Chapter 16 NICO
NICO
The apartment smells like cheap vodka and cigarette smoke.
I stop just inside the doorway and take it in slowly. Music thumps from someone’s phone on the table. Empty bottles. Ash on the floor. Three strangers I’ve never seen before sitting around the kitchen like they own the place.
Gabby the sitter, I assume, stands near the counter, a cigarette between her fingers.
She freezes when she sees me.
The others follow her gaze. The room goes quiet in a way I know well. The moment when people realize they are standing in the presence of something they don’t understand but instinctively fear.
Good.
“Out,” I say.
My voice is calm. Not loud. It doesn’t need to be.
One of the men scoffs like he might argue. Then he actually looks at me. Looks at the suit. The way I stand. The way I’m already measuring the room and everyone in it.
He grabs his jacket.
The others follow.
No one says another word.
The door closes behind them.
Gabby is still standing there.
“You can’t just—” she starts.
“You’re fired.”
The words come out flat.
Her mouth opens.
“You were hired to care for a child,” I continue. “Instead you turn his home into a bar.”
Her expression shifts from anger to something closer to fear.
“I—I was just—”
“You will never come near my son or my woman again.”
I step closer. Slowly.
“If you do, I will know.”
The cigarette shakes in her hand.
She nods quickly.
“Good,” I say.
Then I hear small footsteps behind me.
I turn.
Noah stands in the hallway in dinosaur pajamas. His hair is messy from sleep. His eyes look straight at me with a seriousness that feels too old for a kid his age.
For a second something tightens in my chest.
My son.
I walk over and kneel so we’re eye level.
“Hey,” I say quietly. “Your mom sent me to get you. We need to go see her.”
His face hardens.
“You’re lying.”
The words hit harder than they should.
“Why would I lie?”
“Because Mommy says you’re not my dad.”
The room suddenly feels smaller.
“You’re just my father,” he continues, voice rising. “Because you don’t want to be my dad.” He stomps his foot. “Why don’t you want to be my dad?!”
Then the tears come.
I have faced men with guns pointed at my head and felt less helpless than I do right now.
I reach out and pull him closer. “Noah,” I call.
He tries to pull away while still crying.
“Listen to me.”
He sniffles.
“My life is dangerous,” I tell him quietly. “There are bad people out there who want to hurt me.”
He looks up.
“If they knew I was your dad, they would try to hurt you too and your mom.” I have no choice but to spill as much as I can to him. “I won’t let that happen.” The words come from somewhere deep inside me. “I care about both of you too much.”
He goes still. “You care?”
I’m hurt that he sounds surprised, but I still nod. “I love you,” I reassure him.
Saying it out loud does something strange to my chest. Like a door opening in a house I boarded up years ago.
He studies my face like he’s trying to decide if he believes me.
“Really?”
“Yes,” I say. “Really.”
He wipes his nose with his sleeve.
“Okay.”
Kids are strange. Sometimes the simplest truth is enough.
I stand and take his hand.
“Let’s go see your mom.”
We head downstairs. My driver opens the back door for us.
I’m helping Noah into the seat when I see them: black sedans turning onto the block. Too fucking many.
My stomach drops.
Russians.
“Go,” I snap at the driver.
The engine roars. The car jumps forward just as the first sedan screeches to a stop behind us.
I glance back through the window.
Men getting out.
Dark coats. Hard faces.
Pavlov.
So they know.
All this time I thought distance would keep Izzy and Noah safe. Turns out it only gave my enemies time to find them.
I look down at Noah beside me. He’s watching the cars shrink behind us.
“Bad guys?” he asks.
I don’t lie to him. “Yes.”
“Are we gonna win?”
I stare out the window for a moment.
“Yes,” I say finally.
Because now I have no other choice.
By the time we reach the penthouse, Izzy is already waiting.
Noah runs inside the second he sees her. “Mom!”
She’s standing in the middle of the living room holding a heavy glass paperweight like she’s ready to throw it.
When she hears him she drops it instantly.
