TWELVE
S oft rays of sunshine sneak through my thick, black curtains. My eyes flutter open, a small smile on my face. It’s winter, so the sunlight isn’t harsh on my face. It warms me up, and I slowly get up.
I pause, brows creasing.
Why am I in my room? I vividly remember talking to Cecilia, hanging up, and then spending the next hour or two thinking about possible solutions, theories, and best ways to handle the information I’ll discover soon.
I throw the blanket off me, and I see that I’m still wearing my clothes from last night. I’ve never sleepwalked, and I doubt I started at this age, especially last night with Hudson in my kitchen.
Hudson.
With the realization hitting me like a brick, I sprint barefoot down the stairs, tripping twice since I’m still too damn sleepy to function properly.
He’s not there.
The bloodied cloths and the pillow are still as they were last night, but Hudson is nowhere in sight. Is he pissed that I saved him, or is he embarrassed and his ego took a massive hit?
“Fuck,” I cuss and toss the dirty cloths and pillow in the trash can. The bullets Cecilia removed were on the countertop, but now they’re gone. He took them and fucking bolted.
It takes me fifteen minutes to find my phone. I had it on me in the information room, but it was magically transferred to the bedside table in my bedroom. My cheeks flush, and I’m embarrassed at the thought of Hudson seeing all his information on display like that.
I must’ve looked like a stalker.
Hudson’s ignoring my phone calls. I don’t text him because I want to scream at him to give me back the bullets so I can find something. Granted, the bullets were in his body, and I understand why he’d want to take them. But leaving in the late hours of the night without even telling me?
And all of that after he carried me to bed.
What did I even expect? There’s a reason the De Santis family is known as the serpents. I shouldn’t be surprised by his sneaky tricks, yet I can’t help but feel a little disappointed.
I wanted to figure out who made those bullets.
With a sigh, I call Lucas and arrange a meeting with him. Luckily, he has some information for me, though he doesn’t want to tell me over the phone. Chills of excitement rush through my body, and a grin appears on my face.
After one of the longest and best showers I’ve had in a while, I dry my hair and curl the ends slightly. We’re meeting in a bar, and I want to look at least presentable enough.
By the time I’m dressed and ready to leave, it’s past six in the evening. It’s getting darker and darker outside with each passing hour. It’s cold, and I can’t wait for winter to be over.
The cold weather never appealed to me much.
I swing the door open, then take a step back in surprise. I’m gripping the door handle, my jaw clenched. It takes a lot of breathing to calm myself down and not to take the nearest sharp thing I can find and stab him to death.
“What do you want?”
“Can I come in?”
“No. I’m on my way out, and I don’t have anything to say to you.”
Nikolas tries pleading with his eyes, but it doesn’t work. I tilt my head to the side with a raised brow, and he understands that I’m not in the mood to play around with him.
“Please. Ten minutes.”
With a sigh, I step to the side and allow him inside. He’s quick to slide out of his shoes and grab a beer from my fridge. For someone who supposedly has business with me, he sure is taking his sweet time getting to the point.
He notices the blood stains I didn’t manage to take out of the wooden table and probably noticed the stained wall in the hallway, too.
“What happened here?”
“I tortured for information,” I reply dryly. “Why are you here?”
“I’m here to apologize.”
I nod. “I don’t accept your apology.”
Niko sighs in disappointment, his head hanging low. I look at him properly, and, for the first time, he seems… off.
Bags decorate his under-eye area, and he looks like he’s lost weight since the last time I saw him. Usually, he’s clean shaven, but I see that he hasn’t touched the razor in a while. His hair is messy, and he barely put in any effort in his appearance.
“You need to listen to what I’m about to tell you,” he all but begs.
I lift a shoulder. “Not really. I’m done with you. Is it that hard to comprehend?”
“What a hypocrite.” He snorts and drops the whole pathetic act. “Don’t think that I don’t know about your little dates with Hudson.”
I frown.
Memories of killing Franco, then Hudson stabbing me, then me stabbing his shoulder, and me plunging two fingers deep inside of his wound flash behind my eyes.
“I’d hardly call those dates. Unless he’s a masochist. In that case, he probably shares your sentiment.”
“You’re dumb to trust him, Noah.” He takes a seat, still drinking the beer.
“I don’t trust him at all,” I reply. “I was given a job by Daddy dearest, and I’m just executing it to the best of my abilities. Working with Hudson isn’t the same as sleeping with Franco, Nikolas. Don’t put me in the same category as yourself.”
“Damnit, Noelle,” he screeches. He stands up and throws the can across the room, spilling the contents everywhere. “I’m trying my best to fucking apologize here. Why are you being difficult?”
