Scorned Love: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Scorned Fate)

I was silent for a while. I searched my emotions for Layla, the bitter emotions, the anger, but I couldn’t scrounge a single focused feeling…maybe regret, or was it guilt? “Layla was a…friend.

“We hung out. I had a crush on her. She was a year ahead of me. She was sweet, simple. She was my first kiss. I thought she was going to be my first everything.” It felt weird talking about her now, like I had felt nothing for her at all. “She started changing when she turned sixteen. Suddenly, she wanted to be with the popular lunch crowd where Joe held court. She became more shallow. Talked like the other girls who only cared about hair, makeup, and cheerleading. Oh, she’d still hang out with me, but not in public.”

“Oh, Nico.”

I breathed out a cynical chuckle. “I was the moron who thought we were more. She told me we were nothing more than friends. Somehow, I understood it. Her mother came from old money and she had a name to live up to.” I gave another derisive laugh. “I guess you can say it’s your typical poor-ole-me-in-high-school story, but there’s more to this.”

Ivy stilled and appeared to brace for what I was going to say.

“The bullying from Joe went on for two years. Sometimes, it was just as little as messing with my locker, have someone trip me, tip over my lunch tray. Most of the time, it was a passing punch in the gut. And if I fought back or said something, Joe and his minions would corner me and beat me up. Matteo would always have my back, and I hated that he was always the one fighting my battles because I was a weak, skinny freak, so I started hiding my bruises. I wore hoodies most of the time.”

I cringed at the pity that crossed Ivy’s face because I was no longer that boy, but when she moved closer and linked our fingers, the vulnerability was replaced by a steadying force. She must have been waiting for me to say more.

“When did it stop?”

“After Joe went too far.”

Her body locked up.

“A few months before shit went down, Layla started paying more attention to me. She’d transformed into this shallow girl who I wouldn’t have been friends with, but like any teenager, I welcomed the sex. I wasn’t her first anymore and she wasn’t mine. But teenage hormones were messing with my emotions since I connected sex with love. One day, she said she wanted to try some kinky stuff, and I was all over it. She said she wanted me to fuck her in an abandoned barn and be really rough with her.”

It was over twelve years ago, but ever since Joe was released from prison, it was like experiencing the humiliation of that day all over again. Rage simmered under my skin. I confronted Dom and insisted we need to get rid of Joe now that he was out of prison and lording it over Manhattan. Instead, the De Luccis, my family, voted me into exile. Okay, exile was a strong word. But Dom, Dad, Uncle Paulie, and Matteo talked to me and told me to chill out in Europe before I did something stupid.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Ivy whispered, and my chest twisted when tears filled her eyes.

“Don’t feel sorry for me, princess, but you probably guess what happened.”

“She set you up.”

I nodded. “Yeah. By the time I got there, it was to see Joe fucking Layla with a grin on his face.”

“Of course, as stupid as I was, I thought he was raping her. I stormed into the barn to save her. Never mind that his friends were with him. They shut us in and another two grabbed me and wrestled me to the ground and made me watch Joe fuck Layla until she came.”

Her moans of pleasure had been like nails on a chalkboard to my ears.

“While I was still being held down, Joe pressed his shoe on my face and said, ‘That’s how you fuck a girl, loser.’ Layla laughed and said I was a terrible fuck and that was why she went with him.”

“That bitch…if she was here right now—you’re sorry for her?”

Regret must have shown on my face. “She’s dead, Ivy.”

Her eyes widened and then her lids slid shut before opening them again and saying, “I think you better tell me the rest.”

“I couldn’t hide my bruises then. I bore the imprint of Joe’s shoe on my face. They strung me up on a rafter and used me like a piñata. Not enough to send me to the hospital, but just enough to be in a lotta pain. I think they cracked several ribs. They made sure most of the bruises landed on my torso and legs so it wouldn’t be too visible. Joe knew I had too much pride to rat him out. Dad, Matteo, Uncle Paulie, and Dom were ready to go to war. They wanted me to report it to the school, but that would mean endless questions and everyone would know about my humiliation. I didn’t want that.” I clenched my fists. “If I admitted nothing, no one could prove it happened. And Joe forbade pictures just in case someone turned and they had evidence.”

“And Layla?”

“She was passed around Joe’s friends until one day she got into a car accident with one of them. They’d been to a kegger. Layla was killed. Joe’s friend went to jail for manslaughter. I blamed Joe… I also blamed myself.”

“Nico…why?”

“Maybe if I’d acted more as a friend than a self-absorbed asshole…she’d still be here.”

“You weren’t self-absorbed. You were being bullied at a time in your life when you were vulnerable. For heaven’s sake, she used you. She was older than you. Why did she need to gain status with Joe’s crowd if her mother was old money?”

“Too much pressure at home. A cry for help. I don’t know. I’m just sorry I couldn’t help her.”

“Despite what she did to you?”

I didn’t answer her. I didn’t know how to explain it. Layla was dead. I was alive. Her betrayal, her death had become a turning point for me with how I chose to live and how I connected with women. I felt sorry for her. Felt a bit of guilt. I was the man in our friendship or whatever fucked-up relationship we had and I failed to protect her. That was why I never wanted to put myself in that situation again. I dated women who had no self-esteem issues, who were successful in their career and self-absorbed enough they wouldn’t need me to love them. Who scorned love just like I did.

“But Joe went to jail, right?”

“Yeah.” My smile was grim. “My side of the family might be the legitimate side, but Dad wasn’t going to let it go. Joe got caught on racketeering charges. I had a feeling the leak to the cops came from the De Luccis.”

