Chapter 5 - Nico #2
Her gaze moved over me. Then to Vera. Then back to me. Confusion flickered briefly, but her focus was still entirely on me. Vera’s presence or absence didn’t seem to matter too much to her. I watched Vera go completely still, and the change was immediate. Subtle. But immediate.
Bianca walked closer. “I’ve been calling all morning.”
I said nothing. I hadn’t seen this woman in months, and she had come barging into my house. I remember fucking her when I was in a wild haze after Vera had broken up with me, but it didn’t mean anything. I was fucking anything with legs and a vagina to forget the pain.
Bianca kissed my cheek casually. Comfortably. Like she belonged here.
The kitchen became very quiet, but I glanced at Vera to notice that her face revealed absolutely nothing. Which meant I knew exactly how much effort she was using to hide it.
Interesting. Very interesting.
“Nico?” Bianca asked.
I looked at her. “What?”
She laughed. “You forgot already?”
I had. Entirely.
“We had plans.”
Plans.
Right.
Some dinner reservation I’d agreed to weeks ago and had forgotten immediately afterward. No part of that plan included her barging into my house unannounced. I didn’t even know she knew the address of this place.
Bianca smiled. “Are you ready?”
The silence that followed was devastating, because Vera finally looked at me.
And there it was. Pain. Real pain. It was not anger or frustration, but pain instead. The sight hit me harder than expected, and for a moment, I forgot how to breathe. Then another feeling surfaced. Something darker. Something cruel.
The need to hurt her back.
To make her feel even a fraction of what she had done to me. The opportunity had practically delivered itself. I should have ignored it, but instead I looked directly into Vera’s eyes.
“Yeah.”
Her expression changed instantly. I saw it happen. Like watching glass crack.
“Nico,” Bianca said with a grin. “You look thrilled.”
“I live to impress.”
Vera turned away first, and I hated how much that bothered me. She crossed her arms tighter, and I knew she was building walls around herself to hide, but it was too late already. The damage was already done.
“You’re leaving?” she asked quietly.
I looked at her. “Why are you asking?”
She said nothing.
“Are you planning to miss me?”
The words landed exactly as intended, and Vera flinched. Something inside me twisted because I knew victory should have felt better. Instead, it felt suspiciously like a self-inflicted injury. Bianca glanced between us, clearly confused, but she didn’t once ask who Vera was.
I didn’t care. I grabbed my keys instead.
“Let’s go.”
The walk to the door felt endless because I could feel Vera watching. I never turned around. Not once. The doors opened and closed behind us, and suddenly the performance was over.
Bianca looked at me. “What was that?”
“What was what?”
“The woman inside. Who is she?”
I stared at the cars lined outside.
“That is none of your business, Bianca.”
“Is that your ex?”
I laughed without humor. “Something like that.”
Bianca slid her arm through mine, but I immediately removed it. Her eyebrows rose.
“Nico?”
I turned towards her as she stared at me in confusion, and for a moment neither of us spoke.
Then I sighed. “You shouldn’t have come to my house.”
“What?”
“You are not allowed to barge into my house whenever you wish.”
Her confusion deepened. “You’ve never mentioned that.”
“Because we haven’t spent a lot of time together, and I have no desire to spend any more of it with you.”
Realization slowly dawned. “Oh.”
“Yes.”
She folded her arms. “So what now? I should just leave?”
I shoved my hands into my pockets. The girl clearly didn’t get the hint.
“Now you go do whatever it was you planned on doing tonight.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re not serious.”
“I am.”
“Nico, I rearranged my entire evening.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“You don’t sound sorry.”
“I’m trying my best.”
She stared at me for several seconds, and then she laughed bitterly. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve been told.”
Her expression softened slightly. “You’re still in love with her.”
I didn’t answer. I didn’t need to. Bianca shook her head and walked away, just like that.
I watched her disappear down the sidewalk, and then I was alone.
Exactly where I deserved to be. The problem was that I couldn’t go back inside.
Not yet. If I returned immediately, Vera would know this was all fake.
She would know Bianca meant nothing, and I had put on a performance.
And after the look I’d seen on her face, I wasn’t ready for that conversation.
I watched Bianca drive away and got into a car myself, driving aimlessly around the city.
I could go meet one of my brothers, but after they had found me at the bar, I knew they were filled with questions I had no answers to.
The city blurred around me because all I could think about was Vera.
The way she’d tried not to care and failed.
The realization should have pleased me. It should have felt like justice.
Instead, it settled heavily in my chest.
Because hurting her hadn’t made me feel better. It hadn’t fixed anything. It hadn’t erased a single sleepless night. Hadn’t erased the months I spent watching her prepare to marry another man. Hadn’t erased the memory of walking into that church. Hadn’t erased loving her.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel.
The city lights reflected across the windshield.
Somewhere across Miami, Vera was sitting in my house.
Angry and alone. And despite everything, despite every reason I had to hate her, one truth remained stubbornly intact.
She was still the first thing I thought about when I woke up and the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep.
That was the problem. Not Vera. Not the betrayal. Not the kidnapping.
Me.
Because I was beginning to realize that revenge would be much harder than I’d planned. Not because she didn’t deserve it. But because every time I hurt her, it felt suspiciously like I was hurting myself.