by Zoë Lane
“Rose, did you know that Vero was fake-engaged to Nico?” Siobhan wagged her brows at me. I rolled my eyes.
“Fake-engaged? What in the world is that?”
“They were pretending to be engaged so Nico’s mom would get off his back about finding a nice girl to settle down with.”
Siobhan and Rose giggled, but I sat there trying to act indifferent. It…it wasn’t all that bad.
“Nico? Engaged?” Rose said in disbelief. “I wouldn’t believe it even if he told me himself. He doesn’t seem like the one-woman type.”
Exactly. Which only reinforced the decision I had made about leaving his place and putting an end to whatever he thought was between us. He wasn’t a one-woman man, just like Diego.
And I didn’t deserve one even if he was.
“Did you get a ring?” Rose asked.
I nodded.
“A ring and a dress. Mrs. Langetti took her dress shopping.”
Rose inhaled loudly. “No! How did you stand it? And not tell her? She returned the dress, right—wait! You two aren’t still fake-engaged, right?”
“No,” I said glumly. I reached for the bowl of tortilla chips and started munching. If I kept food in my mouth, I wouldn’t have to participate in the conversation.
“It was crazy!” Siobhan continued. “And Nico bought her a two—prepare yourself—a two-hundred-thousand-dollar ring.”
Rose fell back against the couch with a shriek. “Veronica! Why didn’t you just marry him?”
“I’m not a gold digger,” I said around the chips. There went my plan not to say a word.
“He could’ve just bought you a cubic zirconia. Two hundred thousand dollars!” she yelled.
“He said his mom could tell the difference.”
“But two hundred thousand dollars’ worth of difference?”
I groaned.
“Oh, Vero, he must really like you to spend that much on a ring.”
“It was all pretense,” I argued. “That size ring fits his extravagant style.”
Rose snorted. “Okay. I’m sure it does. But I still think he has a thing for you. I heard he punched out some guy at a party for you.”
I blushed. “Yeah, that was my ex, Diego.”
Rose’s mouth opened wide. “Oh, okay. That Diego. So he beat up your ex twice?” Rose grinned. “Veronica, why are you not with him?”
“I know, right!” Siobhan exclaimed. “Nico didn’t even know her when he knocked him out at Dr. Kavoska’s party.”
“It wasn’t a knockout!” I cried. “This story is getting wilder by the second.”
Rose’s look of approval vanished. “Dr. Kavoska? Nico attends his parties?” She frowned. “Now I understand why you don’t want him, Veronica. I’d steer clear of anyone who associated with Dr. Kavoska.”
“Because of Billy?” I asked, remembering Billy’s suicide at the stadium and his connection with friends of Dr. Kavoska.
Rose bit her lip and shook her head. “Not just because of Billy. Nothing can be proven, but Dr. Kavoska’s not a good guy.”
“Diego knows people that were always over at the guy’s house. I hated being there. Nico saw Diego get rough with me and he punched him. I don’t know how often Nico goes to the guy’s house.”
Rose smiled kindly. “Well, Nico sounds like a regular knight in shining armor—”
“Who likes a lot of maidens,” I interrupted.
“Is he seeing anyone?” Siobhan asked.
“No,” I answered. “That I know of.”
“What do you mean by that? You think he’s keeping someone secret?”
“Like he did me?”
Siobhan chuckled. “That was an outright lie. The secret was the fake fiancée he made up. Oh—there’s Casper!”
All three of us watched as Casper dodged a tackle and ran into the end zone. We cheered. The Rhinos were up six to nothing.
“Casper looks like he’s doing well,” Rose said. “How’s his arm?”
“Fine. He says he doesn’t feel any more pain. I’m always worried, though. I don’t want him to be in pain, and I don’t want him to find alternative methods of dealing with the pain,” she said wryly.
I empathized with Casper. I’d never experienced a broken bone until Diego. The pain was excruciating. So bad I had passed out. Now, the dull ache was constant and irritating. I wanted it gone more than anything. I never missed a time to take my medicine.
“Back to you, Vero,” Siobhan said while shifting on the couch to look at me. “Tell me honestly. Do you have feelings for Nico?”
Rose bit into her chip, but didn’t chew. Both pairs of eyes were on me. I swallowed. The question was simple, and the answer even more so. My eyes stung. If I said it out loud, it would hurt my heart worse than the ache in my leg. It would be a pain I didn’t think I could come back from.
Siobhan took my hands. “Veronica, it’s okay to like him. He…came from out of nowhere almost to help you. It’s not surprising that you’d fall for the guy.”
“He’s not right for me,” I said instead of the “yes” I wanted to shout. “He’s not a one-woman guy because his father isn’t.”
“What does that mean?” Rose asked, managing to chew the rest of her chip.
“His father cheated on his mother and broke her heart. Nico doesn’t want to do the same to another girl.”
“You think he’d break your heart?” Siobhan asked. “I doubt it. I heard the way he begged you to stay with him. If anything, you probably broke his.”
