Nicoli: Chapter 20

Two black SUVs crush rock into the gravel as they speed up the driveway behind me. They tailed me from the club in case I got in trouble along the way. I had Maximo on speaker telling me which route to take home, detailing where he had security in place.

I’ve never driven this car so fast. The smell of burnt rubber fills my nose as I help Mira out of the back seat.

“I’m fine, Nicoli,” she whispers as I pick her up and start carrying her inside.

“No, you’re not.”

“You don’t have to carry me. I can walk.”

“I don’t care if you can run a fucking marathon.”

I hear our fleet of bulletproof Hummers pull up outside, tires screeching as they stop short of ramming up the front entrance steps. The moment shit hit the fan at the club, Maximo had the Hummers there in a fucking flash, ditching the limousine and getting everyone out of there.

Maximo comes charging in, his face drawn. “Is she okay?” His worried gaze lands on her. “You okay, Mirabella?”

“I’m okay.”

I don’t stick around to enjoy a precious family reunion with everyone shooting up prayers of thanks. My only concern is this woman I’m carrying, and I need to take care of her.

I rush up the stairs, clutching Mira’s shivering body tight, storming straight to my bedroom, slamming the door closed with my foot and darting to the bathroom. Carefully, I set her down, and I’m finally able to look at her, going over every inch of her to make sure she’s okay. After I picked her up from the sidewalk outside the club, my only concern was getting her the hell away from there.

Her wet hair is stained with blood, splatters sticking to her shoulders, and I have no idea if it’s hers or the fucker I left dead on the sidewalk. Her cheeks are soaked in tears, and she’s shivering, her teeth clattering and waxy skin covered with goosebumps.

“We need to get you out of these wet clothes,” I say and quickly turn on the shower so it can warm up.

She’s sniffing as I ease the dress off her shoulders, careful not to hurt her. My heart drops to my stomach when I see scratch marks around her neck, and it’s like her pain is mine. Her agony is mine. Everything she’s feeling, I’m feeling, too.

I pull off my shoes and yank the fabric of my shirt, buttons flying and bouncing off the tiled floor like little spiders scurrying around our feet, and I guide Mira into the shower. She gasps as the warm water hits her cold skin but makes no move to pull away. I’m right behind her, watching the blood that sticks to her shoulders slowly run down her back in tears of red. The water turns a sickly pink, swirling around our feet and disappearing down the drain.

I place my hand on her back, and she flinches. It fucking breaks me to see her react that way to my touch. I don’t ever want her to be afraid of me or cower from me in any way. I’d rather eat glass like our friend Ruben.

I start to lather soap into her hair, gently massaging her scalp as I get rid of the sticky blood. Soap scented with sandalwood fills the steam that envelops us, and a large part of me relishes knowing she’ll smell like me now—another way of letting the world knows she’s mine.

I let her turn to face me, easing her under the pelting water and gliding my hands all over her body, getting rid of the suds.

Mira closes her eyes as fresh tears run down her face, and I tip her chin upward. “Look at me, Hummingbird.”

Forest green eyes glimmer under the warm light, the whites of her eyes red from crying. What I’m about to ask her is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to ask anyone, but I have to. I can’t take care of her if I don’t know.

“Did he…” The words are like barbed wire slicing up my chest. “Was I too late?”

She shakes her head, pressing her lips tight as more tears fall. “No.”

“Jesus. Thank God.” I pull her close, circling my arms around her naked shoulders and pressing her against me so tight I’m probably hurting her. But I can’t stop myself. I need her closer than close.

When she leans her head against my chest, wrapping her arms around my middle, I suck in a breath. “I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I’m sorry for letting you think I don’t love you. Sorry I pushed you away, that I made you feel less than what you’re worth to me.” Her quiet sobs pierce my heart like a thousand daggers, and I swallow hard. “I’m sorry for what happened with Paula. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I love you back in the shower.” I close my eyes, allowing every emotion to finally pour out of me. “And I’m so fucking sorry I left you alone outside that club, Hummingbird. I shouldn’t have walked away from you. I shouldn’t have ever walked away from you.”

Soft sobs turn into pained whimpers, and all I can do is hold her. There are no words that can right the wrongs I’ve done. There aren’t enough apologies in the world that can justify her ever forgiving me. I won’t dare to ask it of her.

“You killed him,” she murmurs against my chest.

“Baby, I’ll kill a thousand men and tear out their hearts for you.”

