15. ~Caterina~
15
~Caterina~
I eyed Nico across the kitchen table as I munched on the sandwiches he’d ordered in when we’d arrived back at Charon Manor.
To none of Marco Marchetti’s security. They’d pulled them off the property before we’d made it back, just like Nico had basically ordered.
Clearly, it was the calm before the storm.
Nico had started something tonight that was going to come back on us all, something that couldn’t be undone.
But he’d needed to.
Angelo’s insane actions had highlighted a lot of things, namely, that we couldn’t continue on as we had been, that intending to systematically and covertly take down our enemies wouldn’t be enough. Not without us all enduring a whole lot more suffering. He’d told me that during his messaging with my father, the bastard had mentioned that he’d be sending some of his soldiers around in a couple of days to get a progress report on my condition, that being that I was suffering and being destroyed by Nico, that my husband was fulfilling his duties as laid out in that despicable contract.
Nico was sick of it, sick of playing the game, just like I was.
It was more than even that, though.
I could see it all over him.
Making that stand tonight, shifting the tide the way he had, he’d done it to protect the three of us. He’d done it for us.
Out of love.
Love.
That was really what it had been.
And not only that, all of his actions lately.
“I fucking love you, Caterina. I’m undeniably, obsessively, and dangerously in love with you.”
I hadn’t had time to absorb his confession with everything that had been going on.
But now we had a moment, I was trying to do just that.
To figure out how it had landed for me, where I stood in relation to it. To him. And to Milo and Julian as well. To the whole thing that had developed between us.
“You’re back here, safe with us now. Where you belong.”
Those other startling words of his hung heavy for me too, because it meant that he didn’t just see me moving in here under the guise of doing what the families had demanded as being a temporary thing.
He wanted me here with him. They all did.
Permanently.
“You’re staring.”
I blinked out of my thoughts to see Nico’s brow furrowed as he looked up from my laptop that I’d set in front of him with all the intel concerning Joe that he needed in order to understand who he was to me.
“Can’t I stare at my husband, the apple of my eye?” I teased, looking him over in the black lounge pants and V-neck tee that he’d changed into when we’d arrived back, his sexy tattoos on display in all their glory. The sword down the length of his left inner forearm with the words, Si vis pacem, para bellum, certainly hit deep right now. If you want peace, prepare for war.
“Hilarious.” He shifted his weight. “But I know you. That’s the look you get when you’re trying to figure something out, something that’s got you stumped. Something about me.”
“Well, you do play things close to the vest.”
“Pot. Kettle.”
“You mean Joe? I told you when we got back here that it wasn’t something I was actively and intentionally keeping from you. It wasn’t my secret to tell, to expose him. And I certainly didn’t see him being pulled into what we’re doing.”
“Otherwise you would have mentioned him?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
I reached out and took his hand, tracing my fingers over his dragon’s head ink. “We’re in this together. We’re a team. I have your back, just like the three of you have mine.”
“What if this mission wasn’t a factor?”
“What?”
“What if you essentially weren’t forced into being here at my place, forced into this marriage?”
“It doesn’t feel forced when I’m here. Especially with everything the three of you have done to make me feel comfortable here, all the special items you brought in for me, the things you set up in my room. It’s meant a lot to me.”
“That’s something.” He murmured. “I guess.”
“Nico, what—”
He spun the laptop around, a photo of Joe in full dress uniform on the screen. “This guy is ex-military, a decorated vet, in fact, and a distinguished sniper. Following that, he went on to work for a private security firm, then disappeared for several years. Your research cites that he spent that time working for a black ops team.”
“All correct. Your point?”
“Why did he suddenly drop off the grid? Why is he registered as dead, in fact?”
“Because of my father. Joe was with my mom beforehand. They were high school sweethearts. Then they went off to college together and to medical school. They were engaged at one point. And then he enlisted.”
“Enlisted? Just like that? With him on a medical school track alongside your mom?”
“His best friend was murdered. It impacted him in a major way. It set him on a different path. And it drove him and my mom apart. She ended up meeting Santino. Apparently, Joe came back for her at one point, but she was already too entangled in my father’s world. The only way for them to be together was for Joe to pull her out. She would have had to give up the career she loved and had worked so hard for. So she stayed with my father. Little did she know he would become the monster that he is now. He wasn’t always like that with her. He cherished her in the beginning. But I guess all that power and fighting to hold on to it, playing god over people’s lives… it corrupted him. And it just got worse and worse.”
