Chapter 122: Killed Before
Carmen
Dealing with the manager wasn’t as simple as firing him. First, I had to figure out where his courage had come from to act the way he did. Nico went even further, trying to find out whether he had been acting on someone else’s behalf, and that turned into a messy affair all on its own.
Still, we managed to finish everything in record time. For a moment, I was even tempted to leave him as manager since he seemed genuinely repentant by the end of it all. But if he could do it once, then he could do it again.
That alone was reason enough to get rid of him.
Afterward, we headed out to eat, though Nico didn’t seem to be in any hurry to do much of anything. He sat there lazily sipping on black coffee at four in the evening without a care in the world.
The worst part was that it was black.
Which meant it had to be bitter as hell.
Even so, I still ordered food for him, and he ate it while smiling at me like I’d done something sweet. I only glared harder in response.
"You haven’t been going to your company recently," I reminded him, even though I knew perfectly well he needed no reminder.
"Is that supposed to be a problem?" he asked immediately, shaking his head before I could even say another word.
"If they actually need me there to micromanage them," he continued calmly, "then I might as well fire all of them."
I understood exactly what he meant because I rarely went to my company either. Most of my work was handled through reports and financial statements. If the people beneath me couldn’t function without my physical presence, then they weren’t competent enough to keep around.
Once the food arrived, I focused on eating instead of talking. Honestly, it was already strange enough that Nico and I were sitting together this comfortably without either of us ready to boil over with rage, and I intended to keep it that way.
At least until I remembered something that had been bothering me.
"You made me your next of kin?"
I finally asked the question, but I didn’t even get the satisfaction of seeing him frown. Nico simply lifted his head and looked directly at me, unconcerned except for a faint trace of curiosity.
"Who told you?" he asked, like he already knew I wouldn’t have gone snooping around myself.
"Will you answer the question?" I shot back before taking another bite of my fries.
"I made you my next of kin," he replied smoothly, as though that alone should have been enough explanation.
Arguing about it felt stupid because it would mean admitting I thought I could die before he did.
So instead, I sighed and told him about the man who had visited me in the hospital, watching him carefully the entire time.
"You didn’t think to tell me?" Nico asked, and this time there was a sharp edge in his voice.
"You didn’t tell me you got an offer," I replied immediately.
Despite the words, our voices stayed calm enough that no one around us would have guessed there was any tension at all.
"An offer from an enemy isn’t an offer," Nico said flatly. "It’s a threat."
I shrugged lightly.
"You still didn’t tell me. If you don’t tell me things, then how do you expect me to tell you things?"
For a second, he simply stared at me.
Then he finally spoke again.
"I checked the camera footage from the moment he arrived until he left. He covered himself the entire time. Mask, heavy-duty glasses. He didn’t leave a single track."
I took another sip of the cocktail I had ordered before reaching for another piece of meat from the platter in front of me.
"I can have the pictures sent over to you," I added while chewing.
I could tell Nico wanted to ask if I was sure about what I’d seen, but he held himself back. Instead, he leaned into his chair, his gaze fixed on me with the hint of a smile tugging at his lips.
"What are you smiling about?" I asked suspiciously.
"It’s nice knowing we’re still on the same team," he admitted.
Annoyingly enough, I could tell he meant it.
"...I can’t remember the last time I partnered with someone I didn’t later have to kill," he continued.
I barely stopped myself from glaring at him.
Then, before I could react, he leaned forward and reached for my hand. His fingers wrapped around mine carefully before he lifted my hand to his lips, placing a faint kiss against my skin.
His lashes fluttered as he looked at me, eyes hooded and strangely sincere.
"I want us to win," he murmured softly. "Together, we could do great things."
I jerked my hand away from him almost immediately.
He was making me uncomfortable.
Worse, he looked genuine while doing it. There was real excitement in his voice, real belief in what he was saying, and somehow that unsettled me more than if he’d been lying.
Annoyed, I changed the subject before he could say anything else.
"I checked. All our proposals have been rejected."
I sighed and focused my attention back on my food.
"Clearly a government official is involved," I continued. "And it doesn’t help that Gorinth is still a newly established country with ties to all the surrounding nations."
"The Big Five won’t stay away either," Nico added calmly.
I resisted the urge to ask him whether any of this was truly worth it.
We were wealthy, powerful even, but compared to the businesses and influential figures from the Big Five countries, we were still insignificant in comparison.
Small fries.
But there was no point asking. Nico had already made up his mind, while I was still drowning in doubt and wondering whether I was getting involved in something far bigger than I could handle.
I swallowed another bite of meat before glancing up, only to realize Nico had been staring at me far longer than he should have.
Then he asked quietly, "Why?"
I frowned slightly.
"Why do you want to rule the North?"
The answer left my mouth instantly.
"Because it’s mine by right, and I have no intention of letting it go."
"Your father gave it to Kade—"
"It is mine," I snapped before he could finish. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."
I glared at him while he slowly nodded, showing that he understood my point even if he didn’t agree with it.
"No one is allowed to take it from you?" he asked calmly.
I nodded.
Now that Mivite was located in the North, I knew even more partnership offers would start coming in from people hoping to use me for their own gain.
"Bianca has the other half," Nico said coldly. "Would you kill her?"
The question was so emotionless that nobody listening would have believed he was talking about his own mother.
My eyes widened slightly in surprise before I nodded, though there was more hesitation in the gesture than I liked.
"I’ll do whatever it takes."
I held his gaze as I said it.
The truth, however, was far uglier.
I would do whatever it took because deep down, I knew Nico would handle the dirtiest parts himself, and I could simply let myself get dragged along behind him.
It was a truth I would never admit aloud.
I could kill.
I had killed before.
But that didn’t mean I liked doing it.
