Nero (Made Men #1) (5 page)

Elle could see
Nero might be a while with her pen, so she got up and headed for the closet in the back of the class, which had several shelves; Elle had no idea where the pens would be.

“
Here.” Elle felt Nero’s body lightly at her back as he reached over her and grabbed something out of one of the top bins, bringing a pen down and handing it to her. Elle gave him a half smile and started to walk out of the closet, but something had been bothering her; she needed to know something from him because, right then, it didn’t make any sense why he was talking to her.

She
decided to turn around and ask him, looking right up at his face. “Why now? Not one time have you ever spoken to me, and now you’re acting like we just met or something.”

“You really want to know?”

Elle swallowed hard. She probably didn’t; however, she needed to. She nodded and looked down at his chest.

“Al
l right.” He shut the closet door then took a step toward her.

“W-
what are you d-doing?” With every word she spoke, she took a step back. Nero took one more step toward her until her back hit the door and she was pinned.

“Yesterday
, I saw you staring at me and Cassandra, and later, I caught you again in the parking lot with Stephanie.” He took a step closer, closing the small gap she had placed between them. “Usually, people feel too uncomfortable. They won’t even look in my direction.” As Nero leaned down, Elle thought he was going to kiss her for a second; instead, his mouth came close to her ear. “But you couldn’t pull your eyes away.” His words made her ear warm, causing the rest of her flesh to become heated.

He grabbed her chin to make her finally look in his eyes
. “There is something dying to come out…” His finger traveled down her neck and stopped right above the swell of her breasts. “And I want to be the one who brings it out, Elle.” Hearing her name brought her out of the trance he had put over her.

He knows my name?

He moved his hand beside her waist and turned the doorknob, backing up to give her room to come forward so the door could be opened. Elle scooted free, her body no longer warmed by his. She didn’t understand why she instantly regretted moving away, though.

When h
e opened the door all the way so she could exit the closet, Elle grew embarrassed with all the stares she was getting. She was sure Cassandra’s sidekicks were thinking of a thousand ways for her to die by the looks on their faces.

She headed back to her table
, but before she could sit, the bell rang.
Time to go, thank God.

Elle picked up her bag and darted out the door
, flying out so fast she never saw the look on Nero’s face. He was completely dumbfounded.

Elle ran down the halls
without being aware if she was running to Chloe or away from Nero.

Definitely to Chloe
.
Elle thought a second more.
Yep, Chloe!

She reached Chloe’s classroom,
anxious to get out of there. “You ready?”

“Yeah, you okay?” Chloe looked concerned.

“Uh, yes, why wouldn’t I be? Okay, let’s go!” Elle almost grabbed Chloe’s hand, stopping herself before she made contact. Chloe brought her hand up to her chest and looked down to the floor.

“I’m sorry
, Chlo-”

“It
’s okay. Let’s go.” Chloe walked past Elle and started heading for the doors.

Elle watched Chloe walk right past her
.
Shit.

Every now and again
, Elle would forget about Chloe’s past and problems, right until she was about an inch away from touching her, and then the memories would all come back. Elle knew they not only showed up for Elle, but for Chloe, as well.

They reached the parking lot and Elle thought she had
déjà vu.
Times two, apparently.

The two bimbos were leaning against Nero’s car
. A sick feeling grew in Elle’s stomach while she walked as fast as she could to Chloe’s car, passing Chloe and reaching her car first. She rested her hand on the door handle, desperate to get in the car.

She looked up
, only seeing Nero’s back as he talked to the girls. The girls’ faces she could see, however, and she really wished she couldn’t.

When
Chloe unlocked the doors, Elle threw herself in, keeping her face straight forward. There was no way she was turning her head. Elle’s sick feeling started to move up ever so slightly from her stomach.

Chloe turned the car on and started to back up
. She turned the wheel and headed out of the parking lot, forcing Elle to look at something she didn’t want to see—a pair of legs in high heels entering Nero’s Cadillac. Elle knew by the shoes the one going home with Nero tonight was Bimbo Number One.

