Scandalous Heroes Box Set (143 page)

Still, Michael had a feeling that the lovely Kendra wouldn’t appreciate him ogling her in the shadows. He decided to make his presence known.

Clearing his throat loudly, he called to her. “Kendra, here are your bags.” His voice came out in a yell. She didn’t stop her twirling around. So he called out again. “Kendra!” Still nothing.

Michael walked further into the room. “Kendra!” he yelled. She startled and rushed to pull on a large t-shirt with some sort of cartoon character on it. He would have laughed, had he not seen the outrage in her eyes. “I called out to you twice, and you didn’t answer. Here are your bags,” he said, placing them in the middle of the floor. “Maybe you should turn the music down.”

“Maybe you should have knocked. I didn’t know you were bringing the bags to my room. I thought you would bring them into the house. And my music is not loud,” she stated.

“Yes, it is. I can barely hear myself think over that racket. We’re practically screaming at one another,” Michael chided. “Can you please turn it down?”

“No, I cannot. You are leaving. Thank you for bringing in my bags. Goodbye,” she said, folding her arms under her breasts and tapping one foot on the floor.

“You’re welcome. By the way, nice underwear…beautiful body,” he said with a smile as his eyes traveled the length of her figure. “See you soon,” he added before turning and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.

“Jerk,” Kendra murmured, although she had to admit he was a rather handsome jerk, even if he did look as though he could choke someone out and think nothing of it. Strange that one. A chameleon of sorts. At the wedding, he had looked all GQ/Forbes-ish. Today he looked dangerous.
Oh, well, not my problem. Men suck rocks. At least, lately they do.
Now for that shower and nap.

Chapter Four

Kendra was awakened from her first peaceful sleep in weeks by the ringing of her cell phone. She looked down at her phone and cringed. Jerome again. Why the hell was he calling her now? As a matter of fact, why was he calling her at all? Even after she’d told him she wasn’t interested, the guy kept calling her every day.

“Damn, why do I get all the crazies?” She moaned into her pillow while hitting the reject button on her cell phone. “I might as well get up. But to do what exactly? No doubt Piero and Adanna are holed up in their room or doing some little cute thing that people in love do. You’re a sad woman Kendra,” she muttered to herself.

Kendra was just about to get up when her cell rang again. “Ughh,” she screamed into her pillow. “Somebody shoot me now.” She looked at her cell phone, saw that it was Nicco, and frowned. Why was Nicco calling her? Kendra slid her finger across the phone to unlock it and answered. “Hello.”

“Hello, Kendra,” Nicco drawled into the phone.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Nothing. I thought you were…I don’t know…bored in the big house by yourself, and I thought I’d invite you out,” he responded.

“I am bored out of my mind. However, I don’t think I’m ready for your kind of fun, Nicco,” she chuckled.

“Who, me? I’m just an innocent boy. I don’t get into trouble,” he said.

“Liar. You’re neither innocent nor are you a boy, and trouble is your first and last names,” she snorted.

“Come, on now. I am not a bad person. Don’t let others cloud your judgment of me. I am…how do you say…me. No more, no less,” Nicco finished.

“And just where does ‘me’ want to take me?” Kendra asked.

“Just out for a few drinks and dancing. Have a little fun. Life is too short. Live a little,” he said.

Kendra pondered over what Nicco was saying for a few minutes before accepting his offer to take her out. “I’ll go with you on two conditions. This is not a date, and you don’t take me to one of those sleazy places that you like to visit,” she said.

“Come on, Kendra. You know I don’t do sleaze,” he chuckled.

“Just so you know…you won’t be doing me, either. I know your reputation, and I am definitely not the one,” she stressed.

“Point taken. So is that a ‘yes’?” he asked.

“Yes. Where are we going?”

“It’s a place that Marcello and I frequent a lot. Nice joint. Great food and drinks. My brothers and I all go there,” Nicco said.

“Okay. What time do you want me to meet you?” she asked.

“I will pick you up at between eight and eight-thirty this evening,” he said.

“I would prefer to drive my own car, Nicco. Last time I went out with you, Sharon and I ended up taking a cab home after you disappeared. Piero wanted to strangle you. As a matter of fact, is it even safe for you to come here?” she joked.

“Piero will not harm me as long as I stay away from your sister,” Nicco chuckled. “We are family. Piero will be fine. I have another call. I will see you later.

