10. Nico
Nico
10
She’s feisty. I’ll give her that. My little Angel has some fight in her.
Good. She’ll need it to survive in this world.
My fingers tighten around the sides of her neck with just enough pressure to watch her eyes widen with anger, fear, and lust. She squirms against me, fighting to free herself, but she can’t.
It makes my dick hard as stone.
God, she’s stunning.
Her dark gaze warms the longer I stare, her pupils dilating.
“N-Nico,” she chokes, “Let me go!”
Her eyelids slump and her body relaxes when I don’t let go.
“But you’re so pretty with my hand around your neck, Angel.” I tilt her head back to give myself better access to her mouth. “I wonder what our parents would say if they knew this is how you like to get to know your stepbrothers.”
I brush my lips against hers, smiling as I feel her mouth open on instinct.
She wants this. Me. Us. But I won’t give her what she wants.
Not yet.
She sinks her teeth into my lower lip and bites down, only releasing me when I squeeze harder. It hurts, but it only makes me want her more. If she wants to play rough, I am more than ready to do that.
“Don’t start games you aren’t prepared to finish, princess,” I warn her. The coppery taste of blood fills my mouth as I suck on my injured lip.
“You won’t say anything,” she gasps, her voice barely audible.
I laugh, but I don’t want to be cruel. Not entirely. “I won’t… for a price.”
“What do you want?” Her eyelashes flutter, the only movement she can make.
What do I want?
I let her question reverberate between us, choosing to kiss my way down her neck instead of responding. Her skin feels good against my lips. Where do I begin? I want it all. I want everything. Her body. Her heart. Her soul. I want to own her the way I own everything this family name has given me. It’s only right that she belongs to me. The universe agrees or else she wouldn’t have shown up at my door.
“Nico,” she gasps.
I take her skin between my teeth and pull. I love the way my name sounds coming from her mouth.
She groans and her body trembles against mine. Goosebumps pop out on her skin as I touch her. My hold on her neck seems to be the only thing helping keep her upright.
“I hate you,” she mumbles, leaning into me. “Liar,” I whisper, my breath hot against her ear.
She shivers again.
I alternate soft kisses with sharp bites and she fucking melts into me. All that fight, gone from her body in an instant.
At least for now. I grin against her skin.
“If I do this favor for you, princess,” I whisper, “I want something in return.”
“I’m not doing a damn thing for you,” she whispers fiercely.
Approval rumbles in my chest. I love that she fights me. I want to see how far I can push her, but I can already feel my control starting to slip. Reluctantly, I let her go.
It’s too hard to be close to her and think. Or speak. As badly as I want to spend the rest of the day enjoying her body, there is work that needs to be done.
I sigh. She glares at me and I already miss the way our bodies were pressed together.
How can I crave my angel like this so much, already?
There will be time, I remind myself. All the time in the world. But only if I keep my head right.
I don’t get the privilege of being kept away in this castle.
“Angel,” I say. “Be good.”
I’m not allowed to miss work and today – it’s taking me to Millerton. The irony is not lost on me. I’d rather be anywhere other than auditing a classroom on a college campus, while Christina would give anything to attend.
So instead of comforting her, I continue with the plan.
I kiss her forehead and step back, prepared to leave for my bedroom when she grabs my wrist to stop me.
“Wait,” she says. Her voice is soft but strained. She must really not want me to tell anyone.
My immediate reaction to that is anger. How dare she be embarrassed to admit what we are.
But as I look at her wide eyes and trembling lips, I can see it’s more fear than anything.
My poor, sweet girl. When I’m done, no one will doubt us.
“You didn’t tell me what you wanted,” she says.
“I know.” I offer her a tight smile and walk away without looking back.
***
She’s never far from my thoughts as I sit through the audited class, my eyes glued to the professor. According to reports, he’s had a few extracurricular hobbies, including reneging on paying us for the product he’s been told to move. I tap my pen against my closed notebook. I hate being back here. I got my business degree already and Enzo got his certificate in strategy.
It’s more than enough to run an empire. Being assigned to an enforcement beat feels insulting at this point.
