Wild Renegade (8 page)

"Forget
it, he's thirty-six," I tell her in Italian to keep Alex and Ace from
understanding what I’m saying.

Her
eyes flip to mine. "So?"

My
sister, Gina, is super pretty and knows it. She has a little bit of a problem
with keeping her legs closed, though. I'm pretty sure that she's slept with
more guys than I have, and I've had a five-year head start. She is picky,
though, I'll give her that; the guy has to be a stud or she's not interested.
Alex is definitely a stud and Gina wants in his pants. I know it's not gonna
happen. Alex won't leave Ace to fuck some random chick. It'll be fun to see her
try, though, especially in front of my dad.

Alex
raises an eyebrow as if he understood our little exchange and looks down at
Gina. She gives him a flirty smile. The grin he gives her in return has Alex
looking seriously sexy. He leans down and whispers something in her ear. I've
never seen Gina blush, but whatever he says to her has her turning bright red.
Ace is biting his lip to stop from laughing. I can't even begin to imagine what
he's saying to her. I'll find out later.

My
mom brings out a large bowl of spaghetti and meatballs just as Alex straightens
back up. She sets it in the middle of the table and my dad reaches for the
spoon. My mother snaps at him and slaps his hand away. They bicker for a moment
but my mom eventually wins the little argument. She wants the guests to serve
themselves first. With my dad in full brooding mode, my mother motions for Ace
to fill his plate.

"Si
mangia
," she says, which means, “you eat."

"Oh,
okay," he says hesitantly, glancing at my dad before grabbing the
spaghetti spoon.

Ace
then surprises me by taking my plate and filling it up first. I slip a glance
at my mother who is in the process of sitting down; she is watching Ace with an
approving smile. My tension eases slightly. If I can get my mother to be okay
with this, then she might be able to convince my father.

"Gina,"
Ace says, holding out his hand for her plate.

Gina
smiles and hands her plate over. "Thank you, Ace."

After
he finishes with Gina, he turns to my mom and smiles. "Mrs.
Gionelli?"

"Grazie,"
she says sweetly and hands him her plate. "You may call me, Elena,"
she says in her thick Italian accent.

Ace
gives her a rakish smile and winks at her as he hands back her plate.
"Okay."

My
mother blushes slightly and giggles. Well, shit. Ace won my mother over in a
matter of minutes. I stare at him in awe as he fills his plate. When he's
finished, he hands the spoon over to my dad, who practically snatches it out of
his hand. I ignore it because I'm still in the middle of adoring Ace at the
moment. He looks over at me and grins, his blue eyes gleaming in amusement. He
leans over and gives me a peck on the cheek before turning back to his food.

He
digs in and immediately groans and closes his eyes. My mom frowns in concern
and looks at me. I smirk and lean over to Ace.

"My
mom thinks you don't like it," I whisper, knowing that's it the opposite
and he's in food heaven.

Ace
swallows and looks at me. "This is the best sauce that I've ever tasted. How
do I say delicious in Italian?" he whispers back.

I
tell him. Ace straightens up, looks at my mom and declares, "Delizioso!"

My
mom gives him a pleased smile and says thank you.

Both
Ace and Alex have seconds, eating everything off their plates, doing everything
but lick their plates clean. It pleases my mom to no end. My dad, on the other
hand, is silent throughout the whole dinner. Silent and eyeing Ace up like he
is the scum of the earth. I made Ace wear a long sleeved shirt so that his
tattoos were covered because my dad loathes tattoos. I felt bad asking him to
cover himself up, but I knew it would be best. I can't imagine the looks he
would be getting if he had worn short sleeves. I'm just waiting for my dad to
explode. I know it's coming. I can see it in his eyes. He's gearing up for the
argument of all arguments. God help us when he finally blows.

~Ace~

After
dinner, all of the women get up from the table, grab plates and silverware, and
file into the kitchen. I lean back in my chair and rub my overly stuffed
stomach. Goddamn, that was one of the best meals I've ever had. And Nicole said
there is still dessert. I could really use a smoke, but I'm gonna have to suck
it up and wait until we leave. I can feel Nicole's dad's eyes on me, so I look
over at him.

"Your
wife is an amazing cook," I say, hoping to get on his good side. Nothing
has seemed to work so far.

"Why
you with my daughter?" he asks in his thick accent, completely ignoring
what I said. "You plan to marry her?"

 
I blink stupidly at him for a moment.
"I...ah...not at the moment..."

"Then
you have no business with her," he snaps.

"But
I like her. I like being around her..."

"I
no care," he barks, slashing angrily at the air. "You end this now.
You no good for my daughter."

I
narrow my eyes at the older man. Now I can see why Nicole was worried. He's
being an asshole. He doesn't care if Nicole has feelings for me or not, he just
wants things his way, and that's not cool in my book.

"And
why not?" I ask defiantly.

"I
know your kind. You use women and toss them away. I see your picture, covered
in disgusting tattoos, and I smell the cigarettes on you. You bad influence. I
no want you near my daughter."

"That's
not really your choice, sir. Nicole is an adult and she is the one who gets to choose
who she's with," I sneer. I'm really not liking her father right now.

"Does
your family approve of…" He motions at me. "...all this?"

"My
grandparents raised me and they are very proud of me and what I've
accomplished," I say with pride.

