Page 55 of Taming Nikki

“If you have a bad dream, you can sleep with me until she gets back. I’ll even let you hold Stuffy.” Stuffy was a stuffed unicorn. I bought it for Amara when I first got here with the little pocket money I had and she was very attached to it. She used to hide it from Gemma because she didn’t want her to ruin it.

Gemma sniffled, her face still pressed against me, but the tears slowly stopped. I squatted in front of her. “See? It’ll be okay. I’ll have to move eventually. Think of it as practice, hmm?”

She nodded, but her lower lip still trembled. I smirked. “You’re going to take over the world with that look. I expect to be made your head of security when you do.” That made her snicker. I bumped her chin with my knuckle as I straightened. “Alright, I’m off to hell. I’ll bring you back a souvenir.”

Their little giggles relaxed me as I tossed a duffle over my shoulder. I didn’t look back. I was pretty sure Gemma’s tear-stained face would’ve actually broken me. Leo was by the top of the stairs talking to Papa, but I bypassed them. I didn’t want to talk to Papa right now.

Marco and Piero waited by the door with grim looks on their faces.

“Oh, come on, not you too.”

Piero grimaced. “Can you blame us? You’re the only one who’s actually decent in this house.”

Marco nodded in agreement.

I set down my duffle and threw an arm around each of their shoulders. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you two actually like me. Better keep that to yourselves or the family might shun you, too.”

Marco rolled his eyes. “Good. We have more fun with you anyway.”

I laughed and shoved them away. “I’ll see you later. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

As I meandered to Leo’s car, I heard Piero shout at me. “That’s not a very long list!”

ChapterTwenty-Five

LEO

Nikki seemedapprehensive as we left her home. I thought she might change her mind on the deal when I heard her little sister start bawling. She looked like she was holding back a scowl when she left the house. She had just finished a cigarette as I met her at the car.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded, blowing out smoke as she ground the butt with the toe of her shoe. She dropped into the car, her bag already in the back seat.

“Doesn’t matter how late the job went, I always came home. She’s never spent a night apart from me. She’ll be alright.”

She was trying to hide it, but she looked upset. I put a hand on her knee to reassure her. Her automatic response was to jerk away, and she grimaced.

“Sorry.”

I chuckled. “Old habits die hard. It’s fine. I’ve got business to handle so I can either drop you off at home or you can come with me.”

She thought about it. “I’ll need to shower and change eventually, but if it’s easier to go straight to work, I can just grab a ride later.”

It was going to take me a while to get used to her being so amiable. We made it to the club with no fighting and it threw me off. I shook my head and held the door open for her as we made our way inside. It was the early afternoon, the club wasn’t open yet. Just my guys filtered in and out.

I headed to my office, letting Nicole trail behind me. She was still a flight risk. It was Mass and Alonzo’s jobs to follow her if she left without me. They wanted a chance to redeem themselves after their last attempt at tailing Nicole, so they volunteered. Since they got their asses kicked for losing her the first time, they would be more vigilant than the others.

Nicole snorted when she saw the keypad outside my office door.

“You know, the last time I got in here by using the credit card trick? I thought you were so cocky you thought you didn’t need security. You didn’t even have a password on your computer.”

I ground my teeth. The memory still pissed me off. “I saw on the cameras. We updated it that same night. There is supposed to be a guard down here at all times while the club is open.”

She dropped onto the couch and stretched her long legs across the cushions. “What’d you do to Johnny?”

“Less than he deserved. Only reason he’s still alive is because you kept your end of the deal. Why? Feeling guilty?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Not even a little. I didn’t even have to sneak past him. He wasn’t anywhere near your office. It’s not my fault he’s shit at his job. You’re the one who should feel bad. You hired incompetent idiots for security. What about the ones who were following me? I figured it out before we even got to the club.”

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