“Was that why the Rossis and the De Luccis are at war? Is that when it began?”

“No. There’s been friction and competition for a while. But that only escalated it.”

I got a buzz from the Arrow that our pizza had arrived. I was drained, and hungry, but oddly lighter.

“Pizza is here. Let me grab it, and if you have questions, I’m an open book.”

Ivy

I watched Nico eat pizza. He would look away from the television screen and smile at me, asked me if I wanted another piece or if I was all right or if I was feeling sore, but he didn’t know I was still processing what he told me.

His behavior was making sense.

The women he dated. His broodiness was borne from being the outcast in a mafia culture that favored full-blooded Italians. I remembered Sera and Matteo’s issue last year. It was similar. I also understood now why Nico was the broodiest of the brood. I knew bullies fixated on their mark, but it seemed Joe Rossi had it in for Nico.

Nico wolfed down the second piece of pie, put down his plate, and turned to me. “Out with it. You want to ask me something?”

“Why did he pick on you? I get there’s a feud, but why you in particular?”

He stared at his plate and gave a self-deprecating smile. “It’s convoluted. It goes back even before Mom and Dad got married.”

Interesting. I finished my slice and took a sip of Coca-Cola. Of course, Nico made some comment about the sugar content. There were so many things I wanted to find out about my new boyfriend.

“I’m all ears.”

“Joe’s aunt is Sofia Rossi, his father’s beloved sister.”

“Oh my God, Sera’s stepmom.” Then I paused. “Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Sera’s stepgrandma.”

Nico laughed. “Let’s just say Aunt Carlotta’s stepmom.”

“There’s something about your uncle.”

“You’re jumping ahead, princess.”

I clamped my mouth shut. “Please proceed.”

“Sofia was once the mafia princess and was engaged to Uncle Lorenzo.”

My heart pinched. Lorenzo was Cesar and Paulie’s oldest brother. He was tapped to lead the De Lucci crime family, only he couldn’t stomach what had happened during a joint job with the Rossis when a pregnant woman was executed by a Rossi soldier. Lorenzo committed suicide. Renz was named after him.

“There was pressure within the Five Families for my dad to step into the position, but he already made it clear he had no plans of being a made man. The Rossis wanted an alliance by marriage to the De Luccis, but they wanted Dad to take over.” A crooked smile tipped Nico’s mouth. “Well, to make matters worse, my uncle Charles fucked up. He got Sofia pregnant.”

Charles McGrath was Ava’s brother. As Sera had told it, Charles had been an enforcer for the De Lucci crime family. The De Luccis loaned him out to the Rossis and that was how Charles and Sofia met and had an affair. Basically, ruined Sofia’s chances of being the crown jewel in an arranged marriage for the Rossis.

“And it only got worse and worse. Aunt Carlotta married a De Lucci too. She was Chicago’s sought-after mafia princess.”

“So the mafia is pissed because they kept losing their women to the De Luccis’ legitimate side.”

Nico’s chest shook with silent laughter. “Pretty much.”

“This is making sense why Joe is salty about what should have been left in the past. Sera married Matteo.”

“Yup, many were pissed about that, too.”

“Blame the De Lucci jawline,” I quipped.

“I hated my jawline at fourteen,” Nico admitted. “But I guess I should thank Dad and Mom’s good genes.”

I couldn’t wait to see what our kids would look like. My brain did a record-scratch. Why in the hell was I already thinking what our kids would look like when we were less than twenty-four hours a couple? “I can’t imagine you as a scrawny kid.”

“Turned out I had a high metabolism—”

“Welcome to the club. At least you developed muscles. I never grew boobs.”

He scooted closer to me and cupped my breasts. “I don’t want to hear you criticizing these. They’re perfect.” I was about to rebut his statement, when he shot me a piercing look that was censuring as well as heated. I melted. I might grow to love my breasts yet with Nico being their staunch advocate.

“So how did you become a gym rat and a health nut?”

“After my last beating, my uncles on the McGrath side took me in.” He stood up and went to the kitchen. “Want anything from here?”

“I’m fine with my Coke,” I told him. The only drink I wanted with pizza, thank you very much. “Sera told me they were the ones who opened the boxing gym on the first floor.”

“Yeah, Matteo had started boxing at fourteen. I was ashamed of my skinny frame, so I didn’t even want to go, but Dad had a serious chat with me. He said I gotta learn to defend myself.” Nico returned with a beer in hand and took a swig. “So I started boxing and started putting on inches both in height and muscles.” He laughed. “Mom started complaining we were eating her out of the house. She told us to start eating at Eamonn’s.” He cast me an amused look. “Anything else?”

I snuggled up to him and he put his arms around me. “I’m good. Thank you for entrusting me with your past. It couldn’t be easy reliving it.”

“You’ve become involved in this feud. You deserved to know.” He kissed my temple. I loved it when he did this. It was not sexual but the nurturer in him. And I was the lucky recipient of it. This man fucked like a god. The time we had angry sex was a transcendental experience. I’d never come so hard and none of my past encounters came close.

He drew back and gazed fiercely into my eyes. “Promise me that you’ll tell me about your scars. I know they’re deeper than what’s physical but I hope that one day I’d have earned your trust enough for you to tell me about them.”

What was left unsaid was trust him enough not to care about the NDA. When I thought about my time with Edward, it still made me mad at myself, but the only thing I could do was forgive myself. It also made me realize that with Edward’s reappearance, we could finally find closure.

I gave him a small smile. “Promise.”

I was enjoying everything with Nico right now. I didn’t want to bring up Edward. Not tonight at least.

Tonight, I was enjoying a new relationship with a man who I could see as my forever.