Home to Me (The Andrades, Book 2) (24 page)

Rena scoffed at the idea. “We’re together every Saturday.”

“Not like this,” Nick said and nuzzled his face in her hair. “We’re always running off somewhere, and not that that isn’t incredible, but it doesn’t leave us much time to talk.”

“You want to talk? Isn’t that a woman’s line?”

Nick took her chin in his hand and turned her face so that she was forced to meet his eyes. “Now who is making fun of whom?”

Rena looked unhappily cornered. “Nick. I understand today was a tough day for you and if you want to talk, let’s get dressed and go somewhere. But I can’t do this.” She waved one hand in a circle beside him.

Nick was momentarily at a loss for what to say and, in that pause, Rena continued, “I’m sorry. I know that was insensitive.” She let out a long breath as if seeking inner calm. “How is your mother?”

“She was fine when we left her.”

“I’m glad. Was everyone there? Gio, Luke, Max?”

Nick sighed and rolled onto his side. “Max, the lucky bastard, was out of the country.”

“But Gio and Luke were there?”

“Yes, we went in to see Mother together.”

“Good.”

“Luke said you were on the phone with her when she had her episode. What were you talking about?”

Rena looked away again. “Nothing important.”

“Don’t lie to me, Rena. Did you call her or did she call you?”

“She called me.”

“I didn’t realize the two of you were that close.”

“We’re not.”

“What did she do, threaten you like she threatened Julia?” Nick was joking, but when Rena looked away again all humor left him. “She fucking did, didn’t she?”

Rena shifted toward the edge of the bed, but Nick stopped her by throwing an arm around her waist. The act sent the sheet flying off her, and her glorious breasts bounced free as she pushed at his arm and tried to rise from the bed. “It was nothing.”

A slow, burning anger began to build within Nick. He didn’t doubt Rena for a second. She had never lied to him. He’d found his truth.

In that moment, so much that had confused him became clear. Things his mother had said to him over the years made sense now when he viewed them as the words of a bitter and vindictive woman. She’d blackened his opinion of Gio with her stories of how he had greedily taken control of Cogent. She’s kept up her version of the villainous Andrade clan when Nick only remembered them warmly welcoming him.

As with a rotten onion, the more memories Nick peeled back, the more vileness he revealed.
I’ve been looking for the answers when they were obvious all along.

Patrice was at the heart of everything that was wrong with his family. She was the reason her sons didn’t trust each other. He thought back to all the times she’d encouraged him to walk away from the family business, and it infuriated him that he’d allowed himself to be manipulated for so long.

He looked down at Rena. “Tell me exactly what my mother said,” he ordered.

Rena put a hand over the one that gripped her side. “Ow, you’re pinching me.”

He instantly rubbed his hand soothingly over the area, but he didn’t release her. He sat up on his knees and pulled her to a kneeling position in front of him. “I need the truth. Tell me what you know.”

“It’s not pretty. I’m not even sure you’ll believe me. I barely believe it myself.”

Exposed to her more than just physically, Nick had never felt closer to Rena. “I trust you, more than I trust my own family. And I will never allow anyone to hurt you, Rena. Especially not one of them.”

Rena chewed her bottom lip, then met his eyes worriedly. “Your mother doesn’t want you working at Cogent, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure you don’t make it there. She said she has pictures of us she’ll give to the tabloids if I don’t encourage you to quit. Nick, I don’t care about photos. My father wouldn’t be happy, but it doesn’t scare me. What did scare me was when she said she knew just how to sabotage you. She said if I didn’t help her she’d get you to drink again, and you’d get yourself fired from Cogent.”

Nick didn’t doubt Rena, but it took a few moments for her words to fully sink in. “Why doesn’t she want me to work at Cogent?”

Rena shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Does Gio know what she said?”

“No, well . . . maybe. I told your uncle, Alessandro.” Rena tapped her forehead in self-reprimand. “I probably shouldn’t have said it in front of Maddy. Everyone on the East Coast might know by now. I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. It’s just that Maddy was telling everyone about us. I went over to tell her to stop and then I found out she was telling your mother everything and I freaked.”

“You told Maddy about us?”

Rena nodded.

“Anyone else?”

“My mother knows.”

Nick rubbed Rena’s arms. As much as his stomach was still churning from what he’d discovered about his family, he also felt a certain amount of satisfaction from knowing that Rena was telling people they were together. “What did your mother say when you told her about us?”

Rena rolled her eyes. “What everyone else says about the idea of us together, but she doesn’t understand that I’m okay with how we are. My mother thinks I’ll do something foolish like fall for you, but that’s why we keep to our agreement. That’s why we have rules.”

Nick frowned. “I thought the rules were a game. You know, to keep it fun and exciting.”

Rena waved her hands emphatically in front of her as she spoke. “That too, but it also keeps me grounded in what is possible between us.”

Nick lowered his hands. “And that is?”

Rena slapped a hand on her bare leg. “Nick, we both know you don’t do relationships. You’ve never lied about that. I’d be a fool if I thought a little sex with me could change your nature. That’s how people get hurt—they have crazy expectations that the other person can’t live up to. I wanted to be with you, Nick, and I had to find a way to be okay with who you are, not who I wanted you to be. And I did. What we’re doing works. That’s why you can’t sleep over. I know it’s silly, but our Saturdays together are a treat I give myself. Like a vacation. You know it’s not forever, but you enjoy it while you’re there.”

Nick folded his arms in front of him. “Saturdays are really about keeping your expectations purely about sex, because that’s the only area in which you feel I won’t disappoint you?”

“It sounds really bad when you put it that way. I didn’t say that.”

