“What are you doing out of bed?” Tira sounded both pissed off and upset as she jumped from her chair at the table. She headed straight for him then stopped just before she hit touching range. It was a now-unconscious habit of hers that made him want to punch a wall.
“Kind of hard to sleep with you two going at it out here.” He let his mouth curl in a slight smile to let her know he wasn’t pissed. “Besides, I’m not all that tired.”
Duke snorted. “Yeah, that’s why I had to carry you out of the car.”
Nic caught and held Duke’s gaze. “You’ve been carrying my ass a lot lately.”
Duke nodded, knowing what Nic didn’t add. “Then don’t let any more ceilings fall on you. Your mom’ll have my ass in a sling if anything happens to you.”
Nic was about to spout his normal smart-ass response about his time being up soon enough but slammed his mouth shut before he did. The reason he knew he had limited time was standing not three feet away, staring at him with beautiful blue eyes.
He wouldn’t do that to Tira, wouldn’t make her feel any worse than she already did. Hell, he wanted to make her feel good, not rotten.
So he said, “I’ll work on that,” knowing he didn’t mean a word of it. “Now tell me what you two are arguing about.”
He honestly didn’t know because he’d come in at the end where Duke had punished the spatula for something Nic was pretty sure it hadn’t done.
Tira shook her head. “We weren’t fighting. And you nee—”
“Bullshit. Neither of you can lie worth a damn. You know that, right?”
“You should be in bed.” Tira completely ignored him. “You look ready to pass out.”
“Well, I’m not.” His stomach rumbled as the scent of one of Duke’s excellent omelets drifted to his nose. “Actually, I’m hungry. You wouldn’t want me to starve, now, would you?”
He gave her one of his best pathetic looks, the one that always worked on his mom, and damn if her expression didn’t soften.
In his peripheral vision, he saw Duke roll his eyes. The guy never had understood the power of a well-executed pity play.
Turning, Tira waved at the table. “Sit down. Duke, why don’t you give him those eggs? I can make my own—”
“Why don’t you both sit and let me worry about the food.” Duke turned back to the stove to split the omelet he’d made onto two plates, which he then slid onto the table. “You both nee—”
“Stop it.” Tira’s voice cut through the air like a sharp blade. “Just…stop it. I’m not a child, Duke. I know what I need. I’m here to take care of you two idiots to make sure you don’t do anything stupid. But I’m not sure that’s even possible.”
Duke had turned away from the stove to watch her, his brows lifting further with each word.
Nic had to give it to her. Not many people had the balls to stand up to Duke. The guy looked like the kind of muscle hired to protect Mafia bosses. Dark, cold, ruthless. Duke used those looks to keep people at arm’s length.
Tira was the only one who’d never let him get away with it. She’d taken his attitude and thrown it back in his face.
Then again, Duke had only ever wanted her. Yeah, he’d slept with other women. But Duke could probably count that number on one hand. The guy just wasn’t the type to sleep around.
On the other hand, Nic had slept with anything that offered. Which made him a prick.
He’d excused his actions as those of a dying man. He figured since he didn’t have more than thirty years or so to live, and he’d never have the woman he loved, he’d be excused for being a jackass.
Until that ceiling had fallen on him.
And he’d realized that if he didn’t do something soon, he’d die a jackass and never have even one night with the woman he loved. Blessed Goddess, this had to work.
“I don’t think you’re a child.” Duke’s deep voice knocked Nic out of his thoughts. “But I cook better than you do. And I like it. And you need to eat. You look like a breeze would knock you over.”
Nic watched the heat shimmer between them like a mirage. But this was no illusion. Hell, he was getting a hard-on just watching them. Duke had to be sporting wood too, as he and Tira practically went nose to nose.
“Oh, please.” Tira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re being ridiculous. I’m perfectly capable—”
“Actually, I’m being pretty damn reasonable but if you don’t sit down and eat, I’m gonna sit you in a chair and feed you like a child.”
Nic’s brows lifted even higher and he had to fight back a grin as Duke took one step closer to Tira. He towered over her but she didn’t back down. She never backed down from Duke and she gave as good as she got.
She refused to do that with Nic.
She loved the guy. Just as she loved him. Nic had never doubted her affection for either of them and he’d never been jealous. Because it was Duke.
Any other man he’d kill for trying to take her from them.
Duke had never seen how much she cared for him because her guilt and his clouded everything. Made him blind to what was right in front of him. Hell, Tira had given Duke her body, had let him love her and still he refused to see how much she loved him.
Tira’s eyes had narrowed down to slits and Nic didn’t think he could get any harder. If Duke bent her over his knee to spank her, Nic figured he’d come in his pants.
Her right hand lifted, index finger pointed at Duke’s chest. “If you honestly think you could even try that and get away with it, you’re more delusional than I thought.”
“And you are the most stubborn fricking woman I have ever met.” Duke’s voice rose to a level Nic had never heard him take with another woman. “Vaffanculo, Tira. I’m trying to take care of you, not fight with you.”
“And like I said, I’m not a child. I don’t need you t—”
“Fuck that.” Duke’s raised voice shocked the hell out of Nic. “You do need me, but only to fuck, right? But you know what? You’re right about one thing. You’re not a child. We proved that this morning, didn’t we?”
Tira’s startled gaze tripped from Duke to Nic, her mouth opening and closing. She looked like she’d been slapped, a red flush consuming her cheeks, before she let her gaze fall, as if she were guilty.
Damn, he hadn’t thought Duke would take that tactic with her.
“Don’t,” she said, that one word sounding strangled. “Don’t you dare do this now.”
Nic pushed away from the counter and stood, ignoring the twinge in his side. “That’s it, scassacazzo. Knock it off. Now.”
Duke ignored him completely, his gaze glued to Tira’s. “Poor Tira. How awful she can’t have the man she loves. Too bad she has to settle for the asshole she can touch.”
Tira’s face went sheet-white and she actually swayed on her feet.
Fury raced through Nic’s body like adrenaline and he felt his wolf snarl inside his chest. It wanted to rip into Duke’s sneering face, tear him limb from limb and destroy him for daring to hurt Tira like that.
Gods damn him, the bastard didn’t know when to stop. Nic strode around the counter and pushed Duke away from Tira.
“That’s enough. What the fuck, Duke?”
Duke didn’t take his eyes off Tira. “Yeah, that’s what we did this morning. Right, babe? We fucked. So, as a stand-in, how’d I do?”
Nic’s fist connected with Duke’s chin the second after the words left his mouth. Duke’s head snapped back, the sound of the impact like a lightning crack in the silence.
But it was Nic who groaned in pain as his bruised ribs protested the movement.
Tira turned to him with tears in her eyes, her gaze dipping to the hand pressed against his side. She took a deep breath then shook her head as her shoulders straightened. “You shouldn’t be upright. Go back to bed. I’ll bring breakfast in to you.”