Home to Me (The Andrades, Book 2) (6 page)

Luke had warned her she’d get hurt, but she’d believed that beneath all of his bad-boy bravado there was a good man looking for a way to break free. Maybe there wasn’t.

And I’m a fool who sees only what I want to see.

“Rena—” Nick called out, but she continued down the stairs.

***

Nick wasn’t a man who chased a woman, yet he found himself racing after her. There wasn’t a part of what had just happened that he didn’t regret. He’d been in a foul mood, plus Rena had walked in just when he’d revved himself up fantasizing about what they’d almost just done upstairs.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

He’d never meant to hurt her. He caught up with her in front of the bar near the dance floor. She was walking away with long purposeful strides. He grabbed one of her arms to stop her, and her momentum swung her around and crashed her into his chest. He steadied her with a hand on either arm. “I’m an ass,” he stated flatly, leaning in close to her ear to be heard above the music.

She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t release her. “Yes, you are.”

“I shouldn’t have taken my bad mood out on you.”

Her lips pressed angrily together for a moment longer, then softened. “No, you shouldn’t have, but I shouldn’t have tried to talk to you about this while you were out drinking. I could have waited until tomorrow.”

“I don’t,” he said, loving how she leaned in to hear his words. “I’ve been sober for three months. I didn’t come here to party. I needed somewhere I could think.”

She cocked a skeptical eyebrow at him. “In your underwear?”

He looked down. “Shit.” A quick look around confirmed his lack of clothing had not gone unnoticed. People all around them were taking photos with their phones. He put a hand up to shield her face from them, even though he knew it was already too late. When he looked down at her again he shook his head and gave a self-disgusted grunt. He didn’t know if he should drag her back upstairs or bolt with her to the door. Either way, there was no changing one fact. “This is going to be in the papers tomorrow.”

Instead of looking mortified, as he’d thought she would, she cocked her head to one side and her forehead creased thoughtfully. “Did you really give up drinking?”

He nodded. “It was time.”

Her eyes were bright with emotion when she said, “I’m proud of you.” Then she pulled his face down to hers and kissed him boldly.

He was staring down at her in bemusement when she ended the kiss.

She winked at him. “I refuse to be the only woman you’ve been photographed with
not
kissing.”

Then she turned and walked away, leaving him stunned and speechless before a crowd of snap-happy amateur photographers. He shook his head, smiled, and started back toward his VIP section. He didn’t care if they continued to photograph him.

Hell, he’d been caught in much more compromising situations. All he cared about was how he’d felt when Rena had smiled up at him with pride. In her eyes he saw the man he’d always thought he could be, always feared he wasn’t. When she’d looked at him that way, for just that one moment, everything and anything seemed possible.

Rena was long gone by the time Nick returned to the bar fully clothed. He was headed toward a side exit when Serge stepped into his path.

“Your friend left?”

“I’ll see her again.”

Serge raised one hand in caution. “Don’t, Nick.”

Nick threw up two hands. “Why do you care?”

“She has feelings for you. Don’t take advantage of that.”

“I have no intention to. Hell, I’ve known Rena most of my life. I would never hurt her.”

“Then stay as far away from her as you can. Call that saucy redhead. Anyone. You won’t mean to hurt her, but you will—and then you’ll have to live with what you’ve done.”

“You think I’m too fucked up for her?”

“I didn’t say that, Nick. You did. I’m simply suggesting if you care about this one, stay the hell away from her.” Serge walked away, and Nick punched the wall beside the door as he walked out of the club.

Rena woke to her doorbell ringing over and over again. She rolled over and groaned.
Am I late to work? No, it’s Saturday. Who would bang on my door this early on a weekend?

She sat straight up in bed and pulled the hem of her nightshirt down over her thighs.
Nick
. She reached for her phone and saw she had four missed calls.
Not Nick. Madison D’Argenson, Nick’s cousin.
She’d sent a couple of texts after Rena hadn’t answered her calls.
Shit, I made plans with her for this morning.

