Nero (Made Men #1) (16 page)

Elle stopped breathing
, becoming nervous for what he might do next.

Still holding onto her hips
, he moved her off his lap and set her down beside him. Elle felt relieved and almost disappointed at the same time.

Nero finally let Elle go and ran his hands through his hair
. “Not since I was a boy have I felt a girl’s boobs through their shirt.”

Elle tried hard not to laugh
.
Poor Nero.
She was proud of herself to be clearly the only girl to make Nero wait.

Elle leaned up and gave him a
nother kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry.” She knew she didn’t look very sorry by the way she was smiling.

“You are going to make this up to me.”
Nero’s voice was in a commanding tone once again.

Elle really didn’t like where this was headed as she stared back at him
, waiting to hear what he wanted.
What now?

“I am driving you to work tonight
.”

“But
—”

Nero put his hand over her mouth
, shutting her up. “And from now on.” When Elle’s eyes tried to say otherwise, he continued, “I’m not asking; I’m telling.” He removed his hand from her mouth and stole a kiss from her.

W
hy not?
It was the least she could do for him for being a gentleman. Hell, she would get a free ride out of it, and if she didn’t like it, she would figure out a way to get out of it. It was a win-win.

Since Elle
had decided to give in and let him take her, she had another idea to go ahead and get something else over with that was going to be painful.

“
Nero, do you want to meet my parents?”

Chapter Twenty-
Two

You Wouldn’t Let Me Have My Way With You

Elle squeezed Nero’s hand as she walked up her driveway
.
Should I be doing this? Is this really a good idea?

Elle figured today was going to be as good of a day as any. If she did as her f
ather asked—Nero coming over for dinner—it could possibly be much worse. Dinners were long and stressful; however, with her having to go to work tonight, this was going to be a Band-Aid and she was going to rip it right off. She figured Nero was going to have to turn back around to pick her up anyway.

Elle put her hand on the door
.
My parents are going to be pissed I didn’t warn them.

She thought it was going to be
really funny if this whole thing backfired and Nero walked in on something—the something being anything.
Like what if Dad took his meds again? Or Josh wrecked the house?

Elle held onto the door handle
, thinking about if she should get Nero to turn his ass back around.
Fuck it
!
Elle turned the door handle.

When Elle came into the house
, she saw her whole family looking out the front window.

“Mom,
Dad?”

“Hey
, Nero!” Josh came from the curtain and ran toward her and Nero.

Nero held out his fist
. “What’s up, little man? How was the bus ride today?”

Josh bumped his fist
. “Great, thanks for taking me to the bus stop today.”

Nero smiled
. “Anytime.”

Elle smiled
to herself as she watched Josh run off into his bedroom. When she could no longer see her little brother, Elle turned to her parents.

Well
, here goes nothing
. “Mom, Dad, this is my friend, Nero.”

Elle’s mom came over and hugged him
. “Elle has never brought a friend home besides Chloe, and such a handsome one at that.”

Elle was slightly embarrassed by her mother
, but she had to agree; Nero looked sexy as hell.

From where she had
bitten him, he had a nasty hickey on his neck—thankfully, Nero had found a tie in his car. He had buttoned his shirt all the way up and put on the black tie, covering his hickey as long as he didn’t turn his neck too far to the side. She hated covering up such a beautiful masterpiece, but looking at Nero all dressed up made him look even more scary, yet sexy at the same time.

Nero kissed her mother’s cheek
. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Buchanan.”

Elle’s mom noticed her head
, moving toward her to examine it. “Oh, sweetie, did you walk into a wall again?”

Elle quickly laughed
. “Yeah.”

Nero
looked at her for a moment then walked over to her father sitting in his wheelchair and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you, too, sir.”

Elle thought time stood still
while waiting for her father to shake his hand. “Nero…?”

“Caruso.”

“Good to meet you, too, Nero. Sit down,” her father said, turning his wheelchair toward the couch.

