It’s Out

chapter Fourteen

Tiffany

T he wind blows against my face as Nico and I cruise down the dark highway. The soulful sound of Sade serenades us from the radio. Only a month has passed since the night in his office and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been.

Including Nico, I’ve only ever had three serious relationships. One of them only lasted a year. However, I can honestly say, I’ve never experienced a relationship like this before. It’s beyond the gifts and the fancy living. Nico is attentive, he’s thoughtful, he listens when I speak, takes my concerns and opinions into consideration and not just at work. He makes sure that he spends time with me. Even when he’s out of the country, he’ll facetime at least once a day. He shows me I’m the first thing on his mind when he wakes up and the last thing when he goes to sleep.

I’ve never met a man like him before. I spent almost nine years with Marcus, and it was never like this. Not even when we first started dating.

The hand that has been on my thigh since we got in the car, squeezes pulling me out of my thoughts. I turn to face Nico. Tonight, he opted to drive us to the restaurant while our bodyguards followed. His black fitted short sleeve shirt hugs his biceps in the most delicious way. The black jeans he paired with them fit as if they were custom made for him. The platinum jewelry around his neck and wrist adds to the outfit. He looks absolutely incredible.

“You okay?” he asks glancing over at me before focusing back on the road.

“Yeah, I’m good.”

He looks back to me, raking his gaze up and down my body before turning back to his driving. “Have I told you how fucking good you look in that black dress?”

I laugh. “Yes, you told me when I first put it on, then you told me again when you lifted it over my head before eating my pussy, and then you told me again before we left the house.”

He chuckles and the sound causes my stomach to flip. “That proves how much I like the dress.”

I playfully roll my eyes. “You swear I look good in everything.”

“You look good out of everything too.”

My face heats up so much, I’m surprised it doesn’t catch on fire. This man can say some of the simplest things and I immediately get wet.

Clearing my throat and changing the subject, I say. “You still haven’t told me where we’re going?”

He grins. “Salv opened a new restaurant. We’re meeting my brothers there tonight to celebrate.”

“I didn’t know Salv liked to cook?” Out of all Nico’s brothers, I was closest to Salvito. He was only five years older than me.

Nico laughs. “Salv loves anything that makes him money.”

He’s not lying. Salvito owns multiple night clubs, and bars around the city. The night I first met Nico we were in one of Salv’s clubs.

“He’s not going to be happy until he owns all of the state,” I joke.

“You might be right.”

Five minutes later we pulled up to a fully packed restaurant. The line to get in is out the door. Some people are dressed in their finest attire. Nico stops in front of the building.

A young valet comes around to the driver’s side. He opens the door and steps aside. Nico climbs out, hands the young man the keys, and adjusts his watch before coming to my side. He opens the door for me and holds out his hand. I proudly accept his offer. He helps me up and we walk arm and arm toward the entrance.

Two large lions flank the Mediterranean style doors with its wood detailing.

“Do you have reservations?” The woman at the podium asks as we step inside.

Before Nico could reply, another woman in a pencil skirt and a white shirt calls his name. “Mr. Basille, Mr. Delgado is waiting for you. Right this way.”

We bypass the line of people still waiting to be seated. The restaurant is breathtaking. It’s like walking into a real-life castle. Wood paneling covers the wall with so much detail and carvings. The eye for detail doesn’t stop there, the crown molding is exquisite. Crystal chandeliers hang through the room giving off a soft glow and large eight-foot-tall windows surround the area. This place is amazing.

The woman in the pencil skirt takes us to a back table. Already seated is, Mason and a gorgeous brown skinned woman with the prettiest doe shaped brown eyes I’ve ever seen. She looks like a Disney princess. Her hair is pulled off her face with only a few curly tendrils accenting her features.

On the other side of Mason is Kaz and Salv. As soon as we approach, Salv stands to his feet and places a kiss on my cheek.

“You look stunning, little sis. If my brother isn’t careful, I may steal you away.” Salv goes to kiss me again, but Nico shoves him back.

“Don’t make me kick your ass, little brother.”

Salv laughs. “You wouldn’t do that. You don’t have a violent bone in your body.”

Kaz snorts in laughter and Mason joins him.

“Hey, leave my man alone. He’s a lover not a fighter.” I joke, placing a quick kiss on Nico’s lips as he pulls out my chair for me.

Although Nico rarely ever loses his cool, I know he has a little darkness in him. I’ve seen it twice before when my life has been threatened. He’s a sweetheart, but I have no doubt he can be a savage.

After taking our seats the waitress appears with two glasses of water placing them down in front of us. She quickly takes the table’s drink orders before hurrying off.

“Salv, shouldn’t you be mingling and greeting your customers? This is your opening night.” I ask, taking a sip of my water.

He smiles, making his usually hard face appear softer. “As pretty as this face is, I don’t show it off often. You see that clean cut muthafucker with the beige suit on?” he points to a man behind me. I turn to get a look at the guy.

The man looks to be in his late thirties with dark brown hair, and a slight beard and mustache. He isn’t extremely attractive; his face is pleasant but forgettable.

“Yeah, what about him?” I say, as I turn back to the table.

“His name is James and he’s the face of most of my businesses. I get to keep my privacy and he gets to look important. It’s a win win situation.”

