Chapter 3
NICO
“Ready?” I ask Kai as I stand in Carter’s home office with my hands clasped in front of me.
“Almost,” he says, then gives Carter a quick kiss before he stands from his lap and checks the clips of his guns. He looks down at his husband. “I’ll meet you at my company in an hour?”
“I’ll be there.” Carter drags Kai down and plants a long kiss on his lips, pulling a moan from my best friend. I roll my eyes, clearing my throat so they realize I’m still in the fucking room.
Carter chuckles as he breaks the kiss. “One hour, pretty baby,” he whispers against Kai’s lips.
After one more kiss, Kai adjusts himself in his pants—I avert my gaze with a huff—and strides over to me. “Let’s roll.”
Carter dips his chin to me, and I return it, stepping out of the room. I have no real love for Carter—not after he gave me shit for Kai running off at the beginning of their marriage—but since Kai is like my brother, I hold my tongue.
We climb into my car and I pull out, heading toward The Fox Club.
“What do you think about training some of our men to guard me?” Kai asks as he fiddles with his phone.
I scoff. “I don’t. You sayin’ I’m doin’ a shit job?”
“Fuck outta here,” he says, a smile in his voice. “I’m asking because I might need you for other shit. With Charlie dead, I need someone I can trust doing work at the casinos while I’m at the construction company.”
Kai’s dad, Charlie, was an asshole. I hated that fucking guy.
My dad was Charlie’s bodyguard, so it was only natural that I protected Kai.
But I fucking hated that man. He was killed six months ago during the war for Kai and Carter’s territory.
I can’t say I was sad to see him go, though I hated how his death fucked Kai up—enough for Kai to leave home with no protection and no phone while there was a street war going on.
But I’m glad Charlie isn’t around to hurt Kai anymore.
“Come on, man,” Kai says. “I need you for more than watching my back now. Besides Carter, there’s no one I trust more than you to handle money matters.”
I sigh and turn into The Fox Club, killing the engine after we park. “What do you need from me, Kai?”
“Indigo Arc needs a day manager. The dick that’s from Carter’s family ain’t working out.”
I rack my brain to figure out who he’s talking about. “What dick?”
“Name’s Paolo. Been in the Whitlock family for like twenty years.”
“And why did you hire him instead of leaving him where he was? On the Whitlock side?” I shoot him a deadpan look.
Kai sighs as we get out of the car and walk inside. We dap up all the workers and our men who are milling about, pretending to be patrons to keep rowdy customers under control.
We head to the back of the club and Kai up nods Manuel, the guard that runs this place, as he opens the basement door for us.
“Family integration or whatever the fuck,” Kai throws over his shoulder as we trot down the stairs. “It’s been working out otherwise. Some of the men here are Carter’s. But this fucking fuck is ruining it for everyone.”
We step into the basement and round the corner. I see a man lying on the ground, bloodied and broken.
“Who do we have here?” I ask, using my foot to roll him to his back.
“Paolo,” Kai spits. “He thought it would be okay to rape my waitresses.” Kai gets down on his haunches and yanks Paolo up by his shirt.
“This isn’t your first offense, now is it?
” Kai pulls his hand back and punches Paolo in the face hard enough to make the man’s head knock back.
“Turns out he’s a fucking serial rapist. A fucking rapist on my husband’s team.
I don’t like people fucking with my husband or his reputation.
And I don’t like sick fucks that don’t take no for a fucking answer. ”
“I ain’t do shit,” Paolo slurs, his head lolling to the side.
Kai drops him heavily, Paolo’s head hitting the concrete floor with a loud thunk. He groans and raises a mangled and fucked up hand to the back of his head.
“Broke his fingers?” I ask, walking around Paolo’s other side and stepping on his hand. He cries out, trying to wiggle away from my foot.
“Manuel did. I took care of everything else. Carter wanted to kill Paolo himself, but I don’t like anyone fucking with my man, so this fucker is mine.”
I walk with Kai over to the table in the corner where a whole-ass assortment of knives is laid out for him. He lovingly runs his fingers over a serrated blade, but bypasses it for a machete.
Kai hefts the blade and weighs it in his hands, tossing it back and forth before nodding his approval.
“How did you catch him?” I ask, leaning against the wall so I can watch Kai work.
“One of my girls told me when I came to visit. Said that he called her to his office and put his hands where they shouldn’t have been. I wanted to kill him right then, but Carter said he didn’t want me to go to prison, so I had some of my guys grab him.”
Paolo grunts. “I ain’t…touch that bitch.”
