22. Nico
Nico
22
I slam my phone down in a temper.
If it were up to me, Christina would be kept at home. Safe. Not here at the university where anyone and everyone has access to her. I know how that sounds, but I don’t care. I shove my hands in my pockets and glare down the hallway.
It’s been weeks of unnecessary stress. I’m just ready for this all to end.
I glance over at Enzo and Alec. They are here every day, ready to escort Christina to class on time, and sometimes even early.
Our time would be better spent at the range or honestly anywhere other than here but there’s no way I will let anyone but us guard Christina and she is bound and determined to finish out the semester. Stubborn girl.
I take my seat in the back of the room, kicking out my feet and folding my arms so I can rest my chin on top and watch the room. No one here would try anything. They might not say the words out loud, but they all know who we are, and they know better than to pick a fight they have no hope of winning.
That includes Jimmy Cosa.
I watch him with growing interest as his eyes flicker from his friends to me and back again.
The fucker is up to something, I just know it.
He talks loudly, gesturing wildly as if he’s trying to get as much attention as possible.
The bell to start class rings but the substitute teacher isn’t here yet, so the class continues to carry on with their antics.
Jimmy walks over to sit on the edge of his desk, sliding in next to his group of friends.
I can’t quite hear what they’re saying so I lean closer.
Enzo turns to me to say something but I shush him, gesturing to the group gathered in the corner.
“You should’ve seen her,” Jimmy says. “All scared and alone. She just needed a little guidance to come right to me.”
One of his friends responds but I can’t make it out.
“Besides, she’ll leave them soon enough. I have that on good authority.”
He turns and looks over our way and gives me a small smirk before turning back to his friends.
My hands clench into fists. He’s clearly talking about Christina. I should rip his eyes out for looking at her.
“When are you gonna make a move?” One of his friends asks.
Jimmy smiles.
“Easy, my father has tickets to the premier of The Midnight Alchemist. What girl wouldn’t want to walk the red carpet with me? And after that…”
Everything about his smile looks predatory. He licks his lips and I want to smash my fist into his mouth.
The little fucker.
“What?” Enzo asks, as if he senses my unease.
“It’s Jimmy. He’s becoming a fucking problem. And he’s going to ask her out to some movie premiere,” I grit out, glaring daggers at him.
I grind my jaw. I wish I had actual daggers to throw.
His plan is obvious. He recognizes Christina’s vulnerability. He wants to get her alone and then he’s going to try to fuck her.
Sure, he’ll use his pretty words and probably make her feel like it’s her idea. He’ll woo her – something we’ve seen him do to countless girls over the years.
It’s a slow week if there’s not at least one girl crying over Jimmy.
But if he thinks he can take what is ours, even dare to touch her? Fuck that.
He won’t get near her. Not if we have anything to say about it. And even if she wasn’t ours, it’s the principle of the thing.
Men like us have reputations for being bad men. We come by it honestly. We’re certainly not good. But people like Jimmy? They aren’t just bad, they’re predatory. They’re opportunists who seek out the vulnerable for their own sick amusement.
I’m not about that.
“What are we going to do about it?” Enzo asks.
“Wrap my hands around his neck until the light leaves his eyes.”
“Before that, I mean,” Enzo laughs.
I run a hand through my hair and try to think.
Truth is, I don’t know what I’m going to do about it and it’s driving me mad. My first and only instinct is to kill him and bury his body in an unmarked grave and then piss on it.
“Besides, I got a little chemical encouragement to help her along,” Jimmy laughs, showing a small baggie in his pocket.
I recognize the distinctive green bag and I see red.
Not only does he want to touch our girl, but he’s going to use Venitti products to try and drug her?
This ends now.
I can hear him talking, continuing to describe what he might do to Christina if she doesn’t fuck him willingly and it just solidifies my resolve.
My legs are moving, eating up the distance between us. I can hear Enzo and Alec saying something in the background, but I can’t quite make it out.
The only thing I’m dialed into is my rage.
I grab him by the back of the neck and swing. Jimmy drops to the ground with a thud. It’s satisfying to see him down like that, but this prick said he would drug my girl… so he needs a more thorough lesson.
I kick him, enjoying the sickening crunch of his ribs. Shouts from his friends and my classmates are audible all around me but I don’t care.
I grin when he screams in pain.
For someone who talks so much shit, he’s a fucking baby.
A professor walks by, the stack of books she’s carrying in her arms flies to the ground as her hands move to her mouth to cover the scream from her throat.
I’m only vaguely aware of who it is as they pull me off of Jimmy.
“We’re calling the police,” one of them snaps.
I shrug off the hands restraining me and turn on my heel. He’ll live. Bruised and battered, but he’s lucky he’s not dead.
Enzo and I turn and walk through the halls while I ride the wave of my rage. The school security officer gestures for us to wait, but we wave him off.
This town belongs to us and I have no intention of talking to the police today.
We step outside and I light a cigarette. Being kicked out of the building makes it harder to watch over Christina, but we’ll manage.
“Uh-oh, trouble!” Enzo whispers. I look up to see Antonia walking by.
“Nico,” she croons, stopping to look in at us.
