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I shiver at his use of past tense and look away when his glare shifts to me. I know what he's thinking. I looked just like Angela. Maybe I wouldn't be in this mess if they hadn’t taken such a liking to tormenting my wayward twin.
No. I can't keep blaming her. This is my fault. I let my heart get involved and paid the price. And I'm about to pay again.
I just need to ensure my family doesn't pay any more for my involvement. What Pascal said about punishing them has replayed in my head over and over.
"Why her?" Ace asks, eyeing me again. The way he tips his head reminds me of a puppy.
"Didn't realize she was even still alive," the big guy chuckles. "Maybe that's what they were about to remedy, huh? This isn't a bad place to take care of things."
"Vaffanculo, Percy," Nico growls, and I jump when his fingers graze my wrists. He's untying me. I'm still processing that when the gag is undone, and finally, I can spit out the taste of it.
Nico's hands go to my hips, turning me to face him. Looking up at him like this, battling the urge to step back and the urge to step closer all at the same time, I remind myself not to notice that four years have only made him more handsome. I should pay attention to the blood smeared on his face, not the fact that his opalescent eyes are burning into mine.
Just another paradox. He's the same, but not. He has a new name now—a new reputation I'm about to experience the hard way.
"Well?" I finally manage, glowering with all the force I have left. I'm frightened for my family and on the verge of tears, but that doesn't mean I'll let him see it. "Go ahead. Keep your promise. Kill me."
Chapter 2
Nico
Keep your promise. Kill me.
I did promise her that. I remember that day so clearly that it feels as if the last four years are a blink in comparison. That day swallowed my life whole, and she is the bittersweet aftertaste.
I should uphold my promise. I didn't earn my reputation and my name by debating the way I am now, standing here. It would be a small thing to leave her here for my cleanup men to take care of. I wouldn't need to do anything. Just get in the car and drive.
Sybil peers up at me, dark eyes brimming with tears. But she isn't crying, unlike the last time she witnessed me kill. Four years have gifted her with more backbone and, to my irritation, even more beauty. She stopped me in my tracks then, with her dark hair swept over her shoulder and her body's tantalizing, gentle curves. She was all brightness and strength, impossible to ignore.
I should have ignored her. I paid the price.
No. Johnny did.
Now, there's a delicate undertone of brokenness in Sybil's eyes—along with a dare to try breaking her further, as if she knows she can take it. She expects death, but her disdain for me keeps her chin up. She blows a strand of hair away from her angel face.
"Stay out of my sight. Wander into it again, accident or not, and I promise I will kill you."
I look away from her to escape the memory of my words—of the blood and rain and devastation. Ace and Giovanni are evidently curious about what she's talking about, and both are annoyingly obvious about ogling her. Percy "the Kid," my longtime friend and one of the biggest pains in my ass, is simply smirking. He raises his eyebrows at me but doesn't dare goad me.
Smart of him. Being in Sybil's presence makes me want to break something, including the first person who volunteers. Right now, Ace and Giovanni are candidates if they don't get their fucking gazes off of her.
"Call Danny to take care of the bodies. Tell him to bring the tow for the car."
Giovanni obeys me immediately, pulling out his phone and sauntering back to the car he and Ace arrived in. Ace is young, a cousin of mine who dropped out of school a couple of years ago. He's still a new mafioso, so I sometimes cut him slack. But this time, when he lingers and opens his mouth like he wants to ask again about Sybil, I give him a stern look.
"Keep your eyes to yourself before I scoop them out and keep them myself."
He grunts and follows Giovanni, who peels back onto the road with all the grace of a beheaded chicken. It's a miracle they made it here alive at all. Giovanni might be well-hated by the enemies of our family, but it's his driving that will be the death of him. Percy snorts off to the side, clearly thinking the same thing.
I look down at Sybil and find she's still glaring at me. Again, the sight of her fills me with fury. I've become far more volatile these last four years, but nothing sets me off the way she does now. I force my hands to clench at my sides, so they won't find her hips again.
"Tell me where the Gattos were taking you."
She scoffs. "So that's why you haven't killed me yet? Don't bother with an interrogation. I don't know anything. They just grabbed me and tossed me in the trunk."
"Why?"
"I just told you.I don't know."