Nero took a seat on the couch and Elle sat down beside him. Her mother sat in the
armchair facing the couch, as well.

Elle could tell her mom was dying to talk to Nero
. She had always asked Elle to bring over some friends and wondered how she was doing in school. Elle thought she probably should have warned Nero by the look on her mother’s face.

“So
, Nero, you go to Legacy Prep with Elle?” her mother asked.

“Yeah
, I’m a senior there, as well.”

Elle’s mom smiled
wider. “So, tell me, is Elle the most popular girl in school? She tells me about—”

Elle started laughing
. “Now, Mom.”

“
Elle, let your mom finish.” Nero started smiling and wrapped his arm behind Elle on the couch. “Elle tells you what again?”

I have made a huge mistake.

Elle’s mother’s smile returned. “She tells me about all her wonderful friends and how much she loves Legacy Prep. After her father’s accident, we weren’t sure if she was going to be able to stay, but Elle begged us to keep letting her go there. She said she just loves it there so much.”

Elle glanced
down at the floor.
Oh, God, this is worse than I could have imagined.

“
Yeah, well, she is the most popular girl in school. Everyone just loves her. I had a hard time getting her to talk to me.”

Her
mother started laughing.

Elle
managed to laugh with her mom while she looked over at Nero. He was enjoying this too much.

“So
, are you going to stay for dinner, Nero?” Elle’s mother asked.

“No, I work tonight
, Mom. Nero is going to give me a ride.”

“Oh
, okay, sweetie. Yes, my Elle of course gets straight As. That pays for some of her tuition. She works at Magical Cupcakes to pay the rest.” Her mother was beaming.

Oh
, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

Nero’s face jerked up
. “Where?”

“You know
, Magical Cupcakes. It opened a few years ago in the suburbs. That’s where Elle works, of course.”

Elle looked over at Nero
, silently pleading. “Yeah, Nero, I told you that’s where I work. Remember?”

Nero stared back at her for a few seconds then he turned back to her mother
. “Oh, yeah. Sorry, I forgot.”

“Honey
, why don’t you and Elle go make some snacks. I’m sure they are hungry after school.” Elle’s dad hadn’t pulled his eyes away from Nero.

“Right
. Come on, sweetie. Let the boys talk.” Her mom stood up, smiling from ear to ear, and started walking to the kitchen.

Elle looked over at Nero
, hoping he understood not to talk too much.
Oh, and good luck.

Elle stood and followed behind her mother. She was thankful Nero
hadn’t been fazed by the obvious lies she had been telling her parents over the years.

Going into the kitchen
, her mother pulled out some deli meat while Elle went to grab the bread, knowing her mom was going to make sandwiches.

“He is so nice and handsome
, sweetie. I like him.”

Elle laughed at her mother
. She couldn’t be happier that Elle had invited him over. Her mother had begged her for years to bring friends to the house. Yes, Chloe would come over, but her mother always wanted to meet the other kids she said she was friends with.

“Yeah
, the nicest.”

*
* *

Nero watched as Elle stood to leave the room.
He had to be honest; he had been dying to meet Elle’s parents. He wanted to meet the bastards who let Elle continue to go to school where she was bullied. But, damn if her mother wasn’t the nicest woman on Earth. She was just too kind and dumb, believing every lie Elle had spun. Her mom was clearly the completely oblivious type, one of the people who thought there was no such thing as violence.

Then her father was in a wheelchair
.
What the fuck?
At first, Nero was willing to forgive him like he was with her mother, but looking at his glaring eyes now, he didn’t give a shit if the man could no longer walk or not. Nero was starting to get a pretty good idea how bad Elle might have been hurt in the past, and the man staring back at him should have been well fucking aware something wasn’t right at school for her.

Nero stared back at him
. He had been raised by much scarier men than him. Elle’s dad was a little bunny rabbit compared to his father.
Does he actually think he can scare me?

