Chapter 19 #2
“Safe?” Riley whimpers, grasping my wrist before I can step away. “What do you mean safe?”
My whole body is tense, but I keep my gaze steady when I glance back at her.
“I’m just being careful, Riley. Everything will be fine,” I assure her, even though I tense further at another, more insistent knock. “Just sit.”
Her eyes flit between me and the hallway nervously, but she lets my wrist fall free and obediently takes a seat.
“Be careful,” she urges as I step away, hands twisted in the blanket she’s once again pulled into her lap.
“I’ll be right back.”
I smile tightly as I close the door between us, locking it on my way out. The harder I can make it for anyone to get to her, the better.
All trace of gentleness melts away from my frame as soon as I’m out of her line of sight. Cracking my knuckles harshly, I shed my jacket to the floor before quickly pushing the scattered photos on the coffee table back into their envelope before moving towards the front door once more.
I feel the cool metal of my gun as I hold it, still tucked in the waistband of my pants as another knock sounds from in front of me. Impatient fuck.
Yanking the door open with a sneer, my fury hits a brick wall, shattering into utter confusion. The look of anger on my face falters and melts into a frown as I blink at my brother Bruno, standing before me.
“Bruno?”
I was less than a minute away from calling him.
What the fuck is he doing here? Especially now?
He’s dressed like he came straight from his usual meetings—which generally consist of him glowering threateningly while someone else does his dirty work—head to toe in a tailored black suit, dark hair slicked back against his head.
The only spot of color comes from the red pocket square folded into his breast pocket.
It’s early for him to be finished for the day, the sun is not even completely below the horizon yet, and seeing him so early in the evening on a night I intentionally cleared my schedule has me suspicious.
“Hello to you, too,” he grumbles, cold brown eyes raking over me in thinly veiled distaste. “I’m here to talk business, kid.”
He shoulders past me before I can get a single word in, damn near bowling me over carelessly.
I grit my teeth as I shove the door shut behind him before flipping the lock, silently fuming over the fact that he’s still intent on calling me that.
He’s got three years on me, and he clings to every second of it.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snap, cutting him off before he can make it further into the living room.
Bruno huffs in annoyance, crossing thick arms over a thicker chest as he glares icily at me from beneath bushy brows.
“Hell of a way to greet your brother. Not planning on asking me how I am?” he asks with an unsettling, crooked-toothed smile through scarred lips.
“Ma keeps me updated on how you are,” I answer stiffly.
If the asshole would just give up on trying to get me to rejoin the other family business, maybe we’d talk more often.
“Could update you myself. You’ve been dodging my calls.”
Fuck, if I don’t shut him down now, he’s going to go blathering about things Riley has no reason to know about. Leave it to him to pick the worst possible time for literally everything.
“Now’s really not a good time, Bruce,” I insist, using his old nickname in an attempt to get on his good side for long enough to get him out of here. “Look, I’ll call—”
“It’s never a good time for you, Nicky,” he cuts me off with a mean grin, throwing my obvious attempt at manipulation back in my face. “Too bad. You have a responsibility to this family, and I’m tired of you running away from it.”
“I have a guest,” I hiss sharply. “Shut your mouth before you get us both in deep shit.”
Bruno steps closer, his slicked-back black hair gleaming under the living room lights, looking just as pissed as I feel.
“Your guest can fucking leave then,” he hisses right back. “Family’s more important than you getting your dick wet.”
Before I can lay into him, the lock on the office door clicks behind me, and I tense when I hear it creak open.
Bruno’s eyes light up in vicious amusement as Riley’s shoes click against the floor. I bite my tongue to stop myself from decking him. I should never have asked him to look into Riley when I first met her because now he knows exactly what I used the information he gave me for.
This is what asking him for a favor gets me.
“Riley, I told you to stay put,” I say with an exasperated sigh, stepping back from my brother to turn and glare at her.
“Sorry,” she says, sheepish and fidgeting nervously as she looks back and forth between me and Bruno. “I heard you two talking; I figured… look, I can go. I don’t want to interrupt, family—”
“Absolutely not,” I say sternly, closing the distance and pulling her protectively against my side. “My brother was just leaving.”
I level Bruno with a fiery glare, but he just smirks, the intense aura of dangerous curiosity that surrounds him thickening as he takes in the way Riley looks up at me with an awkward chuckle.
“Really,” she insists, twisting away from me after placing a fleeting kiss on my cheek. “Family comes first. I’ll see you at work.”
Her eyes catch on the envelope one last time, a shudder going through her as she rushes to the door.
“Nice to meet you,” Bruno hums in a tone that implies it was anything but nice.
Riley stumbles awkwardly as she nods in both agreement and farewell, blowing me a kiss before tugging the door shut behind her.
She’s obviously still shaken up about the pictures, and Bruno’s presence didn’t help.
I’m sure she’s taking this as an excuse to go freak out in her own apartment and maybe call Taylor to rant for a bit.
The thought sits sourly in my gut.
I want to be the one to calm her down, to comfort her through this. I don’t want to leave her to deal with it on her own.
“You’ve got shitty timing,” I snap at my brother, my blood boiling when I see that same hateful grin still stretched across his scarred lips. “This is the last time you show up unannounced unless you want me to start greeting you with a gun.”
Bruno’s mangled lips twist into a sneer before a scoff escapes him.
“Can you even still shoot straight?” He shakes his head, staring at me like he fucking pities me, and I dig my nails into my palm to stop myself from doing something stupid. “It’s been too long since you got your hands dirty. You don’t scare me, Nick.”
Would I scare you more if I left another scar on your face? Would you call that a business deal gone wrong too?
“Lucky I don’t need to scare you,” I snap. “You’re not in charge of who does what. Last I checked, Ma is, and she gave me her blessing to run the company.”
Bruno’s jaw twitches angrily at the reminder, and his eyes go flat and dark like a shark’s.
“I wonder if her opinion would change if she knew you were too busy playing house with some bitch to even be running the company,” he hums, dangerously casual. “You think you’re too good to do any dirty work, but I bet all that intel you asked for on her helped you get into her pants, didn’t it?”
I see red, and it’s only through immense amounts of self control that I stop myself from bellowing at him or beating him senseless. Or both.
“Get out.” My voice is low, dangerous, and threatening in a way that raises both of our hackles. “Before I send you out on a fucking stretcher, Bruce.”
Fuck asking for his help with the photos. My lawyer and the cops can handle it. If it comes down to it, Thomas has connections. I can handle this myself.
Bruno laughs callously, dropping his hands back to his sides and tugging his dark suit jacket back into place.
“Guess I better go. Wouldn’t want you to break a nail,” he mocks.
The only reason I don’t launch myself at him is because he turns and starts making his way toward the door.
“See you around, Nick,” he says over his shoulder as he pulls the door open. “I hope the pussy’s good enough to make abandoning your family worth it.”
The door snaps shut behind him, leaving me shaking in fury, hands clenched at my sides as I desperately cling onto what self control I have left. Otherwise I might just chase him down and put a bullet through his fucking head.