“And how did you meet this guy?”
“When I left the Family and went off to college, my mom reached out to Joe for the first time in years. She knew that what I was doing would endanger me, but she also understood that I couldn’t stand being suffocated any longer, that I needed to be free. So, he discreetly trained me. Intensely. For months and months on end. Hence, my combat know-how.”
“He protected you.”
“He taught me how to channel all that rage and pain inside me.”
“He made you into a killer.”
“That’s one way of looking at it. Either way, it was necessary. And that training has saved me several times over.” I sank back against the chair. “How he’s connected with Carlo Benzino, I really don’t know. The more pertinent question there, though, is why.”
“I need you to reach out to him.”
“I will.”
He eyed me across the table, curiosity sparking. “You said Santino cherished your mom in the beginning, that he wasn’t initially the twisted psychopath that he ended up becoming with her.”
“Yeah. And?”
“ And is that something you worry about?”
“In relation to what?”
“Me, Caterina. Us.”
“The three of you are nothing like him.”
“Not how he is now, no. But—”
“Can we not do this right now? Let’s just keep our focus on the major news you told me before these delicious sandwiches arrived. That being that Carlo Benzino approached you wanting you not only to form an alliance with him but also for me and you to take control of the families. I mean, that’s not an easy pill to swallow. Would you want that? To take power over the Marchetti Syndicate? Of course you’ve thought about it before with being Marco’s heir, but then you were passed over for Underboss in favor of Leo, so I’d imagine you ruled it out after that.”
“Our goal is our freedom.”
“That can be brought about by taking power.”
“Only to an extent.”
“No. If the families are destroyed—”
“There would be a power vacuum created, as Carlo pointed out.”
“But we wouldn’t be impacted by it like we are now.”
“We would be the ones who took down the Marchettis and Leones. That would make us a target of anyone else who tried to take power in their stead.”
“Then we leave. Embrace the Reincourt Construction thing that you had Julian set up as a backup to start over.”
“That was an extreme last resort. We’d lose everything. Especially you and Julian. Everything you’ve built here would be ripped away. And what about your expansion plans? Brimbank Waterfront? That wouldn’t be able to happen. You’d have to give it all up, Caterina.”
“Yet, if we take power, we’d be trapped in this life forever. In this fucked-up world.”
“The nature of it would be different with us at the helm.”
I took him in, his answers, all of it. “You don’t think you could live without the brutality, do you?”
“Growing up as Marco Marchetti’s son, living this life, it made me a certain way, shaped me. I guess…” He scrubbed his hand over his face. “I don’t know.”
“Just so you know, we can definitely find other outlets for your feral side beyond this nightmare we live in here with the three families.”
The corner of his mouth turned up. “Well, I’ve already found one. In you.”
“Right back at you.”
He rose from his chair all of a sudden. “We’ll lay all this out with Julian and Milo, see where we’re all at in regards to Carlo. Meanwhile, reach out to Stover.” He gestured at my plate. “I’m glad you’ve gotten your appetite back.”
Yeah, I’d eaten four sandwiches, a bowl of fries, and half a vegetable plate. “I guess the physicality of the mission tonight made me extra hungry.” At least, that was what I was telling myself. What I had to tell myself right now.
His gaze roamed over me in just my silk robe, which I’d changed into once we’d arrived back, before I’d handed all my intel on Joe over to him like he’d asked.
I hadn’t wanted him to think that I was purposely keeping that from him. I hadn’t wanted him to think that I wasn’t with him, Milo, and Julian. It was really important to me that they knew I was all in when it came to them.
But the fact that he’d had to question it bothered me.
Was I not putting it out there properly? How much they’d come to mean to me? That it had stopped being about the mission long ago? That what hurt them, hurt me? That what made them happy, made me happy?
That we’d become inextricably and irreparably linked forevermore?
He looked away quickly again.
And then he moved away too, telling me, “Now you’ve eaten well, it’s time to focus on the sleeping aspect. Okay? Rest up, Caterina.”
With that, he headed for the door to the kitchen.
“I don’t want to sleep alone. And I don’t want you to either.”
