Nothing Even Matters (D'Amato Brothers Book 6)

by Vera Roberts

  Twenty minutes. She could remember how Eli used to give her oral for twenty minutes as if her slit had a hidden cure and the only way he could get it was by making her come as many times as possible.

  Faith’s heart burned with regret.

  Eli.

  Her high school sweetheart. The father of her children. Her now ex-husband who hated her so much he didn’t even speak to her. All communication had to go through attorneys.

  It wasn’t so much Eli never spoke to her but he never mentioned her at all. It was one thing if he didn’t mention her in public, but in private? She asked her sisters-in-law and they all confirmed Eli never said one word about Faith nor did he ever inquire how she was. It was disturbing to Faith; it was like if she never existed in Eli’s life at all.

  Frustrated and completely unsatisfied, Faith got up and took a quick shower. Everything was fine. Jeremy just got back from a seven-game road trip and just wanted to bust one out before he napped. It was okay, she kept saying. Once he was well rested, he would be back up to speed. Maybe he’ll let her take over.

  She had a lot to do before she headed back to New York. She had to make sure the arrangements for the private school were done and she needed to look up retail space to open up her shop in L.A. She was going to start afresh. New space, new staff, new life. New everything.

  She was waiting for the excitement to come.

  She chalked it up to the holidays and the stress of moving across the country to be with her new fiancée. They met at a mutual friend’s birthday party and were stuck together the entire night. His 6’5” stature towered over Faith by a good foot, but it didn’t matter.

  They were #goals.

  They were the epitome of Black love. Ebony magazine gave them a cover. Staged photoshoots at the beach and where Jeremy did volunteer work at the local children’s hospital were the best PR money could buy. They were engaged within a few months and planned a big wedding for the next summer in the offseason. They were the couple everyone wanted to be like and admired.

  If only the comparisons to Eli would stop.

  Jeremy and Eli were both sleeved up, liked R&B and hip-hop music, and had an affinity for wearing white tank tops, baggy jeans, and Timbs. However, Eli was painted as a choirboy while Jeremy was labeled as thug. Jeremy just signed a 100-million dollar contract while the D’Amato family fortune was close to $500 million.

  Eli was unfaithful to Faith once while Jeremy…Faith stopped checking his phone. She knew getting involved with an athlete was going to come at a price and Faith made more trips to her OB/GYN than she wanted to admit.

  But Jeremy was a good man, and loved her children. He also promised to take care of her and encouraged her to open another salon, instead of limiting her work schedule like Eli once suggested.

  Jeremy also wanted to expand their families and have more children. Faith wasn’t entirely sure she was on board with that since she had three small children. Maybe if they waited a few years, that would be great.

  “Jeremy, let’s go check out that restaurant I wanted to go to,” Faith yelled from the bathroom. “Jeremy?” She walked back out to the living room and saw Jeremy sleeping butt naked in the same chair he just fucked her in.

  “Or we can just stay in…” She sighed. She shook her head and retreated to the bedroom where she quickly got dressed. She took extra time to do her hair and makeup. Ever since her relationship with Jeremy, Faith’s profile had increased and she never knew when TMZ was lurking in the corners.

  Her stomach gnawed at her and Faith quickly went to the kitchen to get a small snack before she left. The cupboards were empty apart from fitness shakes, other protein-related snack, and shit Faith knew she was not interested. It wasn’t a complete surprise. Jeremy didn’t keep a lot of food inside when he had to travel for long stretches of time. Okay, so she had to go grocery shopping while she was out. She could do that.

  She began making a list and opened the refrigerator to get an idea on what she needed. She sighed as she saw she was going to need everything. Fucking great. She decided to treat Jeremy to a homemade meal. “What can I make…?” She quietly spoke. “…what can I…” Faith’s body froze as stillness took over. The flashback hit her like a ton of bricks.

  “So, this is what I have for lunch!” She proudly opened her refrigerator door and showed Eli all of her Lean Cuisines. “So just grab which one you want.”

