Heartless (21 page)

I blow a deep breath between my lips.

Ace stops talking, breathing hard like he needs a moment. The pieces of the puzzle are coming together one by one. Ace was
never
the one in love with a woman he couldn’t have. He
wasn’t
obsessed with Kerenza. He
wasn’t
sneaking around with another man’s woman – they were sneaking around on
him
.

“Fucking Gianluca,” he says, shaking his head. “I could give two shits about losing Kerenza. Marrying her would’ve been a huge mistake. I realize that now. And in retrospect, she was probably always going to fuck me over. Just never thought she’d do it with my best friend of all people; the one person who was closer to me than all of my brothers combined.”

“Gianluca?” My eyes search his. “His name . . . is Gianluca?”

It’s not a name a person hears everyday, but this is New York, and there are millions of people living in this area. It wouldn’t be unusual for there to be a couple of Gianlucas in the mix.

“You know him?” Ace breathes harder, faster.

“I . . . I don’t know?” I lift my brows. “Is he a photographer?”

“Jesus.” Ace exhales, stepping away, dragging his hand hard across his face. “Have you worked with him on set or something?”

“No,” I shake my head, knowing this isn’t going to end well. At least not for Gianluca. “Just met him tonight. He . . . he came with Topaz . . . he’s in there.”

Ace turns from me, staring hard into the reception room.

“
Figlio di puttana
,” he mutters under his breath, fists clenched at his sides. I’m not sure what it means, but I’m sure it’s nothing pleasant. He looks like a bull getting ready to charge, but I can’t let him ruin Wren’s reception.

Placing my hand on his arm, I grip tight. “Stop. Don’t go in there. Please. Whatever you need to say to him, please save it. Or take it outside. I can’t let you cause a scene. Not here. Not tonight.”

Ace’s eyes are dark, his jaw tensing as he stares hard, eyes trained on his laughing, carefree ex-comrade putting the moves on my best friend.

Topaz glances up, and I wonder if she’s been checking on us off and on this whole time. I watch as she excuses herself from the table and rushes to the hall.

“Everything okay out here?” she asks.

Ace doesn’t answer, and Topaz gives me a look.

“Gianluca and Ace have a past,” I say, words dry and pointed.

“Oh, lord.” Topaz folds her arms across her chest, turning to look at Gianluca, who’s now chatting up my mother. “I sure know how to pick ‘em, don’t I?”

I place a hand on Topaz’s shoulder. “I don’t want to cause a scene. Can you call him out here? I think the two of them need to talk. Let’s take them out front.”

Topaz nods, leaving, and I pull Ace through the restaurant and toward the front façade of the building, beneath a green awning.

He paces as we wait, charging back and forth like a caged animal, dragging his hands through his hair.

The glass door swings open a minute later. It’s Topaz, followed by her date, the man of the hour. My heart stops cold when the two of them lock eyes, and they might as well be locking horns.

“Alessio,” Gianluca says. “It’s been a long time.”

Ace scowls, his forehead covered in harsh lines and his eyes dark like midnight.

“You come here to try and kill me again, or did you not learn your lesson last time?” Gianluca’s lips form a smug smile and he widens his stance, crossing his arms across his chest. He isn’t as big as Ace. He’s not as muscular either. He’s in shape, but his body is lean, like a runner who does the occasional push up.

I can tell Ace intimidates him, as there’s a small twitch in Gianluca’s left eye and his chest is slightly puffed. Given everything I’ve read and everything that’s come to light, Gianluca has good reason to be shaking in his motorcycle boots.

He betrayed his best friend in the worst way imaginable.

He should be terrified.

“
Pigliainculo
.” Ace charges toward Gianluca, his face twisted and red. His fist is clenched, lifted, and inches from the side of Gianluca’s beautiful face, but Gianluca doesn’t flinch.

“
Non meritavi di lei
,” Gianluca spits back, expression hard.

“
E che hai fatto?”
Ace growls, jaw flexing. His stance is wide, but I can tell it’s taking everything he has not to come in for the kill. “
Non importa ora. Ho perso un fratello. Un migliore amico
.
Mi hai tradito
.”

“
Non dispiace per amarla
.” Gianluca folds his arms tight across his chest.

“God, we need a translator,” Topaz mumbles as the two of them continue their exchange.

I’m completely lost. I have no idea what they’re saying, but I see pain in Ace’s eyes and a smug arrogance in Gianluca’s, and that breaks my heart.

