Chapter 15 Nicolas
NICOLAS
The last time I felt this scared was when they took my father into the OR while I stood there with his blood on my hands.
The warehouse where Aria operated was half an hour away from my house, but as we drove back it felt like an eternity had passed, and the entire time I couldn't stop thinking about Ajla.
Her smile.
Her voice.
The way she commanded me and the way she let me take charge.
The way I felt when she was in my arms and how I have never slept as well as I did with her in my arms.
I could see our future together this morning, and it had l almost been ripped away from me when I heard that the house was under attack. I should've known she would've been able to defend herself, although I had no idea where she stood now that she had seen me killing a man. A bad man, but still.
Even those of us who were born into this life weren't so cold-hearted when another life was taken, no matter how much that person had wronged us.
And I was a killer. I was a monster, the devil of Redmont City, and as she sat next to me in a different room from mine where Johnny's body still lay, I wondered if I had screwed everything up.
"Are you okay?" I asked, trying to break the silence that had enveloped us as soon as I took her out of there.
My guys were already cleaning up the house, and thanks to Aria and her crew, we were able to help. What surprised me the most when I walked inside was seeing Don Mancini's vacant eyes staring at me as he lay dead at the bottom of the staircase.
I guess that this wasn't the outcome he was hoping for, but I was glad I didn't have to be the one to kill him. I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of his own who had killed him.
The men we had found here dropped their weapons rather quickly, and those that hadn’t been cooperated were dealt with rather quickly. Now I just hoped this wouldn't be the last time I'd be seeing Ajla, and if she decided she wanted nothing to do with me, I honestly had no idea what I would do.
I couldn't deny this soul-deep connection I felt with her, no matter how crazy it was. We didn't know each other, not really, but having her with me felt as if the pieces of the puzzle were finally falling into place, and I didn't want to live my life thinking of what could have been.
"When I was maybe seven or eight years old, one of my cousins killed himself by detonating a hand grenade in front of our primary school," she suddenly said, staring at her hands.
"I wasn't close to him, but I was close enough to see the pieces of him scattered all over the monument that was built in front of the school. So did the other kids."
Jesus. "I'm so sorry, darling."
"I know." She turned toward me, her eyes bright, nowhere near as panicky as I expected them to be.
"I grew up in a country where violence eradicated families.
Where greed played the biggest part and where they tried to divide us based on religion, nationality, and who our ancestors were.
To this day they still call it a Civil War, but in reality it was a war created by those who wanted more money, more power, and they played us all like puppets, pulling people into battles they wanted no part of.
" She clasped my hand and scooted closer to me.
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I vowed to myself that violence would never be an answer.
I always thought I could solve everything without using unnecessary force, but now I can see I was wrong.
Hearing Johnny talk about you, about me, as if we were just pawns reminded me of the politicians back home who still see my people as puppets and nothing more, and I knew those types of men would never listen to reason. "
I had no idea where she was going with this, but I didn't want to stop her. She wasn't running away, so that was a start.
A massive start.
She wasn't screaming or crying and I just hoped this wasn't some kind of delayed reaction.
"I understand that your world requires violence, because some of these men don't understand rational words," she continued.
"I understand you would always protect your people, and I actually don't mind that.
And for whatever reason, I feel like there's more to us, Nico.
I feel like you're the answer to a lot of my prayers, and while I don't know what the future holds for us, I don't want to run from you.
I don't want to hide. I don't want to spend the rest of my life feeling like I'm missing a crucial part of my soul, because that's what you feel like—like you're crucial for my soul.
And yeah, I see you looking at me, waiting for me to tell you to take me home and that I don't want to see you ever again, but tough luck buttercup—you're kinda stuck with me. "
I couldn't wait any longer. I couldn't bear the distance between us, and before she could say anything else, I kissed her.
No, I devoured her, showing her how much those words meant to me.
My tongue ran over her teeth, seeking entrance, and as if we had done this a million times before, she opened up, letting me in.
Letting me lead and letting me hold her as our kiss slowed down.
"But I wasn't joking," she pulled slightly back and looked up at me. "I might really need a therapist."
"I'll get you one," I laughed. "I'll get you three if it means you would stay with me."
"I would, but I do have two conditions." She cleared her throat.
"First one is that I really hope you're not into human trafficking.
I understand you're doing illegal shit, but please, for the love of everything, if you want this to work, I don't want to be with someone who has anything to do with human trafficking. "
"No human trafficking, that I can promise you. Our family may not be operating fully on the right side of the law, but we all agree that we don't want anything to do with that."
