Page 16 of Taming Nikki

“You.”

I jerked my head back. “You’re lying.” There was no way they were forcing Frankie to marry someone that much older than him. That’s gross.

Gino seemed to get a great deal of enjoyment out of this conversation now. “Nope. Papa told me himself. You’re getting married to Leo Vitale as a part of this deal.”

Emotions slammed into me left and right, shock, outrage, denial, fury, until I could only sit frozen under my brother’s gleeful gaze. He loved watching me panic. There was no fucking way. I’ve worked for years to get Papa off my back about an arranged marriage. I was not marrying that asshole.

“You’re fucking lying. No mafia don wants to tie themselves to a love child.”

Gino shrugged. “This one does. Have fun with that. I heard he’s more violent than me.” He strode from the room, chuckling lightly.

It took way too long for me to come out of the shock. Gino was lying. He had to be. There was no way. I knew for a fact that Papa wouldn’t want a deal that big riding on me. He knew I’d fuck it up for him on purpose. So either Gino was lying or… Or Leo Vitale is looking to get revenge by forcing me to marry him.

Who would marry someone just because they broke into their office? He couldn’t be that vindictive. There were too many unanswered questions, and I doubted Papa would fill me in even if I asked. Instead, I went to my room to get ready. There was only one other person who might have answers for me, and that was Leo Vitale.

I felt like I was preparing for battle. I went with another skirt since I wasn’t going into Vitale’s club unarmed and I didn’t want to be stopped at the door. Paired with a corset top and knee-high boots, I looked like a regular club bunny, but most club bunnies didn’t have weapons stashed in every crevice. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I texted Enzo that I needed a ride before putting on my makeup. If he was thinking he wanted to tie himself to someone like me, he had another thing coming.

When I strode out of my room a few minutes later, I passed Bianca in the hall.

“Where are you going?”

“Out.” She may be older than me, but not by much, and I didn’t answer to her. I didn’t answer to anyone, not even Papa. This stupid deal was not going to happen.

I heard her scoff. “You look like a vampire.”

“Better than a bitch,” I called over my shoulder, flipping her off without turning around.

I passed Papa and Viola as I walked out the door. Papa didn’t bother asking where I was going. He saw Enzo waiting for me, so he knew I wasn’t going out alone. He stopped trying to keep me home after dark a long time ago.

“Where are we headed?” Enzo pulled out of the driveway, not bothering to wait for directions.

“Club Starlite.”

His eyebrows raised at that. “Didn’t get the message across last night?”

I ground my teeth, clenching my fists in my lap. “Apparently not.”

“That’s a first. Whatever. How long are you gonna be? I’ve got shit to take care of later.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t know how long this would take, and the longer I went without answers, the more I worried Gino wasn’t lying. Vitale didn’t seem like the type to back down easily and apparently, I started a war with him last night.

ChapterEight

LEO

This time,I knew Nicole was coming as soon as she entered my territory. She wasn’t hiding it and I was pretty clear with security on what would happen if they missed something like that again, so they were on the lookout for her. I sat in one of the VIP booths of the club, watching the crowd. I didn’t spend much time out here, but I wanted to test how she’d act in public. She had a business, after all.

The bouncer at the door knew to let her in, so she stalked into the club without issue, fury etched across her features. A cocktail waitress stepped up to her, pointing her in my direction after they spoke. She couldn’t see me from this far away, it was too dark, but it felt like she could, her eyes locking on me. I tossed my arms over the back of the booth, knowing that when I was too casual, it bothered her.

The sea of people seemed to part for her. Either they knew who she was or they could feel the anger radiating off of her and chose to steer clear. She stopped at the edge of the table opposite me.

“Who’s the deal for, Vitale?”

A grin threatened, and I had to school my face. “I think you already know the answer to that.”

She went silent, her hands clenched at her sides. It looked like she was going to walk away and her body turned slowly to face away from me. My eyebrows went up. It couldn’t be that easy…

Yeah, I should’ve known better. She spun back and grabbed one of the drinks my guys had left on the table when I told them to fuck off. Without hesitation, she threw the liquid at me. Security appeared behind her, ready to take action, but I shook my head, wiping off my face with one hand.

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