A dark-haired, middle-aged woman in a leopard print jacket passes by, stopping for the spectacle on the sidewalk. Taking a step aside, she stops and watches, her deep-set eyes growing wider and rounder with each word that flies from the mouths of these angry beasts.

“
Dio mio
,” she says, shaking her head and making the sign of the cross.

“Do you know what they’re saying?” Topaz asks.

The woman nods. “It’s not good. Not good at all . . . That one betrayed that one . . . he stole his fiancée . . . they both loved her since they were kids . . . they all grew up together . . . forgiveness is out of the question . . . the long-haired one is apologizing but the other one won’t have it . . . the sorry one says he’s not sorry for loving the girl, he’s only sorry for hurting the only brother he ever had . . . the tall one says he’s still dead to him and will always be . . . and he’s telling him to stay out of his life . . . and away from his girlfriend . . .”

I glance at Topaz, and she lifts her brows.

“You two are back together?” she whispers.

“It’s looking that way.” Shrugging, I turn back to the men. Ace has backed off a bit, that cherry color leaving his face and his complexion returning to its natural warm tan.

“
Testa di cazzo, traditore
.” Ace hurls his final words at Gianluca and waves him off, slicing his hand through the air and making a fist as he walks toward me. Gianluca leaves, head held high. He doesn’t so much as look at Topaz. Climbing onto a parked Ducati, he starts it up and peels off.

The Italian woman watches us all, shrugs, and then heads inside the restaurant.

“There goes my date.” Topaz sighs from the corner of her mouth as she watches the Ducati disappear into a cocktail of headlights and traffic.

“I’m so sorry.” I rub the side of her arm.

Topaz tilts her head, eyes fixed on the cracked sidewalk beneath us. “It’s fine. Beautiful assholes aren’t really my type anyway. Kind of got the impression he was a little bit of a man-whore anyway.” She glances at Ace as he takes heavy strides in our direction. “All right. I need a drink. I’m going to head in and let you two talk.”

Topaz leaves and Ace comes to my side, eyes flicking between mine. His shoulders rise and fall as he pulls in heavy breathes, and everything about him is hot and angry and bitter and yet . . . apologetic.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he says.

“Don’t apologize.”

“You okay?” Ace moves closer, cupping my face. His palm is hot on my skin. “I hadn’t seen him in over a year, not since everything happened. I wasn’t expecting to run into him tonight.”

“Who knew you had a temper like that?” I smirk and reach for him, tucking my hands under his arms as he comes closer. It feels good to touch him again. To smile. “It was actually kind of hot. You feel better? You get a chance to say all the things you wanted to say to him?”

“I did.” One side of his mouth curls, and he leans down, his lips smashing mine.

There’s something lighter about him now. I feel it in his touch, the way he breathes, the tenderness in his kiss. I can’t imagine being betrayed like that by a man you loved as if he were your real brother. No wonder he’s been so distraught and tortured and bitter and angry. I can’t blame him at all.

Lifting my hand to his smooth jaw, I pull away and meet his penetrating gaze.

“We have a lot to talk about,” I say.

He exhales, nodding. “We do.”

“But for now, why don’t you come inside and see everyone,” I suggest. “You can even meet my mom . . .”

“I’d love that.”

A
ce

“
Y
ou know
, my girls never played sports,” Julie Kincaid says, legs crossed and leaning into me. She hasn’t left my side since Aidy introduced us, and I get the impression that she’s slightly enamored with me, though it could be the booze talking. She’s had her champagne topped off about three or four times in the past hour. “They just weren’t interested. But me? I played softball. I was on a women’s semi-pro team in the eighties. First base was my position, but I could hit a homerun like no one’s business.”

Julie has bushy blonde hair that grazes the tops of her shoulders, and she wears a sparkly clip on one side. Her lips are stained in a bright pink shade, her smile stretches from ear to ear, and her laugh can be heard clear across the room.

Julie puts Aidy’s effervescence to shame.

“You’re very handsome, Ace.” Julie reaches for my bicep, giving it a squeeze. “You should be on the cover of Sports Illustrated or something.”

“I was,” I say humbly. “A few different times.”

“No kidding?” Her voice reaches a high pitch I never knew existed. “Well good for you! I’d love to see them sometime. You have them framed?”

I shake my head. “They’re probably in boxes at my mother’s house.”

“You know, Aidy did some modeling as a child once. She was on the cover of Children’s Crochet Magazine,” Julie says. “She had the most adorable little gap-toothed smile. That’s where Enzo gets it from. And she had a smattering of freckles just across the bridge of her nose. Those went away as she got older, but Lord almighty was she ever a cute kid.”

