Nero (Made Men #1) (20 page)

T
he one who held Vincent’s sister spoke. “We’re the ones who are going to fuck them by the end of the night. So find your own.”

“Hey
, get off me!” Lake hit at the guy holding her by her ass.

“You really shouldn’t
have said that,” Adalyn said to the guy pinned to her waist.

Vincent started rolling up his sleeves
. “You’ve got this all wrong, motherfucker. That’s my sister you’re holding there, and unfortunately, it will be the last girl you’ll be able to hold.”

The guy groping Lake started to laugh
in his face. “This bitch isn’t your sister.” He looked down at Lake. “Looks like your mine.”

Vincent flexed his jaw
at the two guys who had been groping the girls on the dance floor. “These fuckers are mine; you two get the little shits who brought them here.”

Nero and Amo started rolling up their sleeves
, grinning, looking at the two trying to grab the girls back into their possession.

Nero grabbed Vincent’s shoulder
. “Man, I thought you’d never ask.”

Amo snickered
. “You guys can thank me later for bringing you here.”

Chapter Twenty-
Seven

Out of the Poison
’s Doors

Elle and Chloe walked into the dark lounge. Elle hoped Chloe would be okay surrounded by so many people. She looked over at her and saw she tried to make herself as small as possible so people couldn’t bump into her.

“We should go
bac
—
”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!”
the chanting sounded over her voice.

“Shit, Nero!” Elle started running toward the crowd with Chloe right behind her. Elle’s mind couldn’t think as she pushed through the crowd for them to pass
, her body only reacting.

Elle and Chloe finally reached the front of the crowd, their mouths dropping open at what they were witnessing.

Nero was toying with a helpless guy, letting him get close to take a shot, but then he would strike out, punching him in the face. The guy was too slow and dumb to stop him.

Elle moved her eyes
to Amo when he reached out and took a guy in a chokehold, his feet dangling high off the ground. What really drew Elle’s attention was Vincent. He was fighting off two guys, making them end up hitting each other when Vincent would move out of the way. The one to recover first came back at Vincent, kneeing him in the groin and making him fall to his knees. Vincent recovered quickly, taking the guy’s head in his hand and kneeing him right in the face, making him completely fall to the ground. Vincent laughed as he walked toward the other guy, now begging. Still laughing, he picked him up by his shirt, making him stand.

Vincent cocked his fist back
. “You piece of shit.” Punch in the face. “Motherfucker.” Another punch in the face. The guy toppled over to the ground, and Vincent put his shoe over his hand flat on the ground. “Don’t ever touch my sister again.” Vincent picked his foot up then smashed his hand, making the poor guy scream in pain.

As
two girls winced inside the circle, Elle figured one of them must be his sister.

Elle returned her eyes to the three guys now laughing at the destruction they
had caused. Elle then looked at the four unmoving on the floor. They were a bloody mess.

Elle looked up
and took a step forward. “Nero?”

She watched the three guys cease their laughing and look toward her.

Nero looked at her like she was crazy. “Elle, what the hell are you doing here?”

Elle thought he acted like he definitely didn’t ask her to be here
. “You texted me to come here.” When he still looked confused, she repeated his text, “Meet me at Poison, urgent?”

Nero shook his head
, still confused. “I didn’t text you.”

Elle saw three girls appear in glittery
, tight dresses. They each wrapped their arms around Nero, Amo, and Vincent.

“That was so fucking hot
,” the one holding Nero around his waist said.

Elle stepped forward
. “Who are you?”

Nero
, stunned, went to push her off and tried to speak, but she beat him to it.

“His date
. And who the hell are you, bitch?” The girl spoke and looked just like Cassandra.

Elle backed up before the tears started to well in her eyes. She pushed through the crowd even though she heard Nero yelling her name. She ran as fast as she could through the people
, starting to suffocate. She felt the shattering of her heart take place. Finally, she reached the doors taking her outside and greeted the cool air. Stopping to turn around, Chloe was right there, thankfully. She returned to her escape, going for Chloe’s car.

