16. Betrayal
Chapter sixteen
Betrayal
(Nico)
S houting muffled profanities at the empty room, I continue my fight against the duct tape. But it doesn’t budge. It just hurts my healing shoulder with every futile move.
I can’t believe that bitch tied me up again. I haven’t even recovered from the last time. Fucking de ja vu .
Kiah better return soon.
She’s been gone for over an hour already.
Where did she go?
I fight until I have no energy left, groaning like a wild beast with little result. It’s no use.
Finally, exhausted, I slump against the column, dropping my head to my chest in defeat.
Outside, the sun claws its way higher.
Still no Kiah.
Gradually, my fury ebbs, seeping from my body like blood from a wound.
As the familiar rage retreats, it leaves behind a hollowness I can't quite name. Regret floods in to fill the void, bitter and choking. But even this remorse is fleeting, a mere ripple on the surface of a much deeper, darker pool.
What remains is the bedrock of my existence: self-loathing. It's always there, a cancer eating away at my core. Every thought, every action, every breath is filtered through its toxic lens.
I clench my fists, feeling my nails bite into my palms. Pain—sharp, immediate—offers a moment's respite from the relentless chorus of self-hatred.
But it's temporary.
It always is.
You’re a fucking idiot, Domenico.
I know I’ve fucked up.
And not just because my balls ache and I’m tied up in the kitchen.
My skin burns with shame, the memory of kneeling before her seared into my mind. Even tied up again, it's not the restraints that make me feel trapped—it's the echo of my own surrender.
Things just…escalated so quickly.
Everything was fine when I woke up this morning. I actually felt good.
I didn’t intend to kneel before her.
But when I saw her come out of the bathroom in that dress, looking like a beautiful Goddess, all fresh and radiant…
My body betrayed me, moving of its own accord. Like a compass finding true north, I gravitated to her feet. And God help me, it felt right.
But the more I think about it, the more my world tilts off its axis.
I let Kiah walk all over me, let her use me as she saw fit. Worse—I begged for it, thanked her for it. The memory of my own voice, pleading, makes bile rise in my throat.
This isn’t me.
I'm Domenico fucking Ricci. The heir. The boss. A monster forged in violence and blood. How many bones have these hands broken? How many lives have I taken to prove my worth?
This doesn’t make sense.
Real men don't beg. They don't submit. They don't feel this desperate need to surrender control.
Who in their right mind would ever dare challenge my masculinity?
No, the innkeeper must have done something to me. Bewitched me. Made me want this.
But it felt so fucking good...
Shut up! Shut up!
The same panic from this morning starts to constrict my throat again, but I push it down with force.
Instead, I focus on reigniting the anger—the only emotion that feels comfortable.
This isn’t about what my dick wants.
The fact of the matter remains that Kiah knew . She knew who I was all along but didn’t say shit. Lying cunt!
It was probably her plan all along to emasculate me, to humiliate me.
I’ve been fucking played.
None of it was real.
Like anyone could actually care about you, you idiot.
The sound of approaching footsteps pulls me back to the present just as the front door swings open.
Kiah walks in without looking at me.
I make as much noise as possible to get her attention, but she’s on her own mission.
The innkeeper busies herself with cleaning up, restlessly pacing the room as she moves things to a new place only to move them back to where they were before.
Finally, when the bed sheets are clean and the art supplies packed up, she drags one of those shitty wooden chairs over and sits down front to back like a 90s rapper.
She inhales slowly, closing her eyes briefly.
“I think I’ve made a mistake…” she says, leaning down on the chair, her fingers tightening around the wood. “Your brother won’t kill you, right?”
My eyes widen as the words sink in.
My brother? Fucking Ricardo, that absolute dick stain of a human. I’m pretty sure he’s the one who’s framing me in the first place. He hasn’t exactly been subtle about his desire for the throne despite me being the eldest.
“Please don’t scream,” Kiah tells me as she pulls the tape off my mouth.
I glare at her with all my might, wishing I could shoot lasers from my eyes, but my voice is calm. “You ratted me out.”
“I did.”
“Why? For the bounty?”
This is what you get for letting myself be vulnerable—betrayal, backstabbing… Fuck her.
The innkeeper lowers her head. “I didn’t do it for the money.”
That somehow makes me feel worse. “Then why did you do it? Why ?”
“I’m sorry, Nico. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
“What changed?”
“Can we not do this now? We need to make a plan.” Her voice is urgent, “They’ll be here in a few hours.”
I shake my head. “No, Kiah. Now. Or you can leave me right here because I’m not going anywhere with you. And last I checked, you may be strong, but you ain’t chucking me over your shoulder strong.”
She sighs heavily, twisting her fingers over the edge of the chair until her knuckles go white.
“Well, you were being an absolute cunt this morning—I’m sure we can both agree on that.”
My eyes narrow. “You’re doing a terrible job of explaining.”
“Just let me finish. I was furious when I left this morning. Furious at you as much as myself for what happened last night.”
I feel like I’ve been punched in the chest. “I knew you regretted it .” Of course, she did.
Kiah shakes her head. “I don’t. That’s the problem. I don’t regret it. I know who you are, what you’ve done, and I still want you.”
“Then why?”
“No good can come from this, Nico, from this chaos you stir in me. The world you come from brings nothing but death and destruction. I can’t get mixed up in all that again.”
I scoff at her stupid speech but don’t say anything.
Kiah takes a deep breath before continuing, measuring her words carefully. “Mostly, if I’m honest, I did it because I was angry, hurt, rejected…I reacted on impulse, without thinking. Nico, I’m sorry,” her voice wavers, heavy with regret.
“Why are you telling me? Why not just let them take me?” I spit out, anger and confusion warring inside me.
