Caught In Her Vengeance - Book 2

46

Chapter 46

Catalina - I want to (Rosenfeld)

The buzzing coming from the nightstand beside the bed penetrated my deep sleep, making me stir before two strong arms stilled me. I purred in contentment, taking satisfaction in the tight cocoon of warmth wrapping itself around me.

Mmm, Nic. I hummed, remembering I'd fallen asleep on his chest.

I blinked awake, my eyes stinging from the sunlight seeping into the room through the cream colored curtains draping over the large windows near my bedside. Reaching over, I grabbed my phone and shut off my morning alarm. . I ended up on my side while Nic and all his muscles were tangled up in me from behind. I checked the time and inwardly cursed. Christ, had we really slept that long?

It was seven-ish when we came in from the shed yesterday but I guess we needed it. I slowly wiggled out of his tight hold, my movement careful and meticulous assuring that I wouldn't wake him. I hurried to the bathroom before my bladder exploded and relieved myself.

Once I was done, I brushed my teeth then decided to have a quick shower—which my sore body needed badly.

And after, I used the kit Nic left on the bathroom counter to change my dried up bloody bandage. I thought back to the way he did it last night, and it took me no time to clean and dress my arm.

Wrapped in a warm downy, hundred percent cotton towel, I walked back into the bedroom to find Nic still in the same place I had left him. I grabbed underwear and an oversized t-shirt and threw them on. Walking over to the nightstand, I popped two more pain pills and opted not to wake him just yet.

Without hesitation I crawled back onto the huge mattress, laying on my side to face the gorgeous man in my bed. I let myself study his softened features. Nic usually donned one of those don't fuck with me expressions, and people didn't.

Thinking back on it now, I could see who he and Lorenzo really were the entire time. The way people readily followed their orders without a second word. Or how those same people went out of their way to avoid eye contact when speaking with either of them. I thought it was some macho respect thing, but no. They feared them. And for good reason. 

Not to mention the hushed phone calls and the guns, and the money I found in a drawer after we arrived from Spain. Christ, how could I have been so damn blind? I was in denial. There's no other explanation for it.

Nic sighed deeply in his sleep, and his arm reached out for me pulling my body closer to his. I smiled, letting him.

In my mind of minds, I knew I never should have gotten back into bed with him. I should've been putting some distance between us.

Should've. Could've. Would've.

It, however, was far too late for that now. I could already feel myself slipping back into the way things used to be. Feelings were resurfacing that had no business doing so, and I was too fucking exhausted to fight it.

At least at the moment, I was.

Bringing my bottom lip between my teeth, I continued to study the resting Adonis in my bed. God, he was so beautiful like this.

I lifted my hand to his face, gently feathering my fingers over his delicate warm ivory skin. I traced them along every curve and arc while gingerly etching each stroke to memory. I curiously pulled my brows together when I stumbled upon a faint scar that I hadn't noticed until now.

It sat on his cheek near the corner of his mouth, barely visible if you weren't looking. I traced over it, my fingertips dipping into the marred flesh. Part of me wondered if it was just a casualty of the job, but it seemed too old. The small mark had history. And I was terrified to learn the story behind them.

"Done copping a feel?" Nic questioned with his eyes still closed, making me jump out of my skin. Asshole.

I amusingly snorted, trying to play it off. "Is this your definition of foreplay? Because I wasn't copping anything." I went to move my hand but he held it in place, leaning into my touch and I let him.

Not bothering to beat around the bush, I continued to trace the outline of his tiny blemish with my index and middle fingers. "What happened? I've never noticed this before."

Sighing heavily through his nose, he finally opened his deep blue eyes meeting my hazel ones. They immediately narrowed as his mouth turned downward like he was debating on telling me. Well rather how he would tell me.

The no-secrets thing was his idea and I expected him to hold true to that.

"Yeah, I don't imagine you would unless you were looking." Wetting his lips, he shook his head. "Or unless you were there."

Letting go of my hand, Nic closes his eyes and sinks his head further into the pillow behind him.

"You know that one day during the summer when you wake up and you just know it is going to be a great one? You're out of school. All your friends want to hang out. It's not too hot. And that one girl you like has finally shown some interest. Maybe it was the voice change? Maybe because your acne finally clears up, and you suddenly become the most popular kid in your friend group? But you don't care because you're on top of the fucking world, and no one can stop you."

