Chapter Eight

Devil

Less than twenty-four hours later, Devil stood at the bay window of his formal living room, ready and waiting for the battle to commence.  Behind him, he could hear his Nana humming softly as she tapped her wooden spoon against the arm of the rocking chair she favored when she visited them.  Glancing over his shoulder, his lips twitched as he saw her.  “Is it really necessary for you to carry your weapon everywhere you go, Nana?  I hardly think you’ll need to come to blows to defend Armando’s honor today.”

“You know I like to be prepared for anything, lad,” she replied in a deceptively mild tone, her keen gaze never wavering from the picture window in front of her chair as she waited for their so-called guests.  Yeah, he knew it probably wasn’t the right word to use in relation to Nick’s parents.  As far as he and the rest of their clan was concerned, the ‘guests’ were the enemy, but he knew he had to at least make the effort to be the gracious host.  Molly would kill him otherwise. 

She’d told him so.  

Repeatedly.

Devil watched as his grandmother tightened her wrinkled hand around her preferred weapon of choice and turned her coiffed head toward him, her only biological grandson, and offered a nonthreatening smile.  Her twinkling eyes, however, were anything but benign.  Oh, no.  Those bright orbs promised one hell of a tussle to anyone that would threaten the family she’d built and ruled for the last eighty plus years of her life.  And that included that flamboyant manchild, Mannie, that had been adopted into the clan when he’d married his wife.   “Oh, I know, Nana, but try to remember that Molly considers it poor form to attack guests in her home,” he teasingly reminded the elderly woman.

“That bonnie lass of yours knows that I’d never draw me spoon without provocation,” Nana scoffed, lifting her slim shoulders in a careless shrug as she settled herself more comfortably in her chair.  “The lass also understands that as matriarch of this family of ours, it’s me job to defend the honor of any member of it.  Nick and Armando be members, Willy.   Ye’d do well to keep that in the front of ye mind today,” she ordered, lifting her spoon and waving it menacingly in his direction.

Grimacing at her use of his childhood nickname – the one that only his precious grandmother dared call him – he sighed.  “Aren’t old women supposed to be feeble and frail at your age?” he asked irritably, hissing in a breath as the spoon caught him sharply on his elbow.  “You seem pretty damn spry to me,” he complained, rubbing his offended joint and wondering where the hell his wife was.

“Me body can still pull off a surprise or two when it needs to do it,” Nana returned, leaning forward as a Mercedes Town Car turned onto their street, slowly sliding toward their driveway. 

Snorting as the car kept going, passing their driveway by, Devil watched his beloved grandmother subside back into her chair, her lips pressing together the same way they did when he used to get in trouble for playing in the holy water during mass.  Yep, his Nana was growing more impatient by the second.  Not that he blamed her.  He was more than a little ready to get this little reunion on the road, too.  The sooner these irritating morons arrived, the sooner Nick could prove to Mannie that it wasn’t that he hadn’t loved Mannie enough to introduce him to those bigots he had for parents, but rather that it was he loved his lover too much to inflict them on him.

Shooting a look toward where Nick sat stiffly on the couch on the other side of the room, he wondered if he should offer the poor bastard a drink.  Given the fact that the miserable shmuck would need every single one of his brain cells to navigate a reconciliation with his lover this afternoon, Devil decided to keep the offer of booze to himself.  It was a pity; Nick looked like he was waiting for his execution.  The moment he’d arrived, Armando had fled for the kitchen with Molly, refusing to offer so much as a hello to the man he loved.  By the look on Nick’s face, that behavior had stung.  There was good news, though.  Molly had managed to persuade Armando to stay for lunch and at least listen to what Nick and his parents had to say.  He still wasn’t sure what his lovely wife had used to coerce his executive assistant into staying put, but whatever it was would be a small price to pay if it meant that ultimately they’d have Nick and Mannie reunified into the happy couple they had once been.

Breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the faint steps on the nearby stairs and his wife’s melodic voice wafting toward him, Devil felt his shoulders begin to relax.  His grin was automatic as he watched Molly ease into the room with them, their daughter tucked against her shoulder.

Yeah, it was a fact, his woman had him by the balls – and he didn’t even care.  In the past, Devil had been proud that he’d never allowed any woman to lead him around by his dick.  Right up until he’d fallen in love with his Molly.  That’s when he’d realized that if a man was with the right woman… his woman, he’d allow her to pull his cock any direction in the world that she wanted to go.

And damn if Molly hadn’t been that woman for him.  Then and now.

His smile only widened as Devlynn’s dark head popped up from her mother’s neck as they moved into the room, the alert baby’s attention drawn by the change in scenery.

