Chapter 9
CHAPTER NINE
Nicolò
Taylor fucking Parker.
He’s just a kid—still wet behind the ears, not even shaving yet. But a crime is a crime, and in my books, ripping off an innocent girl’s work then going around badmouthing her to anyone who’ll listen deserves time.
I could tell by how quiet she went when I guessed his last name, she fears for him. That sent a fireball into my bloodstream. I like that she doesn’t underestimate me.
But I saw the way she flinched when I told her I hadn’t decided what to do with him yet. I noticed the way she self-soothingly rubbed the corner of her sleeve.
She knows I’m at liberty to do whatever the hell I want. And, in a dark twist, once that realization settled behind her eyes, they danced. She can’t admit it to herself, but she wants me to hurt him. Which means only one thing. He must have hurt her bad.
I’ve already put the plans into motion. I’m not going to kill him. That wouldn’t be very interesting and nor is it worth the jail time. But watch from the sidelines while the internet destroys him? That’s worth buying popcorn for.
I’m unsure if the conviction infusing me is down to the fact I’m finally able to protect someone, after having lost that chance twelve years ago, or if I simply enjoy fucking people over. Whatever the reason, I feel like a new person, brightened by the thought of ruining a bare-faced cheat.
I start with his Instagram account.
After scrolling through mindless posts about football games and burgers, I start pulling threads. Screenshots. Dates. Times. Every recycled paragraph he’s ever stolen.
I usually have my soldiers digging through encrypted financial records, shell companies and gun shipments. Tonight? They’re pulling yearbook photos and tracking the IP address of an acne-inflicted, barely pubescent jock.
It takes less than one evening to get everything I need.
Then I get to work. Posing as a classmate, I drop hints into Discord servers, group chats, TikToks and Reels.
I leave breadcrumbs, nice and easy, leading his so-called buddies to an indefensible conclusion: that Taylor Parker is a liar and a cheat, and even his closest friends can’t trust him.
In only a few hours, the hashtag #taylorgate is trending locally and his followers have been slashed in half. The screenshots of his DMs were gold. My men didn’t even have to fake them; he’d been slimy enough on his own. All I did was hold up a mirror.
I get up from the sofa, pour a drink, and watch the drama unfold with a deep sense of satisfaction.
When Bambalina checks her feeds in the morning, they’ll be thick with scandal about the kid who ripped her off.
I half-wonder if she’ll suspect it was me behind the leaks.
According to my mom, Lina thinks I’m cold, unapproachable and indifferent.
Why, all of a sudden, would I be ruining the life of someone who scorned her?
Then again, I only asked her a few days ago who the perpetrator was.
The timing of his downfall is too big of a coincidence.
An unease settles on my shoulders. Why am I ruining the life of someone who scorned my stepsister?
She means something to my mom—and it doesn’t take a shrink to figure out why—but she means nothing to me.
Sure, I don’t particularly like her going out in public dressed like a character from Batman, but that’s because she’s young…
right? And because kids like Taylor Parker will think she’s fair game, and take issue if she turns down their offer of a date.
Why should she be afraid to say no to a man? Part of me questions why I wouldn’t kill Taylor Parker. Just the thought of him trying his luck with Bambalina, then shitting on her reputation because he didn’t get what he wanted, makes me reach for the gun in my waistband.
She doesn’t want me to make a big deal of it.
What was it she said? “I’ve survived worse.
” A thread of irritation unravels across my shoulders.
It shouldn’t matter what she’s survived up to now.
What we’ve already survived in life shouldn’t dictate what we need to continue surviving.
Taylor Parker is a dick and he’s about to get everything he deserves.
No one messes with my stepsister and gets out unscathed.
The conviction beds into my bones, making me shudder. Then, I remember my father’s words, echoed on many an occasion by Cristiano: that no one crosses a member of my family and walks away whole.
Relief cools me.
And that’s why I’m ruining Taylor Parker’s life.