  Eli eyeballed the frozen food and blinked several times. He paid for Faith’s apartment and bills, even contributing to her tuition. Yet, she had no food in her shared apartment with her best friend, Krista.

  He wanted to ask where the money went but he already knew – she was wearing it. She recently sported a new pair of boots. “We’re going grocery shopping.” He grabbed her hand and led them to the parked Range Rover.

  After spending a small fortune at the store, Eli and Faith came back to her apartment where he taught her how to cook spaghetti with homemade sauce. “Don’t ever buy that store bought bullshit,” Eli’s deep baritone warned his girlfriend. He concentrated on chopping up the parsley. He sprinkled some in the sauce followed by a pinch of oregano and basil. “You don’t know what the hell they put in it and it’s not real Italian.”

  “I don’t know how to cook, Eli.” Faith watched her boyfriend in the kitchen. Jodeci’s “I’m Still Waiting” played in the background and she nursed a small glass of wine. It was so sexy to see him cook. She was getting aroused just by looking at him.

  “I’m about to teach you,” he beckoned her over to him, and Faith followed his lead. He stood behind her and placed a tomato in front of her. “Feel the tomato. Feel how soft and ripe it is.”

  Eli’s deep voice feathered against Faith’s earlobe and she licked her lips. She smelled his musky cologne and felt all of him pressed against her. “Uh-huh.”

  “You want to love it and take care of it,” he grabbed a knife. He placed Faith’s hand over the tomato while his hand covered hers. “You want to be gentle with it. It’s going into your body, giving you life and nourishment.” He gently began to cut the tomato. “See? Like that, baby girl? You have to treat your body like the temple it is and not fill it with bullshit. Your body will forever hate you for it.”

  Faith softly bit her lip and nodded. Only Eli could make her aroused by cutting a tomato. “Only good inside me.”

  “Only,” he finished cutting the tomato, “the best for my Faye.” He set down the knife and turned Faith around. He lifted her against the wall and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He somehow managed to get his jeans undone and his hardened shaft jutted out. He pulled Faith’s panties to the side and swiftly entered her.

  Faith loudly moaned as Eli pushed more into her, filling her completely as her slick heat wrapped around his thickness. She moaned with each stroke as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “Eli,” she cried as he began to thrust faster. Every stroke ripped moans from Faith; sounds she didn’t know she had long-buried inside her.

  Eli’s thrusts were deliberate, hard, and slow. He spoke in Italian with each thrust, claiming Faith with each movement as she moaned and clawed at his back. “You feel so good, Faye.” He whispered.

  He felt the small flutters inside her and knew she was close. She contracted tighter around his shaft and the feeling drove him nuts. He loved how she became totally raw and primal with him, as if that was only a side of her she reserved just for him. His good girl gone bad. “You’re about to come for me? Do it. Come all over me, baby girl.”

  “Oh my God!” Faith screamed as her body convulsed. Eli thrust a few more times inside her before he climaxed as well.

  He rested his forehead against hers. He swept his lips across hers, gently playing with her tongue. “Now we can start making the pasta.”

  “Tomatoes,” Faith said aloud as the memory dissipated, “I’m going to need tomatoes.”

  What Do U Want Me 2 Do?

  “It’s a madhouse out there,” Nicola D’Amato-Rodriguez met her middle s
on at the famed Rainbow Room restaurant. She knew people were doing last minute Christmas shopping but she didn’t realize how ridiculous the traffic was. What was normally a 15-minute drive turned into a 30-minute excursion.

  She was especially irritated because she always met Eli for lunch during the weekday; a tradition started between the two of them once she created Madre’s. Nicola scaled back her duties to focus more on her nonprofit, Donne Forti, which stood for “strong women.”

  It was geared towards poor and lower-income women to attain business skills and interview preparation for the real world. Women also learned how to do taxes, manage money, and create a realistic budget with goals.

  After throwing a holiday party for her girls, Nicola rushed over to have her weekly lunch with Eli. She was going to see him in a few days but it was nice to have a private moment alone with him. Between the reality show cameras, magazine covers, and numerous high-profile events, it was rare they were alone anymore.