He stilled, his back to me. “You’ve gone through a lot. You need your rest.”
“Then help me rest, bello.”
He turned around slowly. “Caterina—”
“I can feel it from you, see it all over you. All the stress and upset that’s weighing on you. Seeing Julian like that. Knowing we were all in danger. Challenging Leo. It’s all putting a strain on you. It’s building up and hurting you. You need to let loose. So do it.” I rose from my chair. “All. Over. Me.”
Because he wasn’t alone there, I really needed to let some things out too.
In the next second, he was on me, shoving me against the wall with jarring force, his hands grasping my arms and essentially pinning me there before him.
“ Principessa,” he groaned at my ear, his warm breath on my neck sending delicious tingles through me.
I turned my head and nipped at his jaw and a hot thrill infused me when it drew a sexy growl from him. One of those dangerous ones that promised a whole lot of destruction. Or, in this case, sexual devastation.
Fuck, yes.
I slicked my tongue along the grazes I’d made, and then he had me squealing as he jerked my robe open, then ripped me off the wall, spun me around, and slammed me down on the counter.
Before I could catch my breath, he was there, grabbing my thighs, wrenching them apart, then diving in with that merciless tongue of his.
“Ah, shit!” I cried as he devoured me like a fucking savage, pleasure sparking everywhere and overwhelming me in seconds. God, he was on another level when he was in this state. Fucking feral to the max. “Yes!” I screamed as he thrust his tongue deep inside me, then stabbed violently and at crazy speed.
I yanked at his hair and it just spurred him on, more so, and he dug his fingers into my ass, then forced me closer, his tongue thrusting deeper.
I shrieked as he then slathered my juices all over my clit, before then grazing it with his teeth.
And that was it. I went off violently, drenching his face.
He smirked devilishly as he made a show of lapping up every drop of me and savoring it.
He released my ass, then dug his fingers into the soft flesh of my right breast, making me hiss from the sting of it.
“Spread those sexy thighs wide and put your feet flat on the counter,” he ordered. “Open to me. All the fucking way.”
As I did as he asked, his dark eyes flamed while he opened his pants and shucked them off, then stroked his cock a couple of times, before he reached over me and snatched something up.
I wasn’t able to take it in until he already had it sliding through my folds.
I jolted when I saw him holding a cucumber, one he hadn’t needed to use earlier.
His hand left my breast and then he grabbed something else and I looked to see him holding a spatula.
In the next second, he brought it down on my breast with stinging force that had me gasping. He picked up the pace and then concentrated directly on my nipples, making me cry out from the biting intensity.
I dug my nails into the sides of the counter, trying to take it.
And then he pushed the cucumber into my pussy, making me choke from the shock of it.
“Mmm, fuck, yeah. Take it, dirty girl,” he groaned as he kept striking my now burning breasts with the spatula while driving the cucumber deeper inside me, stretching me open.
I was bucking on the counter in moments, my thighs shaking as I struggled to keep them spread wide in such a vulnerable and wanton position.
“Look at your wet cunt swallowing it so desperately.”
He tossed the spatula, then leaned down and bit one of my nipples so hard that he drew blood.
“Oh shit,” I choked as it took me to another place altogether. “Yes, more,” I found myself begging as I rolled my hips rougher and rougher, basically fucking against the cucumber, as I lost myself to it all, the pain, pleasure, and insanity of it all crashing into me.
When he pulled back, his darkened sapphire eyes meeting mine, blood dripped from his lips.
He twisted the cucumber inside me, then abruptly yanked it out.
Then he was slapping my pussy, earning a shriek from me.
And still I begged for more.
“Fuck, woman,” he groaned. “On your knees. Rub those sore breasts all over the counter. I want them to burn for me.”
Shakily, I got on my knees and then he was there shoving down on my back and forcing my breasts against the hard surface, making me press them onto it and feel the ache from his delicious abuse.
He stepped up behind me and spread my ass cheeks wide a moment before he spat into my ass. I mewled at the sensation of it oozing inside.
He did it again, his finger following and sinking inside, stirring it, as he spat inside more.
“Fuck, Nico,” I moaned.
“Filthy little princess,” he grunted.
He had me jarring as something a lot larger pushed inside alongside his finger.
