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Oh, thank God. I sag into him out of relief.
Over Enzo’s shoulder, I see Killian shift awkwardly.
I narrow my eyes and step back from them all completely.
“...What’s going on?”
Ava chimes in first. “Isn’t it… kind of obvious?”
I scowl at her. “Whatis obvious?”
Killian claps a hand on Enzo’s shoulder. “Nella, meet my informant.”
I stare. There’s… no way.
What?
“I couldn’t tell you, Nella. I’m sorry,” my brother says. “I didn’t want you involved in this at all.”
“Are you insane?” I smack his arm, hard. All of my pent-up aggression and sadness over the past few weeks is finally starting to come out. “Dad will kill you if he finds out!”
Enzo frowns at me, surprised at the sudden violence, and rubs his arm. “Guess that means he wants both of his children dead, then.”
I smack him again. “This isn’t a joke, Enzo!”
“I know.” He catches my hand. “I know what I’m doing.”
I turn my glare to Killian next. “When the hell did this start?”
Fortunately for him, Enzo beats him to the punch.
“We met each other back when we studied in the UK. We found that we had a lot of things in common, so we became friends. That was before either of us knew what the other’s family did.”
I shake my head. “Then… what? You just came back to Chicago as friends?”
Enzo shrugs. “Basically, yeah. But when we found out who the other really was, we did fight.”
Killian smirks. “I won that one.”
“Don’t think this is an appropriate time for your pissing match,” Ava pipes up again.
Enzo shakes his head and looks back at me. “When we decided to work together, we made sure that it benefited both of us. Killian’s known how much of a tyrant dad is, and I’ve been wanting to get him out of the family for a while now.”
My brother grips my shoulders in a tight hold.
“You’ve been sidelined for too long, Nella. I hated being forced to watch you do things you hated just to try and win dad’s approval. It isn’t fair. Not with dad being the insane tyrannical dictator that he truly is. I’ve seen that side of him, trust me.”
I believe him, because now I had too. Even through my anger at him for being left in the dark for so long, I know that Enzo has only been doing what he thought was best at the time.
I punch him in the shoulder. “That’s for leaving me out.”
I smile when he winces and holds the spot to rub at it. I hold my arms out wide to him, offering the only kind of peace offering I know. Enzo folds me into another tight hug, squeezing me gently before letting me go.
“I’m glad you’re okay.”
“I’m glad you are too.” Enzo side-eyes Killian. “Even though this wasn’t supposed to go down the way that it has.”
Killian smirks.
