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The words hang in the air between us, and his gaze confirms the exact thing I was afraid of.
He fucking knows.
Goddammit!
I drop the ball onto his desk and let out a deep sigh. “What are you going to do about it?”
“About what, exactly?”
He won’t fucking say it. “You know what! Because you know every fucking thing, Nico!”
“I already told you. I have to keep tabs on anything that’s a threat to my family.” He pauses. “And that includes you.”
A disbelieving laugh escapes my mouth. “So you’re just gonna off me, too? Your best fucking friend?”
Nico shrugs. “You know the rules. The priorities. It’s not personal, Max.”
My jaw drops. “I’ve given you everything, you dickhead! I’ve always had your back! Who fucking helped you take out Frank Cappodamo? Did you forget that already, Mr. CEO? And who showed up to that face-off at Luca Cappodamo’s place to have your back? Me! I’ve had a target on my fucking forehead for months because of you!”
“Bullshit!” Nico jumps up from his chair. “You have a target on your forehead because of your own dumbass moves! Don’t blame me for this thing with Mikey and Gianni! You and your father brought that down on yourselves! And on the family!” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Tell me what the fuck I’m supposed to do here, Max. Let you walk? Let your dad off? After you decimated us and put us in this position where we can lose everything?” He paces the floor behind his desk. “My dad almost died because of Tony! Am I supposed to forgive him for that? Am I supposed to look the other way when he went behind our backs and tried to make a deal with the Cappodamo family? Am I expected to overlook all of that because you’ve managed to get Daddy’s approval after saving his traitorous ass?”
How in the fuck does he know so much? It’s as if he’s everywhere and knows and sees everything, all while being invisible. And he makes the final call about who lives and who dies.
It’s like he’s God.
Or the devil…
I take a deep breath. “I didn’t know about any of this until tonight.”
Nico nods and flops back into his chair. “I know that, too.”
“And I came here to tell you—”
“You came here to tell me what you found out about the trafficking ring.” Nico folds his hands and stares at me. “Be honest.”
“Yeah…” I sigh. “There’s no way out of this for me, is there? I’m pretty much fucked. My dad…” I shake my head. “He really messed up. Got himself in a deep fucking hole and there are some evil fucking assholes just waiting to bury him once and for all. I didn’t know about his gambling. I didn’t know why he’d treated me like such a schmuck. All I knew was that I’d never seen him so beaten.” I cover my face with my hands. “I let myself get sucked in because I wanted him to finally look at me like a son he was proud of, not like some fucking cockroach who crawled out from under a rock. And yeah, I hid him away. I didn’t sell him out even though he doesn’t deserve my help after the bullshit he put me through.”
“He’s still your dad though.” Nico mutters.
“He’s still my dad,” I whisper through my hands. “And he’s Shaye’s father.”
Nico’s face twists into a grimace. “None of that matters to me, Max. I have responsibilities.”
“I know you do, and I don’t expect you to spare either of us, but I am asking for time.”
“Time for what? To let you and your dad come up with another way to run my family into the ground?”
“No, time to figure this thing out with the Bonnaros. You need me.”
“I don’t, actually.” His eyes narrow to slits.
I let out a groan. “Okay, fine. You don’t. But you know they’re back because of me. Because of my dad. At least give me the chance to help you exterminate the fuckers and protect our businesses.”
Nico is quiet for a while. I don’t know why he’s going through this whole deliberation process when he already has a plan in place to handle all of this. Hell, even I know what he’s gonna do, because he’s a good guy, too. Why is he bothering with the fucking dramatics?
“I’ll spare you. Both of you, for the time being. Not because you’re my best friend, but because you’re one of my top guys, and I’m giving you a chance to fix this fucking mess before it splashes all over me.” He leans forward. “But your father no longer has my protection, Max. I won’t interfere with whatever the Bonnaros have planned for him. The fact that my dad is still alive is the only reason why there isn’t a bullet between his fucking eyes right now. Understand?”
“Yeah.” I understand. And I also know that as soon as we wrap shit up with the Bonnaros, my dad is a dead man. I don’t know who’ll ultimately pull the trigger, but I know he’ll end up face-down in some ditch in the very near future. Nico isn’t willing to risk this operation for a traitor like my dad. He’ll just deal with it later. Unless I do something first. “Thanks.”