Nick stood beside the bed. “Yes, you did.”

Rena scrambled to stand beside him. “Nick, let’s start over. I explained it all wrong.”

Nick held up a hand to halt her from saying more. “Save it. I couldn’t stomach hearing it twice.” He walked back into her living room not caring if Rena followed him, but she did. He pulled on his pants and shrugged back into his shirt without speaking to her. He was lacing up the second of his shoes when she spoke again.

“I’m sorry, Nick. I shouldn’t have said it the way I did.”

The sad look in her eyes only confused Nick more. He wasn’t angry with her—how could he be? He straightened and took in the beauty of her standing before him. Any self-consciousness she might have had about her nudity was overshadowed by the concern she had for his feelings. Which made what she’d said about him that much more bitter of a pill to swallow. “Rena, I’ve always admired your honesty. Thank you for telling me exactly what I needed to hear.”

Rena stepped in front of him just before he reached the door. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a tender, emotional kiss that left them both shaken, then set her back from him. “No,” he said simply and let himself out of her house, closing the door firmly behind him.

Rena didn’t leave her house on Saturday. She waited for Nick to change his mind and call her, or simply show up at her door. As hour after hour passed, she sought for something to distract herself. She emptied the cabinets in her kitchen, then reorganized them. But when she finished, instead of enjoying the calm such a task normally brought her, she felt profoundly sad.

One tear escaped, rolling down her cheek as she stood there in the silence of her kitchen, the only sound her own ragged breathing.

Nick isn’t coming today.

No one had to try to break us up. I did it myself.

She played and replayed their final conversation in her head.
He came to me because he was upset and wanted to be with me. And what do I do? I tell him horrendous things about his family and then make it sound like I don’t care about him either.

He must feel so alone right now.

And it’s my fault.

She dug her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Nick’s number. Her call went directly to his voice mail
—just like all the calls she'd placed since the night before
. She sent him a text:
Are you okay?

He didn’t respond.

She sunk to the floor and sat with her phone on her lap, waiting for the beep that accompanied an incoming message. As the silence dragged on, Rena’s eyes filled with tears that she couldn’t stop. One shallow sob led to a deeper one until they wracked her body and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and cry until the ache in her heart eased.

Blinded by the tears, she fumbled with her phone and dialed the number of the only person she knew would understand how she felt. She took several calming breaths while the phone rang, but started to cry again when her mother picked up. “Mom?” she asked in a tight, tear-laden voice.

“Rena? What’s the matter? Are you hurt?”

Rena sniffed. “Mom, you were right about everything. I should have listened to you. I thought if I protected myself, it wouldn’t hurt this much. I was wrong. Nick and I broke up and it hurts so much. I would come to you, but I don’t think I can drive. Can you come here, Mom?”

“Oh, baby, don’t go anywhere. I’m on my way.”

A few minutes later Rena heard the outer door of her house open and close. “Rena?” Kane’s voice bellowed through her house.

No.

Rena pulled herself off the floor and wiped away her tears with a paper towel. She blew her nose in a second one, then tried to cool her face with a third. She cleared her throat, stayed facing the sink, and called out, “In here.”

“Mom told Dad she was coming to the city because you’re upset. Dad asked me to drop by. What happened?”

Rena turned with a wet paper towel still in hand and leaned back against the sink. “Nothing I can talk to you about, Kane. That’s why I called Mom.”

Kane’s expression darkened as he studied Rena’s face. “You can tell me anything.”

Rena looked up at the ceiling before meeting Kane’s eyes. “You say that, Kane, but you’ll only hear what you want to hear if I try to talk to you about this. And honestly, I don’t want to feel worse than I do right now, and you would make me feel worse, even if you didn’t mean to. So, Kane, can you just leave me alone until after I talk to Mom? I really can’t handle you right now.”

“Rena, did someone hurt you? Tell me who and I’ll . . .”

“See why I can’t talk to you? No one hurt me, Kane. I did this.”

“Whatever it is, Rena, I’ll make it right. Just tell me what happened.”

Fresh tears started to spill down Rena’s cheeks. “You can’t fix this for me, Kane. Could you stop thinking it’s your job to protect me and just listen to me for once?”

Kane walked over and leaned against the counter beside his sister. “Are you pregnant?”

Rena rolled her eyes.

Kane sighed. “I’m trying, Rena. You look like you just lost your best friend. What the hell happened?”

Rena wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, “That’s exactly what just happened.”

Kane slumped with relief. “That’s it? Thank God.”

Rena glared at him.

Kane pulled her to his side for a hug. “I’m not belittling what you’re going through. I just imagined at least ten possibilities I couldn’t live with.” He let out a long breath. “So, who did you have a fight with?”

“I didn’t fight with anyone,” Rena said sadly. “I just disappointed someone I care about very much in a way I never meant to.”

“You?” Kane pulled back and raised one eyebrow in doubt. “The person who is always trying to make sure everyone else is happy? You could never disappoint anyone.”

“You’d be surprised, Kane.”

“I’m here if you want to talk about it, Rena. I won’t say a thing. I’ll just listen. I promise.”

“There is a lot of crap going on right now, Kane, and I could use your advice with some of it, but I’m not a little girl anymore. You don’t have to run up to the bully in the playground and punch him out for me. If I tell you what’s going on, I want you to listen to the whole story and then do nothing if that’s what I ask you to do. Can you promise me that?”

“I don’t know.”

Rena looked up at her brother. “Swear to me you won’t say or do anything. If I tell you what happened and you make this situation worse, I won’t talk to you again, Kane. Not about anything that matters.”