“I know you said you supported him, but how do you feel about it?” She was curious. He’d sounded so outraged when she’d accused him of being bisexual.
“He’s my brother,” he said after a minute. “I want him to be happy, and it doesn’t matter to me who he’s with, as long as he’s happy. Right now he’s in a relationship with a girl, but who knows, a couple months from now he might be banging some dude. What do I care, as long as my brother is happy?”
Here was another facet to the manwhore she never suspected might exist buried under that fuck you attitude. He just kept surprising her.
The smile that broke across Lily’s face made him stop breathing. Her entire face lit up like an angel shining her grace upon him.
“So back to Joe,” she said, her smile still in place. “Where did you two meet? Here at the restaurant?”
“No, I met him at Bastian’s,” he continued. “It’s a sex club.”
She didn’t looked shocked at that, which irritated him.
“Joe saw that I needed control in sexual situations, but back then, I wasn’t so good at it. I fumbled a lot. Joe took me under his wing and taught me how to have that control and still make sure the woman came out as satisfied as I was.”
“So, what he and you…” She trailed off and wiggled her eyebrows at him.
“No!” he hissed. “I’m not into men. I already told you that. They don’t do a thing for me.”
“So then what did he do exactly?”
“He and I shared women,” Nikoli told her. “He showed me how to control the situation, how to be the person I am in the bedroom today. He showed me how to be dominant and gain submission. Some of the things we’ve seen at Bastian’s…” He shook his head, disgusted. “Neither Joe or I are into pain. I mean some people are, and that’s fine if that is what they need, but I would never hurt a woman. It gives me no pleasure. It’s why Joe decided to help me. He saw that I was struggling with how to be dominant without hurting someone. We’ve been friends since that first night, but we’ve been like brothers for a long time.”
“Ah, here is my beautiful girl,” Joe’s voice interrupted them. “Now, tell me, what has Nikoli done to cause my girl to cry?”
Lily looked up to see the concern and the anger in Joe’s face. She wondered what was going through his head. He seemed so upset she’d been crying. She and Nikoli had been in together several times over the last few weeks, and Joe had taken to calling her his girl. It always rankled Nikoli, and now she was beginning to see why. They’d shared women before. What did that say about his feelings for her? Did he even have any?
“Nikoli didn’t do anything,” she said. “I was upset about something, and he made it better.”
“A soul as beautiful as yours should never have cause to cry,” Joe told her, smiling. A low growl emanated from Nikoli, which he ignored. “Anyone who would hurt you will answer to me.”
“That’s my job, Joe.” Nikoli’s voice came out low, hard, and cold.
“And did whomever did this answer for it?” Joe turned his attention to Nikoli.
“Yes.”
That one simple word satisfied Joe, and his smile returned. “Bueno. Now, I have a special today, something that isn’t on the menu normally. Would you like to try it?”
“What is it?” Nikoli asked suspiciously, which caused Joe to burst out laughing.
“The last time I convinced him to try something, it burnt his mouth so badly, he drank three gallons of water,” Joe explained when he saw Lily staring at them curiously. “He doesn’t trust me now.”
“So what are you wanting us to try?” she asked, smiling at Nikoli’s disgruntled expression.
“Es estofado de carne.”
“Beef stew?” she asked.
“Well, it’s more complicated than a simple beef stew.” Joe winked. “Think beef stew, but Cuban style.”
“Bring it on.” She laughed. “I’m willing to try it.”
“Excelente.” Joe grinned. “I’ll bring you both a bowl of it.”
Nikoli muttered something Lily didn’t quite catch, but it made her laugh, which earned her a glare. She smiled all the more at his exasperated expression. She was feeling more like herself now. Her muscles had relaxed, and she wasn’t ready to run screaming for the door. Nikoli had kept his word too. He hadn’t attempted to touch her in any way. He never lied to her. Maybe that was part of why she trusted him, part of why she never had a panic attack when he touched her. It was weird, and she didn’t really understand it, but as Adam always said, it was what it was.
“So, Luther said you guys were gonna work on the Mach 1 this week. Your race is coming up soon, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s about a month away. It doesn’t need much work, but we want to modify the engine just a little more than it is.”
“Do you want some help?”
Nikoli’s eyes snapped up and he saw her smiling at him. Was she serious?
“You really want to get all dirty and greasy?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’m more comfortable under the hood of a car than anywhere else. My dad taught me, and I just kept learning even after he died. Adam has had enough junkers over the years to keep me on my game.”
Nikoli grinned at the image of Lily under the hood of his car, her ass sticking out for him to admire. He started to get ideas about lessons he could teach her involving his car.
“Love to have you help,” he said with a grin that had her narrowing her eyes. Before she could say anything, Joe brought their food. He set it down with a wink. “I also brought a carafe of cold milk just in case it’s too hot for Niki boy there.”
Lily snickered, and Nikoli gave her a menacing look. His mouth was not meant to be scorched so bad all his taste buds were burned off. “Go ahead. Take a bite, dushka.”
“How many times do I need to tell you not to call me that?” she asked, irritated.
He only nodded toward the bowl of soup. It smelled delicious, but he knew better. He could see the chilis floating in it.
She scooped up a bite and shoved it in her mouth. He watched her for the first signs of the hot chilis assaulting her tongue, but she only closed her eyes as a look of intense pleasure came over her. His eyes widened when she took another spoonful into her mouth and said, “Mmmmm…this is delicious, Joe.”
Nikoli frowned and took a bite of the rich stew himself. It was delicious, but no sooner had he swallowed than the fire ripped through his mouth. He glanced at Lily and saw her taking another bite. She hadn’t touched her drink or her milk. He turned a suspicious look on Joe. Had the man added more chilies to his bowl than he had Lily’s?
“Something wrong, Nikoli?” Lily looked up and watched him curiously.
He shook his head, refusing to admit he couldn’t handle the stew when Lily was scooping the shit up like it was ice cream. His brothers would never let him live it down if they found out about this. Damn Joe and his spicy Cuban food.
Once Joe left, Nikoli took a small sip of the cold milk. Lily picked up her glass of cherry Dr. Pepper. Nikoli had asked Joe to stock it for her, and the man had complied readily. Lily ate here a lot, more than even Nikoli did.
“So now, my little prude,” Nikoli said, deciding to rankle her, “where did you learn to dance like that?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. She hated the word prude as much as she did dushka. If she only knew it meant sweetheart. He suppressed a grin.
“Watching music videos,” she told him. “I spent hours in my room growing up, and I danced and sang along to my favorite bands and singers.”
He could just imagine her dancing around in her room with a hairbrush while she belted out whatever song she listened to. It was definitely something she’d do.
“You’re really good.”
She shrugged. “I’m all right. You’re not eating your food.”