“Noah!”
She grabs him and pulls him into a crushing hug.
I watch them for a moment.
Something about the way she holds him twists in my chest.
Izzy looks up at me over his shoulder.
Her lips move silently.
Thank you.
I shake my head once.
There are no thanks between us for this.
Not when it comes to him.
Leone walks in behind me, his shoulder wrapped in a rough bandage. “Ambush was clean,” he starts. “Two shooters minimum—”
He stops when he notices Noah staring at him.
Izzy sighs. “He likes action movies,” she says.
I look at her. “You let him watch those?”
She shrugs. “Gabby got him into them.”
My jaw tightens. “That explains it.”
Izzy frowns. “What does that mean?”
“I fired her.”
Her eyes flash.
“You what—”
“I’m glad,” Noah cuts in suddenly.
We both look at him.
“She always had stupid friends over,” he continues. “And they smelled weird. They kept puffing smoke and drinking from the stinky dark bottles. I hated her.”
Izzy blinks.
Her face slowly crumples with guilt. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Gabby made me promise,” Noah mumbles.
“And you kept it?”
He shrugs. “You said we needed her so you could work.”
Izzy pulls him into another hug. “I’m so sorry, baby. You have to know you’re more important to me than work, right?” She looks him straight in the eye. “You’re more important than anything.”
“I know,” he says meekly. “I’m sorry I lied.”
“No more secrets,” Izzy murmurs. “Okay? Promise me that. No more.”
He nods seriously. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
Then he brightens. “Wait! I have one more.”
We both look at him again.
“Nico said he loves us,” Noah announces proudly. “And he’s gonna be my dad.”
Silence drops into the room.
Leone clears his throat.
“Hey kid,” he says quickly. “Want to see your room?”
Noah grins.
“Yeah!”
Leone leads him down the hallway.
The moment they disappear, Izzy turns to me.
“You shouldn’t fill his head with things like that,” she says quietly. Her voice hurts more than if she had shouted. “It will be worse when he realizes the truth.”
I step closer.
“I told him the truth.”
She looks up at me.
“For seven years,” I say, “I stayed away to protect you.”
The words feel strange leaving my mouth. I’m not used to explaining myself to anyone.
“When I found out about Noah… I did the same.”
Her expression softens slightly.
“I’ve already lost one person I loved to this life,” I continue. “I wasn’t going to lose you too.”
She studies my face. “Why?”
“My enemies always go after the queen first.” My voice drops. “They did it once already.”
Realization seems to dawn on her. “Your mother,” she whispers.
I look at her quizzically. “You know about that?”
“Leone has a big mouth.” Then she quickly adds, “Don’t be mad. I think he was trying to save your skin. I was really angry earlier.”
My mouth ticks up a little. “Were you?”
“Oh, yeah.” She turns serious again. “I’m sorry, Nico. Really.”
I just nod. The memory still sits under my skin like broken glass. “I don’t need pity.”
“This isn’t that.”
I can tell she’s being honest. “If they had known about you back then,” I say quietly, “they would have done the same to you.”
Izzy swallows. “What changed?”
“They know now.”
Her eyes widen. The words hang heavy between us.
“And that means the one thing I tried to do—stay away—no longer protects you.”
I step closer. Close enough to feel the heat from her skin.
“If you let me,” I say quietly, “I will keep you and Noah here. Under my roof. I can protect you. And I can become the dad he deserves.”
Her eyes fill. “You mean that?”
“I do.” I’ve never meant anything more in my life. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Ever.”
Footsteps return. Leone sticks his head back into the room.
“Kid’s out cold,” he says.
“Good,” I tell him. “Now get lost.”
He chuckles and slips out the door.
Silence settles between Izzy and me again.
She looks at me.
I look at her.
All the distance I tried to keep between us suddenly feels impossible.
She steps closer first.
I don’t stop her.
Her hand touches my shirt.
I pull her the rest of the way to me.
And this time, when we kiss, neither of us pretends we’re walking away.