Kiah takes a deep breath. "After I made the call, I didn’t know what to do, so I ran. I ran until my lungs burned and my legs gave out. Somehow, I ended up at the old lighthouse on the north point."
She pauses, her gaze distant. "I've always gone there to think, to escape. But this time, it didn't work. I climbed to the top, looked out at the endless ocean, and felt nothing but your absence.”
“How sweet.” The sarcasm drips from my voice like venom, but she continues as if she hasn’t heard me.
“The more I thought about it, the more I realized that this island, this life I've built—it's my refuge as much as my prison. I've been hiding from who I really am, from feeling anything real." She returns her gaze to mine, her voice dropping. "But with you, I feel alive. Angry, frustrated, excited—but alive.”
"What are you saying?" I narrow my eyes, regarding her with suspicion as I try to unravel the meaning behind her words.
"I'm saying that I've spent years running from my past, from connection. But now, the thought of you leaving—it terrifies me more than you staying."
Her vulnerability is palpable, and it shakes something loose inside me. The innkeeper doesn’t usually let her guard down.
I sigh, clenching my jaw. “What do you want from me, Kiah?”
“I want to be the only one who gets to hurt you, Nico. I can’t explain it, and it doesn’t make sense, but I can’t let them kill you. Even if you did take out your father.”
“Ah, jeez, thanks.” I roll my eyes at her. “It’s a little bit too late now, ain’t it?”
She shakes her head. “It’s not. We can take them. If we work together.”
“Oh, so now you want to protect me,” I scoff.
Her voice cracks, pleading almost. “Nico, please. Let me fix this.”
“What does an innkeeper know about fighting the mob?”
“You’d be surprised.” She sighs, wiping a stray strand of blonde from her sticky brow.
“What does that mean? And no more lies. I despise lies. Who the fuck are you, and where did you learn to fight?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “The Army. The Special Forces. My life as a mercenary. Take your pick.”
“Christ. Then why the fuck are you running an inn?”
“I’m hiding.”
“What are you hiding from?”
“It’s a long story…”
“Well, you better give me the quick version because, apparently, we don’t have much time.”
Kiah shrugs. “The world. Myself. I don’t know. I ran away to get out, start fresh, and heal from what happened. It was only supposed to be temporary. But now it’s five years later, and I still haven’t figured out what next…”
She sounds sincere, but how can I be sure?
I don’t want to care.
The bitch betrayed me.
But I can’t help myself from asking what happened.
Kiah gets up from the chair and slowly lifts her shirt to reveal the nasty scar running over her belly from hip to hip. I’ve noticed it before but never seen it in the full light of day.
The tissue is raised and slightly puckered, forming a ridge. In some places, it's smooth and shiny; in others, it's slightly indented or rough.
“Five years ago, I was at the height of my career. I only took high-profile cases and made a shit ton of money. Think James Bond, but female. I whored my way around every city, living fast on temporary identities and perfect lies…”
“What changed?” I ask despite wanting to give her the silent treatment.
“I was careless one night. We didn’t have a condom. Long story short, I got pregnant. At first, I was certain I’d get rid of the baby and carry on with my life. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to keep it, to start my own family. To finally have someone in my corner who would love me unconditionally.”
I have many follow-up questions, but I don’t interject.
“But, similar to your line of work, one cannot simply get out . Especially not if the father of the child is an illegal arms dealer. A married one at that. I was stupid. I should’ve just taken my baby and left. But I wanted him to know, to have the option of being part of the kid’s life. Needless to say, he didn’t take too kindly to the news.”
My blood runs cold. That bastard ...I can barely contain the fresh rage boiling inside me, my jaw clicking loudly. How dare anyone lay a hand on her, let alone try to rip her open like some animal?
“He cut you like that?” I ask, the words thick in my throat.
Her gaze is far away as she speaks, drifting. “No, his wife did. The crazy bitch sent a message from her husband’s phone to meet at the docks to ‘ make future plans .’ And I was stupid enough to fall for it. Driven mad by years of infidelity that had nothing to do with me, I was just the scapegoat for her anger. She had four guards with her, and they just stood by as she gutted me like a fish and left me for dead right there, bleeding out on the concrete.”
“Jesus.” That’s fucked up, even for me, and I’ve seen too many fucked up things in my life.
Despite wanting to stay mad at her, I can’t. Not when she’s being this honest. This vulnerable.
Kiah keeps speaking, avoiding my gaze as she does.
“I almost didn’t make it. Some stranger took pity on me and dropped me outside the hospital, on the sidewalk. They managed to save me, but it was touch-and-go there for a while. Queue the long and painful rehab years, and skip to the part where I hide out on a remote island to figure out what next. Give or take a few years, and now we’re here.” She shrugs, finally meeting my eyes.
I want to say something, anything, but there are no words that would be useful. Those cunts!
She saves me from an awkward silence by changing the topic, covering up her vulnerability as quickly as she flashed it.
“My turn, Domenico .” It feels strange to hear my full name on her lips.
“Do people even call you Nico in real life?” she asks, forcing her face to neutral as she so often does.
“Not really. Most call me by my full name. The rest call me Dom.”
She cracks a faint smile that cuts through the tension of the moment. “So one day, you’ll be Don Dom?”
“I never thought about that.” I can’t help but smile.
“Domenico is a beautiful name,” she says almost absentmindedly.
My only response is a grunt.
“But I’ll stick to Nico if you don’t mind.”
I shrug, forcing myself to be nonchalant. “Whatever, doesn’t mean I trust you now.”
Kiah touches my cheek affectionately, her eyes softening with warmth. “I know. But let me earn it…”
And then she cuts me loose from my restraints—again.