“Difficult?” I scoff, taking offense to his words. Anger starts to build in the pit of my stomach all over again. I’m holding on by a thread, and it’s about to fucking snap. “I’m being difficult? It’s one thing to fuck the enemy; it’s another to not see your mistake. And I am being difficult here? If you’re going to act like a spoiled brat, get the fuck out of my home and don’t return.”
Niko closes his eyes, taking in a deep breath. His nostrils flare, and he’s trying to extinguish the ball of fiery anger inside of him. I, on the other hand, am just waiting for an opportunity to unleash mine.
“I know that I messed up.” He finally says something correct. “And I know that I didn’t face the consequences that you would’ve liked, but there is so much more that you don’t know.”
“Why would I care about knowing that situation? Giving an excuse for betrayal is just that: an excuse. If that’s what you came here to say, you know where the door is.”
“I didn’t plan on this to happen, Noah.” He sighs and puts his head in his hands, avoiding eye contact. “It just fucking happened. I know I’m an idiot to blindly believe Fran’s words, but I do think there’s a way to put an end to this. I’m tired of it all. I lost the most important person to me by the hands of another important person, and I can’t be angry at you because I know that, if given the chance, Franco would’ve killed you, too.”
“Good. You finally understand that I don’t want this to end. It might’ve been different had father appointed you as the heir, but it’s not. He adores you but does not share your sentiment that we should be blatantly giving up everything our family has fought over for generations for some sort of a truce.”
“I won’t stop,” he promises, and I feel a migraine that is about to come. “One way or the other, I plan on changing your mind. Who knows? You and Hudson might end up falling in love.”
I gag.
It’s the most disgusting thing I’ve heard in my entire life.
“I wouldn’t waste my breath, Niko. It’s insulting to insinuate I’d abandon my entire belief system because of your sob story. The quicker you understand, the easier it will be for you to let go.”
I look at him once more before turning on my heel. The look in his eyes promises he won’t stop bothering me about this issue. Before the anger takes over me, I walk toward the door, hoping he won’t speak.
“I’ll get you to change your mind. I promise.” I hiss under my breath, my mood souring drastically. “I’m tired of bloodshed.”
“Then challenge me, kill me, and take my position.” I glance at him over my shoulder. “If you dare.”
It’s not like he’s incapable of doing it. I’d give him trouble and would never go down without putting up a good fight. But he can’t do it. He knows that the burden on my shoulders is something he’ll never be able to bear.
It’s Niko’s persistence that keeps bothering me.
The goal he’s chasing is far out of his reach, and I’ll make sure it stays that way.
The bar Lucas chose for us has nearly all its tables and booths filled. The band is playing jazz, though it’s not too loud. It’s a perfect spot for a night out. It has good music and even better food.
Our booth is secluded and by the time I arrived, Lucas had already ordered the food and drinks. The beer is still cold, and I’m lucky enough that I was only ten minutes late.
Lucas has a nasty temper. He doesn’t wait around, which means the information he discovered is either of high value and he wants to be compensated accordingly, or he didn’t discover a damned thing and is too afraid of my reaction.
Tattoos on his head sneak through his buzz cut, and the dimples appear as soon as he sees me. He’s grinning like an idiot, which is a good sign. As usual, he’s dressed in all black clothes, and I’m matching his outfit.
“Looking good, Noah.” He winks.
“I’m not here to chit-chat,” I shrug off the coat and hang it around my chair. “Let’s just jump straight to business, shall we?”
Lucas pouts. “You’re no fun. Come on, we haven’t seen each other in what? Five, six weeks? Quite a lot of things have happened with you in that small timeframe.”
I snort and sip on the beer. “Why don’t you skip beating around the bush and ask what you want to know?”
His eyes twinkle in excitement. “What in the world possessed you to agree to work with a De Santis? And that treaty thing?” He whistles in disbelief. “I thought I heard it wrong.”
“The news travels fast.”
“Sure does.” He nods. “Someone snitched. And tracking down your newly found enemies makes it ten times harder. If they’re smart—and I’m assuming they have at least a brain cell or two—they’ll go into hiding.”
I start devouring the food in front of me. I haven’t eaten for a whole day, and I didn’t feel the hunger until I actually saw the food in front of me. The divine smell compelled me entirely, and I devoured my portion of the dinner within five minutes.
“Well.” I wipe the side of my mouth with a napkin. “It’s still not impossible. And I do believe they’ll ease on the attacks now that the two families are working together.”
“Who knows?” He shrugs and glances around us. “The fact remains, we don’t have their name, let alone their face. Has Cecilia been helpful?”
I texted her earlier in the day, asking if she’d heard back from her father regarding the custom bullets. The answer was less than satisfying, and I’m back at square zero.
“She has no idea who might want the bullets, but I’m assuming that’s their way of marking the territory.”
