Dark Ties (Made Men 9)

Thankfully, he had been well past offended, so the chef didn’t pay any attention to the three as he left for his room. They quickly went back to looking through the window.

* * *

Nadia stood there awkwardly, practically waiting for the ground to swallow her whole. Not knowing what to say, only a long, “So …” came out of her mouth.

“Would you like nuggets or pizza for dinner?” Lila asked, like nothing had happened.

“Pizza sounds great,” Nadia said thankfully, with a smile, like the awkwardness had suddenly left the room. “Would you like some help?”

“Oh no,” Lila told her. “I’ll just heat them up really quick and bring them out when they’re done.”

Nadia didn’t need to be told twice, grateful to leave the kitchen, as if it were the scene of a crime and she had been the murderer. “Okay, thanks!”

* * *

“Shit,” Dante grumbled, letting his feet fly back to where he had come from.

“Run,” Amo said with a harsh whisper, grabbing Leo’s arm to get him moving.

It might’ve been bad that he had left his son behind, but it wasn’t like Nadia would have killed Leo for watching. Him, on the other hand, he wasn’t so sure … And whether she would kill Amo, he doubted he could get so lucky.

Even though he might have been the oldest, he still beat them back to the table but was slightly out of breath.

He and a now exasperated Amo and Leo retook their seats, as if they had been sitting there all along.

* * *

What was that?

Swinging the kitchen doors open, she swore she not only heard but saw something flash a ways up. Thinking it must’ve been the chef, whom she had just embarrassed to death, she couldn’t believe she had just singlehandedly started a foodgate on the yacht. She suspected there had to be some kind of food, other than what the chef was preparing, but she hadn’t expected it to come out like that. She thought she had been planted into a fucking telenovela when Lila had walked out with that box.

Now, Nadia just hoped that any of the food they might eat for the rest of the weekend wouldn’t have spit in it, thanks to her. She wouldn’t blame anyone for it, because she probably deserved it.

Walking back to the table, she tried her best to keep a straight face, as if nothing had happened.

“How does pizza sound, guys …?” Nadia trailed off the moment she saw their faces. “You saw that, didn’t you …”

The men shook their heads vigorously. They might’ve been smart enough to stay silent, but their ragged breathing had clearly given them away.

“Max!” Nadia called out, hoping he was near.

“Yes, Ms. Brooks,” the bartender answered, as if he was Batman.

Well, there was one similarity between Batman and Max … she hoped he would be able to save the fucking day.

“We’re gonna need another round.”

Eleven

The Consequences of Too Many Rum Runners

“I told you I don’t want to,” Leo frustratingly told Amo.

They had moved into the indoor living area and bar while they waited for their pizzas, and Amo had been spending his time trying to persuade Leo to play pool with him.

“Why not?” Amo pleaded.

Annoyed, Leo finally gave the reason, “How the fuck do you expect me to shoot a ball in a hole? I can’t do shit now.”

Nadia’s heart sank, along with everyone else’s in the room. She had seen him struggle to do a few things, witnessed him try to stick pieces of food with his fork and miss. She imagined losing an eye would need time and physical therapy for your brain to rewire, but she could imagine even more just how hard it must be to go through.

Watching Amo sadly put the pool stick back down, she was absolutely gutted for the soldier, who looked guilty for even asking.

Nadia took a sip of her drink before getting up from the bar. Moving to the pool table, she picked up the stick and walked up to Leo, who was sitting on the velvet couch.

“I imagine trying to shoot a ball into a hole is the best practice you could do.” With a tender smile, Nadia held out the pool stick to him. “What do you think?”

Leo stared at the outstretched stick while they all closely watched the one-eyed teen in silence for what he was going to do. It wasn’t until he finally took it that the tension left the room.

“All right!” Amo boomed, rubbing his hands together and walking back to the pool table.

Neither Nadia nor Leo needed to say a word to each other. There was a silent understanding between the two as Leo went and started to play with Amo.

“Pizzas are here!” Lila announced, coming in with a pie in each hand.

The disappointment was obvious on Amo’s face that he wasn’t going to get to play pool after all.