I turned my head to see him driving the cucumber into my ass. “Oh my God.”
“Your cunt is dripping all over the counter. It’s getting you off being fucked in the ass by a vegetable, baby.”
“Ungh,” I choked as he twisted it, then drove deeper, burying it further and further, grazing my walls, opening me up for his demented pleasure.
And I fucking loved it.
Every crazed moment.
Everything he did to me.
The way we fed off each other in the most glorious ways.
“Reach back and hold your ass open,” he commanded.
The moment I did, he yanked the cucumber out, then stuffed it back in deep in the next second, the intense sensations making me scream.
He didn’t stop then, pounding inside at a fearsome pace that stole my breath away, reaming my ass mercilessly.
“Hot little ass,” he uttered.
Through it, he flicked my clit.
Once.
Twice.
And then I came apart, my orgasm slamming into me, and I shuddered on the counter, losing my grip on my ass cheeks.
Before I could even recover, Nico dragged me halfway off the counter so my feet were touching the floor, but I was still folded half over it. He kept the cucumber buried in my ass and then he slammed into my pussy, driving so deep in one brutal go that it had me choking.
He power-fucked into me right away and smacked the end of the cucumber, making me buck beneath him with every hard hit that became like a vibrating force of motion. That intense sensation tearing through me combined with his cock driving into me like a merciless beast had ecstasy crashing into me, spreading all fucking over as I clenched down around his cock and the cucumber and came all over the place.
A snarl escaped me as it went on and on, taking me higher and higher.
Nico pulled out of me, then went to rip me off the counter, but I reacted faster and took him down to the ground.
I pounced on him, straddling his lap, then slammed myself down onto his cock.
“Fuck!” he roared.
Digging my nails into his shoulders, I rode him like a wild thing, lost to it all, just completely fucking consumed.
He patted my cheek and I opened instinctively, wherein he then shoved the cucumber in, pounding it down my throat, essentially fucking my face with it.
So fucking dirty.
So completely fucked-up.
And it only made me ride him harder.
I slapped and pinched his nipples, dug my nails deep into his pecs, then raked them down his abs, and through it all, his snarls and growls infused me, that and him brutalizing my mouth with the cucumber just urging me on, dragging me deeper into the dementedness of it all.
He suddenly pulled the cucumber from my mouth, then dragged it over my breasts.
And then he was lifting me off him and getting to his feet.
When he held his hand out to me, I batted it away, then shrieked and lunged at him, driving him into the wall.
He snagged me around the hips and hauled me up, and I fought him, kicking and biting and scratching like the wild thing he’d brought out in me—that we’d brought out in each other.
The next thing I knew, we were stumbling out down the corridor and slamming each other back and forth into the walls near the stairs.
He shoved me up against one wall by the back of my head, then thrust inside me, taking me deep, and I fucked back against him as he roughly grabbed my pussy in a burning grip.
I broke his hold, and he grunted as his dick was forced out of me, only to grab me and basically toss me up the stairs. I’d barely landed on my back when he was there, pouncing on me, his body covering mine. He dragged his cock through my dripping folds, his dangerous gaze burning into mine.
“No,” he snarled. “Need to fuck you like an animal.”
In the next second, he pushed off me and as I went to adjust my position, he had me squealing as he snagged my ankle and pulled me back down the stairs a moment before he pounced on me, covering my back.
He thrust back inside me and I clawed at the stairs for purchase as his thrusts became animalistic in mere seconds.
“Fuck!” I cried through the delicious brutality, both of his cock slamming inside me and the stairs bruising my skin with his every thrust.
“Too much?” he challenged, all breathy at my ear.
He pulled out, flipped me around so I was on my back, then grabbed my thigh and slammed back in deep, making me scream.
“Never,” I gasped.
Our eyes locked, all that intensity flaming between us.
“So fucking perfect,” he rumbled. “Not giving you up. Fucking ever.”
He kept saying that over and over as he fucked me, wrapping his hand around my throat to hold me steady to him, to connect with me on a primal, inescapable level.
Pleasure crashed into me, taking me over again and again until I couldn’t see straight.
And we still kept going.
“What are you doing?”
I looked up from my phone as Nico walked in carrying two glasses of water.