“As expected,” he mumbles. “I only have an address of the man who is known to be making that kind of thing, but I’m not sure about his name, age, or affiliation to the new group. You need to be careful, alright?”
I nod. “Show me.”
He pulls out a file from his bag, and I immediately grab it, reading it carefully.
There is an address that is on the other side of the city. There are a few anonymous comments left, mainly people happy with the services this person provided. At first glance, it seems like a regular website, though I know how to read between the lines.
I look back up at Lucas. “Do I want to know how you obtained these?”
“You really don’t.” He chuckles. “But I guarantee that every piece of information I present you with is reliable and true.”
My brows knit together. “I wasn’t doubting your abilities.”
“You better not.” He grins. “I’m the best at what I do.”
Lucas and I met in our first year at university. He was the person known for his hacking skills. For a price, he would do anything. I needed information quickly, and I had a lot of cash at my disposal.
He worked quickly, efficiently, and in secret. That’s what made me return to him many times over the course of the past few years, and we quickly became friends. His work is illegal, so he’d never stab me in the back—not with the information I have on him.
“Sure you are,” I respond with an eye roll. “Is there anything else that’s not written here?”
Lucas clenches his jaw and slowly nods. He takes a swig of the beer and a deep breath before inching closer to me over the table. I mimic his movements and turn my head to the side, inspecting if anyone’s been tailing us.
“I don’t know if the two are related,” he whispers. “But at the same time as this new family started with their business, another trafficking ring appeared.”
Slowly, I turn to look at him with wide eyes.
The De Santis family doesn’t often involve themselves with sex trafficking rings. The Campbells do. Although we haven’t taken down every single organization there is, the moment I find out one does exist, I do whatever it takes to free the women, men, and children in the rings. I don’t care about the means I use, and I do not care how I obtain information.
My morals and consciousness do not allow me to stay put or remain silent. I’m someone who holds power and has enough of it to save countless innocent lives. I’d rather give up my family name than ever allow a ring on my turf or in my city to operate.
“You should’ve started with that.” I fist my hands. “Tell me everything and don’t fucking miss a thing.”
“On the night Luciella Campbell was killed, four women were kidnapped in different parts of New York. The CCTV footage didn’t cover the areas where they were last seen by witnesses, and their appearances were more or less similar. Long, brown hair and big, brown eyes.”
My brows crease. “You mean, just like me?”
He nods, reluctantly. “Yes. I don’t think they will target someone of your caliber, but you can never be too careful.”
I swallow the knot that forms in my throat. “Continue, please.”
Lucas grabs my shaky hand from across the table and starts stroking a pattern on the back of my palm. It manages to soothe my anger, but not entirely. This kind of anger is not something that anyone will ever be able to make disappear.
“The women were all in their mid-twenties to early thirties. Around Christmas time, one by one, they started showing up dead. They were all strangled to death, had been raped before death, and they were all marked. A small skull was found on the back of their necks.”
“Like a tattoo?”
“Like a metal rod with the symbol on the tip. It was heated with fire before it was burned into their flesh.”
I remain silent for a moment. Someone has been doing this under my nose for months, and I only got wind of it because my family was being threatened. A sense of failure fills me, and I can barely breathe.
“Wait.” I narrow my eyes. “You said it started around Christmas?”
“Yes.”
“That’s when all the attacks on me started. So they used my aunt’s murder to divert attention away from them, then used the same tactic with all of the assassination attempts. It’s safe to assume that they were the ones to send attackers, not Hudson’s family.”
Lucas is wary of the words that come out of his mouth next because he knows I’ll lose my temper if I don’t like it. “Then we can assume they also killed Luciella.”
I pause and straighten my back.
“No. Franco confessed to killing her.”
“Did he?”
Immediately, that night flashes in my mind. Like a broken record, it replays in my head on repeat. I remember all of his words clearly, as if he were speaking to me right now.
Terror fills my body, and my eyes widen. Anxiety like I’ve never felt before starts to surface, and it takes me a while to regain my composure. I don’t realize it immediately, but a lone tear slides down my cheek as I blink.
“No,” I whisper. “He never actually said it.”
Lucas grimaces. “Yikes. I know you hate them, but that means it was unprovoked for you to kill him.”
I take a deep breath.
“Listen to me,” I warn, and he’s quick to hear the threat. “As far as everyone else is concerned, Franco De Santis killed Luciella Campbell and confessed before his death. This conversation never happened. Do you understand me?”
Lucas nods furiously. “Understood, Noah. You know that this will stay between us.”
“Good.” A sigh of relief slips from my lips, and I lean back in my chair.
“What are you going to do about the trafficking ring?”
“I’ll visit the bullet maker. He’s bound to know something.”
“You’ll have to act quickly.”
“I know.”