A/N: Anybody reading? If so, please let me know via review! If not, I'll keep posting this for my own enjoyment. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own ND!

6

Well, since I had no earthly idea what I was going to say to Nico, I worked on making my expression all calm-like instead. Once I had blinked all emotion out of my eyes I said, looking directly into Nico's bright green eyes, "Elizabeth. I mean, that's my middle name, but I go by it."

Nico laughed. "Well, that's better than Punchy."

"Are you joking?" I said, "Did you actually think my name was Punchy? I was at that dance club thing and that's what the director told me my name should be. He told me Nan – er, Elizabeth was too forgettable."

Nico snorted, shaking his head as he doled out more cards. "I don't think it's very forgettable."

I blushed deeply, suddenly glad that the lights in the Casa dei Giochi were dim. I felt the need to compliment him back, even though I was probably going to dial up Sophia later and, so to speak, set the hounds on him. "Well, I overheard you saying something about plastic surgery earlier to Tazza…"

He glanced up, eyes clouding over. "Yeah?" he prompted.

"I don't think you should change your face," I blurted.

Nico cocked his head. "Why ever not?"

"It's, um, good the way it is." Jeez, couldn't this guy take a compliment without squeezing every last drop of it out of me?

He actually smiled, a full-length Crest Whitestrip smile, meaning that dimples appeared. They made him look younger and more vulnerable, in a way. "Thanks. Now, since you took the seven of coins, you gain an extra point, leaving you the winner and me the loser." He stacked the cards up. "When did you get so good at Scopa?"

I rolled my eyes. "When I started having to play Tazza every time I wanted to talk to him."

Nico nodded. "Yeah, the same thing happens to me, except I guess I haven't needed to talk to him that much. I actually try to avoid talking to him." He shook his head. "Ugh, I despise the man."

"Isn't he your step-father?"

"Doesn't mean anything," said Nico simply. "I mean, come on, we didn't even want to share a last name so I made one up."

"Petit?" I said, "You went with Petit?"

Nico cupped his hand around his ear. "What was that, Punchy LaRue?"

I giggled, then gazed down at the polished dark cherry wood of the table. I suddenly asked, "Hey, did you happen to find an EnV touch-screen cell phone in here yesterday?"

Nico nodded. "Yup." He fished it out of his black pants pocket and stretched his arm across the table. I noticed that he was wearing a navy blue wristwatch. "I didn't look through it or anything, though. I figured it was yours." I took it from his open palm.

"Thanks a ton," I gushed, "you have no idea how bad it would have been if -" I stopped myself. I was speaking with one of the many criminals that lingered here – I should not start telling him about why it would be bad if Tazza got a hold of it.

"If what?"

"Guh…nothing." I glanced at my phone and scrolled through it, trying to see if anything about it had changed. I checked my contacts list and saw a new name. "Um…why did you put your cell phone number in…?"

Nico shrugged. "'Cuz I could. What's yours?"

I waited expectantly for him to pull his own cellie out of his pocket. He did so and waited with his thumbs poised over the keypad. I couldn't very well lie about it; what if he had seen it while rummaging through my phone? "546-7830-8756."

"Cool," he said, which was kind of weird. I hadn't expected such an Italian guy to use such normal words.

"Hey, I gotta go," I said honestly, standing up. He blinked.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "I'll…uh, see you around I guess."

"Yes," said Nico, "ciao."

With that, I left the Casa dei Giochi. Once outside, however, I didn't stop to call Sophia. I would have felt way too guilty about it later. Sophia could find Nico by herself.