“Texting Milo. Julian’s awake, so him too. I’ve sent a covert message out to Joe, I’m looking into some more of your soldiers, and I just checked out a possible Angelo sighting which turned out to be nothing.”
“I’ve been gone barely fifteen minutes, making those calls to get the place outfitted for Julian’s discharge from the hospital tomorrow and setting up sessions with his therapist.”
I lifted a shoulder. “I don’t mess around.”
He put a glass down on the nightstand closest to the opposite side of his bed, then passed the other to me before climbing back onto the bed. As I took some big gulps because I was so thirsty after all that fucking and to also soothe my throat from all the screaming, he stared at me in surprise.
“What?” I asked.
“I lost count of the number of times you came. You should be passed out cold, but it seems to have somehow energized you instead.”
“Worried I’m in my animalistic state and gonna maul you at any second?” I jested.
“Worried about it? Never. Worried about you? Always.”
I sighed and finished up a text to Milo, who’d just reported that Julian had fallen asleep again after being up for about ten minutes. I put my phone down, then turned on my side toward Nico, who settled with his hand propping up his head on the pillow. “I just… leaving Julian and Milo there, not having them here with us… it’s upsetting.”
“I told you he wouldn’t have been able to handle all of us being in that tiny room with him. He can barely handle Milo being there right now, but there’s no way Milo would take no for an answer where that’s concerned. Plus, even with my security, Milo believes he’s the only one able to protect Julian if Angelo came for him there.”
“And you needed to get things ready for him and also have me get the ball rolling where Joe is concerned.”
“And do damage control. I knew the ramifications of what went down tonight would be severe. I suspected that Leo would come at me too and I didn’t want that to happen around Julian while he’s… like this. Male aggression right now will be one of the worst things for him. That’s how it was last time.”
“Shit, Nico, what he suffered through… I can’t… it was beyond brutal. It was worse than I’d already worried about it being.”
He wrapped his arm around me and tucked me against him. “I know. But Julian is strong. He’s full of life too. And he has the tools to work through it. He’ll be back here with us tomorrow and I’m gonna make sure that’s where he stays while he’s recovering. So all three of us can be there for him, so he’s looked after.”
“So he’s loved.”
“Yeah. So he’s loved.” He looked out at me, a whole lot of confusion coming at me.
“What’s with the look?”
“Just a little surprised that the word came spilling from your pretty lips so easily.”
“ Loved?”
“Yes,” he answered tightly. “That’s the word. While we’re on this, you haven’t even commented on our marriage.”
“Why would I? It’s not real.”
“Legally, it is very real.”
“You know what I mean. It’s just for show.” I sat up, smoothing down my black negligee. “And you may have also noticed that the boys haven’t commented on it either. Not really. With the four of us being together, I’m sure they’re not over the moon about the fact that you and me have been bound by this supposed marriage with the two of them left out. But they get that it’s fake too, that’s why the issue hasn’t been raised. Although, I’m sure the reminders from our families about it don’t help.”
“There have been more reminders than you’re aware of.”
“What?”
“I get messages about it nearly every day from my family and your father.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“There’s enough going on without you having to be subjected to that, or hearing the lies I’ve told to tide them over.”
“Lies about what you were doing to me?”
“Yeah.”
“How you were breaking me down, forcing the fight and attitude out of me, making me nothing but a submissive, weak mess of a person?”
He scowled, showing me how much he hated even the thought of it.
I knew he did.
It absolutely repulsed him, not just that I could be subjected to that, but the idea that they all thought it was possible at all. That he would do that. That I would endure that.
“I was in a position to spare you from hearing about that day in and day out, so I kept it off your radar. I know you don’t actually need my protection and I know you don’t like people thinking you do, or actions being taken to protect you, but—”
“No.”
He raised an eyebrow. “No?”
“I don’t like the suggestion that I need protecting or that I can’t protect myself, because of course that’s demeaning. But I do like the idea of us protecting each other . I like that a lot. This team element I wasn’t familiar with before the three of you burst into my life… I can’t imagine not being a part of that camaraderie now. That togetherness. The unconditional support. The understanding.” I eyed him pointedly. “That love.”
