Home to Me

by Ruth Cardello

  “I’m sorry, Mr. Andrade is in a meeting this morning.”

  Nick cocked his head to one side and raised an eyebrow. “You mean Gio?”

  The woman reached for the pencil that was tucked behind one of her ears but dropped it. As she scrambled to pick it up off the floor, she smiled and said, “Oh, you’re here to see that Mr. Andrade? He’s one floor up. Take a left out of the elevator. His office is right there.”

  “I know where his office is. I’m not lost.”

  “Then you’re here to see Nicholas Andrade?” She looked at the closed door behind her, then quickly turned back. “He’s going to be busy for a while, can I take a message?” She held her pen poised above a notepad.

  “What’s your name?” Nick asked impatiently.

  “Janet.”

  “How long have you worked here?”

  Suddenly flustered, Janet replied, “Three months? I’m sorry. Should I know you? Mr. Andrade doesn’t have many people drop by his office.”

  Nick rubbed his forehead, fighting off a growing headache. “I’m Nicholas Andrade.”

  “Oh,” she said and dropped her pencil again. “Really?”

  Nick grimaced. “Really.”

  “Wow, they told me I’d probably never meet you.”

  Nick heard the irritation in his own voice as he asked, “Who said that?”

  “Human resources?” she answered with growing panic in her voice. “I shouldn’t have said that. Please don’t fire me. I just graduated from college and this is the first job I can put on my résumé that doesn’t include serving hamburgers.”

  “I’m not going to fire you. I don’t even know what the hell you do yet.”

  Janet splayed her hands on the desk in front of her. “I mostly lie about where you are. Usually you’re in a meeting. Other times you’re traveling to inspect a new site. I try to be creative.”

  “That’s the extent of your job?”

  She blushed. “I also input data from departments that need help. Sometimes I cover for someone who is on vacation.”

  “Janet, call down to HR and tell them your services will no longer be available to them.”

  “Because I’m fired?”

  “No, because your boss is finally out of his meeting.”

  An hour later the door to Nick’s office flew open and his older brother stormed in. “What the hell are you doing, Nick?”

  Nick had been asking himself that for the last fifty-nine minutes, but he didn’t like hearing the question coming from his brother. “You’re the one who said I was a full partner. Isn’t this the office you told me was waiting for me?”

  Gio walked up to his desk aggressively. “I don’t have time for this bullshit, Nick. I don’t care why you’re in here pretending to be doing something. I want to know what this is.” He threw a newspaper down in front of him.

  “It’s a newspaper,” Nick answered drolly. “People used to read it before the Internet.”

  With a growl, Gio pointed to a photo in the middle of the page. “You know damned well what I’m talking about.”

  Nick looked down at the paper and saw the photo of him, mostly unclothed, kissing Rena. “Not one of my finer moments.”

  “Is that Rena?” Gio barked.

  Nick stood. “You know it is or you wouldn’t be here.”

  “I told you to stay the hell away from her.”

  “And I told you that whatever happened or didn’t happen between the two of us would never be any of your business.”

  Gio reached over and grabbed Nick by the collar of his shirt.

  Nick grabbed Gio’s arm with equal force.

  “Don’t do something you’ll regret, Nick.”

  “Get your hand off me, Gio.”

  Gio released him roughly. Nick did the same.

  “I don’t know what to do with you, Nick,” Gio growled, pacing in front of him.

  “Try trusting me for once,” Nick answered, folding his arms across his chest. “I have no intention of hurting Rena.”

  With an angry shake of his head, Gio said, “That’s the problem. You never mean to do anything. Nothing is ever your fault or responsibility.” He looked Nick over critically. “Did Mother send you? Is that why you’re in a suit?”

  “No. I decided on my own it was time to get involved.”

  “What the fuck are you doing, Nick?”

  “Right now?” Nick sat back down at his desk. “Taking my place beside you at Cogent. Isn’t this what you always wanted?”

  Without saying another word, Gio turned and walked out.