“Elle
, stop!” Nero’s voice commanded again.

Elle stopped in place
.
I’m done doing what you say, and I’m fucking done running from you!

Elle
quickly spun around and saw that Nero had stopped in his tracks along with Chloe, Amo, and Vincent, waiting to see what took place.

Elle picked up her feet faster and faster
, heading right toward Nero. She could see the
oh, shit
written all over his face.

Elle hit as hard as she could on Nero’s chest
, repeatedly making him back up a step with each hit. “Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!
fuck you
!”

Nero grabbed her arms
, stopping her. “Elle, it wasn’t what it looked like. I promise.”

Elle laughed mockingly through
the tears that ran down her face. “Oh, it wasn’t what it looked like? Just like how yesterday it wasn’t what it looked like when you were sandwiched between two other fake blondes? You fucking promised me yesterday!"

Nero brought her closer to him
. “I need you to trust me.”

Elle looked up into his
emerald eyes. “I am sick of all your bullshit promises, and the ‘I give you my word.’” Elle’s shattering heart finally crumbled. “I will never
ever
trust you again, Nero.”

She watched Nero’s determined eyes
. “Elle, listen
—
”

Elle spat in his face
. “No! I’m done listening to you. I’m done doing what you ask. Don’t fucking talk to me again.” Elle’s voice rose louder. “Just leave me the fuck alone!” Elle snatched her arms back as the inside of her started picking up the broken pieces, attempting to place them back together.

Nero
had been bad news from the start, and Elle had known it.
Nero is not worth this.

She
backed up and looked toward Chloe. “Let’s go.”

She watched Chloe’s face
turn into one she had never seen before. Chloe walked up to Amo and kicked him right in his shin.

Amo grabbed his shin
. “Ow! What the fuck did I do?”

“You should be ashamed of yourself
. And you, too.” She pointed to Vincent as he backed up a few steps. “I know you put him up to this.”

Chloe turned around and stomped off toward Elle
. When she passed Nero, she stopped. “I have nothing to say to you. You know what you just lost.”

Chloe finally kept walking to Elle
, who was stunned at Chloe’s behavior and happy her friend had stood up for her.

Elle silently thanked
God this had happened sooner rather than later as she walked toward Chloe’s car. She questioned what her sanity could have been if she had spent a long time with Nero.

Opening her door and getting in
, she slammed it. Shutting her eyes, she replayed his words. ‘
I promise, baby.’
Her tears started falling again.

Elle wiped
them away when Chloe got in the car. She didn’t speak, just drove to Elle’s house.

Chloe parked her car
in Elle’s driveway, and then they slowly got out of the car, going in her home and to her bedroom. Elle sat on her bed with her head in her hands.

“Do you want me to leave?” Chloe whispered to her as she sat down beside her.

Elle shook her head and looked up. “No, stay.”

“Okay, I can go make some popcorn and ice
cream and we can watch your favorite movie,
The Little Mermaid.
”

Elle chuckled through her new
tears; her friend could always cheer her up.

“I’ll be right back
,” Chloe said, getting up.

Elle watched her
walk out the door then scrunched herself up in a ball. No matter how much she tried, the pieces kept falling. There wasn’t enough glue in the world to keep her shattered heart together.

*
* *

Nero stood there
, watching Elle get in the car.
Fuck!

He had no idea how he was going to fix this colossal fuck
-up. Elle had dealt with enough, and that had been the last straw for her. The look on her crying face had killed him. He didn’t even know where to start on telling her the truth.

‘
You know what you just lost.’
Chloe’s words had struck him. He did know, and that was what killed him the most.

Nero didn’t even understand why she was here
.
I didn’t text her.
Nero pulled out his cell phone from his pocket and went to his messages. Sure enough, Elle’s exact words from earlier displayed on his screen. Nero knew no one had taken it from his pocket.
How in the hell did that happen?