I shifted on the bed until I was sitting cross-legged facing him, urgency radiating off me as I told him, “For so long, you were the only one in our fucked-up world who didn’t discount me. Even as twisted as our little war was, I saw what you were really doing—beyond the obsession of it all, anyway. You challenged me, you always saw me as an equal and you wanted that from me. You pushed me, you wanted me to dominate, you wanted me to come into my true power in a way I’d been struggling with.” I took his hand in mine, stroking his fingers softly. “You saw the real me before I did. And you fucking worshipped me for it. You went out of your way to safeguard that when I was pulled back into the Leone bullshit. And you put your trust in me even when it came to your brotherhood. You’ve believed in me at every turn.”
“Caterina—”
I pressed my finger to his lips as I rose up onto my knees and sank my fingers into his soft black hair. “How could I not love that? How could I not love you for that?”
His eyes widened, his disbelief blatantly apparent, so much so that it had my gut twisting. “That’s right. You heard me correctly. I love you, Nico Marchetti.”
He eased my hand from his mouth and stared up at me, that disbelief giving way to reverence. “Why did it seem like you were so very far away from being able to admit that, or entertaining the notion of it at all?”
“Because of the circumstances. Being surrounded by this nightmare. I didn’t want something so special tainted by all of this. Something so pure being poisoned by it. I guess I wanted to wait until it was all over, until we were free so that it would just be about that and not burdened by anything else. By this war, or this fake marriage, or all the pain the four of us have been through and are still likely to face with what’s coming.”
“I worried about the same thing. I even weaponized it when I confessed as much to you when I was trying to get you to take some time, to rest. I just couldn’t hold it in any longer. I needed you to know. But I’m sorry for it coming out like that and—”
“I get it.”
“Yeah?”
I nodded. “After what happened in that hellhole, getting Julian out and walking into that kind of danger, knowing it will be far from the last time… it hit me so brutally just how uncertain things are for the four of us. Whether we’ll come out of this, whether we’ll survive it. And even if we do, will it be in pieces? And with that, I just… I couldn’t stand holding onto this a moment longer either, to you not knowing just how deeply I feel for you, how much I adore you. That I do, in fact, love you, Nico.”
“And you don’t like being vulnerable.”
I smiled. “That too. But you have been for me, so here it is, me reciprocating.”
His eyes lit up, basically shining at me, and that sweet, boyish grin spread over his face. He looked so happy, so unburdened, if only for this moment in time, that it sent a beautiful thrill through me.
I wrapped my arms around him and he did the same, pulling me down with him. “Thank you, Caterina. Thank you for giving this to me.”
“I’m not leaving you. I’m not leaving any of you. When this is done or whatever happens, I’ll still be here with you as yours. The time for walking away has long passed for me. I promise.”
His hold tightened around me, and he nuzzled against me. “Good, because we’re never letting you go.”
I chuckled as he held me to him, both arms encircling me and his leg even draped over me, essentially trapping me to him.
But it was the good kind of trapped, not the claustrophobia-triggering kind. It was the right kind, the comforting kind.
The belonging kind.
Unfortunately, the sweet intimacy of it was cut all too short by the sound of my phone ringing.
Nico grunted at the disruption, but admitted, “It could be urgent.”
“Given everything going on, yeah.”
He very reluctantly lifted his leg off me, then loosened his hold on me too, enough for me to reach my phone, but not enough to actually let me go. It had me laughing as I snatched my phone off the nightstand.
I was tensing in the next moment as I sank back into his embrace and saw the name flashing on the call display.
Levi Knight.
Talk about awkward timing.
“Take it,” Nico said, when I hesitated.
I went to push from his hold to do so away from him, but he tightened his grip on me. “No. Here.”
“Ramping up the awkwardness,” I muttered.
“It’ll be fine.”
I swiped it open. “Levi.”
“Put it on speakerphone,” Nico spoke, loud enough that I was sure Levi heard.
I did as he’d asked, but before I could get another word out, Levi’s voice sounded through the room.
“Are you two a package deal now? Or does Rina have no choice in the matter where that’s concerned, mafia prince?”
“You know her better than to believe she’d ever let that be the case,” Nico responded, strangely civilly despite the opposite coming from Levi.
“I’m fine, Levi,” I assured him, knowing he was just concerned.
“If that stops being the case, just say the word.”
Now that got Nico going, and he rumbled, “And you’ll do what exactly?”