My eyes went to the ceiling. That, I wouldn’t believe, although I wondered why he had been so insistent that I stay after everything was over and done with. There was no reason to go on pretending we were engaged after I’d told his mother the truth. Other than my not having a place to stay—which I did now—the only reason I was even living with him was for pretense.
“I’m sure Nicolas Langetti is just fine,” I stated firmly. “It doesn’t matter anymore because I deserved what happened with Diego.”
The girls gasped.
“What?” Rose said shocked.
“The hell you did!” Siobhan shouted. She got down on her knees in front of me, her eyes entreating. “Veronica, no one deserves to be hit or cheated on.”
Tears exploded from my eyes. “But it’s how I got him!” I cried. “Why wouldn’t he leave me for someone else? I don’t deserve to be happy, and I’m so tired and sad.”
Siobhan hugged me while Rose spoke. “Of course you deserve to be happy. We all make mistakes. As long as we learn and grow from them, then we deserve to be happy.”
“And that’s not how you got Nico,” Rose added. “It’s a fresh start. Clean.”
Siobhan pulled away. “Vero, how do you feel about Nico?”
I licked my dry lips. My head still fought it, but my heart was winning. It beat harder and faster the more I said the words to myself. If I could say them out loud, then maybe it would be real.
“I think I love him.”
21
NICOLAS
Coach Hicks approached me with a pleased grin. “Great job, Nico. Thanks for getting and keeping your head in the game.” We shook hands and then he gripped my shoulder.
“Thank you, sir.”
“How are you doing with the whole…?”
I heaved a sigh. Veronica. “It’s over and done with. Everything’s all good.”
The corners of his mouth dipped down. “Doesn’t sound good.”
“Can’t argue with the results though, huh?” I asked pointedly, referring to my making all of my extra point kicks and even an on-side kick.
“No, I can’t. But there’s something to be said for not losing yourself in the work to point where you can’t find yourself.”
I tempered my frustration. First, management wanted me to ditch Vero, and now that she was gone, I had to make sure I wasn’t too broken up about it. “I understand, sir,” I said in a clipped tone.
He patted me on the back. “Do what’s right for Nic
o. The rest doesn’t matter.”
I stared at him. “Do you really believe that, Coach?”
He smiled wistfully. “I do. It’s a hard rule to live by, but I believe in it.”
He moved away and started a conversation with Landyn, who would be back on the field next week.
Casper came by, and both Sean and I congratulated him. “Two touchdowns,” I said. “Impressive return.”
Casper blushed and smiled sheepishly. “I had to do something after letting you guys down for the last few weeks.”
“You made up for it,” Sean said, laughing. “Good job, man. And welcome back.”
After I’d showered, Bat slapped me on the back. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah.” I slammed the locker shut and zipped up my duffel. We headed toward the bus that would drive us to the airport.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to you. How have you been since…the arrest?”
Yeah, that.
Bat sat next to me on the bus. I kept my voice low. “My lawyer’s handling it, but I’ve been thinking about dropping the charges.”
Bat’s eyes went wide. “After what happened to Veronica?” he hissed. “You think you should? I’d make sure he did hard time. This guy probably has a record.”
I put my head back on the seat and contemplated in silence. Guilt washed over me for the hundredth time. I knew I was right to press charges, but seeing Vero in the hospital bed, her teeth knocked out and leg broken… I had second-guessed myself until I was sick.
“Hey, man, do you think what happened to her was your fault?”
“Of course it was. He even told her it was because of me.”
“He’s just saying that to make you feel guilty. The guy’s an asshole. He tried to attack her at Dr. Kavoska’s party. A real man wouldn’t do that to a woman.”
“I know, I know, but it’s not him that’s making me rethink this whole thing. I can take it. If Vero wasn’t involved, he could threaten me all day. But she wanted it to stop. I had promised her, and I went back on my word.”
“She asked you to drop the charges?”
I nodded. “I tried telling her that it wouldn’t help anything, but she was so scared.”
“Does he know where she lives?”
“I don’t think so, and she’s staying with Siobhan and Casper. But she’s still scared of him. She doesn’t want to go to court or anything. She’s even willing to let the whole money thing drop.”
“What money thing?”
“He cleaned out her bank account.”
“Oh, man…that’s rough.”
“I was thinking I could just give her the money, so she wouldn’t be worried about it anymore.”
“Couldn’t hurt.”
Except her pride. Veronica was proud. Having her stuff thrown out on the lawn, seeing another woman living in her home and sleeping in her bed, and then getting beat up. I didn’t blame her for wanting to put everything behind her and starting fresh.
I just wished she would start fresh with my help. It wasn’t a big deal to me. In my eyes, she was worth it.
“Is it true the two of you are engaged?” Bat whispered.
“No. That was…a misunderstanding.”
Bat snorted. “How do you misunderstand asking a woman to marry you?”
“I never did,” I said bluntly. “It was a whole thing to get my Mamma off my back about settling down.”
Bat chuckled softly. “Yeah, she’d probably turn you down anyway.” He shoved me.
I knew he was teasing, but his words still stung. Vero would turn me down—already had, in fact. She wouldn’t even stay in the same house with me, just as a guest. She had wheeled herself out as fast as that scooter could take her.