“If you didn’t show up when you did…”

“Shh.” I cup the back of her head, pressing her harder against me. “Don’t go there, okay?”

“I felt him, Nicoli. He was seconds away from raping me.”

I grind my teeth, and the flames of hell light up in my gut as I take her face between my palms, forcing her to look at me. “It’ll be a cold day in hell if I ever let another man touch you again, you understand? No one will come near you, not while I’m around.”

A knock on the bathroom door makes me pause. “Nicoli?” Leandra’s voice echoes through the foggy air. “Alexius wants to talk to you.”

“Of course he does.”

“Is she…is she okay?”

“I’m fine,” Mira replies and slips past me as she steps out, grabbing a towel.

“Oh, thank God.” Leandra exhales a sigh of relief and wraps her arms around Mira in an embrace. “Thank God you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.”

Leandra’s still hugging her when she looks up at me, silently conveying that this shit is far from over. “Your brother needs to see you.”

“He can wait.”

“No,” she replies sternly. “Go see your brother. I’ll stay and take care of her.”

I don’t want to leave her. I don’t want to leave her ever again. If I can have my way, she’d be fused to me for eternity. But, unfortunately, that’s not possible, and neither is avoiding Alexius.

I grab a towel and roughly dry my face and hair. Then, without thinking, I pull Mira close and press my lips against her temple, wishing there was a way I could make her see into my heart. Give her a glimpse of what she’s worth to me. “I’ll be back soon,” I promise her before heading out.

I throw on the first pair of sweatpants I can find and pull a t-shirt over my head, slip on some shoes and hastily rush out of the room, down the stairs. Maximo is waiting for me outside the Dark Sovereign chamber, and he looks fucking miserable.

“Everyone here?” I ask, and he nods.

“Good,” I mutter. “Let’s get this over with.”

Maximo steps in front of me and puts his hand on my chest. His jaw is anchored in a clench, and his brows furrow. For a moment, I’m sure he’s about to kick my ass.

“Thank you,” is all he says. It’s all he needs to say. And I know that whatever is about to go down, whatever the repercussions, he has my back because we both care about her. She’s all he has left in this world, and to me, she is the fucking world.

Alexius is pacing like a caged animal when I walk in, the stifling air thick with a smoky haze from Caelian’s cigar.

Isaia is pouring three glasses of bourbon, but when he catches sight of me, he grabs another glass. The room is so tense you can almost hear a pin drop as Alexius turns to face me. “How is she?”

“She’s okay.”

“He didn’t—”

“No. No, he didn’t.” I don’t give him a chance to finish that sentence because I don’t want to hear the goddamn words come out of anyone’s mouth.

I slam back my glass of bourbon in one gulp and let the burning liquid scorch my throat. “How bad is it?”

Alexius scoffs. “It’s bad. Real fucking bad.”

“That’s unfortunate.” Sarcasm is webbed around my words. I don’t give a damn about how bad it is because if I hadn’t gotten to her in time, it would have been far worse.

“The guy you killed was Felix Salvatore.”

“That name means nothing to me.”

“It’s Nunzio’s cousin, Nicoli.”

“That’s funny,” I sneer contemptuously, shaking my head. “You say that as if I’m supposed to care.”

“You killed Nunzio Ferrero’s cousin.”

“I don’t give a shit if it’s the president’s motherfucking grandson.”

Alexius rubs the back of his neck, then places his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “You started a war tonight, Nicoli.”

“That motherfucker started a war the moment he laid a hand on her.”

“I know,” he mutters. “Believe me. I would have done the same if it was my wife.”

“Then why does this feel like I’m standing in front of a goddamn jury right now?”

“You’re not,” Caelian says, snuffing out his cigar in the dollar sign ashtray. “We all would have done the same. I want to crack his skull open so badly that I’d let him come back to life just to do it. And I’m pretty sure Maximo here would do far worse if—” He stands and rounds the table. “But we all know the shit’s already hit the fan. The Ferreros want our business. They want in on our trade, and the perfect way for them to accomplish that is by declaring war against us and garnering support from other families. All they needed was a reason, and now they have it.”

“They don’t have shit.” I ball my hands in fists. “This fucker had his filthy goddamn hands all over her. What was I supposed to do? Ask him nicely not to fucking rape her? And then buy him a motherfucking beer afterward? Jesus.”

