Chapter 4 Tommy #2
There were a ton of other things to pick from at that party—golden bracelets, rings, necklaces, expensive watches—but I had to go for that red gem.
I roll my eyes at myself. It had the most sparkle, looked the most expensive, so the rest of the stuff never stood a chance, did it?
My lizard brain knew how to pick. Besides, and I might be rationalizing here but whatever, getting traumatized by witnessing my not-quite-friend’s murder with my own eyes requires the appropriate compensation, after all.
I knew back then, just like I know now, that the red stone was the only thing among all the jewels and gold that fit that bill.
“What’s done is done. Don’t sweat it.”
“I…” I don’t know what to do. Where to go. How to solve this gigantic mess. It’s kind of fun feeling like a vigilante on the run, but also, I’m so fucking terrified. I don’t want to die.
My body acts on instinct, and before I can even consider the consequences of my actions, my arms wrap around Nikolas’ strong midriff. Sucking in air through my nose, I bury my face in his chest.
“You don’t know how scared I’ve been. I’ve barely slept this past month, I just couldn’t.
Every time I’d close my eyes, I see the shadows move.
And the noises… like thousands of bugs crawling under the floorboards and inside the walls, trying to reach me.
So, I had to keep running, no matter how tired I was.
I couldn’t tell what was real and not anymore.
Finding you was the only thing that kept me going and…
Fuck. It was so fucking hard to even find something that looked like it might be your trail. I’m so glad you are real.”
“I’m not gonna lie to you, Tommy. You are in some real deep shit. The deepest I’ve seen,” Nikolas says, chuckling as he gently combs a hand through my hair. “I really wish you’d never come to me. But you did.”
Oh my god, it feels like heaven. He said my name while I’m surrounded by him, by this strong, kind and morally flexible man. The world thinks he’s dead, but I knew better. I didn’t give up, I didn’t take no for an answer, and now this is my reward.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.
” I bite on the inside of my cheek, breathing him in.
He smells like sweat and forest and fabric that’s been sitting in a wardrobe for a long time.
It makes my head spin, and I sway a little on my feet.
He steadies me, catching me and tucking me closer to his chest without even realizing it.
Heat shoots through me, tingling under my skin. I feel safe for the first time in over a month. Here we are, in the middle of a dark forest at night, but I know, deep down in my bones, that there’s nothing that can get to me. Nikolas won’t let it.
I can’t explain it, but I just know it. It’s in the way he’s clutching me tight, in the soft motion of his fingers still raking through my hair, in the way his chest rises and falls with determination under my ear. He will protect me.
The easiest and most logical solution would be for him to surrender me over along with the stone to the Crew, there is no question about it.
Would he do it? Getting rid of me would mean he can go back to being Father Gabriel, to living his life the way he was before I came in like a cannonball and wrecked it all. Literally.
I peek up at his face, my stomach churning at the thought, and find him looking down at me with a sort of gleam in his brown eyes.
There’s a strange deepness to it, like there is more than just curiosity there, like he’s resolved to something, but I’m too agitated to decipher what it might be.
Still, for some reason, it lights a thousand little fires inside me, tickling my nerve-endings and driving my blood south.
Squeezing my arms tighter around him as my world tilts a little on its axis, I mutter, “Please, don’t hand me over to the Crew. They’ll kill me.”
Nikolas laughs. A booming, free kind of laugh that reverberates through my entire being and sends my heart soaring into the sky.
“I said I’d help you, didn’t I? Besides, I was supposed to be dead, remember?
Now that they know I’m alive, they won’t settle for anything less than my head on a pike.
” He pinches my nose playfully, his smile reaching his eyes. “I will protect you.”
I blink in disbelief both at the tease and at his words.
Is it that bad? Just because Nikolas Stavros is the only one who ever took down a Crimson Crew general?
Why is something that happened a decade ago such a big deal?
Mobsters kill each other all the time, and sure they hold grudges, but La Croce Nera is no more, as far as I know.
Those who didn’t perish during the Crew’s retaliation raids after Nikolas’ supposed death were either assimilated into other organizations or lead entirely new lives, like Father Gabriel.
Isn’t that enough for the Crew? Surely, they’ve picked a new dude to replace the old one by now.
“You are taking this awfully well, considering.” I scrunch my nose.
A finger pokes my forehead. “If I learned anything in the last ten years as Father Gabriel, it’s that it’s best to take things as they come. Overthinking and worrying won’t do you any good.”
And neither would running forever, but as things are now, it seems like my only option. At least until we figure something out.
Nikolas opens his mouth to say something, but the flaps of wings not far from where we are distract him.
He pushes me away abruptly, the blissful moment between us shattering.
“We are not far from the border, but we won’t be able to cross on foot.
We’ll have to take a bit of a detour and get creative.
” He grips my wrist, and we break into a light run.
A detour? I study the trees with their tall forms and sprawling branches. “What kind of a detour are we talking about?”
“You’ll see when we get there.” A flash of Nikolas’ shit eating grin—the first one I’ve seen so far—spurs my legs faster.
Oh, whatever he has in mind can’t be good. I grin, excitement bubbling up inside me and trying to get free. I’m so in.