I felt Nic's jaw clench under my fingers, and I watched him swallow the lump in his throat. His eyebrows pulled together, and I began brushing my fingers back and forth over the stubble on his chin in an effort to comfort him.

"Well, that feeling was short-lived the moment I came downstairs to the garage and found my dad whaling on Lorenzo." his voice hardened and he opened his eyes to look at me, making my heart sink a bit.

I knew based on the things Lola had said in the past that the relationship between her brothers and parents was strained. I just never thought it was abusive, and she didn't speak of it often. Nic cleared his throat. "My dad's fist was covered in E's blood and my brother's face was all busted up."

"Oh my God," I whispered under my breath, a punching feeling forming in my gut.

"Apparently, Enzo snuck my dad's car out with his friends the night before and scratched it. It was barely visible, but that didn't matter. My dad would have found a reason, even if E hadn't taken it out for a joy ride. Dad would have found an excuse to justify his actions. And the horrible fucking things he did to my brother growing up." Nic shook his head, his nostrils flaring with an anger that was palpable. "It was the strangest thing. Dad always treated me and Lola like his golden children but with E? There was a hatred there I could never understand. Fuck didn't want to. I just wanted it to stop."

Nic tugged his brows together in frustration, mangled with a bit of pain, and his deep blue gaze went glossy as he recalled the agonizing memories from his youth.

"Don't get me wrong, E was never easy. Still, he didn't deserve to endure all of dad's mistreatment." A shuddered breath slipped past his full lips and he closed his eyes. It hurt me to see him in pain. "That... That morning was different, though. I wasn't sure how long he had been beating on him before I came down, but I knew it was for a while by the look of Lorenzo and the puddle of his blood on the garage floor between them. And my brother, who always fought back, had given up."

"So I barged in and when our eyes connected, I knew my father was going to kill him. I had no fucking doubt in my mind. So I threw myself between them. The next thing I knew, my father and I were going blow for blow. I had the upper hand when I blacked out, but moments later, I awoke to my dad hitting me across the face with a wrench, busting my cheek open, and knocking me out."

A silence fell between us as I tried to process everything Nic had just told me. One thing was for sure, though. It explained so much about Lorenzo and why he was the way he was.

"Holy shit," I finally spoke. "I'm so sorry that happened to you both." Their father may not have been physically abusive towards Nic, but I could only imagine the toll watching his brother being abused took on his mental health.

Nic shrugged. "It's the past, and the old man got his in the end. So we don't dwell," he told me, and I nodded inquisitively.

"Is that why you and Lorenzo moved to Italy and stayed away from Lola all those years?" I asked, reading between the lines. "Because his death wasn't really an accident like she thinks it is, was it?"

"Hm, little one, aren't you perceptive?"

"I wasn't," I shook my head. "You all sure fooled me for a while.

"You're learning," he smiled. "I like it.

"But yes, Lola was too young to remember. As much as our father enjoyed putting his hands on our brother. He loved hitting our mother even more." he shook his head. "One night, he struck her too hard. It was the very last time. She never woke up. And once Lorenzo and I got our hands on him, neither did he."

"Holy shit," I said in complete shock. "I won't say a word of this to, Lo and maybe it's none of my business but I really think you should."

"Let's talk about something else." Nic glanced away for a brief moment, before looking back at me. If he wanted to drop this, I'd let him. Who was I to press someone to talk about something they didn't want to?

So, I played along.

"Like what?" I smirked, my fingers still toying with his five o'clock shadow. Damn,
I had forgotten how much I liked it when he didn't shave—scruff looked so damn good on him.

"Like, the fact that you slept through the night without a single hint of a nightmare." he was right. I did. It seemed lately the only time I'd gotten a peaceful night's sleep was when one of them was in my bed. "I don't want to sound smug or anything. But did that have something to do with me?" I could've lied.

Throwing one of my legs over his waist, I moved to straddle his lower half. "So you caught that, huh?" he hummed, his large calloused hands moving to cup each side of my hips as I situated myself on top of him.

"What are you doing," Nic asked, and I shrugged before leaning forward to place a kiss over the scar on his cheek and then one on the other side.

"Well, Nic, as much as I don't want to admit it. You make me feel better." Until now, I realized that every interaction we'd had with one another had been purely selfish on my end. To help me forget. But I didn't want that. Not right now. "I think it's only fair that I return the favor. Don't you?"

ツ hope you enjoyed it.

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