Elle touched her
chest; the feeling had found its mark.

Chapter
Six

Protect the Family

Elle
had to regretfully go to work that night. If she wanted to stay and protect Chloe, she had to keep working. She figured if she quit working the night of the murder, well, then she might as well call the boss herself and tell him she had witnessed the whole ordeal.

All night,
Elle viewed the diner and carefully looked at everyone’s faces. She needed to be sure one of the three men weren’t in the diner waiting for her. Subsequently, every time someone walked in, she looked at their faces. She did it over and over and over.

She took the coffee pot over to one of her tables to fill up
the cups of the two men there. Elle had seen them before many times in the diner.

As she was filling up the blond one
’s cup, he asked, “Did you hear about the someone getting shot behind the diner last night?”

This actually wasn’t the first time she had been asked
; it was like the fiftieth time. Apparently, it was a thing for you to go to a place where a possible murder had taken place. Everyone wanted to know what had happened. It reminded Elle of high school.
I don’t think I’ll ever get away from it.

Ell
e kept to the same story she had told everyone, including the cops. They, of course, had asked her a few questions since she’d closed the diner the night before.

“Yes, I found out when I got into work today.”

She saw the man take a sip from his coffee as she went to fill up the other man’s cup.

The brown
-haired one asked her, “I hope you weren’t here last night while it happened?” His face showed he was asking a question, not that he was concerned. Elle started to get small chills on her arms, but she made sure to stay cool.

“I was working last night
, actually. I closed the diner for the night. The cops told me I must have just missed the whole thing.” Elle made sure she said cops.
Now they know I didn’t open my mouth.

The two men looked at each other for a split second
, confirming what Elle had feared.
They work for the boss.

He smiled
. “You are one lucky girl. That would have been horrible to see something like that at your age.”

The luckiest.
Elle smiled back. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I would have lost my marbles seeing something like that. Do you need anything else?”

The o
nly reason Elle could keep calm was because they had no idea she had witnessed the whole thing.
Clearly, they don’t have a problem with killing
;
otherwise, I would have been dead already.

“No
, thanks.” They both stood up before one of them threw a couple of bills down on the table. “You be careful out there.”

Elle smiled and nodded
then watched them walk out the door, letting her finally breathe again.
Thank God.

Elle believed she was in the clear
.
For now, anyway.

*
* *

He could hear the sound of his phone buzzing on his wooden desk
. He picked it up without having to look at the caller ID.

“
She’s smart. Came into work like nothing happened, claiming she must have missed the whole thing. Cops spoke to her already. She made it seem like they got nothing from her.”

“Yeah, Sal called about an hour ago. She played dumb to the cops. You’re my
consigliere, Vinny; what do you think?” He took a cigar out of his box then snapped the lid closed.

“I’m advising you to figure this shit out on your own
. It will be good for you. Just keep me updated.”

“Ok
ay, I’ve got it handled for now.” With that, he ended the call and lit his cigar. His consigliere was right; she was fucking smart. He knew she wasn’t opening her mouth in the near future. The only thing he didn’t know was if she had actually seen him and his crew do it or just heard what had occurred. That, he needed to find out. She might not be saying shit now, but you never knew if a person would down the road. Besides, if his enemies found out he had left a witness alive, it could bring down his whole operation, everything he had done to be the one calling the shots.

Elle
had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
That I know all too well.

He pushed the bad memory back
. He couldn’t feel sorry for the girl. His son had been there, as well as Sal; he had to protect them both. He had made an oath long ago to protect the family
.

He leaned back in his expensive
, leather chair, taking a hit of his cigar. Exhaling, he watched the smoke fill the room.

It was time to check in
and see if any progress had been made.

*
* *

Nero
lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling. Something had been bothering him ever since Elle had run out on him in art class. No girl had ever run away from him, and they sure as hell wouldn’t after what he had pulled on her in the closet.
Any other girl would have begged me to fuck them right there.

