Page 62 of Taming Nikki

I shouldn’t encourage this. I was under no obligation to sleep with him during this deal and it wasn’t going to make anything easier if I kept giving in to him. But it had been a hot minute since I last got laid and it felt like he woke up the beast. I wanted more.

The house was dark, and he didn’t bother turning the lights on. He closed the door behind us and pushed me up against it again. He was just lifting my leg around his hip when I caught movement on the couch and froze. Leo must’ve seen it too, because he shoved me behind him and pulled out his gun. I flicked on the lights, squinting as my eyes readjusted. We both let out a heavy sigh.

Frankie sat up on the couch, a confused look on his face. It looked like he had been sleeping when we came in. He was groggy, and there was a trail of dried drool on his chin. I chuckled, which finally caught his attention. He whipped his head around, his eyes wide.

“Nikki? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask the same thing about you. What the fuck are you doing on my couch?” Leo snapped. Someone didn’t like being interrupted when he was getting lucky. It only made it funnier, and I leaned my forehead against Leo’s back, my shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. Cockblocked by a teenager.

“It’s not fucking funny.”

Yeah, that wasn’t helping. I pushed away from him, deciding to grab a glass of water while he dealt with Frankie because if he sounded any more bent out of shape, I was going to lose it and it would probably ruin my plans for the evening.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Frankie?”

Frankie was distracted, his gaze shifting between us. “What were you guys doing?”

I could see red creeping up Leo’s neck. Time to step in because I didn’t want Frankie to get hurt.

“Better answer the question.” I gestured to Leo, leaning my elbows against the counter as I sipped my water. Frankie frowned and dropped his gaze.

“I got into a fight with my mom. She’s being a bitch, so I came over here to avoid her and fell asleep.”

I tipped my head. “How’d you get here?”

“I walked. I only live a few doors down.”

I nodded. Leo owned the entire neighborhood, so it wasn’t that surprising. I pointed at the door.

“Great. Now go home.”

His jaw dropped, and he opened his mouth to argue, but Leo’s phone rang and it interrupted him.

“What is it?” Leo snapped. “Yes, he’s here. I’m sending him home. No, I don’t want to hear about it. Carlotta, I mean it. I’ll bring him myself. Bye.”

Leo’s narrow eyed glare fell onto Frankie, and he whined. “Oh, come on, let me stay here. She’s so annoying!”

Leo reached for him and Frankie tried to run, but I cleared my throat and they both paused.

“Frankie, does she love you?”

He hesitated and gave me a confused look. “Yeah. Why?”

“Then you’re lucky. Go home, patch things up, and be grateful for what you’ve got. If you’re still fighting tomorrow, you can come over and we’ll talk about it.”

I didn’t do the touchy feely talk it out crap. I preferred the way Leo and I dealt with things. Straight forward without emotion or complication. If he offered me the deal in any other way, I probably would’ve said no. But Frankie was just a kid and arguments with your parents happened. I didn’t want him taking his mom for granted, though. I saw her at the party. She was protective and encouraging, everything my mother never was.

Leo glanced at me with a frown before he turned back to Frankie and tipped his head toward the door. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

ChapterTwenty-Eight

LEO

Nicole’slittle speech gave away a lot more than she probably intended. Her own mother’s betrayal obviously still bothered her. The way she talked to Frankie made me wonder if she ever tried for that kind of relationship with Viola after she was dumped on their doorstep.

I forced Frankie home with a hand on his shoulder, irritated that I was being interrupted yet again. Nicole violent and angry was hot. Nicole eager and turned on was significantly better, and I didn’t want to waste my time with Frankie’s shit when she could change her mind on a dime and go back to keeping me at a distance.

“This isn’t fair. You’ve let me stay over before.”

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