26

Moreno

I royally fucked up.

My head throbs in a way that I can’t even explain. I feel like I got run over by a bus, and someone scraped my ass off the ground and threw me on the floor of my bedroom.

Damn.

I didn’t even make it into bed. But somehow, there’s a pillow on the floor with me.

No wonder my head hurts. Every muscle aches inside of me as I stand and stretch. My stomach churns. I should grab water, crackers, and a few aspirins to ward off my drunken night.

I’m never going out with Dante again.

I strip down, shower, and even the hot water doesn’t help relax me in the slightest.

It doesn’t help that I went into Paige’s bedroom last night.

Unless that was a dream?

It must have been a dream because she didn’t slug me or tell me she hated me for the way that I’ve treated her.

Even the dream version of Paige is nice. Shit.

What did I do to deserve any ounce of kindness from her?

I dry off, dress, and head out into the hallway.

“Morning,” Dante says and glances me over as he steps out of his bedroom. His white dress shirt is unbuttoned, and he’s fixing his collar. He doesn’t look quite ready for the day, but Nikki kicked him out of the bathroom, if I had to guess.

Again.

I’m surprised with the renovations on the playroom and the panic room that he didn’t install a bigger bathroom

“You look like hell.” Dante gives me a wicked grin. “What time did you roll into your bedroom last night?”

“What?” I rub the back of my neck, ruffled by his question. “After the bar with you, whatever time that was, Boss.”

Dante heads for the stairs, and I follow behind him. He’s buttoning his dress shirt on the way downstairs.

“You and Paige had a late-night chat. I saw you sneak into her room when we got home. Well, sneak isn’t exactly accurate. More like stumble into drunkenly and probably woke the neighbors.”

And he didn’t try to stop me?

“Thanks for looking out for me,” I mutter under my breath.

We breeze through the foyer, and he slaps me on the back. “Anytime,” Dante says.

“That was sarcasm. I shouldn’t have gone into her bedroom drunk.” Does he have any idea what a mess I made of the situation? I’m lucky if she still wants to work for me as Nova’s nanny.

We head into the kitchen.

“I take it that your conversation didn’t go well, professing your feelings for her?” Dante asks. He steps into the kitchen first and gives me an apologetic look.

Paige and Nova are at the high-top table having breakfast.

Paige’s smile instantly disappears upon seeing me. She shifts in her seat to give Nova all her attention.