Page 65 of Vendetta

I clenched my fists inside my sleeves to keep them from shaking. “I don’t believe you.”

“Fine. Don’t believe me, but you can ask Oliver or Cruz. We weren’t involved in that shit show. That was my father’s mistake. What he does or does not do has no bearing on what I do. It was a tragedy, but it doesn’t excuse what your father has done in retaliation. And now you’re expected to pay for it. For what it’s worth, I am sorry about your brother and your family, though. Wrong place, wrong time.”

I wanted to scream, or run, or stab him in the eye, but I didn’t have a knife, and the gun on the table would take too long to load. An unfortunate oversight I’d remedy as soon as I was able.

Nico finally looked at me. “Listen, firecracker. Your father tortured and killed my mother. He left her brutalized and bloody, lying on the front step of my father’s house with a dead fetus ripped from her body.” He cleared his throat. “You’re just a pawn in a much larger game that you know nothing about.”

My stomach turned, but I scoffed to cover the reaction. “That’s ridiculous. If that’s even true, why would my father do such a reckless thing? How would he get into your father’s compound? I’m certain it’s at least as well-fortified as ours. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” I paused, realizing what he’d just said. “Also, I’m sorry for your loss.”

Was I sorry? I didn’t know anymore. It would be heart-wrenching to have a family member killed, I knew that well enough. I wanted to hate him, but it was harder with every passing minute.

Empathy? Never met her.

I had to change the subject before he drew me any further into his web of lies. “What do you need that for, anyway?” I motioned to the revolver he’d turned his attention to. “Wouldn’t an automatic be better for… things?” I asked as he ran a brush through the barrel.

“Don’t you already know that, little killer? I figured the daughter of Rafael Reyes would know all about getting away with murder.”

I squirmed under his watchful gaze. “You’d know more about murder than I would.”

He shrugged his broad shoulders, and a half-smirk pulled at the corner of his lips. “Maybe so.” He paused, stroking the barrel of the gun in the most suggestive way. “When you’re limited on time and don’t have a cleanup crew handy, revolvers don’t leave as much evidence as an automatic would. The casings stay in the cylinder, but it’s better to have both for… things.” He mirrored my words back at me, his smile growing.

“Right, because you’re a fucking criminal.”

“Are we just stating the obvious now, bella?” That sexy fucking grin and the rolling growl of his voice had butterflies rioting in my stomach.

“Don’t call me that,” I seethed, recalling the night at his club when he first used it, and the things he did to my body. It made me just as mad at my own reaction as I was at his words.

He had no right looking that hot and smelling that good when his family was responsible for my ruin.

“What? Bella? Would you prefer Lena, then?”

Conflicting emotions clashed inside me. A pit opened up in my stomach while heat bloomed across my cheeks, remembering the nickname I’d given Nico before I’d known who he was. The one no one but my brother had ever used. It still filled my heart with warmth, even from the lips of a monster, but it reminded me of why I was here and what I was trying to do.

There must be a way out.

“You said no one was around to see me if I wanted to swim. Who cooks and cleans up after you guys?” I could try hiding in the trunk of a car if there was staff.

His brows pulled together in a grimace. “Do I look like a child to you?” He ran the oiled cloth down the thick barrel of the revolver. “We take care of ourselves. Ollie likes to cook, so he usually does that, and we’ll do the dishes and wash up. We don’t come here that often, but we keep it clean when we do. There’s a family that takes care of the barn and the property during the off-season. Like right now, Ollie and Cruz are down there helping with the hay delivery.”

My ears perked up. I could sneak onto the hay truck when it left.

As if reading my thoughts, Nico’s green eyes narrowed. “The truck is long gone, Rosa. You need to stop looking for ways to run from us. We’ll find you, just like last time, and then I’ll have to punish you again.”

My eyes closed for an extended blink as flashes of exactly what happened when I ran tumbled through my mind. I sank back into the comfortable deck chair and wrapped my arms more tightly around myself. “That wasn’t what I was thinking about.”

“Wasn’t it? What were you thinking about then, little omega?” His hands hadn’t stopped moving in slow strokes over the slick silver gun barrel.

Well, I had been thinking about running, but now I was thinking about him catching me in the middle of that field and ripping my dress apart to get at me. My cheeks glowed with warmth, and I pressed my thighs together. My brain stuttered to a halt when no easy lie came to mind. I could barely remember what we were talking about.

His scent swirled around me in the evening breeze. I was so fucked.

Nico breathed in, his bare, tattooed chest expanding. His eyes fell on me like a predator. “Come here.”

I could fight it, but I’d end up exactly where he wanted me, anyway. I stood, worrying my lower lip between my teeth. Should I run? He’d just catch me like last time. Did I want that?

He took the decision away when his arm looped around my waist and pulled me onto his lap, my back pressed against his chest.

His lips skated along the column of my throat. “You shouldn’t lie to me, little one.”