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Luca scoffed. “I don’t.”
I rolled my eyes.Men.“I said you loved him, not that you wereinlove with him.”
“He’s like a brother to me,” he admitted.
I liked this softer side of Nico’s goon. If I was being honest, I liked most of Nico’s men. They’d been mostly nice now that I wasn’t an escape threat. It wasn’t what I was expecting from a crew of mafia guys.
We lapsed back into silence for a few moments and then this rumble started from beside me. I glanced over and realized the sound was coming from Luca. He sounded like a pissed off wolf.
“He’s like a fucking cockroach.”
I didn’t have time to ask who before Raul Guzman was standing in front of me for the second time tonight. Shock rippled over me and I considered taking off my shoe and ramming the heel through his eye.
Raul shifted just enough to tell me he saw Nico barreling down on us from across the room. Luca closed rank on my side as we faced the cartel leader.
“Nico,” Raul said with a smarmy smile as soon as he’d gotten close enough to hear over the music.
“Guzman,” Nico snarled, coming to stand next to me. His hand on my lower back was comforting.
It took me a minute to realize I was shaking. I was so pissed off my whole body was vibrating with my rage. I clenched my jaw to keep from saying anything. I didn’t trust myself. Starting a fight would be gratifying, but I didn’t want to offend Tristano’s grandmother and have her hunting me down for the slight.
“I just wanted to be sure that I bid farewell to your lovely wife. Maria,” he said to me in acknowledgment before he moved away with a triumphant grin on his face.
The blood drained out of my face and I felt weak. I paid no attention as Luca and Tristano—who’d joined us right as Raul was walking away—held Nico back. They’d shoved him into the wall at our backs when he’d gone to grab Raul. They were speaking to him in low voices, each restraining an arm.
Seeing Nico lose his self-control would’ve been fascinating if I wasn’t so caught up in my own thoughts. Why would Raul do that? He knew I wasn’t Maria. Which meant he’d been trying to get a rise out of Nico. Probably wanted to try and scare me as well. I wasn’t the sort of woman he was used to, though. He hadn’t scared me. His use of Maria’s name had shocked me, but now—more than ever—I wanted to plunge my knife into his chest and cut out his cold, black heart.
Nico’s hands clamped down on my shoulders and he turned me to face him. It hadn’t taken him long to regain control over himself, although he still looked like he wanted to murder someone.
“Let’s go,” he told me coldly. I didn’t take it personally. Shutting down behind a wall of ice seemed to be Nico’s defense mechanism. I exploded with fire and rage, and he was calm and frosty. At least, until something managed to push his buttons. I’d never seen him lose his shit like he did when Raul addressed me. I wondered what it would take to see more of that side of him. There was something intriguing about his unbridled anger, and I wanted to know every part of him.
Chapter 35
Havoc
Irolled over and stared at the clock. It was three a.m. and Nico’s side of the sheets were cold. Groaning, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. Over the last few weeks since the ball we whittled down my hit list. There was nowhere for these guys to hide. Nico found each and every one of them and we dispatched them together. It was like we were avenging angels, only we were anything but heavenly. We tracked them relentlessly and killed them without mercy. They’d shown none for our families.
We started to figure out each other’s rhythms while we fought and I had to admit, working with him brought everything to a new level. He’d held his promise and started bringing me in on his businesses. I’d insisted we accompany his men on some of their jobs, so that I could really see how everything ran from the bottom to the top. Stealing from the cargo ships was exhilarating and challenging. Counterfeiting was mundane, and I wasn’t a fan of their extortion tactics. All in all, working with him was something I started looking forward to. As the days wore on, the little voice from my old conscience faded away.
All that was left was one voice, the one of the woman I’d become. She was happy here with Nico. Happy to be his and to sneak out at night to enact the last revenge of the woman we used to be. Ever since I’d come to live here, and had embraced who I was now, the nightmares stopped. That meant I was able to go back to getting a full eight hours of sleep every night, or as much as Nico would let me get. The man had us either working or fucking. He was a machine. His focus and drive had the benefit of turning me on, so it worked for me.
There were only two places Nico would be this early, the gym or his office. I took a chance and stepped into the room he used to conduct the majority of his business. He was holding the phone to his ear, but glanced up as I walked in.
“That’s right,” he told whoever was on the other line. I lifted a brow when his eyes roved down my body and he crooked a finger at me.
Feeling benevolent, I walked across the room, adding a little extra swing to my hips. As soon as I stood next to him, he pulled me down onto his lap.
“Just make it happen,” he snapped into the phone and hung up. “Why are you awake?” he asked me, trailing a finger down the column of my throat.
“I was lonely,” I pouted.
His grin was sinful. He gripped the back of my neck and pulled me in for a kiss. A knock sounded on the door and we both groaned. “What?” Nico barked.
Luca walked in. I smiled and waved at Paolo who came in behind Nico’s underboss. He grinned and returned the gesture. Nico watched us with a bemused expression on his face.
“Boss, Paolo needs to speak with you.”
“Go ahead,” he waved at the chairs across from the desk. I tried to get off his lap, but his hands went to my hips and held me in place.