  “My favorite girl!” Eli got up and kissed his mother on both cheeks. He held out her chair and waited for her to sit before he rejoined. “I was starting to get worried.”

  “I was starting to get pissed off,” Nicola shook her head and opened the menu, “I’m just glad we’re here. Did you order already?”

  “Just wine and appetizers.” Eli perused the menu. “They should be out soon.”

  “Good, good.” She nodded. “So what’s new with you, Eli? I see you all the time at the shop but I don’t ever talk to you anymore. You know you can come over and celebrate Christmas Eve with us. Art’s grandchildren are coming over. We’re going to have a big feast with plenty of food.” Nicola batted her eyelashes. “I’m making my famous cheesecake you like.”

  “Sounds tempting. Save me a slice, will you? I have plans already.”

  “Plans?” Nicola was astounded to hear the new development. “What plans? What’s her name?”

  “It’s nobody. I’m going to cook some food and spend Christmas Eve watching nothing but football and maybe some basketball if I’m interested. Just me, my pajamas, and my 72-inch flat-screen.”

  “Sounds lonely.”

  “Sounds heavenly.” Eli countered. “And then I’ll pick up the kids the next morning from their mother.”

  Nicola grimaced hearing her former daughter-in-law. Eli hated her so much, he wouldn’t even refer to her by her given name.

  “How is Faye?” She finally asked.

  “Faith is fine,” Eli silently corrected his mother, “she’s doing her thing and leaving me alone.”

  “I don’t like this relationship between you two,” Nicola shook her head. She was used to calling her Faye, an endearing nickname Eli gave her during their high school dating years, it felt weird to hear Eli refer to her full name as if there was never any love between them at all. “You two act like you hate each other.”

  “I don’t hate her. Hating her means I would have to care.”

  “Eliodoro, you stop that right now.” Nicola’s voice grew stern and angry, “now I don’t know what’s going on between you two but you will not pretend you have no care in the world for the woman who birthed your babies. She is raising them and doing a damn good job at it while maintaining the shop.”

  “I wish you understood when I say I don’t care, I truly mean that.” Eli doubled-down. “She can do whatever she wants as long as I see my babies. Speaking of which, I did receive an interesting visit the other night.”

  “Oh?” Nicola looked up. “Who?”

  “Amy Sheppard,” Eli met his mother’s gaze before he went back to the menu.

  The name caused Nicola to close her menu and set it down in front of her. While Nicola and Amy had never been good friends, the two shared a mutual respect for each other. Nicola knew for Amy to make an appearance, something was quite serious. “Really?”

  “She told me Faith was planning to see me personally so I can sign off her moving to L.A. to be with the basketballer.” Eli shrugged.

  It was a bold move. While Eli kept uncharacteristically mum about all things Faith, he made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with her for as long as he lived. “And your response was?”

  “Hell, no.” Eli stated matter-of-factly.

  “I figured as much but that wasn’t what I was referring to.” Nicola mentioned. “She knows she has to go through the attorney.”

  “He’s on vacation until the New Year. I consulted with Sebastian and he told me he’s already reviewed the paperwork.” Eli greeted the server who brought the appetizers and poured two glasses of wine. After they gave their orders, Eli waited for the server to be out of earshot. “I have two choices – I can let her go and take the kids or I can fight her.”

  “And you’re choosing…?”

  “She can go to L.A. if she wants but my babies are staying here.” He replied. “I will figure out child care and all of that later. I’ll make do.”

  “You seem awfully confident Faith is going to choose L.A. over her children,” Nicola mentioned, “that doesn’t seem like Faith.”

  “Well, it didn’t seem like Faith to put out a news story that I almost broke a vase near her head when we fought one time,” Eli chewed the inside of his cheeks, “she took a lot of pleasure in letting people think I was an Italian Ray Rice.”

  The infamous rumor that started the two-year silence ban between the former couple. Nicola wasn’t entirely sure if it was Faith herself or her protective friends and family, but over a course of a week, horrible news story after another came out about the D’Amato family, specifically targeting Eli.

