Chapter 52: Cold as Ice
I had just gotten out of the hall and headed down the stairs when I spotted someone I knew waiting right at the bottom of it.
It was one of Nico’s men, most especially the one that followed closely behind him, watching him move closer to me as I walked down the stairs.
"Boss Nico asked me to get you," he said, even as he stared at me more intensely than before, taking in every inch of my face in the well-lit entrance of the hall.
The last thing I needed was to be kidnapped and tortured by someone I thought was harmless, simply because I trusted Nico.
"Where?" I asked him, still reluctant to follow him, right until I saw him raise his hand and point at somewhere in the parking lot instead of simply stating the place.
That made me feel more relieved as I nodded my head, moving to follow behind him as he walked in front while I grabbed my purse tighter, ready to use my gun if the need called for it—but thankfully, it didn’t.
We had just walked for a while, getting to a more secluded part of the parking lot when my eyes settled on the cars I recognized.
Three of them, sleek and black, as I moved straight towards the one the bodyguard walked towards, pulling the door open for me as I went ahead and got in.
Hearing him get into the seat beside the driver as I settled in the backseat, my first instinct was to notice the smell that filled the space.
It was dark, with a metallic edge that made my gaze snap right towards Nico, who was quietly tapping away on his phone. He had on a different shirt, grey unlike the white he had on when I left him.
But even then, the smell of blood was still copious enough to make me wish I had followed him out of curiosity—and be thankful that I didn’t.
He didn’t speak to me, and I simply sat there waiting for him to, once he was done typing whatever long and lengthy message he seemed to be dealing with.
I took in a fast breath, having already decided to bring up Bianca’s deal with him, especially since it was something that affected us both. Moreover, I knew the perfect way to manipulate her.
"Did you enjoy the show?" Nico finally asked the moment he was done, tossing his phone back into his pocket as he turned his gaze towards me.
"You needed the governor to leave first, because if you simply took him, they would instantly scramble around trying to find him," I responded, and Nico smiled.
"Did you find the information you wanted?" I asked him, knowing better than to ask if Vale was alive when the possibility was extremely low.
Nico slowly nodded his head as the car continued to move, glancing ahead at the road with a thoughtful expression as he responded.
"Some, but mostly they covered their tracks. The information would probably not be worth the inquiry into Vale’s disappearance," he said with a mildly annoyed expression on his face.
Clearly, the result wasn’t worth the pain.
"We need to talk, but I figured we can do that after we’re back at the estate and you’ve taken your bath," I told him, not surprised to see a soft smile slowly spread across his face.
"You’d rather have it with me naked?" He whispered in a flirty tone that he wasn’t trying to tone down, and I simply shifted my gaze to the window.
I didn’t want to encourage him, even though I had basically acknowledged that kisses of any kind were on the table—something I knew I couldn’t back away from again without Nico exploding in my face.
It would be disastrous.
But the thought had barely occurred to me when I felt fingers slide into my hand as I placed them on the seat.
Jerking to the side, I saw Nico looking at me with an intensity I recognized—one that made my stomach flip over—as his gaze dropped over to my lips and right to my hands.
"We’ll talk," he said as he caressed the back of my fingers with his own in a tone that said we’ll do anything else but talk.
I turned my gaze back to the window without saying a thing. I didn’t pull my hand away either, aware that I made a deal, and as long as Nico didn’t fuck me over, I’d abide by it.
It didn’t take too long for us to arrive back at the estate. The car had just stopped when I moved to get out, with Nico getting out behind me—closer than usual, as I felt his 6’2 height hover over my 5’8.
My head not even reaching his jaw. Without wasting any time, I headed inside as I heard him follow closely behind me.
It was still a few hours to midnight, but I desperately needed a midnight snack, not having eaten anything before we left—enough to leave me starving.
But I had just moved to head to the stairs and towards the other side of the mansion where my room was when I heard him speak, a tinge of impatience in his gaze as I turned around to meet his eyes.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to my room," like it was obvious—where else would I go?
"Why? You can shower in my room," he said, even as I tried not to show my surprise.
"I’d rather..."
"I won’t intrude. You’ll shower, we’ll eat, and then we’ll talk."
"There’s a lot of things we need to talk about, you said so yourself," he added as I stood there in my blue dress. Every bone in my body screamed that it was a bad idea, but refusing would seem more like rejection—that much was obvious in his gaze.
Nico looked like he was trying to ask me to go with him to his room, but he was practically telling me—the way his body stood close to mine, enough for me to sense that he was ready to pull me there if that was what it took.
Releasing a breath I didn’t know I was holding, I turned and headed straight towards the other side of the mansion without looking at him, heading upstairs.
I could hear Nico instructing some servants behind me about clothes and food, and I didn’t even turn back. The truth was that I was tired, but at the same time, it still felt like Nico was hiding things from me.
Apart from Bianca, who I wanted to discuss, I also wanted to know everything he knew about Vale and what he discovered.
Everything he knew about my father’s death and the ones who could have conspired to kidnap me and kill my father.
Somehow, I felt we weren’t moving fast enough and were still being too passive, which made me doubt Nico, knowing his reach.
Am I even sure that he isn’t part of the conspiracy? Recalling Bianca’s words as I headed into his room without closing it, as Nico walked in behind me.
But I had just turned around after taking a few steps only to see Nico slowly unbuttoning his shirt after pushing the door shut.
I instantly looked away, fixing my gaze towards the bar, moving to pour myself a drink—but not before I caught the bloody stains on his skin, which was surprising.
Blood shouldn’t have gotten to his skin unless it soaked through his shirt as I fixed my gaze back at him, sliding over trying to find a wound or injury—only to find none.
"Like what you see?" He asked with an intense and arrogant smirk meant to make me falter, but I returned his gaze, looking for an explanation.
"How did the blood get on your skin?" I asked as smoothly as I could, picking up a bottle from the fridge already opened and pouring a drink for myself.
"Are you worried for me?" He asked, and I knew better than to pretend as I met his gaze, lifting the wine to my lips as I frowned. It was alcoholic, and the content wasn’t small either.
"I’m worried about you!" I responded as I watched him come closer instead of heading to the bathroom, while I tried not to fix my gaze on his muscled chest, arms, and abs.
"We were attacked!" He suddenly said. "I had gotten Vale, and we had just gotten to a secure site where I would be able to question him," he began, picking up my glass and twirling it around with a cold look in his eyes.
"I had barely begun to ask him a couple of questions, with him already answering, trying to save his life of course, when gunshots rang outside the building."
"It was about a dozen men," he continued, taking a sip from my cup, but at that point I couldn’t care about that as I heard him continue.
"Vale was shot, and a couple of my men! They were weak and useless snd they died! Disposing of them was an annoyance,"
Nico said in a completely calm tone, but it was his eyes that terribly horrified me. There was no feeling there, almost like his men had been numbers he had miscalculated and simply had to rearrange.
Nico was cold—something I already knew—but what I saw was almost inhuman.
