Chapter 63: Suspects
"What’s worse is that I can assure you that Nico isn’t going to kill me until he gets his money back, so it sucks for you!" I harshly whispered as I noticed the guards who still stood at a good enough distance that they wouldn’t be able to hear us.
Vanessa’s mouth trembled as she gasped wide-eyed, staring at me like I was a monster, but I didn’t care. She was simply first on the list of steps I would have to crush on my way down.
"You’re bluffing! You would—" but I didn’t let her finish as I stepped into her space, our heights similar, allowing me to look directly into her eyes without raising my head.
"I am not!" I said, allowing her to look right into my eyes to see that I indeed meant it, because I did. If Nico was to find out about the only edge I had against him—one that hadn’t even worked out—Vanessa would wish she was dead by the time I was done.
Her expression morphed into that of hate, then disgust, but god, I didn’t care. Heading towards the guards who still held our bags, I heard her follow behind me. Annoyed, I took out my phone from my pocket, scrolling through it.
Thinking hard about the contacts I was able to gather and which one I could trust, it hurt to realize that there was none. None that wouldn’t try to sell me to the highest bidder. Why wait for profit that could be gained in the future when the one that would be gained from betraying me was much bigger?
The drive back was silent and I didn’t mind it. Fixing my gaze on the scenery as the cars drove by, we both sat in the backseat but at the farthest distance from each other.
My eyes fluttered closed as I thought and thought until my head began to ache. If I couldn’t trust anyone, then I would have to do the work myself, I decided, realizing that there was no rule that said I couldn’t get rid of Nico before he got rid of me.
There were more subtle options like poison... the thought alone allowed me to breathe easier. I could go along with him and use his men for my businesses, but the moment he was dead and I took over, who else would they follow?
I would have more than enough money to shift their allegiances, including those of his closest managers, I thought, and the tightness in my chest eased a bit more the harder I thought about it.
It meant that I needed to submit to him to make sure that he wasn’t aware that anything was wrong, but I could do that. That was something I could do, I thought to myself as I leaned back in my seat, trying to rub away the pain that stuck to my forehead.
The onslaught of a migraine made me glance at Vanessa, who instantly glared back before I shifted my gaze away from her, crossing my legs and balling my hands into fists.
I needed Nico’s protection, especially when no one knew who was trying to get rid of the mafia dons one after the other.
I can do this! I can do this! I repeated over and over in my head as I felt my fingers almost tremble before I straightened them out one after the other. I couldn’t afford to be scared or hold back.
We arrived back at the estate some minutes later, and I stepped out. The sun had fallen and the sky had already darkened as I headed into the house, but not before Vanessa walked right past me, whispering under her breath.
"Touch my mother, and I will ruin you!" she swore as I watched her walk by, even as I simply stood by the entrance, watching her walk towards the left side of the mansion, which was where my room was.
She had spunk, which wasn’t something I was convinced I liked. Still, I turned to head there and follow her when I heard footsteps behind me, shocked to see Nico. Even more when the expression on his face was cold—no teasing or heat or desire like I was used to.
"You just arrived?" he asked, and I had to swallow before I responded.
"Yes. What about you?" I asked him, expecting him to give me half-truths or lies like he would usually do, but he simply answered, giving more information than I expected.
"Headed out to meet Gotti," he began as he walked closer to me with a look in his eyes that worried me. I felt my heart thump harder and faster in my chest as he came to stand in front of me, towering over me with ease.
His blue eyes glinted with an expression I couldn’t decipher. Did he know? The thought that he might—and that I might have made a mistake—almost buried me on the spot. Just because we kissed like lovers didn’t mean I considered us to be one.
"You’re sweating, are you good?" he asked.
I nodded my head, my throat constricted like there was a blockage there I couldn’t clear out.
"Let’s talk in my study."
He said it simply, and I nodded my head again as I followed him, reminding myself to act normally—nothing that would make him suspect—but it was hard to do so when he himself was acting like he never would have.
It scared me as I followed him to his study, watching him head behind the table as I took a seat. It almost looked completely official as he pushed papers towards me and began to speak.
"You didn’t buy anything?" he asked as I glanced at the papers, the question throwing me off again.
"I saw the guards take all the bags to Vanessa," he pointed out, and I nodded my head as I fixed my gaze on the papers, trying to decipher what it was that I was looking at.
"I simply went sightseeing," I said as I realized that it was a report by Gotti’s son, Forren, who described the events that happened. I was still reading when I realized what Nico was trying to say.
"Forren knows more than he is saying," I said.
Nico nodded his head and responded, "just like it’s hard to imagine that you went to a store for about fifteen minutes and didn’t buy a thing," my body going still as I met his gaze.
He knew something was up and was simply demanding that I spit it out before he dug deeper and found out himself.