“We need to get out of here before the cops show!” Adalyn said as
she and Lake came out of Poison’s doors.

“What the hell were you all here for?” Vincent
asked, storming toward them.

Adalyn and Lake pulled their dresses down and pulled their tops up to cover their cleavage. “Why the hell do you think?”

Vincent’s face started to contort.

Lake stepped in
, confessing, “I begged her to come dancing with me. It’s my fault. The only way we could get in was going with those guys. We didn’t do anything with them, though.”

Vincent took a deep breath
. “Good. You can’t date boys until you graduate. I don’t care if it’s only a few months away. I won’t say anything, but I better not catch you two again.”

Nero watched the two both nod
, even though it took Lake hitting Adalyn’s arm before she did.

Vincent held out his keys
. “Go get in the car. I’m taking you both home.”

Adalyn snatched the keys and they both started running.

Vincent yelled, watching Adalyn hold her dress down as she ran, “You’re burning those fucking dresses when we get home!”

Lake tried to pull her dress down at Vincent’s comment.

Vincent changed his mind. “Actually, give them to me. I want to get rid of them.”

Nero
would have laughed under different circumstances; Vincent was clearly just as shaken up as he was right now.

Vincent walked toward him
. “My fucking retinas are burned from watching my sister’s ass in there.”

Amo was able to laugh
, though. “Yeah, right, you were too busy watching Lake’s ass to notice it was even your sister with her.”

Vincent was about to say something
, but then thought otherwise, looking at Nero. “I’m sorry about Elle, man.”

“Yeah
, I feel bad. I set this whole thing up, then Elle and Vincent’s sister happened,” Amo added.

Nero ran his hands through his hair
. “Oh, yeah, we owe you a thanks, right?”

“Thanks a fucking lot
,” Vincent got out.

They started to hear sirens coming closer
. “Let’s get out of here. Amo, you’re going to fucking owe me for this.”

“Al
l right, man, I understand.”

They all started walking to their own cars
.

A
s Nero walked toward his Cadillac, he thought of Elle’s last words.
‘Just leave me the fuck alone!’
He opened his car door, getting in.
Not in a million years, baby.

Nero spun out of
there right before the cops arrived. He didn’t know how he would win her back yet; all he knew was he wasn’t going to stop until Elle was his.
For good.

Chapter
Twenty-Eight

The Horror in the Mirror

Elle spent the whole weekend in her bed
, trying not to cry.
Yeah,
unsuccessfully
. The only time she left her bedroom was to go to work, which she couldn’t get out of. She hated leaving the house to do so, though.

T
he love of watching the city pass through her bus window and as she walked to work was now gone. Elle had felt like a mushy mess; her eyes were stained red, her hair was unkempt, and her clothes were mismatched. She had actually thanked God for her uniform this weekend.

Elle went through
varied emotions. She went from happy that it was over so soon between them to sadness it was over and all the way to straight-up ax murderer that he had done this to her, and everything else in between.

Elle promised herself she was going to get over him by
Monday.
There is no way Nero is seeing me like this.

Elle was determined Nero wasn’t going to think he
had gotten the best of her. She was going to move on, and he was going to see it Monday morning.

When Monday morning rolled around
and Elle’s alarm clock went off, she thought of a new way to destroy it when school was finally over. She woke up groggy.
More like I feel like shit.

T
urning on the bathroom light, she saw the horror in the mirror. She didn’t exactly know if this was even fixable. She wished Chloe was there to help.
Wait, Chloe can help.

Elle ran back to her bedroom and hit Chloe’s number.
It rang several times. Elle knew it was pretty early and thought she should hang up, but then it was answered.

“Hello?”

Chloe sounded wide awake to her. She knew she’d hardly slept, but damn it was early.

“Chloe, I need your help
. I look like shit.”

Chloe’s voice sounded almost cheerful
. “Be right there. Bye.”