He was certain that he would never cease to be amazed by the sight of this tiny, perfect little combination of Molly and him.  From the moment she’d made her loud, irritated entrance into this bright, shiny new world and screamed her displeasure, this child had held him in her thrall.  He was unashamed to admit that he was unapologetically hooked on his gorgeous kid.  Her birth had forever changed him and every time he saw her, something deep inside of him warmed.

Not that he’d be sharing that shit with anybody but his wife and his kid.   He did have a reputation as a master asshole to uphold and cultivate.  No, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, he was still the biggest, nastiest badass corporate takeover genius south of the Mason Dixon line.  With a heart of stone and blood like ice, he decimated his competitors with cold skill.  That was his story and he was sticking to it.

His wife, he accepted, knew otherwise.  And if the amused look in her eyes was any indication, his grandmother saw right through his act, too.

Oh, well, he thought confidently, he’d make sure he was on top of his game before his precious Devlynn began to date.  Grunting as his Nana pushed aside the arms he was already holding out to his daughter, he sighed as the elderly woman pushed herself out of her comfortable chair and couldn’t help laughing.  Kathleen Delancy might have most of the world fooled into thinking she was just a harmless, feeble geriatric, but he knew better.  When it came to claiming time with her one and only great granddaughter, Kathleen Delancy had the strength of an NFL linebacker and the cunning of a fox entering the hen house.  In short, grandma got game. 

Reaching automatically for her favorite little person in the world, Nana cooed, “Come to your nanny, wee one.  It’s been a whole three days since I’ve held ye in me arms and they feel empty without me little darlin’ in ‘em.  I think ye papa has been tryin’ to keep ye all to himself, hasn’t he?”

Knowing he’d lost his chance to spend time with his tiniest fan, Devil watched as Molly laughingly handed over their only child to the woman who’d raised him.  He’d simply have to console himself by copping a feel of his wife.  Slipping one arm around Molly’s waist, he pulled her back against his chest as he bent to nuzzle her ear.  Keeping one eye on his Nana and kid, he murmured, “Well, the good news is that at least if she’s holding Devlynn, she won’t be tryin’ to assault our guests with kitchen implements.  Think I should make a grab for the spoon while she’s occupied?”

Turning her head to press a kiss against her husband’s cheek, Molly grinned.  “That depends,” she whispered back, “Do you actually need all of your fingers or not?”

“Good point,” Devil averred, rocking his pelvis against the curve of her ass.  “Well, now that the old one is occupied and our daughter is in capable hands, I say you and me ditch this party and find a quiet corner to get to know one another again,” he suggested huskily, deeply inhaling Molly’s intoxicatingly unique scent.  Vanilla and honeysuckle.  It was a smell that went straight to his dick every damn time. 

“And poor Nick?” Molly asked softly, inclining her head slightly toward where their unhappy friend sat alone, morose and silent, on the sofa.  “What do we do about him?”

“Hell if I know,” Devil grumbled, wondering how much longer Sofia and Gino Santino were gonna keep them all waiting.  “Hopefully, in a couple of hours, we can come off his suicide watch.  Speaking of, where’d you stash Mr. Bitchy McBitterness?  I haven’t heard Armando whine about something in at least a half hour.  Did you give into temptation, gag him, and stuff his ass in the pantry?” he asked, perhaps a bit too hopefully.  The truth was he loved Armando like a brother, but if the guy didn’t find something better to do with his time than ruin Devil’s chances of getting laid soon, he was gonna have to kill him and put them all out of their misery.

“Hush,” Molly chastised him huffily.  “Mannie is just sensitive right now.  You know he’s hurting.”

“Yeah, I know.  So is Nick.  That’s why we’re hosting this little soiree.  To get these two little pricks back on the same page,” Devil said as much to remind himself as he was to remind Molly.

Both Devil and Molly turned as they heard Armando stomp into the room, the custom made bells he’d had attached to his Italian loafers heralding his arrival.  “Speak of the diva and one shall appear… with bells on,” Devil muttered as Mannie made his grand entrance with a loud, mournful sigh. 

“When is this dinner party from Hell going to get underway?  I’ve had waxings that were less painful than this little get together you planned, chica,” Mannie questioned Molly as he walked into the living room, steadfastly ignoring his lover staring at him with lovesick eyes from the sofa.

Stepping out of Devil’s arms, Molly frowned at her best friend.  “Mannie, you promised if I loaned you that Hermes scarf you’ve been lusting after that you’d be on your best behavior and listen with an open mind to what Nick has to say over a nice dinner among friends.  This does not sound like an open mind to me.  That sounds like I might need to get my scarf back,” she accused, propping her hands on her hips as she tapped her foot against the tiled floor. 

