Page 70 of Taming Nikki

“It doesn’t. I honestly prefer it. There are no games with Nikki and that’s hard to find these days.” He sounded truthful, and I wanted to look back to see if he was joking or not, but I was too focused on Diego. He crossed his arms and scrutinized Leo. They stared each other down for a while before I finally got irritated.

“Alright, knock it off, both of you,” I snapped. Clearly, it was a bad idea to bring Leo here, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice. Even Enzo would’ve been preferable at this point. He at least would’ve waited in the hall.

Diego blinked, frowning at me. He opened his mouth to say something, but his coach came into the room and I darted away. That man couldn’t stand me in here. I was considered a distraction before the game. I almost made it out the door before he called my name.

“Dammit, Nicole. What have I told you about coming back here?”

Defeated, I spun on my heel. I hooked my thumbs into my belt loops and leaned against one of the lockers.

“Don’t remember that conversation. Do you have a record of it?”

Some of the team laughed, which only pissed off the coach more. He turned his furious gaze toward Diego, but froze when he noticed Leo behind him.

“Mr. Vitale, this is a surprise. What are you doing here?”

I frowned. Since when did the coach of the Yankees know a mafia don?

“I brought my girlfriend to see her brother. It’s her birthday.” There was a warning in Leo’s tone. He didn’t like the way the coach was berating me.

The coach slowly glanced at me, his face pale. “I, uh… I see. Well, I guess it’s okay… since it’s her birthday…”

A smirk crossed my face, and it seemed to break through his panic a little. He cleared his throat and turned his back on us to start going through the game with the team. Diego waved at me, and I snuck out with Mikey. Leo took up the rear, his scowl back in place.

We turned toward the exit, and I spun around and walked backwards. “So, who’s ready for the beers and baseball?” I think we already accomplished bad decisions.

ChapterThirty-One

LEO

Continually remindingmyself that it was her birthday wasn’t going to get me through the day. Nicole’s little disappearing act already put me on edge. Finding out she was lying about our relationship didn’t help. And now that we were seated and watching the game, she seemed determined to ignore me. Especially after I tried to punish Mikey by making him stand by the entrance of the aisle as a look out. She adamantly refused to allow it and threatened to go sit in the dugout with her brother if I tried to enforce it.

She kept her eyes on the game, a permanent frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest. I was itching for a cigarette. She had me all riled up and pissed off, but since there was no smoking allowed in the stadium, I could only drink my beer and seeth internally.

I kept my arm across the back of her seat, much to her annoyance. She only seemed to brighten when her brother waved at her as he came up to bat.

“Give ‘em hell, Diego!” she shouted.

He seemed to take issue with my job, which wasn’t overly surprising for a civilian. It was a little surprising given where Nicole was raised that he didn’t see it coming, though. Then again, Nicole settling into an arranged marriage was hard to imagine, even by me. I had to make a deal for her to even consider it and she still brought it up constantly that our relationship had a clock on it.

A call from Gio pulled me out of my seat and away from Nicole.

“We’ve got trouble.”

“What kind?”

“Cops in the area, looking to ask you some questions.”

I sighed. It wasn’t the first time, sure as hell wouldn’t be the last. “Did you call Vega?” He was a cop on our payroll. He generally handled shit like this for us.

Static made it hard to hear him, so I stepped farther into the hall away from the shouting fans. “He’s got his own problems. Might be a good idea to head home.”

I frowned. Getting Nicole to leave right now would be nearly impossible. She’d already been skirting the rules. I’d have to manhandle her to move her and that would draw unwanted attention.

“We need another option. Call Reynolds. He’s closest. If I have to go in, I’d rather it be with one of our own.”

“Got it. What about Nikki?”

I sighed. If I got pulled out of here, she’d still have Dante and Mikey, but it made me uneasy leaving her out in the open. I rubbed the back of my neck as I tried to think of anything that might keep her happy enough not to cause a scene.

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