“Okay. Looking forward to it,” Kendra said, disconnecting the call. “Well it appears I am going out tonight. Yay!” Her brother-in-law was a little overprotective of her. When he found out that she was going out with Nicco again, he was going to hit the ceiling. Oh well. He’d get over it.

Kendra got up, tossed her cell on the bed, and marched over to the walk-in closet where she’d hung the few things that she’d brought with her. “Oh man, I forgot to ask about the dress code. I may have to make a quick trip to the mall because I didn’t bring anything fancy with me.” She walked over to the bed, picked up her cell phone from where she’d tossed it, and redialed Nicco.

“You’re not backing out,” Nicco said before Kendra could say a word.

“No, I just need to know the dress code for this place that you’re taking me to. Geez, so demanding,” she laughed.

“Whatever. It’s not terribly fancy. Come on, Kendra. You know how to dress. Is this some kind of tactic to get out of going out with me tonight?” he asked.

“No. I don’t need a
tactic
, Nicco. If I didn’t want to go, I wouldn’t. It’s just that I didn’t bring anything fancy with me. I wanted to know, just in case I had to make a quick trip to the mall.”

“No need for a mall trip. If you go there, we definitely won’t make it out tonight,” he snorted. “Friends of ours own the club, Kendra. You will be fine.”

“Okay, see you later,” she said.

“No more excuses. Right?” he said.

“I told you, I don’t need to make excuses. Bye before I change my mind.”

“Later,” he said.

Kendra hung up her phone and smiled down at it.

“Hmm, why do I have a feeling that going out with me is not all you’re up to, Nicco?” she said to herself. She’d overheard Piero, Sal, and Michael talking about Nicco on plenty of occasions when they thought she wasn’t listening. She’d often wondered what the problem was, but since she had her own set of issues, she wasn’t about to get involved with someone else’s family drama.

Kendra looked down at her phone again and noticed that the mailbox symbol on her phone indicated that she had a text message. To make sure that it wasn’t Jerome, she scrolled through her missed calls list and saw that Sharon had called while she’d been asleep. “Oh, heck. I forgot to call her. She’s going to kill me.” She speed-dialed Sharon and didn’t have to wait long for her to answer.

“What the hell took you so long to call?” Sharon chastised.

“I fell asleep. I guess I was more tired than I thought. Anyway, I made it safe and sound, and guess what?” Kendra said.

“What?”

“I am going out with Nicco tonight.”

“Really? Why? You remember what happened last time. Nicco is a handsome, egotistical jerk. I wouldn’t trust him as far I could throw him. What does Piero have to say about this?” Sharon asked.

“Nothing. I haven’t told him yet. Besides, I am a grown woman. I can take care of myself. I have that taxi number on speed dial. I will be fine. I can’t hang around here all night. I’m bored stiff. You know my sister and her husband barely leave the confines of their room and when they do, both of them are working.” Kendra sighed. “I just need to get it together again, Sharon.”

There was a pause on the other line. “I wish I could be there with you. I don’t trust Nicco, Kendra, and you shouldn’t, either. Don’t let that pretty face fool you.”

“Sharon, please. Nicco is far from stupid. He knows that Sal and Piero would hurt him if he tried anything,” Kendra snorted. “I truly think Nicco is not as bad as people make him out to be. He likes to bait Piero and Michael, and they so effortlessly fall into his trap.”

“If you say so. I still don’t trust him. Anyway, I will be there first thing in the morning. Hopefully,” she added. “We will drag your sister out from under her husband if we have to, and we will all hang out together. I miss you guys.”

“We miss your crazy self, too. I can’t wait for you to get here,” Kendra responded.

“I may have some good news for you, too, but I won’t go into that until I see you. I gotta go. See you tomorrow,” Sharon said.

“See you,” Kendra said, looking at her phone. She sure hoped the good news was that she’d be getting at least some of her money back. She wasn’t counting on it, though.
Okay, I am not going there today. I am going to go out and have a great time tonight, and no one’s going to stop me.

* * *

It had taken some talking, but she’d finally gotten Piero to calm down. He did not want her to go out with Nicco, and he had made his feelings perfectly clear.

“Kendra, you are not going out with Nicco,” he had said. “You remember the last time, no? He is too irresponsible. Everything is a game to Nicco. No. No. Absolutely not.”