Chloe was
definitely the one for the job. She had to look like a million dollars a lot of the time, due to her dad’s work. She had to go to many occasions with her parents and look like the part of the perfect, beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, with her scars, her father made sure she looked like two million dollars, so it would distract from the slashes down her face.

Elle knew if any other girl had Chloe’s markings
, they wouldn’t pull it off, but since Chloe was beyond gorgeous naturally, she made them look beautiful.
Chloe can pull anything off.

Elle brushed her teeth and washed her face before Chloe got there
. When she did arrive, she immediately got to work. Elle kept her hands locked in her lap and didn’t move while Chloe was working on her. She thought Chloe would wear gloves before she even started working. She didn’t, and Chloe made sure to use all the tools.

“Okay
, what are you going to wear?” Chloe asked as she put away her hair tools.

Elle shrugged
. “I don’t know. Just a t-shirt and jeans, I guess.”

“I did not do your makeup and fix your matted hair for a t-shirt and jeans.” Chloe walked into Elle’s closet and came out
. “Where is the green sweater?”

Elle looked at the floor
. “I don’t want to wear that.”

“Why not?” Chloe asked
, sitting on her bed.

Elle knew it was stupid, but the only reason she
had liked it instantly was because it had reminded her of Nero’s eyes; as such, she didn’t want to wear it. Elle didn’t want to tell Chloe that, though; therefore, she simply shrugged.

“Elle
, do you want to make him regret ever cheating on you and shove it in his freaking face?”

Elle thought for a second
.
Yes, I fucking do.

Elle got up and went
into her closet, shutting the door. She dressed in the small space, putting on her black leggings and getting the sweater down from the top shelf. Then she put on some high, black boots.

She came out and Chloe’s mouth went into a smile
. “He is going to cry himself to sleep tonight.”

*
* *

Nero leaned up against his car in the student parking lot
. Amo and Vincent had joined him a few minutes earlier. His car was just a few feet away from Chloe’s parking spot. Nero knew he and his crew were still going to have to provide some protection; if anyone got wind of him and Elle breaking up, she would be done for.

Nero rubbed his eyes
. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the past few nights. He wanted to believe it was going to be easy winning her back, but honestly, Nero had no idea where to start. He had no women expertise outside of the bedroom.

He had spent the weekend following Elle to and from work,
again.
Moreover,
Nero found it even more miserable than the first time he had done it. Watching her so close and not talking to her was torture. Then not going into the diner while she worked was the worst kind of torture.

He had noticed she didn’t look
like herself and was clearly in pain. He figured that was why he didn’t talk to her or pop up in the diner; he didn’t want to cause her more damage.
She’s had enough of that.

“How are you
, man?” Vincent asked, breaking through his thoughts.

“Fine
,” Nero answered quickly, not wanting them to think he was torn up over a girl.

“And how’s she?” Amo asked.

“She looked pretty rough last night,” Nero confessed.

Vincent laughed
. “You’re going to have to come up with something good, man. Thank God, I’m not you.”

“Yeah
, I know. Listen, we need to be on them. I think Cassandra comes back today.” Nero knew he wasn’t going to be able to get too close without making up with Elle yet, but he needed to get as close as he could.

Amo and Vincent nodded. They waited for about five minutes
until Chloe’s BMW appeared and pulled in her spot.

Nero watched as the passenger
’s door opened and a pair of black boots hit the ground. When the door was closed shut, he blinked his eyes several times before he realized it wasn’t going to change anything.
Holy hell.

Nero felt an intense amount of emotions as he watched Elle’s ass sashay across the parking lot in that outfit. Firstly
, he wanted to fuck her. Secondly, he wanted her to dress like that more often. Lastly, he wanted to know why she looked perfectly fine.

When only Elle’s back was visible
, his first emotion returned harder.
It’s been a fucking while, okay?

Nero noticed his friends gawking
. “Hey, fuckers, move your eyes to someone else.”

