Page 26 of Taming Nikki

The basement door flew open, and I could hear Piero coughing as he stumbled down the stairs. Marco caught him as he tripped into the room, gripping his gut. His nose was bleeding, his eyes watering. He obviously had a run in with my brothers.

“Let me guess. Gino?”

Piero nodded as he dropped onto his bed with Marco’s help. “Asshole caught me outside. Are we done with business, then?”

I chuckled. “No. Just on hiatus for a bit. Let them think they won. You get some rest. I’ll figure out what to do about the two meatheads.”

They may be my brothers, but I wasn’t a fucking push over. They weren’t going to get away with manhandling me. Who knows, maybe I’d let it slip to Leo, just to see what he did to them. Then again, maybe not. I didn’t want him thinking I needed him to protect me.

ChapterTwelve

NIKKI

I leftto return Nino’s car early. The next batch was small, another group of three, so I wouldn’t need to borrow his computer long. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve worked out of Nino’s place. I actually started there. He’d let me do research during my breaks when I would help around the restaurant. I slipped in the back, punching in the security code before the alarm went off and trudged upstairs. Nino lived above his restaurant because he was a workaholic, like the rest of the men in our family. He opens and closes the restaurant himself, only taking breaks long enough to eat. The only days off I’ve seen him take were because of big family events where he was always the caterer.

I could hear him snoring in his room. The man snored like a chainsaw. His little apartment was my place of refuge for so long, I felt more at home here than in my own room sometimes. I dropped onto the wooden chair in front of his computer with a sigh. I was still sore from taking on Gino’s wrath yesterday.

I booted up the computer, plugging in the USB that had a copy of my program on it. It wasn’t a complicated program. It searched for information for me, so I didn’t have to do it all by hand like I used to. I finish things up myself by checking the sources and putting it in the system for people to access with their USB.

I went through the ones that Marco finished and had started on the new batch when I heard Nino’s alarm go off. He grunted, his bed creaking as he pulled himself out of it. When he let out a particularly loud fart, I snickered. His head poked out of his bedroom, and he frowned at me.

“Back so soon?”

I shrugged. “Had some trouble, needed to borrow your computer. I won’t be long, two hours max.”

He nodded and disappeared back into his room. He only came back once he was showered and dressed for the day. He knew he didn’t have to worry about me.

He puttered around his kitchen, handing me a cup of coffee as he made us both breakfast.

“You gonna tell me what happened or am I gonna have to guess?”

I sighed. I wasn’t planning on telling him. He had issues with my older siblings because he didn’t like the way they treated me, but I didn’t lie to Uncle Nino. Even by omission. “Gino and DiAngelo found my program running on Piero’s computer. They took issue with it.”

I left it at that. If he found out Gino hit me, he’d probably try to kill him, and that was a lot more drama than I had the energy to deal with right now. I sipped my coffee, drawing my knees to my chest. Nino shook his head.

“Little shits, the both of them. You need help?”

I shook my head. “I got it handled. I just need to finish these last few.”

When I first started my business, Nino was just as unhappy about it as the rest of them, but his displeasure came from a good place. I had been so gentle and obedient for so long, he worried about me on the streets. He got over himself eventually. I’ve even gathered information for him before, usually about a competing restaurant in the area.

“Your fiancé stuck around after you left, asking questions.”

I scowled into my coffee. “Not my fiancé. What’d you tell him?”

Nino gave me a blank look. “Do I look like a snitch to you?”

I laughed, shaking my head. It placated him, so he kept talking. “He’s persistent, I’ll give him that. Don’t think he’s gonna back down easy.”

I chewed on my lip. Things were getting too fucking complicated. I not only had to deal with Leo, now I had Gino and DiAngelo on my case. I really needed to figure out the one big thing that’d finally get Papa to kick me out for good. Once I moved out, all my problems would go away, and I’d be able to focus on my business.

I joined Nino at the table, only half listening to his stories about the restaurant while I ate. There wasn’t much I could do about my brothers right now. I had dirt on them, but given that Gino was so violent last night, if I tried to use it right now, he’d probably kill me. I needed to just wait it out and avoid them. Leo, though, he was a bigger problem. One of the reasons I left so early was so I wouldn’t bump into him. For now, I planned on ignoring him. He might lose interest if I didn’t engage.

* * *

A few hours later, as I finished up the last of the USBs, I got a call from Gino.

“Where the fuck are you?”

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