“What will I do? I’ll lay it out in excruciatingly painful detail and—”
There was a commotion in the background, and then we heard a female voice.
“Levi, stop. You’re seriously laying down a threat against Nico Marchetti?”
“I don’t like him with her. He’s a dangerous—”
“We’re all dangerous. Besides, she’s told you that she’s fine. Several times. Play nice.”
“I can’t just—”
“Lovely, come on. Just take a breath.”
“Screw the breath, your hands on me are doing the job, Wildflower.”
I grinned at Nico and whispered, “Told you he’s completely and utterly in love with his girlfriend.”
Nico actually cracked a smile. “She has the ability to reel him in too, it seems.”
“That’s an overexaggeration,” Levi said, coming back on the line again. “So watch yourself.”
I blew out a breath. “Levi, why did you call? Is something wrong?”
“Right,” he said, clearing his throat. “I actually dialed you because your phone is secure, but the message is for your husband, too.”
“Seriously, Levi?”
“Fuck, fine.”
We heard movement in the background again; him grunting, then the woman with him, who was obviously Brianna, giggling.
“You’re lucky you’re so fucking irresistible and I’m in a fantastic mood.”
“Then don’t let this call sour it. Or sour it for Caterina who you haven’t spoken to in a while.”
I heard Levi clear his throat, then he told us, “Malcolm Lynch is buried. Osiris is gone. Wiped out would be a more accurate way of putting it. Obviously, that means the deal your father was trying to make is dead in the water. You’re good to go there, free of that insanity. It’s over.”
“Good work,” Nico told him.
“This is amazing,” I spoke to Levi. “It must be surreal for you.”
“It is, yeah.”
“I’m really happy for you, Levi. I know what this takedown means for you, how much it was needed.” And how long he’d been fighting for it.
“Thanks, sweetheart.”
“You must be celebrating like crazy.”
“We’re about to, yeah. I just wanted to relay the news to Nico—and you—first.”
“We appreciate it,” Nico said, surprising me.
Surprising Levi too, it seemed, because there was a delay before he responded, unsure, “Right… okay, thanks.”
“I’m impressed,” Nico continued. “Taking that psychopath out of play was no small feat.”
“Well, I’m a relentless bastard. Takes one to know one, right, Nico?”
“Point made,” Nico said, amusement in his tone.
“I also had a great team with me, something I understand you do, too. Especially with Rina now a part of it.”
Hmm. The way he was talking, he knew it for a fact. He’d clearly been looking into things here. Even while being swamped with his own mission.
“That’s going to be the key to what you’re up against there. It’s power. Use it well. But guard it well too. And if you need an assist, you know I’m always here too, all right?”
“Thanks, Levi.”
“It’s appreciated,” Nico told him.
“I make a much better ally than an enemy, Nico. As so long as you treat Rina well, I’ll remain as the former.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Well, I’ll let you get back to… whatever it is that you’re doing, and I need to get back to my loves.”
“Talk to you soon, Levi,” I said.
“Definitely. You hear that, Nico?”
“Fine,” Nico grunted. “Yes, don’t be a stranger to Caterina.”
“Wow, good then. Until next time.”
With that, he hung up, and I stared at Nico, stunned.
“Yes?” he asked, grinning at me.
“What was that?”
“He’s important to you. It was clear from his tone with you that it’s purely platonic on his end. He’s a great support for you. You were also all lit up as we spoke with him—he obviously brings out a lighter side of you, and I want that for you, especially while we’re caught up in all this madness.” He reached out and tucked some strands of hair behind my ears, the tender and reverent gesture sending a surge of warmth through me. “Again, I’m sorry that I ever tried to interfere with that. You make your own choices and it’s not for me to get in the way of that. He’s your only friend and you need that in your life, somebody you’ve given your trust to who’s safeguarded it well.”
“Wow,” I breathed.
He eased my phone from my hand and put it down on his nightstand. “Plus, I’m not at all worried.” That self-satisfied smirk with a hint of deviousness was out in full force. “You just told me that you love me.”
I chuckled and wrapped myself around him, then pulled the covers up over us. “Come here.” His arms encircled me again, and I rested my head on his chest. “Stay here holding me all night. Don’t let me go.”
“Never,” he said, tightening his hold. He kissed the top of my head and nuzzled against me. “Sleep now, amore mio.”