Her
dad kept his eyes pinned to Nero. “I’m guessing Elle didn’t tell you I was in a wheelchair, did she?”

Nero didn’t move his eyes
. “No, she didn’t.”

“Figured
. There’s a lot that girl doesn’t tell.”

Well
, why don’t you fucking make her?
“Yeah, I’m gathering that.”

“Your last name
’s Caruso. It sounds familiar to me. Would I know your parents?” Elle’s father asked.

No way in
Hell.
“I don’t think so. My mother passed away when I was younger, and my dad pretty much keeps to himself now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that
.” His passive tone showed he wasn’t really. “What does your father do?”

Nero had been waiting for that question the moment he
’d said his last name. “He owns a casino hotel downtown.”

“Really?
I doubt he can keep to himself owning a casino hotel.”

Nero shrugged
. “He has great managers.”

“I bet he does. Do you plan to work for your father or are you going to college?”

Nero had a feeling Mr. Buchanan knew his answer. “I’m going to work for my father.”

Nero watched Elle’s father smile and ease up
. “Elle is going off to college. She hasn’t decided yet, but she can pick anywhere she wants to go pretty much.”

Nero smiled back
. “That’s good. Elle should go to college.”

Nero could tell
Mr. Buchanan hadn’t been prepared for his answer. Then his smile returned. “Hmm, for some reason Elle didn’t apply to the university here.”

I fucking
wonder why
? “Well, there’s still half a year left to apply. You never know, something could change her mind.”

Nero saw his face grow pissed
, about to say something, when he heard Elle and her mother enter the living room. Nero kept his smile, glad his message had been clear to Elle’s father.

He looked at Elle’s mother as she held out a glass of water. She looked like the older version of Elle,
the only difference being she had laugh lines and was slightly plump, making Nero happy Elle would age well.

Nero took the glass of water
. “Thank you, Mrs. Buchanan.”

Elle’s mom smiled and took her seat
. “You’re welcome. I hope water is okay.”

“It’s great
, thanks.”

He looked over at Elle when she didn’t sit down
. She was holding a plate of sandwiches and her own glass of water.

“Come on
, Nero. Let’s eat in my room.”

Nero couldn’t wait to get Elle alone and talk to her about all the lies
she had told her parents.
No wonder she can’t help but lie to me—she’s living two fucking different lives.

Elle’s eyes rolled
. “With the door open.”

He looked over at Elle’s father
’s face, which was fuming.

Nero stood up
, smiling.
Elle isn’t going anywhere.

*
* *

Elle handed over the plate of sandwiches to Nero so she could open her be
droom door. Opening it, she walked in with Nero right behind her then closed the door.
Crap
. She re-opened the door, leaving it halfway open.

She turned around and saw Nero standing there with his hands full
. “You can sit on my bed.”

“You sure about that?” Nero
asked sarcastically.

Elle pushed the door
a little more closed. “Yep.”

She
walked to her bed and sat at the top with her back propped on her pillows, up against her headboard. Nero walked over to the other side and did the same. She watched him as he got comfortable and set the plate between them.

Nero took a big drink of his water and held out his hand
. “Remote.”

Elle looked around her room for her remote
control. She had an old box TV that faced her bed. She grabbed it off her nightstand from under some old magazines. She was thankful her room wasn’t too messy. Although, she had a bunch of knickknacks and random stuff in her room from over the years since she always had a terrible time throwing stuff away.

Elle handed Nero the remote, curious as to why he demanded it the second he sat down.

Nero clicked on the TV, and a few seconds later, a picture came in focus. Elle shut her eyes and started rubbing her head when she realized what channel it was on.
This just gets better and better.

Nero looked over at Elle
. “Really, Elle? The Disney Channel?”

“The Lit
tle Mermaid came on last night.” Elle couldn’t ever pass up a classic; it didn’t matter if she even owned the DVD.