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When she doesn’t answer, Nick continues with, “The only reason your cousin is standing next to you right now is due to me. And the only way she’s going to stay alive beyond the end of the week will also be due to me.”
“I’ll get my cousins to help. Leo will keep her safe from the Sidorovs,” she says but not with the conviction I’m used to hearing in her.
“Leo has enough to handle protecting his wife… His pregnant wife. Without also picking up strays.”
She blinks. “Haley is pregnant?”
“They haven’t told anyone yet, but I have my ways. Besides, how will dear old Uncle Bryant react if he finds out that you’re helping her?” Nick asks, his nefarious smile causing my heart to beat faster as he steps closer to me. “Is now the time for a big Morelli family reunion?”
I don’t like being spoken about as I stand right there. I clench my jaw and pull my shoulders back.
“I got myself into this mess, and I can get myself out of it,” I say. “I don’t want any of the Morellis knowing about this or me. I don’t want their help, and I can handle this.”
Nick stares directly at me. “No, you can’t.”
“He’s right,” Sasha says, her eyes lowering to the ground. “You aren’t safe alone. And I don’t know how my cousins will react if I tell them about you. I don’t know how any of my family will act. I can’t guarantee you safety.” She then looks up at Nick. “Are you telling me that you plan to keep Lyriope safe?”
“Both of you stop talking about me as if I’m not here!” I snap.
“You have my word that Lyriope will be kept safe from the Sidorovs,” Nick says with a slight bow of his head, ignoring my outburst.
“She’ll stay with you?” she asks. “Your house?”
He nods but doesn’t say a word.
Sasha turns to me and takes my hand in hers. “We have to trust him. At least give me some time to feel out my family about what they know or don’t know.”
I try to pull my hand away, but she holds firmly. “This is insane. I’m not going to stay here and let you both decide my future as if I have no say.”
“You lost that say when you borrowed money you couldn’t pay back,” Nick interjects calmly. “You lost that say when you put yourself out there tonight as a Morelli which complicates matters more than you even know.” Nick clears the distance between us and takes hold of my upper arm and glares down at me. “You lost that right when you got me involved tonight. You don’t make the calls from now on. I do.”
Sasha’s eyes dart to his hand on my arm and then she warns, “If you fucking hurt her…” She swallows the last of her words and moves toward the door.
“Don’t tell anyone in your family about me,” I say, moving toward her, but Nick’s hold of my arm doesn’t allow me to get far.
“Harrison will show you out,” Nick tells Sasha. “When we get settled, and a plan is put in place, I’ll have your cousin call you.”
Harrison takes hold of Sasha’s arm, the same way that Nick holds mine, and pulls her out of the room before she can say another word or change her mind.
“I don’t need to be your problem,” I say as I struggle to swallow the forming lump in the back of my throat.
“And yet here you are.”
“I stood here and let you tell Sasha what she needed to hear because I don’t want to be a burden to her, but I’m not going to live with you,” I say as the absurdity of the idea overcomes me.
“Why did you come to Wonderland tonight?” he asks.
I don’t want to lie but I’m not sure I know the exact reason myself. “Curiosity,” is all I can come up with.
“Curious about Wonderland or about me?”
“Both,” I confess. “But…”
“But?”
“You aren’t what I thought you’d be.”
He gives another one of his sinful smiles that sends a chill through me. “And what did you think I’d be like?”
“Not a finger-cutting psychopath.”
He laughs loudly. “That was me being merciful. It was just an appetizer to what I can truly be.”
“I need to go,” I say, though the words don’t come out as forceful as I want.
“Let me tell you what you’re going to do. You will walk out this door beside me with your head held high and a pep in your step and not a care in the world,” Nick says with an evil smile that he’s mastered.
“I won’t,” I say calmly, though how I manage to do so, I have no idea. “You think that the scene between Maxim and me was bad? You have no idea just how quickly I can get all eyes on me beyond that door. You need to let me leave Wonderland. Alone.”
