4. Niko
CHAPTER 4
A little time passes before she’s asleep. A raw, emotional edge grips my thoughts, and I work to chase it out. Narrowing my field of vision into an almost thoughtless perspective. I imagine myself reptilian, cold, calculated, separated from my feelings and emotions until I’m numb. This is the only way I survive not truly having my own choices, and being in that mindset, the final miles disappear quickly.
I come back to myself, flipping on the signal as I take I-10 east. I’m only a few miles out from the vineyard, and I need to see my father as soon as possible. I waited a full ten minutes after committing arson and fleeing the scene before telling him the job was done. That lie should buy me enough time to get her settled.
My phone rings, and when I glance down, my little brother Pax pops up instead of my father as I expected. His name brings a separate type of concern. My brother is… different. His mother was my father’s mistress and eventual second wife. Her profound wealth came over on the Mayflower, and I think my father saw her as a way to build our enterprise. All that money didn’t help her, though, when she died suddenly in inpatient psychiatric care with Pax’s cousin Shane serving as her doctor.
My brother inherited her fortune as well as many of her issues. His murderous tendencies began at thirteen when he killed his nanny and have been consistently swept under the rug since. I really don’t want to know how many women he’s killed at this point. Do I feel guilty for my brother's actions? Perhaps I would if I were a better man, but I can only take responsibility for so many things.
I press the button, silencing Pax’s call. Keeping Gi safe is the most imperative part of this plan, so whatever he needs can wait. If Gi suddenly wakes, it could screw up everything. The phone goes to voicemail, and he leaves a message. That’s strange.
Another minute passes, and it rings again. Rather than take it as a sign of urgency, I turn off my phone. I’ll be at my father’s estate shortly anyway. They were supposed to be having dinner. How bad could it go?
I turn down the driveway tucked into the tree line. The terrain moves upward as we climb closer to the vineyard. It’s a Wednesday night, the one night our on-site restaurant is closed, so very few people linger.
My father and I have been planning this attack for three days—as soon as word came in that Gemelli formed an alliance that might just save his ass. I mocked Stefan, but the ports are a huge responsibility and source of power. There was good reason to try to cling to them. I just didn’t think Gianna was a bargaining chip for him.
This isn’t a great time for me to have a new captive and the increased responsibilities that will come with officially taking the port. Several weddings will be performed here later this weekend, and I’ve grown quite attached to the success of my venue.
The vineyard is part of my cover, the way I wash my dirty cash, but it’s also become a real passion. I want these events to go well, and I like to make an appearance despite my event coordinator insisting I’m only needed for my looks.
The restaurant sits on the far side of the property with outdoor lights on, and the windows reflect the scenery in sleek black. Rows of grapes line the hills, and beyond them, the pigs wallow in their pen. The whole property is well lit and lovely despite the black night.
We follow the path up to the main house when she asks, “Are you taking me to your father?”
Jealousy courses through me at the mention of him anywhere near her. My father has never come here, but I don’t find it within myself to say that out loud.
“Not tonight.”
She’s quiet after that, the way she was when we first left the house, and after our conversation, it’s a relief rather than a concern. I pull all the way up to the large wooden house. Warm brown wood with giant windows, the place is open enough that I hope she’ll enjoy her prison some days. I pull into the garage and close the door behind me. I should hate myself for what I’m doing to her, but I’m overwhelmed by a swell of satisfaction—I finally have Gianna exactly where I want her.
“Should I carry you inside, or will you walk?”
I expect a spark of her fire, an insistence that I won’t touch her, but she says nothing as she stares into the distance. It’s then I wonder for the first time if she really doesn’t know what an awful man her father was or that he betrayed Dante too. If that’s the case, I’m fucked.
I slip my arms under Gianna, finally pulling her shirt down and over her round ass. She’s so soft, so pretty, and smells like home. I have no other words for the resinous scent floating off her skin. The tang of her fear-filled sweat doesn’t deter her appeal, and an utter sense of rightness accompanies holding her.
Taking Gianna to her room or prison, whichever you prefer, I tuck her into bed. I wrap her in silk and fluffy down because she’s a princess, and that’s what princesses deserve. She doesn’t say anything, and neither do I, but I’m left with a profound sense of unease as I leave her crying into her pillow.
She won’t be going anywhere tonight. The house is locked up, and while no one knows who Gianna is, I’ve given explicit instructions if she gets out. I doubt she’ll try with how I left her. The sight of her sobbing beneath the covers sticks with me, and for some reason, the silk and down don’t strike me as enough.
I drive to my father’s estate, ruminating on my actions and how they might have differed had I known the truth. I assumed Gianna knew what kind of man her father was and who he chose for her. I thought she was a conspirator in the deal with Domalachego. I was angry that she was okay with this union prior to this meeting, but apparently, I was wrong. Why was this sprang on her that way? What am I missing? How can I do damage control with someone so miserably left in the dark?