She scrambled out of bed, tried to tame her hair in the mirror, then gave up and headed downstairs. “Coming. One minute.”

She looked down at her nightshirt, shook her head, and opened the door while forcing a smile. “Maddy, I slept in by accident. I’m so sorry.”

Maddy didn’t seem the least bit bothered by Rena’s disheveled state. She held up a tray of coffees and a bag of baked goods. “Bagel? Muffin? I wasn’t sure so I brought both.” She was surprisingly energetic for a woman who had had her second child less than a month before. “I have one hour while Adam naps and Richard gives Joey a cooking lesson.”

“Isn’t he young for that?”

“It’s important for Richard to spend time with him, and my husband loves to talk about cooking. They make pastries and crepes together. It’s adorable, and it gives me an hour of sanity away from them.”

Behind her, Nicole Andrade, the newest addition to the clan and Stephan’s wife, shyly ducked her head in. She was, as always, impeccably attired in an exclusive designer dress. She was also, of the two women visiting Rena, the only one who looked sincerely apologetic. She laid a hand on Maddy’s arm. “Maddy, Rena doesn’t look like she’s ready for company. Maybe we should come back.”

It always amazed Rena that someone as beautiful and wealthy as Nicole could be unsure of herself. Her heart went out to Nicole, and any self-consciousness Rena had felt about welcoming visitors in her nightshirt fell aside. She opened the door wider, saying, “If you don’t mind, I don’t mind. Come in.”

“See,” Maddy said over her shoulder with a wide smile. “Rena and I became close when I started my campaign to bring Gio to your wedding. Now we’re like this.” She held up two crossed fingers.

The complete opposite of Nicole, Maddy happily plowed through life—as comfortable in her own skin as she was with refusing to hear the word
no.
She had an optimism that, while grating at first, was enviable. She was also a bit of a meddler, which Rena admired about her. She was the reason the Andrade brothers had attended Stephan’s wedding in Italy.

Rena held up her own crossed fingers and referenced the way she was dressed as she led the two women to her living room. “Luckily we’re this close. Not everyone gets to see me without makeup.”

Nicole blushed. “When you didn’t answer your phone I thought you might still be sleeping. I told Maddy we should wait, but you know how she is.”

Maddy placed the tray and bag on the living room coffee table, then plopped down into one of the chairs. “You’ll understand when you have children. This morning was a scheduled break. I’m am not losing my hour of adult time for anyone.”

Rena settled into a chair across from her. “I’m surprised you don’t have a nanny.”

Maddy took out a muffin and laid it on a napkin, then handed a coffee container to Rena. “Black with sugar. That’s how you like it, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Rena said with surprise. She and Maddy had spent a significant amount of time on the phone over the last several months, yet their friendship was still in the early stages. “Thank you for remembering.”

Nicole hovered, then sat and took her own coffee. “She does have a nanny, but she refuses to let her do much.”

Maddy shrugged. “I whine now and then, but there isn’t a single part of my life that I would change. Richard is doing well with his restaurants. I love being home with the boys. Okay, most of the time. I don’t think there is a mother alive who doesn’t sometimes crave a few moments to herself. I could hand them off to the nanny more, but when they look back at their childhood I want them to remember me more than someone we paid to be with them. That’s how my parents raised me, and that’s how I’m raising my children. I won’t apologize for that.”

Rena sipped her coffee, then said, “You shouldn’t. Your children are lucky to have you.” She turned to Nicole, who was eating her bagel as daintily as if she were visiting the Queen. “How is married life, Nicole? Enjoying it?”

Nicole put her bagel down and folded her hands in her lap. Her eyes misted over as she said, “It’s still unbelievable to me—how much my life has changed in just a couple of years.” She reached out and took Maddy’s hand in hers. “Even Maddy. She is crazy, but I can’t imagine not having her in my life.”

