Nero (Made Men #1) (29 page)

Chapter Forty-
Four

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Nero sat in the waiting room with his crew and Chloe, waiting to hear from the doctor
.
Not like they’re going to tell us shit. We’re not family
.

The last few months had been pure torture on him. That night
, now months ago, he had talked to his father, yelling at him because he had known his dad had said something to her. In response, he had reminded Nero of what had happened to his mother, asked him if he wanted the same fate for Elle. So, Nero had let her go for good.

At first
, he’d stayed close by her, something in him secretly hoping she’d give in and talk to him and it would make him change his mind. Then, when she’d made it a point of ignoring him, not even looking at him, avoiding his face, he had backed off, giving her the space she needed because he couldn’t take her not being able to even look at him.

Nero had watched her from afar at that point
. She had kept working and adding hours on, despite him paying for her school. He had spent every fucking night the past few months following her to work, watching her from his car and then following her back home to make sure she made it there safely.

The worst part of it all was watching her turn into someone else
. She didn’t look or act the same, and it was all because of him.
I fucked her up
. He knew it was all on him.

Elle wasn’t alone
, though; Nero had changed, too. He couldn’t sleep without seeing her, so it was better not to sleep at all. Nothing tasted good to him besides fucking strawberries, and eating fucking strawberries was painful. Before Elle, he had fucked every girl who looked his way; now, he couldn’t even look at them because it wasn’t the girl he wanted to look at. He had several offers to go to prom, turning them all down. It had gotten so ridiculous that, when a girl came up to him, he just waved them away with his hand.

His balls officially hated his guts
. His dick had been inside so many girls, and then, when his dick had finally gone inside Elle, there was no comparison. He couldn’t even try to fuck someone else.
It wouldn’t have done shit
. Nero had to take a freezing-cold shower, one right after another, to ease the pain in his groin.

Now
, after seeing Elle helpless on the bathroom floor, none of it mattered anymore. He didn’t think Elle was better off without him any longer, and he wasn’t his father—he would protect Elle above anything else from now on.
Not even the family will come before her.
Nero was now going to take what was his, whether she wanted him to or not.

Nero saw Elle’s parents and brother come in
, asking to see her. The nurses told them to remain in the waiting room for the doctor.

He watched them come in
. Her mother had tears flowing from her eyes and so did Josh.

Nero stared at her father as he rolled in.

“What happened?” Elle’s father asked Chloe.

Nero stood
. “We need to talk, alone.”

“I didn’t ask
—”

“Now,” Nero
said coldly, making the waiting room go silent.

He
walked out and down the hall to a quiet part of the hospital, her father following behind.

“What makes you think I want to talk to you? You were the worst thing to ever happen to my daughter
,” Elle’s father spat at him.

Nero flexed his jaw
. “What makes you think I want to fucking talk to a father who doesn’t give a shit enough to see his daughter is getting the shit beat out of her at school?”

“What? She is?”
Concern showed on his face.

Nero stood right above him, looking down at him
. “Maybe if you lay off the pain pills and fucking got over the fact that you can’t walk anymore, you would have seen. But I know, deep down, you knew, and don’t tell me you didn’t.”

Elle’s father looked down
. “No, I—”

“I don’t want to fucking hear it. When they
look her over, I guarantee they’re going to see past injuries, and there’s no telling how many they will find. I suggest you talk to the doctors alone, unless you want her mother finding out.”

He nodded
in understanding. “What are you doing here? If you think you and my daughter are getting back together, you’re mistaken. I know all about the Caruso family; I hear the rumors. I will do whatever it takes to keep her from you. I think we both know you’ve done enough already.”

“I know I fucked up
. That’s the difference between you and me.” Nero squatted down so he could clearly get his message through. “She will go to college here now. She will live with me now. Elle is mine now. You try to keep her from me, I will tell Elle the truth about your little forklift accident rollover. About how you were drunk while operating machinery.” Nero saw the surprise in his face. “Yeah, see, I have friends in this city, and if you don’t care that I’ll tell her the truth, then I’ll have them kill you. That way, I can still look Elle in the face every morning. Are we clear?”

Elle’s father took a minute before he nodded.

Nero rose back up. “Good. Now understand, I know you’re still her father and I’m not going to come between Elle and her family, so you and I might as well start to get along.” Nero held out his hand.

Elle’s father stared at Nero’s hand
before he finally shook it. “Elle better not get hurt again because of you.”

“She won’t
,” Nero said matter-of-factly. He went to walk off before he remembered to add something. “Oh, and Josh, he started to get picked on while on the bus. I handled it, but you better not turn your head the other way again. You do, and I’m sure Elle won’t mind Josh living with us for a while.”