Playing with Elle had built tension inside of him
. He needed to get it out, and when Stephanie and Stacy had been waiting for him at his car, he had known exactly how. He had chosen Stacy because she had been exactly what he needed; nothing was off-limits with her. At least, that had been what he’d thought he needed, but his dick was still hard. For the first time in years, Nero was sexually frustrated.
Fuck, would she hurry?

Nero’s phone rang
. “Yeah?”

“Tell me how it went.”

Nero got out of the bed and opened the door leading to his balcony. Walking out, he shut the doors.

“Well
, she showed up to school. I gotta say, I was kind of shocked she actually did. Should have known, though, she wouldn’t let her friend go to school without her. First class, she was a little out of it. Looked mostly tired but snapped back pretty fast.”

“Did you talk to her?”

“You don’t seem surprised.” Nero must have missed something.

“
I had Vinny and Enzo check in on her at the diner. She had enough balls to go to work, acting like she was already gone before it happened. When the cops asked her about the murder, she pretended it was the first she’d heard of it.”

“So
, I assume this was a test. How did I do…boss?” Nero made sure his father got his meaning.

“Don’t take it personal
ly, son. Answer the question.”

“Yes
, I talked to her. It’s going to take time for her to trust me, though. She doesn’t exactly have reason to trust anyone in school. As you can see, she’s not your typical high school girl.”

“Yeah
, I’m seeing that, especially after years of seeing the girls you and your brother bring home. Why can’t either of you bring a girl like that home?”

“Probably because we’d have to work to
o hard to get in their panties.”

“Well
, you have one month to get into them and find out what she saw. Oh, and I don’t want to see another girl walk through my front doors unless it’s Elle. Mistake number one already. A piece of advice, father to son, she ain’t the cheating type. You’re done fucking around. Consider yourself married off till the job is done.” All Nero could hear after that was a tone saying his dad had said his peace.

Nero squeezed the phone
.
Done fucking around. That’s a joke.

He
opened the door and lay back down on the bed, considering what his dad had said about Elle.
‘She had enough balls to go to work
.’

Elle
had fooled the cops and everyone else besides the family.

Nero smiled
.
Elle, I am going to have fun with you.

Nero heard the bathroom door open right on cue. Stacy came out
, showered and dressed. She headed for the door. “See you tomorrow, Nero.”

“Did I give you permission to leave?” Nero grabbed her hand.

Stacy beamed and jumped on top of him.

No
, he was not quite done with her tonight; he had only grown harder at the thought of Elle. Nero was sure he would fuck Stacy until the thought of Elle disappeared. Little did Nero know, however, it was sleep that would come first.

*
* *

Elle
lay in bed, exhausted. Work had been mentally draining, worrying about who was going to walk through the doors next. Then she had to come home and do homework on top of that.

T
o top it all off, the thought of Nero going home with another girl was really messing with her brain.
Why do I even care about him?

She didn’t understand why guys were attracted to girls like Cassandra
.
Oh, yeah, right.

Elle knew she was nothing like them
. She didn’t have money, didn’t buy fancy clothes, and didn’t throw herself at boys.
I’m just a waitress.

It really bugged Elle
to not be able to shake him from her thoughts because, clearly, he only wanted to get laid and girls meant nothing else to him. Moreover, Elle would never picture herself with a guy like Nero.

Honestly
, Elle had never pictured herself with anyone. She had never liked anyone enough. Elle was definitely a virgin—hell, she had never even been kissed before.
I am definitely not his type, and he isn’t mine.

Elle
had decided long ago, no matter what changed, she wouldn’t be with anyone at Legacy Prep High because not one of them gave a shit about her. All the times she had been bullied, all the laughs and stares—she blamed them as much as the ones causing the actual pain.

Elle spent the night begging for sleep to come and rescue her from her thoughts, but not even sleep
gave her a reprieve from Nero.