“Caelian is right,” Alexius starts as he sits at the table. “They’ve been waiting for a reason to challenge us, and now they have it. They won’t give a shit how justified your actions were. They will not let this go.”

“And what about them killing Maximo and Mira’s parents? We let that go.”

“That was Dad’s decision, not ours. He had his reasons.”

“Bullshit!” I slam my fist into the table with such force it shakes beneath my rage. “What reason could he possibly have had?”

“He was protecting them,” Alexius exclaims. “Dad was protecting Maximo and Mira. He knew starting a war would only endanger their lives even more, and keeping them safe was more important than vengeance. You, of all people, should understand the need to keep loved ones safe, Nicoli.”

“Yeah, well, maybe if he did us all a favor and killed those fuckers, we wouldn’t be in this mess right now.”

“Nothing can be done about that now,” Alexius snaps. “What matters now is how we move forward. We need a plan, and we need to work fast before Nunzio even thinks about challenging our power.”

“That’s easy. We kill them,” I say coldly. “One by one, we slit their fucking throats and make the world a better place without those motherfuckers.”

Alexius’ phone rings, and silence drops in the room like a bomb. He takes his phone out of his pocket and gives Maximo and me a knowing glance before slipping out of the room.

My jaw hits the fucking floor. “Is he serious?” I look at Maximo with disbelief. “Is he seriously taking that call in private?”

“Relax.” Isaia shoves another glass of bourbon in my hands. “Take a goddamn breath, and let’s wait until he returns. Alexius knows what he’s doing.”

“Of course,” I snort. “Just like he knew what he was doing when he agreed to go to that fucking club in the first place. If he had just listened to me, none of this would have happened.”

“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” Caelian growls through gritted teeth, shooting me an icy warning glance. “It is what it is, and it can’t be undone. Now we need to deal with it.” He whips around to face Maximo. “I’m assuming you’ve tightened security around here?”

“You know it.”

“Good. No one sets foot off this estate without a motherfucking army truck. Especially not the women.”

“That’s one thing we can agree on,” I say, gulping down more bourbon. “And what is taking Alexius so fucking long?” I swing around and see my twin brother standing by the door, phone in hand. I lift my brow and spread my arms. “And?”

“That was Nunzio.”

“No shit.”

“He, uh…” He seems confused. “He called to, um…apologize.”

“What?”

“Yeah.” Alexius walks in and drops his phone on the table. “He expressed his deep regret over his cousin’s actions.”

“Oh.” I frown. “Is it weird that I find that confusing? And how does he know what exactly his cousin did?”

“They got it all on security video footage.”

“Okay, well,” I say slowly, “that’s great, then. Crisis averted.”

“There’s one little hiccup.”

I roll my eyes. “I knew it wouldn’t be that fucking easy.”

“No man shall ever lay a hand on or bring harm to the wife of another.” Alexius starts reciting one of the cardinal laws. “Such an act warrants irreversible consequences, including death, without the risk of retaliation from any other members of the organization.”

I clap my hands. “You know your laws well, brother. Congratu-fucking-lations. But I fail to see how that has anything to do with Nunzio’s apology.”

Alexius’ eyes find mine, and my twin telepathy instantly goes apeshit, warning me that whatever comes out of his mouth next will fucking floor me.

“Nunzio thinks Mirabella is your wife.”

I’m frozen to the spot and confused as fuck. “What?”

“Yeah. That’s why he just spent five minutes assuring me that no member of his family will retaliate over Felix’s death.”

“Why would he think…Oh shit,” I mutter, remembering the conversation Nunzio and I had. “He referred to her as my wife earlier at the club, but I didn’t correct him because I was too busy mentally stopping myself from pulling his liver out of his ass.”

“Well, that just proves that you keeping your mouth shut sometimes has its uses.”

“Okay.” Caelian holds up his hand, staring pensively in front of him. “I’d hate to state the obvious here, but Mirabella is, in fact, not his wife.”

“We’re all aware,” Alexius says, deadpan.

“And you didn’t correct him during your phone conversation with him?”

“I did not.”

“So, you just handed him a nuclear fucking weapon because by this time tomorrow, Nunzio will know you lied to him.” He falls back in his chair, throwing his arms in the air. “That’s great. If we weren’t fucked ten minutes ago, we sure as shit are fucked now.”

“No, we’re not,” Alexius says, then turns to face me. “Because Nicoli is going to marry Mirabella. Tonight.”