Satisfied
, Nero finally walked off.

*
* *

Beep…Beep…Beep…

Elle heard the annoying noise and wondered what it was along with the sterile, old smell in her nose. She lazily opened her eyes, but only one managed to actually open. She could see a fluorescent, white room and her father in the corner, sleeping in his wheelchair. Elle realized she was in the hospital.

W
hat happened?
Elle couldn’t remember. The last thing she did remember doing was splashing some water on her face.

She felt the soreness of her belly
and the throbbing in her head, along with her clearly-swollen eye. She closed her eyes to try to remember what possibly could have happened.
Sink…?
I was rammed into the sink.

Elle looked back at her father
. “Dad?” Her voice was hoarse.

She watched him quickly wake up
and roll to her bed.

“Elle
, you’re awake. How do you feel?”

“Sore. How long have I been asleep?” Elle didn’t even want to ask what
had happened. She at least knew someone at school had tried to hurt her.
Tried? They did.

“A day.” He took his hand in hers
. “Why didn’t you tell us, Elle?”

Elle tried to smile
. “Tell you what?”

Her father squeezed her hand
. “Elle, I know. You don’t have to pretend. The doctor showed me the scans and x-rays. Luckily, I’m in a wheelchair; otherwise, I think they would have thought I was hitting you all these years. Don’t worry; your mom just thinks you pissed someone off.”

Elle looked away from her father
. “It started right after your accident. I didn’t want to add more to your plate. Then, I’d kept it to myself for so long I didn’t know how to tell you.”

He squeezed her hand tighter
. “I’m sorry I didn’t notice. I should have cared enough to see it.”

Elle looked back at him
. “It’s not your fault. I was a good liar, and I should have told you the truth.”

“No
, Elle, it’s on me.”

Elle smiled at her father
. “I love you.”

“I love you
, too, Elle-bell.” He cleared his throat. “You have someone out there who has been waiting to see you.”

“Chloe
. Is she all right?” Elle hoped Chloe had made it out okay.

“She’s fine
. She’s at school right now. Nero’s here. He hasn’t left since you got here.”

Elle’s eyes drifted
down to the bed. “Oh. Tell him I’m fine, and he can go home.”

“You don’t want to see him?” he asked curiously.

Elle shook her head.

“He’s been out there a long time
, Elle.”

“I didn’t think you liked him very much
.” She watched her father think a moment before he spoke.

“I didn’t
, and I still don’t, but when the hospital asked me if you had insurance, and I told them no, they asked me to fill out some paperwork to figure out a payment method. After I filled it out and took it up to the desk, they told me never mind, that it was already taken care of. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, I don’t know what kind of care they would be giving you right now if it wasn’t for him, and now I know he wants you taken care of.” Her father cleared his throat again. “Now, do you still not want to see him?”

Elle shook her head again, afraid if she talked she would end up crying.

“Okay, I’ll go tell the nurses you woke up.” He gave her hand another squeeze before he rolled off.

Elle slammed her eye shut when her father left the room
. Her switch was now broken and she could feel again.
It still hurts.

Elle didn’t want him to see her like this
, broken
. I don’t want him to be with me just because I’m broken.

Elle thought about the paper Nero
had written, still not knowing how to feel about it.
He still lied to me. His father’s a killer. They’re all killers. And Nero’s in the fucking mafia.

Elle took a deep breath
.
No, stay away from him.

The doctor came in
to examine her, telling her she had a scalp laceration and another concussion, meaning she had gotten a few more stitches to add to her collection. She had taken a kick to the eye, but it would heal; she just got a pretty, black eye to match her stitches. Lastly, she had some stomach bruising, but again, the doctor said it would all heal. She was extremely lucky not to have broken anything or have a serious injury. They told her they would keep her in the ICU for the night to monitor her since she had been unconscious for a little over twenty-four hours, and then she would be moved to a regular room until she was discharged.

Thank
God.

Chapter Forty-
Five

The Boogieman

Elle was sleeping when she felt the bed sink in beside her. She slowly opened her one
good eye and saw the silhouette of a man she had never met before. When her eye adjusted to the now-dim hospital lights, she focused on his face.
Him!

Elle opened her mouth to scream
, but his hand covered it.

“
Shh, I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice was deep and non-emotional.

Elle took a breath and even though her hair stood up
, terrified at looking at his blue-green eyes, she nodded.

He slowly uncovered her mouth
. “I’m Nero’s brother, Lucca. It’s good to meet you, finally.”