“Mom.” Aidy clears her throat, returning to my side with two fresh flutes of champagne and hands one to me. “Is she talking your ear off, Ace?”

“She’s good,” I say, taking a drink.

A cursory glance around the room shows several people gathering their bags and jackets and moving toward the bride and groom to say goodnight. Julie glances at the silver charmed watch on her left wrist and declares she should probably catch cousin Veronica before she leaves.

The second Julie’s gone, Aidy takes a seat on my lap and hooks her arm around the back of my neck. She’s grinning, eyes only for me.

“What?” I chuff.

“I just can’t believe you’re here. I can’t believe you came here tonight,” she says. “That takes major . . .”

“This past week, without you, wasn’t easy.” I exhale, placing my hand on the side of her thigh and moving it upward.

“Agreed.”

“Come home with me,” I say. “I just want to lie in bed with you, and I promise I’ll do most of the talking this time. You can ask me anything, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”

Aidy’s full lips arch, her sapphire eyes glowing. “That sounds wonderful, Ace, but I’m watching Enzo all week. I’ve got to take him home tonight.”

Fuck me.

“But you can come with, if you want?” She shrugs, brows lifting. The entire time we’ve been seeing each other, I’ve yet to stay at her place out of respect for Wren and Enzo. “He’ll probably pass out in the cab on the way home anyway.”

We both glance down to the head of the table where Enzo sits, like a child zombie, eyes half-open and head nodding. Every couple seconds he catches himself and wakes up, only to quickly rinse and repeat.

“You sure?” I ask.

Aidy bites her bottom lip. “Yeah. Stay with me tonight.”

* * *

M
y fingers graze
across the swell of Aidy’s full breasts, and I lower my lips to her budded nipples. She exhales, her body melting in my arms. Her legs straddle my hips as we lie in the middle of her soft bed, her naked body painted in stripes of moonlight and shadow. Even in the dark, I see the flutter of her eyes and the sweet, slow smile that claims her lips between kisses.

Our fingers interlace and the wetness of her sex glides across my swollen cock, teasing and tempting. But tonight we’re taking things slow. We’re going to enjoy this. We’re going to make it last because, well, we’re going to make
this
last: this budding love of ours.

Aidy leans forward, pressing her breasts against my bare chest, and she kisses down my neck as my fingers tangle in her soft blonde waves. Her hips rock against my cock. One wrong move and I’ll be buried deep inside her. My hardness twitches in anticipation, and my hands rest on the exaggerated curve above her hips.

“God, I’ve missed this,” she purrs, dragging her nails along my scalp. “I still think you’re crazy for showing up at Wren’s reception, but I’m glad you did.”

She moans into my mouth, grinding harder, a sign that she’s not willing to wait much longer. And fuck it. Neither am I.

She rises to her knees as I reach below, gripping the base of my cock and dragging its swollen head along her slick seam. Lowering herself onto me, her body accepts me one endless inch at a time, until she’s fully impaled and wearing a delirious grin.

“You feel so good inside me,” she whispers, her head tilting back and eyes rolling shut as she rocks and grinds and circles.

My hands grip her hips, guiding and controlling her reckless rhythm, my right thumb circling her clit.

I could lie here all night, my cock buried in her sweet pussy, watching the way her tits bounce as she rides me, the way her face winces when she gets close, listening to the soft sighs escaping her bee-stung lips.

A curtain of blonde hair covers her face when she leans forward, and she brushes it from her eyes, breathless as she lowers herself to kiss me. She climbs off me, rolling to my side.

“I want to feel close to you tonight,” she pleads, whispering.

With her back pressed against me, I separate her thighs and enter her from behind, my hands running the length of her curved body, massaging her sensitive clit before cupping handfuls of her swollen breasts, and then trailing up to her lips. My thumb slides along her mouth, parting the seam, making her taste what I’ve done to her.

Returning my attention to the hotness between her thighs, I pump harder and faster, pressing hard, needful kisses into the feverish flesh of her left shoulder as she gasps. Aidy buries her face into the pillow in an attempt to keep the noise down, and I can tell by the small earthquakes consuming her body that she’s getting near.

Her hips buck against mine, meeting them thrust for thrust, and the moment her body tenses, I thrust harder, pushing her over the edge, releasing myself inside her, and wrapping her in my arms as we float down from the ceiling.

“I love you, Aidy.”

She’s silent.

