Chapter 24: Gut Feeling
Carmen
"I don’t believe you’re indifferent to me too," he said.
His words made me wonder if I should try harder to make him understand that there was absolutely no way I would ever sleep with him.
But instead of doing that, I simply nodded my head.
The truth was, my head felt a little buzzed—far more than I expected—and it worried me that somehow Nico seemed completely unaffected by the alcohol.
"If you say so," I replied.
I turned and walked toward the door, ready to leave. I wasn’t surprised to hear Nico’s footsteps behind me as we stepped out of the restaurant and into the cool night air.
The parking lot was dimly lit, the yellow glow of the street lamps reflecting off polished car doors and dark windows.
We headed straight toward the car.
I had no intention of waiting for Nico. I pulled open my door, about to slide inside, when suddenly someone grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the car.
I instantly glared at Nico. Of course it was him.
He stood behind me, his tall frame casting a long shadow under the streetlight. A deep frown had settled on my face, though I ignored the severe expression on his as he spoke first.
"We will wait."
His words sounded less like a suggestion and more like an order.
"I’ll order another ride," he added, already tapping away on his phone while his guards subtly shifted around him, tightening their formation.
"Why?" I asked immediately, unable to understand why we had to ditch perfectly good cars.
Instead of responding to me, Nico turned to the head of his security team, his voice stern and cold.
"Did something happen while we were in the restaurant?"
He stared at the car with sharp suspicion in his gaze.
I looked at him, confused, wondering why he suddenly seemed so wary. We had guards around us, and there was no way they would have left the car unattended.
My thoughts were interrupted when the head guard lowered his head in a small bow and began to speak.
"A small fight broke out by the side of the road," he said. "A car almost slammed into a motorcyclist. It was a woman driving, and she had to veer off the road—toward us and the car—to avoid hitting him."
I listened with a bored expression. Clearly it sounded like a simple accident—one that Nico was about to turn into a much bigger issue than it needed to be.
"She bruised her leg," the guard continued. "We helped her up and moved her away from the car."
"So she came close to the car?" Nico asked.
The guard nodded.
"For only a second. Not enough time to have done anything," he insisted, his face fierce and confident with the kind of experience that showed this wasn’t his first security scare.
"I don’t see a reason to be anxious over nothing," I said bluntly, not wanting to wait around for the new set of cars Nico had ordered.
"I can return alone," I added, completely willing to leave him behind if that was what it took.
My stomach felt full and heavy from dinner, and all I wanted was to get back, collapse onto my bed, and sleep. I fixed my gaze on him, waiting for his answer.
"The car is almost here," he said calmly.
His expression was cool and composed—one that made it clear he wasn’t listening to my opinion at all. Instead, he turned to his men.
"You’ll take half the men with you and drive the cars back to the estate," Nico instructed. "The others will stay with me."
But just as he finished speaking, the head guard interrupted.
"I’d rather stay beside you to ensure your safety, boss."
The hefty man, covered in tattoos, spoke with a hint of worry in his voice. The sight made me smile slightly. His loyalty to Nico was ironclad.
Nico didn’t argue. He simply nodded. The head of security immediately began issuing orders, and the men followed without hesitation. Half of them climbed into the cars and drove away.
Once again, I spoke up, my voice louder now as my mild annoyance slowly turned into irritation.
"Wouldn’t it be better to wait until our own cars arrive and leave together?"
I truly didn’t understand why a single, small incident required such a dramatic change of plans.
Was Nico really that paranoid?
Most mafia bosses were supposed to trust their men.
"Call it a gut feeling," he said with a light shrug, slipping his phone back into his pocket. "I always follow my gut feelings."
He watched his men drive out of the parking lot, the three black cars disappearing smoothly into the night.
I kept my eyes on them as well.
They left in perfect condition.
Nothing exploded.
Nothing suspicious happened.
I turned back to Nico with a clear I told you so look on my face.
He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"Better safe than sorry," he said, still wearing that same annoyingly calm expression.
Still, I felt relieved when our transportation finally arrived.
Three identical black cars rolled into the parking lot—sleek, polished, and eerily similar to the ones that had just left.
I couldn’t hide the smug expression on my face as I glanced at Nico and stepped toward the nearest car door.
I didn’t enter immediately.
Instead, I stood there deliberately, almost as if I were waiting for him to declare it safe.
He noticed.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he pulled the door open for me.
Only then did I step inside.
The remaining guards entered the other cars, and the drivers pulled away, the engines humming quietly as we headed back toward Nico’s estate, which was quite some distance away.
Normally, I would have preferred silence during the ride.
But this time, curiosity got the better of me.
"How often does that happen?" I asked.
He answered instantly.
"More often than you think."
I turned my head, surprised to see that his gaze had been fixed on me the entire time while I had been staring out the window.
"...As often as the thought pops into my head," he added.
There was such confidence in his voice—confidence I knew I didn’t have in my own instincts.
Humans had hundreds of gut feelings every day.
How many of them was I supposed to follow?
"...All of them?" I asked, my eyes widening slightly.
He slowly nodded.
"All of them," he said. "Especially when it relates to my safety."
A faint smile curved on his lips as he continued.
"I only have one life, and one mistake is all it takes to lose it."
I understood exactly what he meant.
When your life was constantly surrounded by danger, there was no such thing as being too careful.
I didn’t have anything else to say after that.
So I stayed quiet.
That had been the plan until we reached the estate.
But I had just turned my gaze back toward the window when flashing blue and red lights suddenly reflected against the glass.
Sirens echoed through the night.
And then I saw them.