  A few minutes later there was a knock on his door. Nick looked up at the ceiling of his office and said, “Come in.”

  Janet had a notebook and pencil in hand. “Now that you’re here, I thought I should ask you what you’d like me to do.”

  Nick covered his eyes with one hand, then rubbed his eyebrows, trying—unsuccessfully—to stem the pounding behind them. “How good are you at psychoanalysis? Gio’s right, I’m sitting in here pretending I know what the fuck I’m doing, telling myself that if I try I can unravel decades of lies. For what? Because I wish I were closer to my brothers? Because I care what Rena thinks of me?” He looked across the room at the woman who was hovering in the doorway. “Where do I go from here?”

  Janet turned on her heel and disappeared for a moment. When she returned it was with a stack of pink papers. She walked over and laid them on Nick’s desk. “I’ve been taking messages from people for three months. Here is their contact information and the reasons they called. Maybe you could start there.”

  Nick flipped through the ridiculously large stack of notes. Everything was there, just as she’d said. At a loss for what else to say, he said, “Thank you, Janet.”

  She nodded, then stopped just before walking out the door. “My brother died while serving an overseas tour. I miss him so much. If I thought I could see him again, even for a few minutes, I would call every number in that pile. Wanting to be closer to your brothers is nothing to be ashamed of.”

  Nick nodded.

  His cell phone rang and he instinctively answered it. “Hello?”

  “Nick, it’s Luke. Gio said you’re at the office. Mind if I drop by?”

  Janet closed the door behind her and Nick picked up one of the papers in front of him. “I’m busy this morning, but I’ll have time after five.”

  “Dinner?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  Or at least part of one.

  Chapter Five

  Rena pushed her chair behind her desk and retrieved her purse from the desk’s bottom drawer. For once, she was glad to be going home. Gio was in an awful mood, and although he hadn’t said anything to her, she had a pretty good idea why. He’d stopped by her desk a couple of times, glared at her, and looked about to say something, only to storm back into his office. She was tempted to bring up the photo herself, but she doubted it would make the situation better.

  Plus, she was already angry enough with herself—she didn’t need to endure what most likely would be another lecture. She knew she shouldn’t have gone to see Nick at the club. She absolutely shouldn’t have kissed him on the balcony. There was no rational explanation for why she’d kissed him again in front of the bar when she knew they were being photographed. And if that wasn’t bad enough, she’d waited all weekend for Nick to contact her.

  And, of course, he hadn’t.

  Because a man like Nick wouldn’t. He’d probably left the club to continue his hookup with whoever he’d gotten undressed for.

  I’m such an idiot.

  Rena had gone to her parents’ house for dinner that weekend, and although Kane had been there, he hadn’t mentioned Nick again. He hadn’t needed to. By that time, Rena had worked through her initial disappointment at not hearing from Nick and compiled a mental list of every reason why his lack of interest was for the best.

  She’d worked at hardening her heart against the problems that lay between Nick and Gio. Kane was right:
It was none of her business.

  Her phone vibrated, announcing a text message. Rena retrieved it from the bottom of her purse as she headed out the door.

  I’ve been warned to stay away from you—Nick.

  Rena stopped dead. Her heart beat crazily in her chest. She typed back, Me too.

  Is Gio giving you a hard time about the photo? I’ll talk to him.

  Unwelcomed warmth spread through Rena as she read his words. She’d built up a strong wall of defense against his charm. She answered, Not necessary. My warning came from Kane.

  Want me to explain it to him?

  Rena bit back a smile as she imagined how well that would go over with her brother. I already did. Please don’t say anything else to him. It’ll make it worse.

  There was no response for long enough that Rena replaced her phone and started walking toward the elevator. She paused when she felt her phone vibrate again.

  I have a problem.

  Just one? Rena typed back, unable to resist the tongue-in-cheek retort.

  I don’t want to stay away from you.

  “Going home already?” Gio’s voice boomed from the door of Rena’s office.

