Chapter 21
NICO
Dragging two bodies, one dead and one unconscious, through the back streets of the Vegas strip is no small task. Which is why I pause for a beer at the bar of the shady nightclub once I’ve returned the nearly decapitated Vlad back to his crew.
“The boss isn’t going to be very happy about this,” the bartender says as he shakes his head and pours me a beer, all while keeping half an eye on the dead man propped up in the corner of his bar.
There’s a trail of smeared blood leading from the door of the nightclub to the bar, and less than a couple of hours before opening hours.
“He’ll get over it,” I say as I take a long, cold sip of the frothy ale. “And if he doesn’t, he knows where to find me.”
“I have to admit, you’ve got some balls, Ghost,” he chuckles. “You aren’t afraid of much of anything, are you?”
The truth is that if he had asked me that question a month ago, I would have easily and honestly said, “Nope, not afraid of a goddamn thing.” But now the answer has changed.
Now I have something that I care about, and it isn’t just about looking after myself anymore. Now, I’ve fallen in love with Elle.
Even thinking about that word makes me feel unsettled, as if I’ve suddenly lost my superpower and am nothing more than a vulnerable, regular man again.
Being the Ghost meant I could live a thousand lives, none of which I had to adhere to.
I could kill people, save people, disassociate from people—and if I died, it didn’t matter much because I had no one to care about or to take care of.
Now, the stakes are higher. Being the Ghost means that I have an ever-increasing enemies list, and that anyone around me becomes a target and my weakness.
Just like now—as I sit here tempting fate by dropping Vlad off, missing half his head for his boss to see.
If the fat don comes after me for it, that puts Elle in the crosshairs, too.
Mafia kingpins like to go for the weakest point and use it as leverage, even if that means hurting those you care about in order to get to you.
There are only a few of them with a moral code, like Vincent and Luciano, who don’t engage in such practices. The rest have more questionable ethics.
I finish my beer and get up to leave.
“Hey,” the bartender calls out after me. “Was the debt that Vlad owed you repaid by this bloody act? Or should we expect to be seeing you around here again soon?”
“You won’t see me around again,” I say as I walk out the door. “Possibly never.”
When I get back to my car, I pick up the phone and call in a favor to Vincent Moretti.
Even though he never delivered Valentina to me for safekeeping, he still asked me to do it, so he owes me, and he’s more than willing to oblige.
As long as I’m still the Ghost, powerful men still want to remain on my good side.
He sees to it that Detective Monroe has a flight on his private jet out of the country to a remote location where he will stay, if he’s smart.
Before I head back to my apartment and to Elle, I have one more call to make.
“Nico, I wasn’t expecting to hear from you anytime soon,” Luciano’s voice says through the phone. “Is this a friendly call or a favor, or something more daunting?”
“A favor,” I say without needing to remind him that he, too, owes me. Practically everyone in Vegas owes me for something that I’ve done for them at one time or another. “Actually, I’m calling in a favor. I want you to ask your wife to do something for Elle Monroe.”
“That’s an unusual request,” he says.
“I know. But it’s an important one, and it’s not a large ask,” I explain.
“I just want Valentina to initiate a call to Elle. I know that the two of them used to be friends, and well, Elle has just gone through a whole hell of a lot. She’s got blood on her hands, for good reason, and she could use a friend to talk to—a female friend.
If the call doesn’t go well, Valentina can end it.
I just feel that if given the chance, perhaps the two women could put the past behind them and rekindle an old friendship that they could both benefit from. ”
“That’s a very empathetic request coming from you,” Luc says.
I can hear the curiosity in his voice. “And I’m happy to ask Valentina to do it.
Whether she agrees to place the call is up to her.
I promised her when I married her, I would never force her to do anything she didn’t want ever again.
But I agree it would benefit them both. I have a feeling Valentina misses the friendship she used to have with Elle, too. I picked up on it at the wedding.”
“Thank you,” I say, realizing as soon as I say it that I’ve never actually thanked anyone before.
“Can I ask you something before you hang up?” Luc asks.
“Sure.”
“I can tell, based on the fact that I’ve been right where you are myself, that you’ve grown feelings for this woman.
And I can also let you know from personal experience that balancing mafia responsibilities along with a relationship is difficult.
I can’t even imagine what it would be like for the Ghost to get involved with a woman while also protecting her from all that you’re involved in, especially a woman who isn’t even from a mafia family. How do you intend to do it?”
I pause before answering because Luciano has given voice to the very question that has been rolling around in my head all day. And it isn’t until I open my mouth to answer him that I discover the answer for myself.
“I don’t,” I say, shedding the weight of my brother’s death and my lifelong pursuit of redemption and vengeance. “I was my brother’s ghost, but Elle has made me human. I think it’s time for me to step out of the shadows and put that life behind me now.”