“You’re just jealous that I can pull off this look better than you,” Mannie declared dismissively, toying with the silk sapphire scarf tied around his neck like an ascot.  I make this look good.”

“You make everything look good, Tesoro.  So perfect, you could have been sculpted by Michelangelo,” Nick stated tenderly, staring at Armando from his seat before slowly rising to cross the room.  “You never fail to steal my breath.”

“Ha!” Mannie spat, tossing his head back as he crossed his arms over his chest.  Dressed in a casual white linen suit, he looked every inch the GQ Model he’d once been.  “I might have believed those lines before I found out what a lying liar you were, but no more!  Armando is smarter than you have ever given him credit for being!”

“Aw, Christ, Molly,” Devil groaned, frowning at the two men in the center of the room.  “He’s talking about himself in the third person again.  You promised me you talked to him about that.  I clearly remember you offering him a raise with my hard earned money if he would refrain from doing that.  I also recall that he took the money!”

“I really think that’s the least of our worries, Devil,” Molly whispered violently, smoothing her hands nervously up and down the navy pencil skirt she wore.  Taking a half step toward the couple, she said, “Now, boys, let’s keep it civil here.  We’re here today to try to clear the air, remember?”

“And that’s exactly what I’m doing,” Mannie returned snottily.  “Unlike some, I don’t believe in blowing smoke up someone’s ass and telling them just what they want to hear.  Armando tells the truth.  The whole truth!  And nothing but the TRUTH!  Even when it hurts.  Even when it kills.  Armando tells truth,” he concluded, appearing to take smug delight in the pained look blanketing Nick’s face.

“Baby, I have never lied to you….” Nick began to explain, trying to catch Mannie’s hand in his before the ex-model took a step back and shook his head.

“No!  This is biggest lie you have told yet!  Step back, you lying liar before the lightning strikes me by mistake!” Mannie yelled, the sound disturbing the normally calm Devlynn where she laid in Nana’s arms.

“Alright, children,” Nana said, holding her grandbaby closer as she moved to the arguing men.  “That’ll be enough out of both of ye,” she scolded, her Irish accent thickening.  “I’ll beat ye both ta death with me spoon if ye scare this bairn again!”

“And if she doesn’t kill you, I promise you, I will,” Devil growled, his gaze narrowing on the two men now glaring at each other.

“Lo siento, abuela,” Mannie apologized remorsefully, hanging his head as his own Spanish accent grew more pronounced. 

“I’m sorry as well, Mrs. Delancy,” Nick added respectfully.  “I forgot myself for a moment.  I shouldn’t have said anything with a child in the room.”

Rolling his eyes, Devil shook his head at his employee.  “Hey!  Your future groom started it, man,” he consoled Nick, clapping the man on the shoulder.

“Devil!” Molly hissed when Mannie’s eyes bulged.

“Judas!” Mannie hissed at Devil.  “I knew you were on his side!  You are traitor, Devil Delancy.  I wonder if Nicholas will arrange your schedule just the way you like it.  Perhaps Nicholas will make sure that you always have your favorite coffee in the morning.  I bet Nicholas will run interference between you and all those ex-hoes that flutter around you….”

“Excuse me!” Molly yelped, turning sharply to face her husband.  “What ex-hoes?”

Shifting his attention from his irate wife to a hapless Nick, Devil ground his teeth together.  “Do you absolutely have your heart set on this guy, man?  ‘Cause I gotta tell ya, he’s living on borrowed time if another stupid comment like that comes out of his trap,” Devil threatened before focusing on his wife.  “Baby, I promise you’re the only hoe in my life,” he attempted to soothe.

“Somehow I don’t think that remark is going to help you, Dev,” Nick muttered under his breath.

“It won’t,” Molly agreed, before lifting her chin and squaring her shoulders.  “We’ll be discussing your hoes later, Devil Delancy.”

“You are so going to pay for this,” Devil hissed at an unconcerned Armando.

“My boss pays very well.  I can afford it,” Mannie returned, blinking owlishly at their irritated host.

Clearing her throat, Molly interrupted, “For now, I think our company has arrived,” she informed the group, gesturing with one hand at the Cadillac pulling into their driveway outside the house.  “Nana, would you mind taking the baby upstairs to the nursery and staying with her.  I don’t want her little ears to fall off from the things she might hear this afternoon.”

 “What company?” Mannie asked with a suspicious look at Molly.  “You said that Vivian and Sami had other plans,” he continued as Nana passed him on her way up the stairs.

“Mannie, you know how you’re forever telling me that it is so much easier to ask for forgiveness than to beg for permission?” Molly asked as the doorbell pealed in the foyer.

“Si,” Mannie answered slowly.

“Well, I finally understand what you mean, sweetie.”