Kai walks over and kicks him in the face. “You did. We found other women too, P. Are all of them lying? Fucking doubt it.”
Manuel comes downstairs and stands beside me, dapping me up. “I’m just in time,” he says, rubbing his hands together like a kid at a toy store.
I grin over at him. “Don’t wanna miss the show.”
“Any last words, you lying prick?” Kai hisses.
Paolo spits at Kai’s feet. “Those cunts begged for it. Liked the boss touching them and sucking my—”
I pull my gun out and cock it so everyone in the room hears. Then I aim it at Paolo. “I will fucking shoot your shrimp dick off if you finish that sentence.” Even in the face of death, he moves his broken hands in front of his cock. I have half a mind to shoot him anyway, but this is Kai’s show.
Paolo’s eyes bulge as he shakes his head. “No, no, don’t!” He looks up at Kai, pleading now. “Listen, it was all a misunderstanding. I only…well…just the once. She was flirtin’ with me, ya know? Sending mixed signals. Bitch was a fucking tease, so I—”
Faster than the eye can see, Kai swings the machete and slits Paolo’s throat, cutting off his bullshit excuses.
Gurgling sounds escape Paolo’s throat, and he brings his hands to the clean incision, trying to stem the bleeding.
“Fucking prick,” Kai says as he watches Paolo drop heavily to the ground and bleed out.
Kai walks over and pushes the body over with his foot. His chest doesn’t rise or fall anymore, his eyes peeled wide with shock.
Leaning down, Kai grabs Paolo by the hair and brings the machete down on his neck, blood splashing all over himself.
Over and over, Kai chops through skin, muscle, and bone until Paolo’s head is removed from his body.
Kai stands to his full height, breathing heavily as he holds the head at his side. “Show this to whoever thinks they can fucking rape people in this fucking family—Whitlocks or St. Clairs. The same fucking thing will happen to them. I abhor that shit. Understand?”
“Got it,” Manuel says nonchalantly, like he didn’t just see a man get beheaded. “What do you want me to do with the rest of the body?”
“Acid bath.” Kai drops the head and walks over to the table, placing the machete back in its spot. “Let me clean up, then we can go to the construction company. Wanna tell Carter it’s done and talk about what’s next for you.”
I grunt. “I’m good with my job now. If I’m stuck in a casino, I won’t get the chance to watch you work.” I point to the headless body being dragged by a Whitlock man on one side and a St. Clair man on the other.
Family integration seems to be working pretty well for them.
Kai shoots me a dry look, the blood dripping down his face making him look more menacing than his good looks would otherwise. “We’ll talk about it later.”
“Why can’t you have Declan do it? Or fucking Gavin? Family cohesion and shit.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Kai repeats with a little more bass in his tone. I tick up an eyebrow and he just scoffs. He grabs a towel from the table and wipes his face as he goes to shower in the small stall around the corner.
I really appreciate Kai wanting to appoint me as his casino manager, but I like what I do for him. Before Carter came along, it was just me and Kai. He’s been my brother and I’ve been trying my damnedest to keep him safe. I’d like to think I’ve been doing a good job so far.
Taking the hose from the wall behind me, I spray the blood from the floor as I rack my brain on why Kai is deciding that now he wants someone else to watch his back.
After the incident all those months back when he ran away without telling me or Carter and left his phone behind, I’ve basically been attached to his hip when we’re outside of the house.
There have been no attempts on his life, and I’ve made sure he makes it home to his husband every night.
Shortly after I hang up the hose, Kai comes back with hair damp, dressed in a new suit. He fixes his cuff links and nods. “Let’s get out of here.”
We both clap hands with Manuel before we head out.
The drive to the construction company is tense, since I want to ask why Kai wants to get rid of me, but not wanting to know at the same time.
Kai is the only family I have since my parents are dead. Being pushed to the side kind of fucking sucks.
When we step inside, I greet Kai’s assistant Percy, whose nervous energy is palpable. Even though I’ve known him since he was a kid, he still looks at me like he thinks I’m going to shove my gun down his throat.
Kai sits behind his desk and pulls out some tubes. He slides the floor plans out of them and spreads them across his desk.
I look over Kai’s shoulder at the construction for the new casino he and Carter are planning to open.
“What’s that?” I ask, pointing to a blocked off section with the letter S in the middle.
“Casino safe room. Just in case we have an issue and gotta get away fast.”
I hum. After the shit we went through with the Fensters, it’s smart to have an escape plan, even at work.
“Looks good.”
“Thanks,” he says, trying to keep the smile out of his voice.