“Uh, brother-in-law, you are Adanna’s husband, not mine. I appreciate your concern, but I can take care of myself. Besides, he’s your cousin, and wasn’t his brother here just this morning, locked up in that room with you and Sal? Do you seriously think that Nicco would try something stupid knowing you are ready to kick his ass as it is? He is not as foolish as you all make him out to be. Trust me. I have seen a lot of Niccos in my day and with most, their bark is bigger than their bite. I—can—handle—Nicco,” she stressed. “Stop worrying.”

Kendra could tell that Piero wasn’t happy with her decision, but other than locking her up, he didn’t have any say about whom she chose to go out with. He knew that, and she believed that was why he had relented.

“Call me immediately, if something seems off,” he had said.

“Off, like what? Really, Piero?”

“Promise, Kendra.”

“I promise.” She’d shrugged, and he’d let it go.

Now, here she stood, waiting on Nicco. He was already 10 minutes late. She saw the lights of his vehicle coming up the drive and opened the door.

“I’m leaving,” she called over her shoulder, rushing out of the door before Piero had a chance to come outside and hold up her date. Well, not exactly a date. Kendra rushed over to Nicco’s sleek, cream-colored Audi and grabbed the door handle before Nicco had fully brought the car to a stop.

“Whoa, what’s the hurry?” Nicco chuckled.

“If you want to leave anytime soon, you’d better pull out of this driveway before your cousin catches up with you,” she said, settling herself in the passenger seat.

Nicco threw back his head and laughed. “Cousin Piero is upset, no?”

“Just drive, Nicco!” 

“Okaayy.”

“So, where are we going exactly, and will I be able to get a cab if I need one?”

“You’re never going to let me forget that, are you?” Nicco sighed.

“No, I am not. You were bad. That was not nice at all. Leaving us for a woman. Shame on you,” Kendra said.

“I did not leave you two for a woman. It was not like that,” Nicco said.

“Umm-hmm, tell me anything. I saw a woman and then you went bye-bye,” she snickered.

“You wouldn’t understand. Are you hungry? I am hungry. Let’s grab a bite before we go to the club,” Nicco said. Before Kendra could answer, he made a quick U-turn.

The other cars on the highway began to beep their horns at them. Nicco was too much. “You really think the world belongs to you, don’t you?” she laughed.

“What? Why would you say that?” he asked, eyeing her.

“No reason. Next time you want to pull a stunt like that, give me a heads up. I do value my life, no matter how stressed out I am,” Kendra breathed.

“Sorry. Why are you stressed out?” he asked.

“No worries, Nicco. Just drive.”

“I am worried. Why won’t you tell me? Is it some guy?” he asked.

“Drop it, Nicco. Just like you have your skeletons, I have mine,” she said.

“I don’t have skeletons,” he barked.

“Yeah, right. I believe you. Not.”

They were both silent for a few minutes.

“You know I will find out,” Nicco said.

“Maybe you will and maybe you won’t. Still, my business is my business, and I am advising you to leave my business alone,” Kendra snapped.

Kendra watched as they pulled up in front of a beautiful, Italian restaurant, Bertillini’s.

“Nice,” she said. “I don’t think I’m dressed right for this place, Nicco.”

“Of course you are. It’s my restaurant,” he said.

“You own a restaurant?” Kendra asked.

“Kendra, my family owns many restaurants, both here in America and in Italy.”

“Yeah, but I don’t recall Bertillini’s being one of them. So, don’t even try it, Nicco. You’re a fake.” She smiled.

“Not at all. You talk too much. Maybe you will be quiet once I feed you,” Nicco snorted, parking the car and turning it off. “Can you please wait so I can open the door for you?”

“No, let’s go. I’m hungry,” she said, opened the door, and stepped out of the car.

“Women,” he whispered shaking his head.

“What about us?”

“You can’t make up your minds what you want. Today, don’t open the door for me. Tomorrow, I’m rude because I didn’t pull back your chair or open the door. Make up your minds already.
Damn
, I’m confused,” Nicco said, sounding slightly disgusted.

“Stop whining, Nicco,” she said, bumping his shoulder in a friendly way as she walked side by side with him.

Chapter Five

Kendra looked around the bar for Nicco. He’d left her there with his friend, Marcello, claiming that he had some business to tend to and would be back. So far, she’d been sitting at this damn bar for almost a half hour.