Her vapid smile spreads across her face in a way that makes me feel slightly ill.
Has she always been like this? Why does she even bother?
“Ohh, tough guys are in trouble again?” She asks. “Naughty, naughty!”
Enzo snorts and flips her the bird, but I stay silent.
“What, now you’re too good to talk to me?” She persists, stepping over to poke at me.
I think she’s trying to be playful but all it does is piss me off.
“Get the fuck out of here, Antonia,” I say, darkly. “Or are you going to embarrass yourself in public again? I’m surprised Daddy lets you out still after you got so sloppy at the gala.”
Her eyes darken and she glares at me.
I am so goddamn tired of her games. Instead of answering, I stand and loom over her. I won’t hit her, but I am happy to scare the ever-living-piss out of her if I can.
She doesn’t back down. I guess I’m not that surprised. She’s a daughter of our world. Not only does she have an unnecessarily strong sense of self-importance, but she’s accustomed to the blustering of powerful men.
Fine. We can deal with this on her turf: socially.
I give her a grim smile and grab my phone, quickly navigating to the live stream feature on my social media account.
“Antonia, let me make this abundantly clear,” I begin, aiming the phone at my face. “If there was no one left alive on this earth. If you were the very last woman alive and it was either fuck you or die, I’d choose death. I don’t want you – I’ve never wanted you – and your desperate little act is fucking annoying.”
I make sure to switch the camera view so the live stream can see her face. After what she’s done to Christina, this is getting off easy.
Image is everything to Antonia and her family and, once again, I just humiliated her on a grand scale.
Her bottom lip starts to tremble, and she glares at me through furious tears.
It would appear that my arrow struck its mark. Good.
“I’m taken, Antonia, what part of that do you not understand?” I want no question about where my feelings stand. “Go. Away.”
Enzo stands next to me, putting his arm on my forearm in warning. I look at him and nod, turning the camera off.
“You’re disgusting, do you know that?” She hisses. “You’re in love with your sister!”
“No, darling,” I reply, my voice clear and cold, “I’m in love with my future wife. She’s better than you in every single way.”
I don’t enjoy being this close to her, but I need her to understand this point. When she finally breaks eye contact, I nod and turn to Enzo.
“It’s time to go.”
He doesn’t look surprised, only nods. I don’t have time to talk to anyone about my behavior. I brush past her, Enzo following behind.
“Mr. Venitti,” the security officer calls after me. “You need to talk to the police.”
I turn on my heel and raise my middle finger. I’m done with all of this.
We make our way outside to the parking lot.
I spot Alec.
He walks over, and the moment our eyes meet, I know something is terribly wrong. It’s written all over his face. My nerves spike as he walks over with heavy steps.
“Nico,” he says, “we’ve got a problem.” His throat bobs. “You’ve got to come with me, now.”
“What’s wrong? Is it Christina?”
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “She’s fine. Mario’s with her,” he adds, sensing my unease.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, it’s the Copley warehouse,” he says.
I let out the breath I didn’t know I was holding. As long as Christina is okay, I can handle just about anything.
My body relaxes.
“Tell me,” I command, falling into step beside him.
I listen to his words, taking them in but not fully understanding.
“They destroyed two of our warehouses on the waterfront.”
“Which ones?”
He shakes his head, telling me that there’s missing information. “The ones to the west of the industrial park.”
Fuck. These are on the outside of town. Any attack is a message but to hit two of our warehouses on the same night sounds like a declaration of war.
Any thought of staying in school is shot down.
“Double the guard on Christina. I don’t want Jimmy to get within six feet of her, understand?”
I bark at Alec.
He nods and immediately starts texting his backups. I turn to Enzo. We are going to have to trust that the guards will keep Christina safe. Neither one of us likes that, but we don’t have a choice. The family needs us.
“Let’s go,” I order, climbing into our car. We quickly peel out of the parking lot and head to
the warehouses, where Father is already waiting.
“Boys,” Father greets, staring at a tied-up man sitting outside the building.
“Who’s this?” Enzo asks.
“Caught him fleeing the scene,” Giovanni says, spitting on the ground next to the man’s feet.
“Nico – take care of this,” Father orders, gesturing towards the man. Giovanni and Tony both start talking at once while Enzo and Alec move closer.
“Let’s talk to him first,” Alec says.
“No one asked you,” Giovanni responds, eyes narrowing.
“We don’t have time for this, there’s more places on fire,” Tony says.
“We need to talk to him.”
Giovanni looks outraged. “You’re going to sit down and talk to that crazy fucker? Why not just put two bullets in the back of his head?”
“They’re moving in, and if they think they can challenge us, then the Russians and the Irish aren’t too far behind,” Alec says, chest rising. “We need answers.”
“Enough.” I roar, silencing the men.
“Alec, you get five minutes. Get what you can. Giovanni, tell Enzo and I what happened.
Tony, stand guard.”
The men nod, although Tony and Giovanni both glance at Father before complying.
Fuckers. I’ll be their boss soon enough.
Albert turns away from us and strides towards his SUV.
“When you’re done, kill him,” he says, waving a hand.