  The family hired acclaimed PR firm, McCormick, Reed, and Sheppard. Advertising and PR wunderkind Scott Reed did an image overhaul of Madre’s. As soon as the allegations came out, news story after another about the good of Madre’s and Eli’s generosity topped it. The allegations were soon lost in all internet gossip.

  Tension between the families were so bad, the remaining D’Amato Brothers – Nick, Kieran, Joey, and Tony – refused to have any contact with Faith or anyone associated with her, in solidarity with their brother. Tony, who was seeing Faith’s best friend, Krista, promptly broke up with her and banned her from his shop.

  Eli demanded Faith revert her name back to Faith Sheppard and threatened severe financial consequences if she didn’t. Faith reluctantly agreed, if only she received more child support, which Eli was glad to fork over so he wouldn’t have to deal with her in person.

  That was two years ago. While Faith made amends with the rest of the D’Amato family, Eli was the lone holdout. If Eli and Faith had to be at the same place, he avoided her as much as possible, including school events. He made sure any interviews he gave included absolutely no questions or references to his ex.

  “Faith has apologized for that, Eliodoro.” Nicola stated. “She released a statement clearing everything up.”

  “It shouldn’t have gotten out to begin with. I threw a vase, yes. Was it near her head? No. Was it near her? No. I did it out of frustration and anger when the affair happened. But that’s not the point of why I was angry at her for or whoever for leaking that story and the numerous other ones that followed,” Eli paused to take a sip of water to calm his rising anger. “That leak told me one thing I’ve known all along – she will never forgive me for the affair and whatever she can to hold it against me, she will. The very last time we spoke, she told me she wished I were dead. I told her wish granted. I’m not the bad guy here.”

  “She’s the mother of your children, Eliodoro.” Nicola replied. “Regardless how you feel about her, you need to respect her on that level.”

  “And I do. I don’t speak ill about her at all.” He defended.

  “You don’t speak of Faith, period.” Nicola replied. “That’s disconcerting.”

  “And as always, it’s my fault.” Eli conceded. “I can mind my own business and it’ll still be my fault in some way.” What Eli wanted to say – his mother was still punishing him for the sins of his father – was on
the tip of his tongue. He decided it would be in his best interest to remain silent.

  Nicola felt the coolness emitting from her son and reached over to grab his hand to soothe things over. “I’m not taking anyone’s side, Eliodoro, and you know this. Your children have two alive, physically, and mentally able parents who hate each other. What example are you both setting for them? Your three babies…”

  “Three?” He repeated.

  The paternity of their second child was still an issue that hadn’t been resolved, and reason for the divorce. “Humor me,” Nicola pressed on, “your three babies need their parents. Nathan asked me the other day why does Daddy hate Mommy so much?”

  Eli shook his head. “He picked that up from his mother.”

  “He picked that up from you,” Nicola sternly replied. “Eliodoro, what does the Bible say about forgiveness?”

  “If I forgive someone for theirs, God will forgive me for all.” He meekly replied. He hated when his mother was right, which was often.

  Nicola reached over and grabbed her son’s hand again. “It doesn’t have to be today or tomorrow, but you need to forgive her. You two need to co-parent in a healthy way. Your children need to see that despite problems in the past, you two are solid now. Do it for your babies, Eliodoro. Do it for them.”

  Scandalous

  Antonio “Tony” D’Amato finished cleaning his shop, The Truth. With the main shop located in Harlem, and one in his hometown of St. George, he was a busy man. He had ten employees and they all routinely hung out once a month at Tony’s home for a kickback.

  Boasted by the reality show, Tony’s barbershop had been non-stop busy. Clean, smooth fades, impeccable service, and personable barbers who styled everyone from children to women, it was easy to see why The Truth was just that. Everyone was treated the same if they had five dollars or ten million.

  Tony glanced down at his Cartier and let out a harsh breath. He would be able to make it out there just in time to pick up some last-minute gifts for his nieces and nephews. Eleven in total. He already took care of his brothers and parents.