Chapter 12 Nova #2
He rounded the desk, glaring at me with every step, the chandelier overhead making his bald dome gleam.
I could almost believe he hated me. That was the look he wore, the energy pulsing from him.
“You come in here thinking you understand. What, because you lived in England for a couple of years? To attend a school that I paid for, by the way?” he reminded me, coming to a stop directly in front of me, only feet away.
It might as well have been miles. We were that far apart.
“You taught me the difference between right and wrong,” I reminded him in a choked whisper full of sorrow and betrayal.
He hadn’t come straight out and admitted it, no, but the way he danced around the subject and talked about the things people needed to do told me enough.
“What I saw was wrong. Try to absolve yourself all you want, it doesn’t matter, and you know it, or you wouldn’t be so angry with me now.
I’m the person you raised,” I reminded him, my voice shaking, pain edging every word.
“Then be the girl I raised and get the hell out of here,” he hissed, spittle flying, dark eyes glaring.
Eyes so much like mine, only harder. “Be smart enough to know when you’re in over your head.
Trust me,” he added with a bitter, chilling laugh.
“Consider yourself lucky you have the chance to walk away. Not everyone gets that lucky.”
“Boss?”
I spun with a gasp, my stomach dropping like I started at the descent down a rollercoaster. Standing in the doorway, Nico spoke to my father but stared at me. “I just came up for my phone. Is there a problem?”
Shit. He wouldn’t hurt me in front of Dad, would he? I had to believe that, or else I was done for. It would mean there was nothing left of my father if the man I thought he was ever existed in the first place.
“No, there’s no problem.” Dad breathed slowly, shakily, as he leaned his ass against the edge of his desk. “Nova was just leaving. Weren’t you, Nova?”
“Sure.” I wasn’t about to stick around a minute longer, not with Nico staring holes through me with those unnerving eyes.
He barely ever blinked, I realized. That was part of what made him so creepy.
That and the fact that he had grabbed me hard enough to leave a bruise the last time we met this way.
“I’ll see you out.” It was not a kind, generous offer. He wasn’t being chivalrous. I had no choice but to cast one last pleading look at Dad before following Nico from the room.
I had passed the point of fear. Or maybe I was flat-out suicidal.
Was that what happened to a person when their heart shattered beyond repair?
“Do you make a lot of money from it?” I murmured, staring at the back of his dark head.
“Was it your idea? Was that why Dad was so interested in sending me out of the country? So you two could do your dirty business without me being around for it?”
We reached the elevator, and he jammed his finger against the button without saying a word. Only the ticking of his jaw revealed the fact that he heard a word I said.
“Do you ever think about them?” I asked, my throat getting tighter as memories of those tear-stained faces flashed before my eyes.
Those trembling bodies, their soft whimpers.
“Or have you completely disconnected from your humanity? I guess you would have to. It’s probably the only way you can get through it. ”
“You better go.” He waited for the doors to open before stepping aside so I could board the elevator.
Before I had the chance to enter, though, something held me in place.
Rather, something grabbed the back of my head and yanked hard, pulling me up short while my scalp screamed.
He was holding me by a handful of my hair, twisting it, pulling.
“You’re supposed to be a smart girl, aren’t you?
” he asked, twisting my head around, tipping it back so he could snarl coldly in my face.
I gritted my teeth, determined not to reveal the pain that brought fresh tears to my eyes, no matter how I fought them.
His lip lifted in a sneer. “Do you know who else thought she was a smart girl? Your mother. Wouldn’t it be a shame if you disappeared one day like she did?
Unless you think the guys you’ve got guarding your apartment are going to do anything to help. ”
There was no time to absorb the message before he shoved me into the elevator car. I stumbled, pitching forward, unable to steady myself before I hit the back wall. I’d barely found my footing by the time the doors slid shut, and began to descend.
My mother.
Disappeared.
Wouldn’t it be a shame?
A broken sob tore its way out of me, filling the car.
So he was watching. He knew I was being guarded, but what did he mean about Mom?
She ran away. Packed her bags and left without a note, without a goodbye, nothing.
She drove me to school one day and never came to pick me up. Had he done something to her?
If it weren’t for the fear of what would happen if I didn’t get out of here now, I might not be able to step out once the doors slid open.
I was shaking too hard to move, locked in place the way my nightmares gripped me when I first woke up—muscles and joints seized, no control over my body.
In some ways, that was scarier than any nightmare.
But I did move because I was terrified of what Nico might do. What my father might allow him to do if it meant protecting himself.
Max spotted me before I reached him and must have recognized my expression for what it was since he rushed to me, placing one hand on the small of my back and taking my arm in the other.
“Let’s go,” he muttered, moving fast enough that I almost had to run to keep up with his long strides as we cut through the throngs of people milling around the casino floor.
“What happened? I should’ve gone with you. ”
I shook my head, my hair swinging around my face. “I have to call Vaughn. I need Vaughn,” I whispered since he was the only one who understood.
I should have listened to him.
I should never have gone up there…
Alone or otherwise.
There was no way to deny it now, no way to pretend.
How was I supposed to know Mom would come into it?
“I’ll take you home,” Max announced, steering me toward the garage. “You’ll be safe.”
The idea made my heart seize. “No. They’re watching the building. Nico knows about it.” Mom. Did he kill Mom? “I don’t want to go there.”
After he helped me into the big, shiny black truck that seemed to be standard issue for these security guys, Max climbed behind the wheel. I pulled up Vaughn in my phone, closing my eyes, my knees bouncing nervously. What if he’s too busy to answer?
For once, I had nothing to worry about. “What’s wrong?” he asked by way of greeting, his voice sharp. I didn’t normally call him, come to think of it.
“They know there are guys guarding me.” I was numb. Why did I feel so numb? Like I’d taken a dive headfirst into ice water. “They’re definitely watching.”
Immediately, he made a decision. “My house. You’re staying with me. No arguments.”
That was the thing. I wasn’t planning to argue. Escaping to Vaughn’s was the one thing keeping me going by the time we rolled out of the garage.