I flip on the turn signal and school my features. No traces of her scent linger, and I vaguely go over what I’ll tell my father about this evening’s events. A practiced lie sounds practiced, but he’s too smart not to have my story entirely straight. He can never know about Gianna’s survival. I shudder, thinking about the ways he would enjoy breaking her just to prove a point to me.
And the last time he wanted to prove a point about the Gemelli princess, he made me kill a little girl and start this war. Estella Medeiros’s murder remains one of my greatest regrets.
I’m waved in automatically as I pull up to my father’s gate. His previous plan to officially end the Gemellis and take their territory was slated for next year. It fit his vision better to let Stefan scramble as he tried to maintain power and eventually crumble beneath his own weakness. Once my father heard about Stefan’s intention to bring Bratva into the area, our waiting period was over. I couldn’t even disagree with my father’s plan, knowing what a nightmare that would be for all of us.
I park my car next to Pax’s and get out as fast as I can. Anxiety pools in my stomach and I’m suddenly sure my father won’t be convinced that Gianna’s dead. Does he still believe I care about anything? I’ve worked so hard to make sure he doesn’t, but what if I’ve failed? I pull out my phone and turn it back on in case there’s a problem with Gianna. More voicemails pop up as soon as the screen powers on.
Pax: Get here now.
I type a quick text back.
Me: Here.
Men line the path to the house, but none pay me particular attention. Whatever Pax is worried about must not be that big a deal if none of them have run to help. My father keeps the property overflowing with paid guns, but the house itself stays empty for his privacy. They all know me, and there isn’t any reason to be concerned about my presence.
I open the door, not bothering to knock.
“Pax? Dad?” I call, listening for sounds of a struggle, screaming, shit breaking, the usual dinner date between Pax and Dad. No one answers me. “Elisabetta?” I call the housekeeper.
The dining room sits on the other side of the house, and I decide she must be in bed. She tries to hide when Pax is here, which is totally understandable given his track record for killing the pretty young staff members.
An eerie quiet fills the entire house as I take the long halls. I would assume Pax went home, but his car is still outside. When I reach the dining room, I find their abandoned plates.
The silence thickens the room. I’ve never seen a mess left uncleaned in my father's home. Minor signs of a struggle and a few drops of blood decorate the area, but nothing close to fatal. A spray coats my own hands, disappearing as it reaches my black tactical gear. I forgot about Stefan’s blood in all the excitement. I’ll need to wash it off as soon as possible since the shit makes me ill.
The gun I just used on the Gemellis rests in my hand as I head back into the hall. My boots echo on the wood floor, and my intuition insists that I’m walking into an ambush. My father’s office comes next. Pushing the door open, I nearly unload my clip when the river of blood on the floor spills out. I jump back a step, and the door flings wide, revealing the blood spray covering the wall.
A man with curly black hair sits in the puddle, coated in blood. Emerald eyes stare at me, but they don’t seem to see. At the last possible second, I remove my finger from the trigger and avoid shooting my little brother. Burst blood vessels decorate his sclera, and deep red handprints form a necklace, intense enough to bruise. His breath comes unsteady. Only a little time has passed since our father choked him.
Our father lays on the floor in front of him, still mostly dressed, but missing a good chunk of his face from the bullet. About six buttons on his blue shirt are undone, and his guts hang through the opening exactly like I said I should have done to Stefan. The similarity to my brother doesn’t sit well with me.
“Pax, what the fuck did you do?” I’m relieved I won’t have to kill the man myself, but the timing couldn’t be worse. I just killed Gianna’s parents. I just kidnapped her and destroyed her life on this corpse’s say-so. I’m now required to take over my father’s territory and make a bid for the Gemelli territory all while hiding Gianna and keeping my crazy brother alive, or we’re all going to die.
I’m spiraling. The panic invades my body and steals my cognitive abilities. Seeing my brother choked out and breathless destroys me as his older brother, his protector. Potent rage fills me, but the object is already dead, so I guess it’s about as impotent as it can get.
“Niko.” Pax drawls my name like he’s drunk, and maybe he is. I wish I was drunk enough not to realize what this means. Not only did I finish the war and take Gemelli's territory but I also have to lead and defend it. I am the boss, ready or not.
“What the fuck did you do, Pax?” It’s so obvious what he’s done, but I need him to explain this to me. How the fuck did it go from dinner to this?
“He started it.” He points at his neck.
“So knock him out! You don’t kill him and rip his guts out!”
I’m next in line. This is all mine now, and I don’t want anything but Gianna. I am so profoundly fucked.
“He’s knocked out, Nik, permanently.”