Maddy squeezed her hand and shot her a huge smile. “We feel the same way about you, Nicole. Well, we don’t call you crazy, but you fit into our family perfectly. And Stephan is finally happy. Love can do that.”

Rena took another sip of her coffee.

“Which brings us to why we’re here, Rena,” Maddy continued. “Can you help us find the perfect woman for Nick?”

Rena gasped, choked on her coffee, and started coughing wildly. Nicole leaned over and gave her a pat on the back. “I’m sorry,” she said when she caught her breath. “I swallowed the wrong way.”

“I hate when that happens,” Maddy said sympathetically, oblivious to Rena’s state of surprise.

After a brief pause, Rena asked, “What makes you think Nick needs help finding a woman? He certainly seems to surround himself with enough of them.”

“He’s not happy.” Maddy shook her head sadly. “And look at how hard he’s taking his mother’s illness. You’d expect he’d be concerned, but he’s just miserable with worry. He needs someone in his life he can lean on when times are tough. Everyone does.” She rolled her eyes. “And I’m not talking about the bimbos he’s always photographed with. I’m talking about someone of quality. You know him well. What does he look for in a woman?”

“A low IQ and huge cleavage.” Even as the words came out of Rena’s mouth she regretted them.
After what happened last night, I’m in no position to judge anyone.
“I’m sorry. That was rude of me. Trust me, though. Nick isn’t looking for anything serious with anyone.”

“That’s a shame,” Maddy said and took a bite of her muffin.

“Why?”

Maddy leaned forward and tapped Nicole’s leg. “We should tell her.”

“How are we going to win if we keep telling everyone everything?” Nicole asked with a laugh.

“Tell me what?”

Nicole shrugged and nodded at Maddy.

Maddy wiped her hands on a napkin. “I’ll tell you, but you have to keep this to yourself. Do I have your word?”

Rena looked back and forth between them. “I think so.”

Nicole wrung her hands in front of her. “You have to promise to keep our secret. Stephan wouldn’t like the idea of us meddling like we are.”

Maddy gave an exasperated sigh. “You worry too much about what Stephan thinks. If he gets upset, he’ll get over it. Who could stay mad at us?”

With a sad smile, Nicole added, “I wish I could see the world like you do, Maddy, but we had very different childhoods. I’ve never been part of a family like yours. They are so loving and supportive. I don’t ever want to do anything that would take them away from me.”

Rena blinked back tears and pretended to reach for a bagel.

Maddy scooted closer and hugged Nicole. “No one is going anywhere. You’re stuck with us.”

Nicole hugged her back and composed herself. “We didn’t wake Rena up for this. Let’s just lay it out there and then let her get on with her day.”

Maddy said, “Rena, you don’t have to swear on a Bible or anything, just keep this between us, okay?”

Curiosity piqued, Rena gave one curt.

“Nicole and I are on the same team . . .”

“Team?”

Nicole interjected, “It all started as a joke at Lil and Jake’s wedding. Then it grew.”

“What grew?” Rena asked.

“I was telling everyone how much I missed Gio, Nick, Luke, and Max, and we sort of all decided that helping them find love would bring them back to the family.”

“You decided,” Nicole gently reminded.

Maddy smiled and shrugged. “Anyway, all the women are in on it. Dominic’s wife, Abby, has teamed up with Marie. Her sister, Lil, is working with her best friend, Alethea. Nicole and I are pooling our resources. Whoever matches one of the cousins up with someone he decides to marry, wins.”

“Wins what?”

As if it should have been obvious, Maddy rolled her eyes. “The right to call themselves the best matchmaker in the family. Until now it’s always been me, and I am not giving up my title easily.”

As Rena processed this, she said slowly, “So Julia, Gio’s fiancée, was your doing?”

Nicole shook her head. “No, none of us knew her.”

Maddy clapped her hands together. “Isn’t that what makes this amazing? She was an unknown and took the prize. . . . It was as if the universe planted its own contender.”