Bruised.
Broken.
Battered.
“Bee—”
“No.” I said in a hollow voice. “You’re right. Funny, I remember my dad saying the exact same thing to me before he died.”
“Bee—”
“Let’s go home.” I marched past him and didn’t look at him again, not when he started the car, not when he turned on Jay-Z, or even when he stopped at Starbucks and ordered my favorite drink.
I was silent.
Because he’d finally gotten his wish — he’d broken me. How many times can a girl face rejection before the only way to find comfort is to close herself off from the very world that rejected her in the first place?
Freshman Retreat.
I’d focus on that.
I’d forget about Phoenix.
I’d flirt with whomever I wanted.
I’d make friends.
And in the end, I’d be okay. I had to be okay. Because if all else failed, what did I really have to look forward to in life?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Never let them see you cry.
Phoenix
“YOU SURE YOU’RE READY for this?” Nixon asked. I’d told him I needed him to come. He said if he came, so did Mil, Chase, and Tex.
All five bosses.
Together again.
Only they were there to show their support, rather than fight.
I wasn’t myself. Hell, when had I actually been myself over the past few weeks? I was still pissed at losing control with Bee, at hurting her feelings. I knew what her triggers were, and I’d blatantly played with them until I’d gotten the result I wanted.
Her hurt.
So why did I feel so bad?
She hadn’t talked to me the entire ride home, even when I’d bought her coffee, something that I had been convinced would do the trick.
When I’d knocked on her door that night to tell her I was leaving and that Sergio was staying behind if she needed anything, I’d been greeted with silence.
Panicking, I’d broken down the door only to find her listening to music and doing homework — in nothing but a sports bra and a pair of tiny shorts.
She looked up, unfazed, and gave me the finger.
“It’ll be fine,” Mil said, regaining my attention as she squeezed my hand with hers. “Remember, you’re their boss.”
I nodded and took a deep breath. It was one of the first official meetings I’d called, with Nick’s help.
I had no trouble running the business with the Nicolasis; hell, it practically ran itself. What I did have trouble with? Its men and their loyalty. It was time to prove a point, time to be boss.
“When all else fails—” Tex slapped me on the back. “—shoot first.”
“Oh, great advice,” Chase muttered. “Because that’s always been the answer to world peace. Shooting things.”
“Just saying.” Tex shrugged.
I walked through the doorway and looked around. We were meeting at one of the restaurants the Abandonatos owned, a Chinese place close to the lake that looked more like a warehouse than anything. It was popular with the locals and had soundproof rooms.
Two bonuses.
No one to hear the screams.
But enough people to cover for us if it was necessary.
The men were all piled into the back room, eating a dinner I’d specifically set out for them. If there was one thing I knew, food always made people less angry. I should know; I was freaking angry most the day, and I was pretty sure it had to do with the fact that I was still drinking protein shakes instead of eating Bee’s lasagna.
Forcing her out of my head, I made my way into the room.
Absolute silence greeted me as the men looked up from their plates. All in all, I had thirty of them who were close to me; the rest were simply foot soldiers, not needed in one of these meetings.
“So…” Nick stood. “…if we’d known we would be entertaining the Cappo, we might have had a parade.”
“Ha.” Tex clapped his hands once. “You’re cute. Tell me your name so I can remember to say a prayer on your behalf before I shoot you between the eyes.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot halfway up his forehead as a smile curved across his lips. “Phoenix, if this is the company you keep, we may be in for an interesting few years.”
“It is,” I said in a tense voice. “And, by the way, he will follow through on that promise, so I’d watch it.”
“Noted.” Nick chuckled.
The men around the table were still inspecting us; most of them had been at the commission, but a few had still been in Sicily when Tex had taken control of the five families, the day Luca had died.
When he’d left me with his legacy to keep up.
Damn it.
“Find your seats,” I said in a low voice.
Nixon, Chase, Tex, and Mil all went to sit on the left side of the table where a few seats were empty.
The door opened and then closed behind me.
I didn’t need to turn to know who it was.
“Frank, you’re late.”
“Sorry.” He chuckled then laid a hand on my back.
Slowly, I turned to face him. Luca’s brother and, at the end of his life, his best friend. It still hurt to look at Frank because he reminded me of Luca, of what he was to me, of what he’d done for me. I saw his eyes in Frank’s. I saw his strength, and it killed me inside that I might never live up to the legacy that he’d left behind.
“Blessings…” Frank took my face between his hands and kissed both cheeks. “…to the new boss of Nicolasi.”