Guy
shakes his head in disgust. "If you do not plan to marry my Nicole, then
you need to go so she can find a nice Italian boy."

"Why
does she have to marry an Italian guy? What difference does it make?" I
ask.

"She
needs to be with a man I can trust, a man who has values, who was brought up
the same way as she was," he says firmly.

"Just
because a guy is Italian doesn't mean he has values," I scoff and cross my
arms over my chest.

"He
is still better than you!" Guy yells angrily and bangs his fist on the
table.

Nicole
appears in the kitchen doorway. She looks angry and embarrassed. She snaps at
her father in Italian and they start arguing heatedly. Arms are flying as they
yell at each other and I lose count of how many times I get pointed at by both
of them. I can't help but notice how Nicole is hot as hell when she's pissed
off and yelling in another language, though. Her mom and sister emerge from the
kitchen and start in on the argument. This is not going well at all. I glance
across the table at Alex to find him covering his ears.

I'm
to the point where I just can't take it anymore. I stand up and yell,
"ENOUGH!"

The
four of them abruptly stop talking and turn to look at me.

"Nicole,
I think we should leave and let your dad cool off," I suggest.

Nicole
nods slowly. "Yeah, you're probably right," she says softly.

She
says a quick goodbye to her mother and sister before going into the living room
to grab her purse. Alex and I say thank you to Elena for dinner before
following Nicole into the other room. She storms out of the front door and
hastily heads for Alex's Hummer, leaving us in her dust. The ride back to
Nicole's apartment is silent. She is sitting by herself in the backseat and I
swear I can feel the tension rolling off her. I really thought it would have
gone better than that, but she was right, it was a disaster.

I
don't even know what to say to her. I feel like this is all my fault. Once back
at her apartment, she takes off down the hallway and shuts herself in her room.
I sigh and glance at Alex. He's frowning.

"That
really sucked," he murmurs.

I
rake a frustrated hand through my hair. "You ain't kiddin'," I huff.

"You
should go talk to her," Alex says softly.

"She
probably hates me right now," I mutter, shaking my head.

I
flop down onto the couch and drop my face into my hands.

"I
highly doubt that." He snorts, dropping down next to me. "If she
hates anyone right now, it's her father."

"I
just don't understand his reasoning," I say in confusion.

"Man,
he's old school; it's engrained in his bones. He doesn't believe in change and
expects things to go a certain way, and when they don't, he's hates it,"
he answers.

I
nod. "Yeah, I guess that's true."

"Go
talk to her," Alex urges.

I
nod again and stand up. I stop in front of her bedroom door and knock softly.
She doesn't answer, so I try the knob. It's open. I crack the door and stick my
head in.

"Nicole?"
I ask quietly.

"Hmm?"
she responds softly.

The
room is dark, except for the glow of the clock on the nightstand, because her
curtains are closed, but I can see the outline of her body laid out on her bed.
I think she's on her stomach.

"Can
I come in?"

"I
guess," she murmurs, her voice muffled by what I'm assuming is a pillow.

I
enter the room and shut the door behind me. I give my eyes a second to adjust
before I make my way over to the bed. I kick my shoes off and crawl up onto it.
I feel my way over to her. My hand grazes over her ass, letting me know that
she's definitely lying on her stomach. I snuggle up to her side. I lay my hand
on her back and rub gentle circles.

"I'm
sorry," I murmur.

She
shifts slightly and turns her head in my direction. Through the darkness, I can
see that her hair is covering her face. I bring my hand up and brush it back so
that I can see her better. Her eyes are closed, so I take the chance to study
her face. She's so beautiful with her high cheekbones and her pouty lips. I
continue to smooth my hand over her silky hair. What is this girl doing to me?

"I'm
so embarrassed," she whispers.

"Baby,
don't be, there's nothing to be embarrassed about," I reply quietly.

Her
eyes flip open and she pushes up to her elbows. "Are you kidding me? I've
known you for all of two weeks and my dad freaks out on you, insults you. I
mean, you don't even know half of the shit that he was saying in Italian about
you," she huffs angrily.

"It
doesn't matter, Nikki. What bothers me the most is that he upset you," I
blurt. Okay Ace, good way to hide your feelings.

Nicole
rolls her eyes at me. "Like you really care how I feel," she laughs
bitterly.

I
frown at her. "Of course I care how you feel; otherwise, I wouldn't be
here," I snap. It actually hurt to find out that she thinks that I don't
care about her, which also freaks me out a bit because now I have to admit that
I do care about her. A lot.

She
sighs and hangs her head. "You're right, I'm sorry."

"Listen,
I know this is stressing you out, but we only have to put up this front for
another month or two and then you can make your dad happy by telling him that
you dumped my ass."

Nicole
snickers and lifts her head back up. "Is that how the story for the
tabloids is gonna go, too?"

I
nod. "Absolutely," I smirk.

She
smiles and it makes my heart do a little happy jig. This is not good. This
thing I have for her keeps deepening each time she smiles at me. My grandmother
always told me that when I found that one person meant for me that I would do
anything to make her happy, no matter what it costs me. As of right now, I
would take the hit for this whole situation. Nicole can publicly dump my sorry
ass if that would make her happy. Is this what my grandmother meant?