Page 10 of War
“Oh, They will.” Nick referred to his longtime friends, Senator Jay and Sanora Edwards, “you don’t have to worry about that at all.”
“Greetings,” Simone opened the front door to her palatial estate. She smiled a big smile, ensuring all of her teeth – including her new ones – were shown. “Please come in.”
Eli stepped inside with his oldest brother, Nick, hot on his tail. The men stood in the foyer and looked around for a moment. The last time Eli was at Simone’s home, she was in the process of redecorating. Hardwood floors, open ceilings, and sky blue painted walls made the home more luxurious than before.
Darren’s money was helping.
Eli shook his head to relieve the nasty thoughts. It wasn’t fair to Simone. Her event planning business was doing very well and she was considered to be one of the prime event planners in the country, often having celebrity and wealthy clients.
On her own, Simone was unstoppable. With Darren, she would be undeniable.
Eli swallowed the rising tension forming in his throat.
Darren was currently in New York practicing so he couldn’t be at Houston with Simone, which was completely fine by Eli. He didn’t want to accidentally punch Darren several times in the face because the blond couldn’t shut the fuck up.
“Daddy! Daddy!” Elena rushed over to Eli and hugged him. She wore a colorful dress with spaghetti straps and jean shorts. “I missed you, Daddy!”
“I miss you, too, Princess.” Eli presented a teddy bear for Elena. “Guess who came with me?”
“Is that for me?” Elena squealed.
“It is!” Eli handed over the bear. “It’s from some special people back in New York – Nate, E.J., and Aubri. They hope to see you again!”
“Me too!” Elena squeezed her teddy tight.
“Elena,” Eli swallowed, “I brought someone over to talk to you. This is my brother, Nicky. He’s going to talk to you for a bit while I meet with your Mommy, okay?”
“Okay!” Elena glanced up at Nick. “Do you like tea?”
“I sure do!” Nick answered.
Elena grabbed Nick’s hand and led him to the outside. “I have it all set up now…”
Eli watched Elena sit in her chair and Nick, with his quarterback frame, managed to sit in one chair before he opted to sit on the grass. Nick had always been wonderful with children, despite how long it took him to become a father. Eli wasn’t surprised; if it wasn’t for Nick and Kieran, Eli wasn’t sure how he, Joey, and Tony would’ve ended up.
“That was a nice thing you did for Elena, mentioning her siblings.” Simone began. Eli was annoyed she interrupted a peaceful moment. “That means a lot to her.”
“Elena isn’t old enough to know she has siblings.” Eli gave a small grin when Elena and Nick toasted with pinkies up. Maybe she was a D’Amato, after all. “As far as she’s concerned, they’re just friends she sees in New York.” Eli turned to his ex. “We need to talk.”
Eli’s tone had a quick bite of ice and Simone inwardly shuddered. “Oh?”
“I don’t appreciate that shit between you and Faye a while back. I don’t care if you two hate each other but the moment it became physical, that’s where I draw the line.” His brown eyes grew increasingly darker with each word. “Not on my watch. That won’t ever happen again or I will quit you both.”
Simone folded her arms and sucked her teeth. Once again she was the devil while Faith was the angel. Faith was so angelic yet she had a retaliation affair. Faith was so angelic yet she kept in contact with Darren for an entire year after they broke up.
Simone wondered if Eli really knew how much his wife was hiding. “Did Faith get the same warning?”
“She sure in the hell did,” Eli nodded. “And I’m repeating it for you so there’s no mistake.”
“Oh what the fuck ever,” Simone rolled her eyes and walked into her kitchen. She stood at the sink and stretched her arms across it. She studied the window outside and focused her attention “Faith just has to get used to me being around, Eliodoro. I don’t necessarily care for this arrangement, neither, but that doesn’t matter now.”
“I will handle my wife,” He replied in a tone that politely told Simone to mind her business, “don’t worry about her. Just focus on Elena, please? Thank you.”
Simone harrumphed and shook her head. “I just knew there was going to be something. She won! She got you, and she got the kids! I don’t ever talk about her or even want to. Why does she care about me and what I’m doing? I swear it’s like the time I spoke to her at the salon when we were dating.”
Eli slowly turned his head toward her. His heartbeat quickened as a small fire lit inside him. “Can you run that by me again?”
“I confronted her at the salon when we dated,” Simone folded her arms and defended her actions, “I asked her when she was going to sign the divorce papers and she was defiant.”