The most useful part of my education here was the connections that money can buy. We’re the future – the cohort set to inherit the industry, wealth, and business of our fathers.
By the time class ends, I’m ready to fall asleep. I make eye contact with the professor and leave my calling card on his desk before I’m out the door. I shove my hands into my pockets as I stroll through the ornate corridors that lead into the courtyard. He will get this one warning – pay us and he can escape with his life.
If he doesn’t have it, he’ll quietly disappear like the others who have tried to double-cross us.
The Venitti Family has zero tolerance for that kind of bullshit.
Still, pretending to give a shit about school is a chore, and one better suited for those that work for me.
What good are final scores when the only test that matters is killing a man? I stretch my fingers at the thought. Enzo grew up in the action. He had his first kill ages ago whereas I’ve been kept in the shadows.
Forever waiting for my turn.
I respect the empire that my father has built. He never really attempted to be a good parent or to raise me like a normal child. But after my mother died, he at least tried. I suppose I would have done the same if faced with the same circumstances.
But I’ve never been normal. And he’s not much of a parent.
A breeze blows across the opening of the courtyard and the sun peaks out from behind a cloud.
I spot Enzo across the way, and nod, making my way over to him when I overhear Jimmy Cosa. The dumb-fuck has been in school for years – currently following in his daddy’s footsteps in law school.
I still, holding my breath back to hear better.
“You should’ve seen the way she looked in that dress,” Jimmy tells his little half-circle of losers. “I think even Father John wanted a taste of that before the end of Mass. The new Venitti is the new gold standard for pristine pussy.” They all laugh.
My ears burn. He dares mention my family’s name? Speak such vulgarities about Christina?
Whatever he says next makes everyone laugh, but my anger drowns out the words.
“What the fuck did you say?” I shove him against the stone pillar that separates the grounds from the alcove of the corridor.
I don’t give him a chance to answer.
With his shirt fisted in one hand, I punch him with the other, making a satisfying smack echo around us.
“I said,” he starts, smiling through the blood dripping down his face. He spits to the side. “I can’t wait to find out if your new little stepsister’s pussy is as tight as that dress was—”
His words die off as my fist connects with his jaw once more.
This time, the contact sends the crowd around us into action. I’m vaguely aware that Enzo has run over to help hold back two of Jimmy’s friends as I pummel the bastard. He dodges my punches and I growl in fury.
If this bastard wants to play, let’s fucking go.
“Say her name again and I’ll fucking kill you.” I growl. My vision blurs around the edges.
The only thing I want is to see Jimmy, curled in the fetal position, begging for his life like the worthless piece of shit he is.
Fucking. Coward.
It’s a scramble of fists and shouting around us. Whatever loyalty Jimmy has, it’s not enough that Enzo can’t take them all at once.
Fucking pathetic. What kind of man inspires such little respect that his own friends leave him to die?
I consider dropping next to him to choke the life from his eyes when University Security comes huffing over, brandishing a walkie-talkie and a taser.
“Separate!” Someone shouts.
“Separate, now!” Another voice demands.
The yelling seems to surround us. I kick Jimmy one last time before the rent-a-cops ruin my fun.
“Mr. Venitti! That is quite enough!”
I wipe the sweat from my brow and spit on Jimmy’s body. For now. It’s enough, for now.
“Off campus property, immediately.” The security guard orders.
I roll my eyes, not bothering to look back as I nod my head and walk in that general direction.
I hear Enzo’s heavy footsteps right behind me.
“You alright?” Enzo asks, falling into step beside me.
“Yeah.” I rub my knuckles. “Just a little blood on my hands.” I smile, making a show of wiping off Jimmy’s blood. I wish it were more. He fell too quickly to the ground for me to be pleased. I hate it when they don’t put up much of a fight.
Enzo rolls his eyes. “Was it worth it?”
“He was telling his friends about how he planned to fuck Christina.”
Enzo’s eyes flash molten brown and he nods, decisively, clapping me on the shoulder.
“Fucker needs to die. Worth it.” He grunts, approvingly.
Grinning, Enzo and I make our way to the car. The university will bluster and complain but they won’t do a damn thing. Not to me, at least.
I’m a Venitti and we do whatever we want in this town.