32. Nero
Chapter 32
Nero
I t’s been a week since Cassiel woke up from his coma. There were a lot of questions I needed answered, but I held off as he went through rounds of tests and started rehab.
I’d gotten so used to seeing Cassiel in a vegetative state that I forgot about the permanent scowl he wore. You’d think the asshole would have more appreciation for a second chance at life.
“I hate these fucking machines.” He says through gritted teeth.
“What’d the doctor say?” I ask.
“Same shit. Different day. Checking my heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen levels. I want out of this fucking place.”
I nod and cross my arms in front of me. He plays with the food they brought him. Stirring the bowl in front of him.
“Say what you need to say, Nero. You’ve been fucking standing there with your tail tucked between your legs.” He says, and I let the insult roll off me. Staring him down, I fill him in on club business.
“Hueso doesn’t think you’re able to fulfill your duties. He’s motioned for a temporary re-election.” Cassiel’s eyes stay glued to the spoon he’s filling with soup and pouring back into the bowl.
“And my father? What’s he think?” he chuckles.
“He left it up to vote.” It was the simple answer without getting in the middle of their ongoing feud.
“And what will you be voting for, Nero? For or against me?” he looks away from the bowl, and his unforgiving green eyes find mine. They’re like Ari’s. The bright green embers a gift from their maternal grandmother. However, his lacked the nurturing qualities.
“That depends on what you’re hiding from me. What’s the deal with the fucking Italians?” I ask, causing him to look up. He clenches the spoon and glares at me. “What shit did you get us into Cass?”
“Get out.” He says defensively.
“Tell me!” I roar. My fists clenching tightly at my sides. Anger courses through me like a venomous snake. It was only a matter of time before I struck.
“I’m still your President. Show some fucking respect when you talk to me.” Cassiel sits up quickly, wincing at the pain. No one is indestructible, and he’s finding that out the hard way.
“Stop avoiding the question, Cass. Is this because of her?”
“Fuck you.” He murmurs, closing his eyes and laying his head back. I walk to the foot of the bed and tower over him.
“That fucking cop you had pull Genesis and Ari over. Did you know he fucking assaulted them?”
His eyes shoot back up to mine. I don’t give him time to answer. Who knows where the lies end or begin with him?
“We’ll let the club vote, and the way it looks, my vote will be for what’s best for the club. And right now, that’s not you.” I say, giving him a stern look before turning my back on him.
There was no loyalty left between us. The shit I did in the past to prove my loyalty has caused too much chaos in my life. Innocent people like Ariella have been roped in.
Shutting the door behind me is a metaphor for where our relationship stands. I was prepared to vote against him and dethrone his fucking ego.
The disorder doesn’t leave me when I exit the room. I’m met with yelling and screaming coming from the end of the corridor. Putang ina mo .
As I step closer, I make out the faces. Louie holds Shawny back while Ariella holds back a fuming Genesis.
“I’m fucking pregnant, you dumb bitch.” Shawny yells. Ari’s angry eyes shoot to mine when I get close.
“I doubt that you lying bitch.” Genesis yells back.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I ask. It’s an open question, but my eyes stay on Ariella’s.
“Oh my god, Nero,” Shawny says, rushing to wrap her arms around me. “I was coming to tell Cassiel the good news.”
Ariella’s eyes narrow to her hands around my waist, and pure rage floods them. I rip Shawny off me and push her back.
“I’m pregnant.” She beams, rubbing a hand over her stomach. Louie, Chunks, and Larry all look as confused as I feel. Rubbing at my temple, I look to Larry.
“Get her out of here,” I order.
Genesis moves around Ari and attempts to take another swing, but Chunks effortlessly picks Shawny up and pushes her to the elevator.
“She’s fucking lying,” Genesis screams before walking toward Cassiel’s room. She stops in her tracks and turns back on her heels.
“On second thoughts. Fuck him. Vamos Flaca,” she says to Ari while walking past us to the elevator doors.
Awkward silence mixes with tension as Ari and I stand there. In public, I was her bodyguard, powerless to the desires that wanted to reach out and touch her.
“I’ll catch up to you in a minute,” Ari replies. Genesis digs into a yarn-knitted bag on her shoulder and lights up a cigarette.
“You can’t smoke in here,” Louie says, and she flips him her middle finger before entering the elevator. Ari lets out a nervous laugh.
“Gen doesn’t do rules.” She tells Louie.
“Barbie! How was the coom-play-on-yos.” Louie says, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
“Prospect,” I growl
“Sorry, boss.”
“Some fucking privacy.” I grit out.
Louie’s brows shoot up, and he lifts his hands. The small crowd splits, and Louie and Chunks find their way back to guard Cassiel’s door.
“What are you doing here, Ariella?”
“I’m Ariella to you today?” She says, crossing her arms. “I want to talk to Cassiel.”
“For?”
“I don’t know exactly. I just had a bad day, and I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and triggered by everything happening. I need closure.”
“Closure for what?” I ask.
Until I find out the motives behind Cassiel’s scheming, I don’t want her anywhere near him.
“Never mind. This was a stupid idea.” She starts walking to the elevator.
Grabbing her arm, I turn her back to face me, my eyes searching her defeated ones.
“Tell me, Princess,” I growl. She shakes her head.
“You don’t get to do that, Nero.”
“Do what?”
“Play my savior.”
“I’m not playing your savior.”
“No, but you are playing with my heart, Nero.”
“Ari. I would never.”
“I want you, Nero. I want all of you. Your brokenness, your stubbornness, I want your fucking heart.” The long pink nail on her index finger jabs into my chest.
“Ari. I told you. I can’t offer that to anyone. I don’t know how to.”
“I know. That’s why I need to stop offering you pieces of mine.”
She disappears into the elevator, but her touch lingers over my heart. Pride washes over me at her ability to stand up for herself, but then an uglier emotion surfaces—one I’m too familiar with. Abandonment.