Dark Ties (Made Men 9)

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ask—”

“No, it’s okay,” he assured her before she could finish. “It’s only natural to be curious about what happened.”

Nadia sat there quietly as the sun ominously disappeared into the ocean, like it had been swallowed whole. The only thing they had been left with was the sound of the salted waves.

“One of my men went to pick up my children to take them to school,” Dante began slowly, telling her the story, “and right before he was about to get in the car … it blew up.”

Nadia somehow knew in her bones the last few words he was about to say, but it didn’t make them any less jarring as every single piece of her shattered into a million pieces.

“Thankfully, the blast didn’t kill him, but he was unlucky enough for a fragment to lodge straight in his eye.”

“Oh, my God,” Nadia whispered, covering her mouth. The gruesome image that came to her mind, she was sure the real thing couldn’t even compare to her imagination.

The fact that Leo still stood on this Earth brought tears to her eyes, knowing the initial blow didn’t account for what came after. It was a testament to the teenager’s strength for him to be where he was now.

But then it hit her. “It was …”

“One-Shot,” Dante said the name of the person responsible, a name she couldn’t. “The last thing I want to do is scare you more than I’m sure you already are, but—”

“No. Thank you for telling me.” She was grateful to know what had happened to the boy who had fascinated her all weekend. The part inside of her that desperately called to fix broken kids needed it. “I haven’t slept from wondering what happened.” It might’ve been worse than all the scenarios she had imagined, but at least the mystery was no more. Now she just might be able to sleep more peacefully tonight.

“Well, you should certainly sleep tonight,” he said, nodding his head toward her almost empty rum runner. They had no idea what number she was on now.

She took a sip of her drink to finish it off, and the light change in mood brought happiness to both their faces. “If only I had a tub in my bathroom to take a hot bath, that would knock my ass right out.”

“I have one in mine,” Dante revealed. “You could use it, if you’d like.”

“Oh no, that’s ok—”

“Seriously.” Deciding against persuading her since she was clearly hard-headed, he quickly stood up, taking her hand to come with him. “It’s a waste up there with me. I’ve yet to use it.”

“Really, that’s okay,” Nadia insisted, not wanting to intrude on his space.

“It’s a clawfoot …” he tempted.

“Well, why didn’t you start with that?” Nadia said, practically breaking out into a run.

Suddenly, she stopped to quietly poke her head into the indoor area to see what Leo and Amo were doing.

“What are you—”

“Shh …” Nadia covered his lips. “You know what they’ll think if they see me going up there.”

Dante wasn’t getting why it mattered.

“And then I’ll never hear the end of it for the rest of the weekend.”

“You’re right,” he suddenly agreed, knowing Amo.

“I mean, it’s not like anything’s going to happen,” Nadia stammered out nervously, feeling as if she was a teenager herself, telling a boy that he wasn’t going to get to third base with her. “But you know how kids are.”

“Yeah,” Dante agreed again. “Of course.”

Exactly. I’m just going to use his bathtub. Nadia didn’t know why she was telling herself that. That was only something you had to do when you needed to convince yourself. And Nadia did not need to convince herself to not sleep with Dante Caruso. It would be really, really bad if she did …

Right?

She saw the backs of the two boys still playing pool; it was now or never.

Yes, it would be completely irresponsible, she told herself while she and Dante made a run for the steps, hand in hand.

Right?

Holding on to the rail, Nadia followed Dante up the stairwell, feeling the consequences of too many rum runners finally start to catch up with her. At the top of the stairs, she toed her shoes off, afraid to walk on the white carpet. Who the hell would put white carpet on a boat? Gaping at the private lounge, she snapped her mouth closed when Dante turned to see what was keeping her when she didn’t follow him through two open doors.

Making her feet move at the same time as she gazed around the lounge, Nadia nearly walked into a huge round chair piled high with black fuzzy pillows.

Dante frowned at her. “How many of those rum runners did you drink?”

Righting herself, she returned his frown. “How many drinks have you had today?”

“A few,” he admitted.

Nadia gave him a superior smile, like the ones Haley would give her when she had overspent on a budget.