“And his guts?” I ask, gesturing to the ropes of intestines spilling out in yards.
“It was fun.”
I always thought our father could control Pax. The obvious evidence to the contrary has me watching him a little more closely. We don’t have the same relationship that he and Dad did, though. His regard for me lacks the bloodlust. He’s lost and frightened, reminding me an awful lot of the little boy who used to follow me around. Dad wanted to kill Pax. He told me so. I just never believed our father was heartless enough to act. The second time tonight that my naivety surprises me.
“Pax, talk to me. What happened?” I’ve softened my voice like he is that child, and he leans toward me.
“You’re the boss now, big brother. You don’t have to kill your girlfriend's family. I did you a favor.” He smiles, and I think he’s serious. “One of the reasons he choked me was I told him he’s a mean bastard for even thinking of making you do it.”
I stare at my brother, the serial killer who somehow still has a good heart. Then my father’s corpse, a man who didn’t kill for fun but was cruel for sport. I cannot deny how good finally seeing him leveled feels, but I’m not ready for what his absence means. I’m not ready to be in control of the entire area and be my brother’s keeper, hide Gianna from the world, and somehow hold it all together.
“You’re not saying you did this for me.” He didn’t know the plans, so he certainly doesn’t know they’re already done.
“No, I did it because I fucking hated him, and he really was trying to kill me this time. It felt so good to kill him. I wish I could do it again, slower.” He runs his hands over his face, smearing blood more thoroughly into his skin. I had the same thoughts about Stefan not long ago, and I’m worried I’m much too similar to my brother. I can’t tell him the Gemellis are already dead. I can’t trust this blood-covered mess to keep this secret. Gianna’s life is too precious.
“My life is fucked because you got your jollies killing Dad.” The summary lacks a few nuances but close enough.
“Your life was already fucked,” he counters. “I just took out one major obstacle for you. You’re welcome.”
“You want me to be grateful?” The worst part is I think I am. I never have to hear his voice again. Nikolai, you’re fucking pathetic, weak like your mother.
“Also, it wouldn’t kill you to show some concern for me. I’m hurt.” He lifts his neck, drawing my attention to the rather impressive line of bruises.
“You’ve been choked before, Pax.” But my pity softens me.
“Last time’s the charm,” he comments as he shoves our father’s corpse.
This would be a great thing if Pax had only done it last week. It would be amazing if Dad tried to kill him at last week’s dinner, but I’m starting to suspect getting me out of the house tonight was a two-part plan. I wondered why Alexandre Bouchard didn’t want to kill Gemelli himself. He did so love to brag, but if he planned to kill Pax instead… What the hell did he plan on telling me when my brother disappeared?
“I can’t believe you did this tonight.”
“You’re pissed at me? Should I have let him kill me? I did you a favor!”
“You really think that, don’t you?” I don’t mean to say that part out loud. No one but Gianna knows what I’ve done yet. Gianna, our dead father, and the coroner. Fuck.
“Obviously. Niko, we hated this fucker! He’s gone. You’re free! We should drink his scotch.”
I push my hands through my hair, trying not to tear it out by the root in my stress.
“I’ll never be free, Pax! Don’t you fucking get that?! You’re the one who gets to be free, and I’m the one who bears the burden. I won’t even get to the scotch with you around.”
“Well, the burden is yours, brother. You can’t uncrack an egg, and this one is scrambled.” He pushes our father’s body away from him as he stands.
“You’re going to help me.” I interrupt his plans.
“I’m going to get the scotch.” He tries to walk around me to the bar.
“You’re going to help me,” I insist, digging my fingers into his arm.
“Since when do you trust me?” He looks ever so slightly down at me, and I’m not sure why I still see a little boy even when we’re both covered in blood.
“Since never, and least of all now, but you made this mess, so you’re going to help me clean it up.” I shake him.
“Brother bonding?” he asks with much more excitement than he should.
“No, this is you bearing your own responsibilities for once. I need time before people figure out what you’ve done. Our father is alive. Do you understand me, Pax?”
“Of course he is!” He leans down and grabs Dad’s hand, yanking his body up and using him as a grotesque puppet. “Pax, you’re a disgusting waste of space, and Niko, you’re too soft. You’ll never be the man I want you to be. I hate you both, and I’m mad I didn’t shoot better loads. Boo-hoo.”
“Pax, I’m so serious. Cut the shit.”
“Don’t be a downer, Niko!” He drops him and lets his corpse slap the floor. “This sounds like family time. You know I always want family time.”
The saddest part is, he does. My murderous brother has always wanted a normal family who loved him, and I’m the closest thing he’s got. At least I do love him.
I sigh deeply as I attempt to shove my father’s guts back in. It’s going to be a long night.