Elle swallowed the lump in her throat
. “How did you get in here?” It was the middle of the night, and only authorized friends and family could even come back to see her during visiting hours.

“Really? That hurts my feelings.”

What feelings?
Elle knew it was a dumb question; the guy clearly went wherever he pleased. She doubted it was even a challenge for him.

Sh
e sat up in bed, not liking the feeling of him looking so far down at her. “What do you want?”

Lucca shrugged
. “To talk.”

Elle felt like he was sitting to
o close to her body on the small bed. It was hard to be almost at eye-level with him; however, she didn’t want to show him how scared she actually was of him. Besides, there was something she had needed to talk to him about, as well.

“You don’t strike me as the talking type.”

It was somehow possible for his eyes to turn even more deadly. “I am when it concerns my brother. Did you know he’s been sitting out there the entire time?”

Elle blinked her eyes a couple of times
. “He’s still out there? I told my father to tell him I was fine and to go.”

Lucca put his arm on the other side of her hip and leaned
toward her, making Elle lean back from his cold face. “So, you knew he’s been sitting out there, waiting for your fucking permission?”

Elle was scared shitless
; she had to admit it, being inches from his face. She swallowed again and nodded her head.

“Did you know he spent a whole damn month tracking down every person who laid a finger on you
? The day before your birthday, he was finally able to take a baseball bat to Sebastian, and then I bet he finally allowed himself to fuck you. He wanted to deserve you. Did you ever think about how you got here? He found you fucking lying on the bathroom floor, and by looking at you right now, I don’t even want to know the last image of you he had in his head.” Lucca leaned in an inch closer. “So, I think the least you could fucking do is let him see you.”

I didn’t know
. Elle shook her head no
.
“For three and a half years, I was hit around. He didn’t save me. For three and a half years, seeing me every day, he didn’t want me. The only reason he talked to me was because your father murdered someone, and he sicced him on me. I had been going crazy, wondering when someone would come and kill me, and Nero was right there the entire time, deciding whether I lived or died. So, fucking excuse me if I don’t want to see him.” Elle held onto his eyes, no matter how hard it was.

Lucca’s mouth turned into a smile
. “I knew I liked you.” Lucca backed away from her but didn’t remove his hand. “You weren’t going to ever die in the first place. I wasn’t going to let my father touch you, and deep down, he wasn’t ever going to touch you anyway.”

You?
“What?”

“The moment I saw you
, I knew he would fall in love with you. Do you know why?”

Elle slowly shook her head.

“You remind him of our mother. You remind us all of her. You have her blonde hair, except yours has some pink in it. You have the big, curious eyes. You’re smart, and most of all, you’re strong. Our mother could handle the fact that she was married to the mafia, not to mention the head of the family. It takes a lot of fucking guts to deal with a made man, and you can handle it, no matter how high up the ladder Nero goes.”

“It doesn’t mat
—”

Lucca shut her up with one look
. “Nero took her death the hardest. He blamed himself—still blames himself. It was as if he fucking shot her himself. Then you come along and it happens all over again. He blames himself for every person who ever hurt you. He blames himself right now that you’re here in the hospital. And ever since you walked out on him, he acts like he fucking killed you. Do you want Nero to take on something like that all over again? If you don’t get over the fact that Nero didn’t know how to tell you the guy you witnessed being killed was murdered by his fucking family, then you leave him just like Mom did.”

Elle
turned away from Lucca, not able to look at him anymore. What he had told her made her feel incredibly small.

Lucca grabbed her chin to make her look at him
again. “Nero better see you by tomorrow night. Don’t make me fucking come to you in the middle of the night again. Do you understand?”

Elle gently nodded
. “Yes.”

Lucca dropped his hand from her chin
. “Good.”

Elle knew he was about to leave
, so she quickly spoke the words before the sane part of her thought against it. “Chloe told me she talked to you.”

She swore she saw a hint of emotion when she
’d said her name. Not even when he’d spoken of Nero or his mother had he shown an ounce of emotion, regardless that he had come here for Nero.

“So?”

She could hear the slight change in his voice, as well.
I don’t think so.

“So
, stay away from her.” Elle could fight anyone off for Chloe, even the boogieman in her fucking bed right now.

Lucca leaned back
toward Elle, again right in her face. “Do you know who you’re talking to right now, darlin’? I have killed men and women after torturing them for hours. I am the underboss of the Caruso family, and one day, I will own this city.”

Elle kept her hold
, no matter how bad her skin crawled. “I-I don’t care who you are. Leave her alone.”
The last thing she needs is a man like him.

