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“Victorio will take you. I’ll be in my office if you need me. Also, if Niko is pissed, I don’t know you’re here and Victorio fucked up by not keeping you home. I’m not involved.”
“Gee thanks, Boss.”
Antonio laughs as he walks away.
I fall in step as Victorio leads me to a stairway and we go downstairs a level. He turns to the right and opens a door. My frown deeps as he leads me through a garage which is huge and has at least fifteen vehicles inside of it. The place is so massive most people’s homes could sit down inside of it. There are four black Cadillac Escalades, three sports cars that range from a BMW to an Alfa Romero. I can see trucks and off roading vehicles too…
I snap my attention back to Vic when he leads me to the main back of the room and stands in from a massive shelf. I don’t understand why we are here. The shelf is full of car cleaning material—sponges, wax, leather cleaner and even glass cleaner.
Before I can question him, Vic reaches up under the light mounted on the shelf and pulls on something. Immediately, the shelf begins to move and slide back and it’s then I realize it’s not a shelf, but a door.
I follow Vic inside and we enter a large corridor with cement floors. As we continue, bright LED lighting overhead comes on. Vic has obviously been here before. He doesn’t even look around as he leads me deeper inside. Finally, the hall opens into what really looks like a dungeon—one used for torture.
Oh God…
Niko is standing in the middle of the room, covered in blood, and staring at a mangled mess of a body that is hanging from the ceiling. My steps stall as fear grips me. “Niko?” I whisper, my throat tight. I watch as his back stiffens, and he spins around to look at me. He’s standing there without a shirt. His body is covered in small spurts of blood. What used to be a white towel is his hand and he scrubs it over his face, before dropping it on the concrete floor.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” he growls.
“Is he dead?” I ask because there’s not a doubt in my mind that the body hanging is Dante. It’s not really recognizable, but there’s no question to me that’s exactly who it is. I think even Vic is shocked at what he sees. “Is he dead?” I repeat, firmer this time, giving Niko all my attention.
“I just finished him off,” Niko says, his voice sounding devoid of any feeling. “I thought it would help the pain inside me, but it hasn’t. Nothing is helping Emilia.”
“Vic? Do something with the body and leave us alone.”
“I’m not sure—”
“Leave, Victorio, Niko growls.
Vic nods.
I take a breath as Vic lets down the chain, slings the bloody mess of a body over his shoulder and walks out. I wince. I’m going to owe Vic a new suit. I sigh, rubbing the tension in my forehead.
“You don’t get to leave me, Emilia,” Niko growls.
“What?” I ask, totally shocked.
“You don’t get to pull away. You should have kept your ass home and then you wouldn’t have seen any of this,” he barks.
“Niko…”
“Don’t you Niko me. You’re married to me and there’s no going back. It’s not going to change. What I do will never change, but it doesn’t have to color what we are to one another. You aren’t leaving me—”
“Will you shut up?” I sigh. “Do I look like I want out of our marriage?”
“Em—”
I walk over to him, shaking my head to stop him from saying whatever he started. I don’t stop until I’m right in front of him. I reach up, sliding my hand against his neck.
“Fuck,”he hisses. “I don’t want you to see me like this. What are you doing here, Em?”
“That’s easy. I couldn’t find my husband. A better question might be, what areyoutrying to do here?”
There are two large black chairs behind us and Niko all but drops into one. He looks more exhausted than I’ve ever seen him and considering I’ve watched him struggle to recover from being in a coma, that’s saying a lot. I still down on his lap, ignoring the blood I can see dotting his pants and chest. It should bother me. This is a side of life of being in the family that I’ve never been exposed to. My father shielded me from the darkness. I don’t know what it says about me that it doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t. It could be because Dante stole from me. He stole my father. He also came very close to taking my husband away. I want all signs of him erased from this world—completely gone.
“I don’t know what I’m doing. It hurts, Em. It hurts so fucking much,” his voice is filled with pain, there’s a rawness to it that makes me quake, causing tears to sting my eyes. He has kept it hidden so well. I knew he was hurting, but I had no idea just how much. I turn into him, shifting so I can straddle him and press my forehead against his. He stiffens, his body going rigid. “I’m going to get you filthy. You need to go,” he says quietly, his pain bleeding through in his words.
“I’m not going anywhere, sweetheart. When I lost my father and thought I was going to lose you, too, something changed inside me. I realized that I had wasted way too much time being afraid. I’m not doing that anymore. I love you, Niko. I trust you and I trust what I feel when I’m with you. You can’t get rid of me. You’re stuck with me.”