I understood the need for privacy. Nico does a great job of keeping himself out of the media. He has an entire team that works to keep his face off the internet. Which is why when I searched, I only found bad side profiles or blurry long-distance shots. The only person that does have a media following is Mason, but I think he does something in politics.

“Don’t let him fool you, Ms. Best,” Mason says taking a sip of his drink. “If Salv could get away with plastering his face across billboards he would.”

“Most Definitely.” Kaz says in a heavy accent. He hardly ever says more than two or three words.

“Nobody asked you to co-sign, you silent bastard,” Salv says to Kaz and the entire table laughs.

A few minutes later the waitress comes back for our food order. Up until now, Mason’s date has been mostly silent.

“And for you?” the waitress says to the beautiful light brown skinned girl after taking everyone else’s order.

“I’ll have your garlic infused boiled Maine lobster with a side Caesar salad.”

The waitress flips her electronic tablet closed. “Okay.”

“I’m not done,” the girl says holding a hand up to the waitress. “I’ll also have your 12 oz Wagyu. Medium rare. A side of loaded baked mashed potatoes, steamed seasonal vegetables and a bottle of your most expensive Merlot. Oh, and it’s all on his tab.” She points to Mason.

My mouth falls open, not because she ordered two of the most expensive things on the menu, but where the heck is she going to put all that food. She’s tiny in size and height.

Mason chuckles when the waitress looks to him to verify what the lady ordered. He nods his head sending the waitress on her way.

“If you think to punish me by digging in my pockets, Ms. Montgomery, you’ll be digging for a long time.”

I don’t miss the sneer on his face as he says this. Ms. Montgomery glares back at him.

“Spoken like a true rich, privileged, white man,” she says rolling her eyes.

“Are you determined to make tonight miserable?”

“Yes,” she replies to Mason. “Let’s not act like I actually want to be here.”

He chuckles, completely unbothered by her antics. In fact, everyone at the table, besides me, seems unbothered by the girl admitting to being forced to be here.

Mason leans toward her and talks in a lowered voice for our table only. “Keep talking, Mia, and I will fuck that attitude right out of you.”

Mia smirks. “I doubt you have the stamina, old man.”

I choke on my water; Nico has to pat my back to get me to recover. Meanwhile, he, Salv, and Kaz are laughing their asses off.

“It’s official,” Salv says once he finishes laughing. “I like her.”

Despite Mia’s fiery temper with Mason, she’s actually really nice and funny. She and I talked most of the night. We even laughed at the ‘brothers’ as they made fun of each other. The night went by in a blur. Two hours later it was time for us to go.

“I have to go the restroom,” I say to Nico as I stand.

He gets to his feet too.

“Where are you going?” I ask.

He narrows his eyes. “With you.”

“Damn brother, give the girl a break. She doesn’t need you hovering over her while she takes a piss,” Salv jokes.

“Fuck off, Salv.” Nico places a kiss on my forehead before retaking his seat.

“I’ll go with her,” Mia offers. “But if she tries to run off, I’m not stopping her.” She says, standing beside me.

“Ms. Montgomery,” Mason’s deep voice calls out to Mia before we even take a step away from the table. Mia turns to look at him. “Do not make me come look for you.”

She shoots him the bird before following me to the restroom.

Mia and I quickly use the bathroom before washing our hands and walking out.

“I guess Tess was right?”

I turn around at the sound of Russ’s voice. I wasn’t expecting to see him here. He was leaning against the other side of the women’s bathroom door.

“Russell, what are you doing here?”

He shakes his head pushing away from the wall. “I really thought you were different. You pretended to be committed to Marcus even though he was no longer in the leagues, but I see now you were just waiting for your next meal ticket.”

I’m taken aback by his words. I met Russell when I first started at Morgan and Prescott. We were work friends, but he doesn’t know me well enough to make any kind of assumptions about me.

“You’re calling me a gold digger? Wow, very original. It’s obvious you know nothing about me.”

“I know that you’re here kissing the man that you’re supposed to be working for. The man you swore was only a friend.”

My instinct is to explain myself. To tell Russell that at the time Nico and I were still friends and that our relationship grew naturally like any other relationship. However, another part of me—the part I’m sure my best friend Mira would be proud of—told me otherwise.

“You’re right, we aren’t friends anymore. But none of that is your business. Have a great night.” I turn my back to him. “Come on, Mia,” I say. We take two steps before his next words stop me.

“I’ll be sure to let Mr. Johnson and Mr. Paulson know the type of woman you are. I’m sure they don’t want someone like you representing their company.”

I turn to face him, and he has a smug look on his face. Even though my eyes water at what he implicated I don’t let the tears fall. “Fuck you, Russ.”

“I’ll wait my turn,” he snaps.

I don’t want to hear anything else he says. I walk away leaving him in the hallway. The moment I get back to the table, Nico is on his feet.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

He doesn’t reply. He stares at me, and I know he sees the tears watering in my eyes. This man knows me so well I wouldn’t doubt that even without the tears he would know something was wrong. He cuts his eyes to Mia.

“What happened?”

I turn to a red face Mia. She looks at me and I plead with my eyes for her not to say anything. I know that if I tell Nico, he will probably go up to my job tomorrow and demand Russ be fired. He may even get his attorneys to sue the shit out of Russell for his comments. However, I didn’t want that. I was going to handle Russ myself.

Mia turns back to Nico and with a smile says, “Nothing.”