Lucca smiled
. “I know you’ve protected her, and that you couldn’t leave her to fend for herself at school. Tell me what really happened to her that made you risk your life every day just so no one would touch her.”

I will never tell.
This time, Elle moved her face closer to his. “If you hurt her,
I
will kill
you
.”

Lucca quickly grabbed her face and rubbed her jaw
. “You’re lucky I owe you.” He dropped his hand just as quickly and stood. “Remember, darlin’, you have till tomorrow night.”

Elle watched him disappear into the shadows before her eyes
—well, eye. His ice-cold voice ran through her head, ‘
I owe you.’
Elle’s body shivered; as a result, she lay back down and pulled the cover up to her head.
For what?

*
* *

The next day
, Elle had a full day. They had moved her out of ICU to a room on the fourth floor where it was much quieter, and the room was a thousand times bigger. They’d said she was looking good. She was eating well, walking well, talking well, and going to the bathroom on her own. She was still sore, but that was to be expected. The doctors told her they wanted her to stay one more night, and then she would be free to go.

Now that she was out of ICU
, everyone could finally visit her freely. She had immediately told her father to tell Nero she still didn’t want to see him, and to her surprise, he’d respected her wishes.

Everyone had come to visit her
; Chloe, Amo, Vincent, Leo, and even Maria along with her own family. She officially had a stockpile of flowers and cards, and in return, Elle had apologized to the ones she hadn’t talked to in months for disowning them because of Nero.
Even though they helped conceal the truth.

When it had started to get dark
, she told her family to go on home and she just wanted some rest like the night before. Elle couldn’t rest, though; she simply sat in bed, staring at the blank TV screen.

Elle heard a quick knock on the door and the nurse came in.

“Just making my rounds for the night before I head out. How are you doing?” She walked over to check the readings on the machines.

Elle gave her a
half-smile. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“Al
l right, honey. Is there anything I can get you?”

Elle looked out her window
, seeing the just-now-darkened sky. She took a deep breath. “Is he still out there?”

The nurse smiled at her
. “You mean the one who’s been out there all day, real handsome?” She patted her hand. “He is.”

Elle swallowed
, her throat suddenly dry. “Can you tell him…?” She trailed off.

The nurse gave a squeeze to her hand
. “I’ll get him for you.”

Elle continued to stare out the window as
the minutes passed. She could barely hear the door open and the footsteps coming to her bed.

“Elle
, will you look at me?”

She couldn’t remember the last time she
had heard his voice, the last time he had spoken her name. His voice still sang to her and stilled her soul, even after all that time.

Elle slowly turned her head so he could look at her
. She heard his soft gasp then his small, contained growl. Then she did something she had trained herself not to do. For the first time in months, Elle gradually lifted her eyes to look at him. Even though she could only see well out of one eye, she noticed Nero’s changes.

His hair was long, his face scruffy,
and dark circles under his eyes conveyed there was no telling the last time he had slept. She had never seen Nero any less than immaculate, yet right now, he looked as if he was wearing the same clothes he had worn when she had gotten here.

Elle suddenly didn’t feel good after seeing what Nero looked like
.
I did that to him.
She now understood why Lucca had come to see her.

She watched Nero sit on the edge of her bed and she scooted over
, afraid to touch him.

Nero sighed
. “Elle, I’m—”

Elle quickly stopped him
, speaking over top of him. “Why don’t you go home and get some rest? I’m being discharged in the morning. We can talk after we’ve both been home and had the chance to clean up.”

Nero shook his head
. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Mr. Evans let me read your essay
,” Elle whispered abruptly.

Nero didn’t respond.

“Please, go home and get some rest, then I promise we’ll talk.” Elle looked into his pain-filled eyes. “For me, Nero.”

Nero pushed back his long hair only for it to go back where it
had been. “Okay.” Nero stood back up and looked at her damage. “Do you know who did it?” His voice had gone deadly.

Lie
. “No, I don’t remember anything.”

Nero flexed his jaw
. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” she quietly said as he walked out of the room.

Elle laid her head back on the bed, thankful she didn’t have to look at Nero any longer. She hated herself right now for how he looked. It was too painful for her to see the toll she had put on him. Elle knew she didn’t look so hot right now, but that was different. She could always deal with seeing herself hurt, but seeing someone else hurt and knowing she’d caused it was too much for her. Especially someone she…

Elle shook her head, realizing she had lied to him
, even after she had gotten mad at Nero for all his lies. The truth was, she had remembered what happened, but Elle didn’t want Nero to know, too afraid he’d kill her.

It was Cassandra.