing, or a bad thing, but had decided to go with it and find out.
That made me hopeful. My smile grew wider. “Well, that makes two of us.”
He was still shaking a little. His eyes were still wet. His arms were on my shoulders, our faces were only inches apart. When his gaze dropped to my lips and he bent toward me, I experienced a moment of shock so profound I didn’t react in time to pull away.
Michael kissed me.
Then I heard Nico’s infuriated voice. “What the fuck is this?”
We broke apart. Michael spun around. There in the kitchen doorway stood Nico, his expression as black as his eyes.
“Nico, it’s not what you think,” I began, but he was already stalking toward us, his lips curled back over his teeth.
My heart leapt into
my throat. I’d seen this look before. I knew what was coming.
“Brother.” Michael held his hands up. Nico ignored the obvious surrender gesture, and launched himself at Michael.
Everything happened so fast.
Fists flying, snarling like a rabid dog, Nico collided with Michael. Instantly Michael began to defend himself and fight back. The two of them staggered around the kitchen, throwing punches, shouting, ramming into the cabinets with a sound like small detonations. They slammed into the rows of bottles on the counter, sending them tumbling to the floor where they shattered. Alcohol sprayed everywhere.
“Nico, stop! Michael! The two of you, cut it out!”
They ignored my shouts, not faltering for a moment as they continued to pummel one another. Michael’s lip was split and bleeding, as was Nico’s cheek. But Nico soon had the advantage, and dealt his brother a blow to the face so severe it knocked him off his feet and onto his ass on the kitchen floor.
“Touch her again and you’re a corpse!” Nico shouted, standing over Michael with legs spread.
Nursing his jaw, Michael looked up at Nico. His laugh was low and sardonic. “Why, afraid she might like it too much?” He glanced at me. Nico’s head turned sharply as he looked at me, too.
“Who kissed who?” he spat, breathing hard.
I gaped at him. Everything inside me went cold. “You’ve got to be kidding.”
“Answer the fuckin’ question!” Nico roared, stepping away from Michael.
Tears stung my eyes. “If you really think that I’d—”
He was on me before I could finish my sentence. He grabbed my arm and pulled me against his chest. “If you lie to me, I swear I’ll—”
