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“Just spit it out.”
“I know Peppermint is going to do her best to avoid you. Even if you were forced to do what you did, you were there for the worst part of her life.”
“Okay.” I drag the word out.
“Don’t let her.”
“Are you sure about this,bella?” my cousin prods.
“No,” she admits to him. “But she can’t keep hiding from her memories. Nico was just a kid, a victim like the others.” Harlow smiles at me. “And you’re family. You belong here, which means that she will never be able to avoid you completely.”
“Nicholi is family too,” I remind her, even if the words taste like acid on my tongue.
“No,” she snaps. “He’s not. He shares DNA, but DNA doesn’t make you family. Blood doesn’t equate to a get out of jail free card.”
“She’s not going to like this.”
“Oh, I’m aware. Pep is going to fight this with everything in her.” Harlow grins. “But she’s not gonna stand a chance.”
“What makes you think that?” I ask.
“Because you are persistent as hell. No matter what she throws at you, what body part she threatens to chop off, you don’t stop. You keep coming back for more. There are only two things that make a man as relentless as you’ve been. The first is a death wish, and I’m pretty sure you’re not looking for a way out of this crazy train of life.”
“Definitely not a death wish,” I confirm. “What’s the second?”
“Love, Nico. The only other reason a man is as tenacious as you are with a woman is love. You, my soon to be cousin-in-law, are in love with my best friend. And I, for one, am here for it because Peppermint deserves the kind of love a good Ricci man can give her.”
CHAPTER7
Peppermint
“It fuckin’stinks in here.”
I roll toward the wall and pull the blanket over my head. Spooks isn’t the most empathetic person, so Harlow must really be at her wits end with me if she’s sending our Sergeant at Arms in to do her dirty work.
“Go away.”
The blanket is ripped from my body, and I’m dragged by the waistband of my sweats to the edge of the mattress.
“Not happening,” Spooks quips. Her tone is light as if she’s enjoying this. Shit, she probably is. “You’ve been in your room for a week, and judging by the stench, you haven’t showered.”
“No one else seemed to care.”
There’s been a parade of people through my door. Everyone has made an appearance, even some of the escorts.
“Bitch, they cared. They were just too polite to say anything.” Spooks grabs my arm and pulls until I’m forced to stand up. “Shower, now.”
I yank out of her grip, my anger struggling against its tether, begging to be unleashed. “Remember who you’re talking to,” I command.
“When you start acting like you outrank me, I’ll remember that you do.”
Muscle memory kicks in, and I bend to grab my knife, but my hand comes away empty.
Spooks laughs.
“Aw, don’t you hate it when that happens?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch sight of my sheath on my nightstand, but before I can make a move for it, Spooks wraps her hand around my wrist. She hauls me into the bathroom and turns on the shower.