  She jumped and dropped her phone. She quickly retrieved it and turned to face her boss.

  “It’s six o’clock.”

  Gio frowned at her. “I wasn’t critiquing your work ethics, but I want to talk to you before you leave.”

  Rena’s phone vibrated in her hand, but she didn’t look down at it. “I can’t today, Gio. I have somewhere I need to be.” It’s called Anywhere but Here.

  “This will only take a minute.”

  Her phone vibrated again.

  “Can we talk tomorrow, Gio? I really do have to go.”

  The elevator door opened behind Rena and she breathed a sigh of relief when Gio’s fiancée walked out of it. She’d feared it would be Nick. She’d never been so happy to see Julia Bennett.

  Julia greeted Rena, walked over to Gio, gave him a sweet quick kiss of greeting, then looked back and forth between the two as she sensed the tension between them. “What’s going on?”

  Gio hugged Julia and said, “Good. You’re here. You’re better at this than I am.”

  “Better at what?” Julia asked, once again studying them.

  “Gio’s upset because I kissed Nick,” Rena said, hoping to diffuse the tension by making light of the incident. “It was a joke, which unfortunately made it into some local rag. My fault. I thought it would be funny.”

  Julia clapped her hands together. “So, it was you. I knew it. I recognized the outfit.” She smiled. “A hazard of my security training. I can’t turn it off.”

  “I was hoping you were wrong, Julia, but Nick confirmed it this morning,” Gio said, clearly still unhappy with the situation.

  A vibration announced yet another text message. Rena glanced down at her phone to make sure Nick wasn’t on his way to see her.

  All I can think about is kissing you again.

  And more. Much much more.

  Meet me tonight.

  Rena flushed at the memory of how easily she’d almost said yes to him already. She stuffed her phone deep in her purse.

  Julia took Gio’s hand in hers. “Even if it wasn’t a joke, what would be so bad about Rena dating Nick? She might be a good influence on him.”

  Gio looked around the hallway. “This isn’t the appropriate place for this discussion. Let’s go back into the office for a minute.”

  Wow, sounds tempting, but no. “Gio, I love you, but what you’re not understanding is that I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I already went through the whole thing on Saturday with Kane. I’m done. I did it. It was stupid. I’m sorry. Can we drop it?”

  “I wish I could, but—”

  Julia interrupted him, “Gio, don’t.”

  “She needs to know the truth about Nick.”

  A sad expression darkened Julia’s face. “Are you sure you know the truth? Maybe you should try talking to him again.”

  “I did. He’s angry and he’s messing with the only two things he knows will bother me: Rena and Cogent,” Gio said angrily. “You heard him yourself, Rena. He’s following through on what he threatened. He’s going to fuck with Cogent. And he’ll use you to help him if you let him.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Rena said, shaking her head. “Nick isn’t the vengeful type.”

  “Then, tell me, why did he spend the day in his office today? He’s calling contacts, pretending he actually works here. I don’t know what he’s up to, but I will stop him.”

  Julia took one of his hands in both of hers. “Gio, you scare me when you talk like this. He’s your brother.”

  Gio’s face softened when he looked down into his fiancée’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Jules. I wish I could protect you from this, but you also need to know who you can trust. In my family, the one who will cut you the deepest is the one who pretends to care the most.”

  Julia turned to Rena. “I wish I knew what to say. I don’t want to believe anyone is capable of behaving that way, but I also know that Gio loves Nick. If he’s warning you to stay away from him, he probably has a very good reason.”

  Deep in her purse, Rena closed her hand over her phone. “I heard Nick’s threat, Gio, but I also heard you tell him that you’d kept an office for him all this time. Maybe this is his attempt to make things right with you.”

  “Do you honestly believe that?” Gio asked, a thick layer of skepticism coating his voice.

  I want to.

  Rena took a deep breath and fought back her own emotional response to Gio’s accusations. It was one thing to be another potential notch on Nick’s bedpost, and quite another to be a pawn in a feud with his family. Bottom line: Nothing really happened between us, and nothing ever will.