I hadn’t planned on telling her. It just came out.

The seconds that pass, without so much as a response, are pure fucking torture.

Aidy rolls to her other side, facing me. She swallows hard, reaching for my face and brushing a loose strand of hair from my forehead.

“I love you too, Ace,” she says. “But I have to tell you something.”

My heart stops. The weightlessness I felt a moment before is gone, and I’m sinking fast.

“What is it?” My mouth is dry, my heart beating hard in my ears.

“I’m moving to L.A. I took a job there, and it starts next month.” Her face is pained, and her body is stiff as she awaits my response.

“Jesus, Aidy.” I exhale, relieved. At least, I think I should be relieved. I have to admit, part of me was expecting something much worse. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were going to say you were pregnant or something. Not that it’d be the worst thing to have happen, but you had me worried for a second. This move? Is it a done deal?”

Aidy nods slowly. “It’s a six-week job, but I’m staying so I can grow our app on the West coast. This has been planned for a while. It had nothing to do with you. I’m not trying to run away from you or anything. I was actually planning on moving next year, but with Wren getting pregnant and the wedding getting moved up, my timeline was sort of moved up.”

“I see.”

I feel her watching me, her eyes searching mine for something, though I’m not sure what.

“Is . . . is distance a deal breaker for you?” she asks.

Taking her cheek in my hand, I lean in and crush her lips with an authoritative kiss.

“No,” I say, voice low and confident. “It’s going to take a lot more than three thousand miles to keep me away from you.”

She kisses me hard, exhaling, and I roll over her, anchoring her beneath me, anchoring the two of us in this moment.

“Tell me about your family,” she says. “Your brothers. Your mom. Tell me everything. I want to get to know you – the real you – all over again.” Moonlight spills onto the pillow beside her and casts a warm reflection in her ocean-blue eyes. “I want to know everything there is to know about you.”

“You writing a book or something?”

“I just want to feel close to you,” she says, her verve tamed but only slightly. “Is that so wrong?”

Exhaling, I slide my arms beneath her, creating a cozy cocoon, and all I see is hers.

“My mother’s name is Valentina,” I say. “She still lives in Jersey. I’d love to take you to meet her soon. My brothers are all younger than me. There’s Matteo who lives in L.A. He’s a struggling actor, but he’s good at what he does, and I’m convinced if he gets that one big break, he’s going to be a star someday. After that is Dante. He lives in Seattle and he runs some tech company that I’m pretty sure is going to sell for a ridiculous amount of money soon. Then there’s Cristiano. He just finished graduate school, but I’m not sure what he’s up to these days. Last I knew, he was backpacking through Europe, staying in hostels. The youngest is Fabrizio. He’s finishing his senior year at Ashburn University in Chicago.”

“You Amatos are kind of spread out all over the place, aren’t you?”

I nod. “Which is why we’re not nearly as close as we used to be.”

“I bet it breaks your mother’s heart.”

My lips purse. “Yeah.”

“So do something about it.” Aidy’s lips inch into a careful smile. “Can I meet them? Can you invite them all to the city? Your mom, too.”

I release a steady breath and stare off to the side. “Growing up, the five of us were tight. We were always together. Staying out of trouble together. Getting into trouble together. In many ways, I had to be the father we never had. I had to keep them in line when Mom was at work, and I had to get them to school in the morning those years when Mom was too sick to get out of bed half the time. My brothers were my responsibility. And the second I got my baseball scholarship and left for college, I couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Guess I’ve always felt a little guilty about that so I’ve maintained my distance.”

Aidy’s eyes widen. “No. God, no. Don’t feel bad about going to college and chasing your dreams. I don’t think any of them expected you to throw your life away. To stay home and raise your brothers. You stepped in when you had to, but don’t you dare feel guilty for moving on. Your brothers turned out fine, at least from what you say. I’d say you did more than your fair share, and you did a damn good job.”

“Yeah.” I press myself off her, rolling to her side, and she curls up against me, wrapping a long leg over me and resting her cheek on my chest. “Guess that’s one way to look at it.”

My body is washed in fatigue, weighed down with the heaviness of the day and relaxed by the lightness I feel being in Aidy’s presence. Yawning, I run my fingers through her hair and let my eyes fall closed.

“Ace?” Aidy’s light voice whispers in my ear.

“Yeah?”

“I love you,” she says. “I know I said it before, but I just wanted to say it one more time. It feels really good to say it.”

For the first time in forever, my mouth forms a
real
smile. “I love you too, Aidy.”