"Okay, okay," she smiled. "That's good to know."
"And what's the second condition?"
"I want to learn how to fight," she blurted out. "I want to learn how to defend myself and how to help when it's needed."
"I—"
"I can help you with that." A new voice came from the direction of the doors before I could even try to tell her that she would never again need to defend herself, and I wasn’t surprised to see Aria standing there, grinning from ear to ear.
"You didn't tell me she was stunning, Nicolas."
"Here we go," I grumbled, standing up from the bed together with Ajla. "Ajla, this is my pain-in-the-ass sister Aria," I looked back at the aformentioned pain in the ass. "Aria, this is Ajla. My..." I stammered. My what? Everything? Girlfriend? Future?
"His kidnapped something-to-be," Ajla said, laughing as she approached Aria and hugged her.
"It is so nice to meet you. And holy hell," Ajla pulled back, looking between Ari and me.
"Are all of you this hot or is it only the two of you?
Because Nico, if you tell me you have an older brother that looks like the two of you, I might leave you for him. "
"No older brother," I chuckled. "I'm afraid you're stuck with me, but we do have one more sister."
"And she's nothing like me," Aria said, wrapping her arm around Ajla's shoulders. "I heard you shot Johnny in his dick."
"I did," Ajla beamed. "And I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good. The fucker had the audacity to tell me I should lay off carbs."
"He did not," Aria grumbled. "You're gorgeous and curvy and fucking hot. I never liked that fuckface."
"Yeah, I know," I added. Aria had said it a million times, but I didn't listen to her.
She always thought there was something wrong with him, and I never paid enough attention because I was trying to juggle so many other things in my life.
"I should've listened to you," I murmured, seeing the shocked look on her face.
"You can gloat now. I know you want to."
"Have I heard that right?" She asked Ajla. "My older brother, the stubborn mule of our family, just said that he should've listened to me. Can you say it again so I could record it?"
"Oh, shut up," I smiled. "This was a one-time thing."
"Riiiight," Aria drawled and suddenly sobered. "As happy as I am to meet you, Ajla, I came to bring some more news." And I didn't like the look on her face. "We located Enzo."
Her words would've shocked me less if she had told me somebody else was after us.
"Is he..."
"He's alive," she confirmed. "But I'm not sure if he's in the condition we’d want him to be.
" I liked those words even less. "Turns out the old man had him locked up at Westview for over a year.
He was paranoid Enzo would try to take him down, and before that could happen he had him taken away, keeping him heavily medicated until one of my contacts made a connection with the John Doe who was at the hospital. "
I shuddered.
Westview was an asylum located on the outskirts of the city, and it didn’t have the best reputation.
"I took him out," Aria added, "and we will take care of him until the drugs are out of his system, but I'm scared he won’t be the same Enzo we knew before."
Fuck, I wouldn't be either.
"Who's Enzo?" Ajla asked.
"He's my best friend, and instead of looking for him, I thought he had betrayed us."
"Good thing I was looking for him then. Otherwise who knows how long he would've been stuck there, especially since the paranoid old bastard got killed here today."
Enzo would need all the help he could get because he was the next in line to take over the Mancini family, and maybe, just maybe, with him at the top we could end this fucked-up war his father had created.
Shit. "Have you told Clara?" I asked Aria, and I didn't miss the slight flinch.
"I haven't. I wanted to tell you first, but I'll let her know. I'm not sure how she will take it, especially after that whole fiasco last year."
Yeah, being left at the altar and thinking your future husband had run away, and then hearing our father was dead, did not land well with Clara. But I always thought she was tougher than she looked, and I was sure she would be able to work through all of this, maybe even better than Aria and me.
"Let me know once you have more information, okay? But for now," I pulled Ajla to me, "I need you to leave so that Ajla and I can finish our conversation."
Aria smirked, retreating back toward the door. "Conversation, right." She looked at Ajla then. "It really was great meeting you, and whenever you want to have that training, just let me know. I'll help you."
"Thank you," Ajla said just as Aria exited the room. "She's nice," the light of my life said, staring at the vacant spot where Aria stood.
"Nice isn't an adjective anyone would use to describe my sister, but, eh," I shrugged, "I guess she is when she likes someone. Now," I turned her around, "where were we?"
Her hands landed on my chest, her eyes clashing with mine. "Oh, you were about to tell me I'm your soulmate and your heart belongs only to me."
If only she knew.