What did I have to offer her?
Uncertain employment. Who knew if I would be injured in the next game or not?
Lots of money. She wasn’t a gold digger and cringed at being offered financial assistance.
A player reputation. It had been surprisingly easy not to think of any other women after spending time with Vero. And now I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Okay, one out of three.
But I would protect her, and we’d laugh together, and I was a damn good kisser.
“Whoa. Did she turn you down?”
I closed my eyes. “I offered to let her stay at my place until she found one, and she practically ran out the door.”
“On a broken leg?”
“Yup. That didn’t stop her.”
“Geez. Sorry, bro. She is older than you, right? Maybe it’s an age thing.”
“Nah. It’s a Nico thing.”
“Any chance you could change her mind? How much do you want her?”
I’d told myself all during pregame that I didn’t want her. She was just someone I’d used to meet my Mamma’s expectations. She meant nothing more to me than an acquaintance that I was sorry got beat up by her ex.
It had worked during the game. I was mad enough to stay focused and come through for my team.
Except none of it was true.
And now I’d have to avoid seeing her every day so I wouldn’t drag her into my arms and use the only weapon at my disposal to convince her to stay: I’m not above using my body. It remembered well how hers had responded to my touch.
She wanted to pay me back for the dress, but I wouldn’t accept her money—I’d already covered that. My Mamma wanted me to pick it up—just in case. I thought she was mad, but I’d had someone go by, and now the dress hung in the back of my closet.
I didn’t even look at it.
“I don’t think she’ll see me.”
“Make her, then.”
“And be as much of an ass as her ex?”
“But her ex doesn’t want her, Nico. That’s the difference. If you think there’s something there worth exploring and she does too…”
She did. Her tears, her determination to get out of my house. She wanted me.
I think…
“Okay, fine.”
“Okay. So you’re going to?”
Bat’s look was skeptical. Something inside me was already brewing, and it fueled me with energy, even though we’d just played an aggressive game.
Well, I was just the kicker, but I still had to keep myself warm on the sidelines.
The plane came into view. In a few hours, we’d be back home in Richmond. It would be too late to see her, but I knew where she worked.
“Yeah. I want her, Bat. I’m not going to let Diego win.”
Bat slapped me on the shoulder and grinned. “Good. And when you’re done with that, we gotta figure out how to get the maid.”
My brows came together. “What maid? What are you talking about?”
“The one at Kavoska’s house, remember? She met us at the door. Looked sad, like she needed rescuing.”
I vaguely remembered someone dressed in a maid’s outfit. She’d blended into the background like a maid is supposed to. I shrugged. “I’m not sure how you want to jailbreak the maid, but if you need me, I’ll be there for you.”
“Thanks, bro. You get your girl and I’ll get mine.”
Winning over Vero…that seemed like an impossibility.
22
VERONICA
I took a look at the pictures provided by Nico’s attorney.
He sat across from me at a table in the doctor’s conference room. He sipped on his coffee and silently watched me.
“As you can see, Ms. Tirado, our private investigator has tracked Diego to numerous locations where he met a number of women. He’s also involved with individuals that we believe have some interesting ties, to one man of note—Dr. Kavoska.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Yes. He knows a few guys who are frequent guests at his parties.”
“Well, Diego might have some gang affiliation—”
“He told me he left that behind years ago!”
The lawyer smirked. “I’m sure. But we have evidence to the contrary.”
I rum
maged through the pictures, anxious to find that “evidence.” I scoured my memory for instances that would’ve clued me in on his illegal extracurricular activities, and then I saw it.
A picture of him and Teresa.
“Yes…that photograph was taken at the beginning of what apparently was a violent argument. The investigator took video of the two of them. It’s not good, but I have it here if you’d like to view it.”
I just stared at the photograph.
“It might change your mind. Or at least convince you to reconsider.”
Teresa’s face was contorted into a look of utter terror. One leg in the air, while the other was twisted in a way that brought a strange discomfort to my own broken leg. The same woman who’d yelled at me, laughed at me when I tried to get my things, and bragged about being my replacement. She had it worse than I did.
I could only image was on the video. I’d thought Teresa was as tough as I was, but from what I could tell looking at the picture…and then another one of him standing over her while she was on the ground, I knew what she had shown me in the bar and at my own apartment was all an act.
What made the both of us so attracted to a guy like Diego?
The video turned my stomach. I couldn’t watch it all. Even after the attorney turned it off, I could hear Teresa screaming.
We sat in silence for a few minutes while I contemplated my options.
Well, my one option.
“I can’t let him get away with this,” I whispered.
“My client is prepared to take this as far as it needs to go. He wants you to know that you have his support.”
I smiled. I knew that. Out of any guy I’d ever spent time with, I trusted Nico would have my back, no questions asked.
“And before you say it, my client wanted me to let you know that you don’t have to pay him back. He’s doing this because this guy has been able to get away with this stuff for too long. He wants to take away his power to ever hurt anyone else again.” The attorney looked pointedly at me. “Especially you.”
My heart shuddered. Nico was doing this for me. I blinked several times and nodded. He was right. Diego needed to be put away.