“Damn
, Nero, you were right. Elle is just so heartbroken.” Amo couldn’t hold in his laughter.

Nero leaned up from the car and ran his hands through his hair
. He turned back to them and saw Vincent closing his eyes, whispering something.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Vincent whispered something else before he opened his eyes. “I was just thanking God for leggings.”

*
* *

Elle and Chloe went through the chicken patty line
.
Picking what we want is now over.
Elle knew it had been good while it lasted, and honestly, she didn’t even know if she was going to be able to eat today. She had completely forgotten about lunch money, not like she would have paid the ridiculous price for it anyways.

Elle and Chloe moved up the line
. She had been on the lookout the whole morning, and Chloe had started walking behind her again. She did notice that the three assholes had been following them all day, though.
I don’t need to be followed!

Elle and Chloe grabbed a tray full of fries and a chicken sandwich
and then went to give the lady their number. Elle held her breath, wondering if she was going to get away with it. When she did, she couldn’t believe it. Elle figured the only reason she had was because the lunch lady in the other line was much meaner.
So, I guess I’m stuck eating chicken patties for the rest of the semester.

Elle walked toward her and Chloe’s original table
, but found it full.

“Shit.”

She looked around and saw the only table that was unoccupied was the table in the corner that they had sat at Friday. Elle turned and walked toward that table. As she did, she noticed Nero, Amo, Vincent, and Leo sat at the table closest to it.
Of course they are.
The other surrounding tables were still filled with the football team.

Elle took the seat facing the lunchroom again, and Chloe took the one in front of
her, just like she always had before.
I guess some things can never change.

Elle gave Chloe a reassuring smile
. Chloe hadn’t been prepared to go back to their old ways. Elle had watched her as she had blossomed back into her old self. It had been the happiest Elle had seen her since she had met her the first day of high school.

Elle picked up her sandwich to take a bite
when she noticed the lunch lady from the other line was heading her way.

“Uh, Chloe
, why is she coming toward us?”

Elle watched Chloe swing her head around and
then quietly speak, “Should we be afraid right now?”

“I don’t
—
”

Elle gasped as the lunch lady snatched her
sandwich out of her hand and put it back on the tray. “I told you last week, Elle, you need to pay for your lunches. No more charges.” Elle heard her mumble under her breath, “This isn’t a damn charity,” as she walked away.

Elle and Chloe’s mouth
s hung open as she then walked right up to the trashcan and threw away her tray. She knew this school had really gone to the next level when they’d rather throw away food than feed a hungry child.

“Can she do that?” Chloe
asked, turning back around.

“She just did
,” Elle said, wanting to disappear.

Chloe pushed her tray away
. “You can have mine. I’m not that hungry.”

“No
, Chloe. I don’t want it. It wasn’t what I wanted anyways.”

Chloe
wrung her hands in her lap. “Yeah, me either.”

*
* *

“Did that just happen?” Nero heard Leo ask.

“Fuck this school. Why do we even go here?” Amo added.

Vincent looked at Nero
. “That was the most fucked-up thing I have ever seen. Something needs to be done about that.”

Nero was trying to calm himself
.
Yeah,
by thinking of a thousand ways to murder that old-ass bitch.
He would deal with that later.

H
o took a deep breath. “Vincent, I need you to do me a favor.”

Vincent smiled
. “Strangle the life out of her?”

That sounded nice
. “Maybe later. I need you to go buy Elle another lunch, and don’t get the chicken sandwich. I know they didn’t want that shit.” Nero stopped and looked back at their table. “Get them both new lunches.”

Vincent sounded surprised
. “Why me?”

“Because Elle won’t take it from me
, and she will think I paid if Leo gave it to her.” Nero paused, not wanting the next words to come out of his mouth. “And for some reason, she likes you the most between us.”

Vincent looked over at the lunch lady who
had thrown Elle’s tray away. “I’ll be happy to.”