  Some of this is my fault for forgetting why I went to see him in the first place. I wanted to help Nick and Gio heal, not give them another reason to rip each other apart.

  With that in mind, Rena looked Gio in the eye. “I don’t know why Nick is working here, but he would never intentionally hurt you or me. You can say you spoke to Nick, but the two of you don’t talk to each other—you talk at each other. Until you stop and actually listen to him, you’ll never know why he’s here. And Nick will never explain himself as long as he thinks you won’t believe him. So, go to it. Defend your precious family company against the very people you say you built it for. Push Nick until he does what you expect him to, but don’t think you’re not equally to blame for what happens.”

  Gio’s face twisted with regret. “This morning when I asked him what he wanted, he said he wanted me to trust him for once.”

  Julia hugged Gio’s side. “Maybe you should. You said things were different with your brothers when you all came back from Stephan’s wedding. Maybe Rena’s right and he’s trying to reach out to you.”

  With a pained expression, Gio looked across at Rena. “I would do anything for my brothers—you know that. I want to trust Nick.”

  “Then give him a chance to prove himself.” As Gio softened to the idea, Rena prayed she was right. Please, Nick. Please be here because you want to patch things up with your family. This is your chance. Get it right this time.

  “The photograph was honestly your doing? There isn’t anything going on between you and Nick?” Rena knew her answer would determine how much he would or wouldn’t trust his brother’s intentions.

  So she forced a smile. “Nick and I have always ribbed each other, but it’s always been just that—a joke. I had no idea he’d decided to work here, because we’re not close. I went to see him because I felt badly about how the two of you had argued. He was at that club he frequents. I should have left him alone, but I thought I could help. I’m sorry my little prank at the end of that visit caused anyone worry. That wasn’t my intention.”

  Julia’s easy smile returned. “See, Gio, it’s not as bad as you thought. Let’s go home. You can talk to Nick tomorrow after you’ve both had a
day to cool down.”

  Gio nodded. “That’s a good idea.” With his arm around Julia, he said, “Rena, sorry about my mood today.” He gave her a small smile. “I’ll think about what you said. You’ve known us for a long time. I should tell you to stay out of this, but God knows my family is in need of an intervention. I almost strangled Nick this morning. You don’t know how relieved I am to hear he’s not messing with you. When I saw that photo, I thought for sure he was.”

  Rena let out a long breath. “Don’t kill your brother. This time it was me,” she said, forcing a forced light tone into her voice.

  Arm in arm, Gio and Julia walked away, talking in a tone that made their words inaudible. They entered the elevator and held the door. Julia asked, “Rena, are you coming?”

  Shaking her head, Rena said, “Not yet. I forgot something in my desk. Go on without me.”

  The door closed on them, and Rena brought a shaky hand to her temple. With her other hand she retrieved her phone and reread Nick’s messages.

  He wanted to see her.

  And more.

  Rena shivered as she imagined all the possible things that could mean. Images of the two of them, naked and sprawled across his bed, sweaty from a marathon of raw fucking, brought a blush to Rena’s cheeks. Part of her wanted to simply text Yes.

  Yes to whatever he had in mind. If their kiss was anything to go by, sex with Nick would be unlike anything she’d experienced.

  It wouldn’t be warm and comfortable.

  It would be hot, consuming . . . and wrong.

  The heat of the desire that throbbed through her was cooled by the doubt Gio had planted in her heart. Would Nick use her to get back at Gio? Would he sleep with her to get information about Cogent that he could use to take Gio down?

  She didn’t want to believe he was capable of it, but she wasn’t sure anymore.

  She read his texts again.

  Nick has never lied to me. He doesn’t lie. That’s part of how he always gets in trouble. He says it as it is. No, he argued with Gio because he was worried about his mother. He threatened Gio because he wanted to make a point. He kissed me because . . .