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Finally catching on to what he was saying, I said, “They’re the allies bound to you by blood through your sister. No matter what happens, you want that alliance and your sister protected.”
“God, it is so nice to talk to a woman who understand how our world works. Your old man did right by you, Aprilia. If someone tells you that you’re worth your weight in gold, they’re fucking lying. You’re worth you weight in gold pressed latinum.”
I rolled my eyes. “I almost forgot you were aStar Trekfan. That brings back memories.”
He smiled fondly at me. “We really like you, Aprilia. If you trust us, we’ll get you through this.” He winked at me. “And who knows, you might end up with a hot biker of your own.”
“Oh, aren’t you hilarious. You always were the one with the sense of humor in your family.”
“We’re all funny in our own way, including Diego. His humor is just a bit darker, that’s all.”
“I’ll take your word for that. Now, what is it you really want me to do?”
“Yeah, this is probably the part you aren’t going to like.”
“If it keeps me from ending up married to Chester, I’m all in.”
He reached inside his pocket and drew out a ring with a diamond almost the size of an ice cube. “I want you to pretend to be my fiancée. That’s the only way Don Diavonte is going to truly believe you’re our girl on the inside.”
I had a thought. “But surely if this is just to stop him marrying me off to his bookkeeper, then would us being engaged not be enough?”
Nicco shook his head. “Maybe, I don’t know how this is all going to pan out. We just want you safely out of the way while we take care of business. Also, it’s part of the deal. When I spoke to Don Diavonte, I knew he would be suspicious if I straight up said you were going in. So I came to tell him we were engaged.”
“You what?”
“Just hear me out Aprilia, I told him we were engaged, the whole thing with Chester wasn’t common knowledge so I had to get in first. Anyway, I said that you’d agreed to try and persuade Sophia to come home, and I wanted his permission to let you go in there.”
I listened incredulously. “And he was fine with that?”
“You could almost see the cogs working,” Nicco imitated the old man’s accent, “She’s gonna be in the viper’s nest? She’s gonna get real close to those bikers, she could be useful.” He laughed, “So that’s when he came up with the idea of you spying for him, while you’re trying to persuade Sophia to leave.”
He held his hand out, and the ring sparkled in the light.
I scooted forward and looked down at the ring. “Is the diamond fake too? It looks so real.”
“That’s the whole point. It’s a lab-created diamond. No one can tell just by looking with the naked eye that it’s not real.”
“Shouldn’t we go with something smaller to make it more believable?”
“No, we have a plan in place where when we walk in, my old man is going to freak out that I gave you a family heirloom without asking. We feel that the family discord will help sell the lie.”
He took the ring and placed it on my ring finger. “You know, if at any point you decide I’m your guy, I’ll pull the real diamond that looks just like this one out of its hiding place.”
I lifted my head to look at him. There was no sign of a lie in his eyes, only a hint of sadness or perhaps loneliness. I slid forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and gave him a quick hug. “I’m not your one, Nicco. But I’m sure she’s out there somewhere waiting for you. Don’t give up on finding her, okay?”
He nodded and glanced away. “Looks like I’ll be old and gray before I find her, but thanks for the sentiment. You’ve always been a good friend and we’re not going to forget that.”
“Our conversation keeps going off course. What is it exactly that you really want me to do at the Dark Slayers clubhouse? You don’t really want me to spy, do you?”
“My brothers and I don’t really need you to do anything except hide out from an old man who likes to play matchmaker and stay safe until we’re in charge. Our don wants intel on the Slayers, but while you’re there it might be good for me and my brothers to know if the Slayers have any intel on Don Diavonte that might be useful to us. I had to come up with an explanation as to why we’re sending you to them. In addition to keeping you safe, Diego told their club president that you are to be a conduit for the flow of information between my family and the Dark Slayers.”
“This seems like a flimsy excuse a smart person would easily see through.”
Nicco countered quickly, “If Storm suspected Diego was lying, he didn’t show it. Don Diavonte is in the middle of a mob war with the Dark Slayers MC and so he probably thinks we can’t be too careful about communication.”
“I know nothing about the situation and am already poking holes in the plan. Like, for example, couldn’t Sophia spy on the Slayers for the don and report back on what’s going on there? She’s already in place and has a closer connection than I do. Surely, Don Diavonte doesn’t expect you to stop talking to your own sister.”
“He sure as hell does. Everyone sees my sister as a betrayer. Even my parents no longer speak to her. My brothers and I were able to slip away for her wedding, but we can’t chance communicating with her often for fear of arousing Don Diavonte’s suspicion.”
