Chapter 30 Memory Of Nikolai
Nico POV
“nico, are you in there?”
“Uncle Lucas,” I whispered, before treading back, far back, getting as far away from her as possible.
“Yes. I’m in here.”
The door creaked open and Uncle Lucas peered inside. “Is everything alright?”
I inhaled sharply thinking that everything was far from fucking alright.
“Everything is fine, Uncle Lucas. I just let Miss Falcone in here to take a much needed shower.”
He turned his gaze to her where she still remained plastered to the wall.
“Turn around, my dear.”
Lila hesitated, and her eyes found mine. I nodded, and she turned around slowly.
I watched as Uncle Lucas stepped closer, pulling the towel down just an inch until he saw the marking of the first lash. Immediately he removed his touch and stepped back.
“Those marks will need some ointment, but should heal fully.”
All I did was nod, unsure how to interpret Uncle Lucas concern for lila. He was a part of this family. He lost a brother through her and her family, yet the entire evening I never picked up on any animosity or hatred directed at Lila from him. And here he was telling me that lila markings would need ointment to heal.
I squared my shoulders. “I’ll take care of her.”
“I know you will.” He turned to face me. “They are looking for you in the dining hall. I suggest you take Miss Falcone to her room, and make sure she’s secure, at least until all the guests have left.”
Secure?I knew what he meant by secure. Keep her away from the other men.
“I will be there in a minute.”
“Good.” He turned to face Tatum. “Good evening, Miss Falcone.” And then he left, leaving Lila and I, and the sexually laden atmosphere around us, alone.
“Come on.” I waved, summoning her closer. With slow, tiny steps she approached me, and I grabbed her arm as soon as she came close enough.
“You’re not taking me back there, are you?”
“Not tonight.” I gripped her arm tighter.
“If not tonight, when?”
“Soon.”
How was I supposed to tell her that it would be in that exact same dining hall that she will take her last breath…along with her father?
Soon.
Lila
We stepped out of the bathroom, nico clutching my arm with his tight grip. We walked into a bedroom, and I couldn’t help but admire the décor.
It was a beautiful, elegant room decorated with shades of gold, beige, and light browns.
A huge king-sized bed stood right in the middle of the room with soft, cream-colored curtains hanging from the roof draping the sides of the bed.
The walls consisted of dark cherry-wood and light oak panels that contrasted beautifully with the rest of the room.
Large windows were draped with the same curtains surrounding the bed, and the moon was shining directly through them casting a silver light across the room.
“Whose bedroom is this?”
Nico stopped for a second before answering, “Mine.”
Dumbfounded and confused I glanced around the room and back at him. “This is your room?”
“You look surprised.”
“Well, yeah.” My gaze swept over the bedroom once more. “I did not imagine your bedroom to look so…so…”
“So what?”
I looked up at him. “So light.”
“Is the bedroom too light for a monster like me?” Dark eyes, filled with so many secrets, yet determined to keep them hidden, stared down at me.
For a moment I allowed myself to see past the hard edges of my captor to find the soft frames of a man who lost a brother, a father the life he had known. The more I stared at him, the less he started to look like his twin brother.
The physical resemblance was undeniable, but besides the scar, it became easier for me to know them apart just by looking into Nico eyes.
Nikolai eyes were always sharp, carefree, zealous, and full of life. Nico were hard and cold, trying to hide sadness that he didn’t want anyone to see.
My gaze fell to the plush white carpet beneath my feet. “Are we not all monsters?” I whispered. If my time as his prisoner has taught me anything, it was that there was a monster hidden in all of us. Some suppressed it, some hid it, and some embraced it.
“I suppose we are.” He tugged on my arm. “Come on.”
“Wait. Can I look at it?”
He stared back at me questioningly. “At what?”
“The view, from your bedroom window.”
“You want to see the view?”
I nodded. “Please.”
With a calculating gaze he stared at me, and I wasn’t sure he would allow it. But he nodded, and started to guide me toward the window.
Judging from how high up we seemed the house had to be huge, at least three levels.
The full moon was high, breaking the dark of night, allowing me to see parts of what looked like a huge backyard filled with tall standing trees, a vast landscape of grass, pebbled paths, and sleeping flowers.
“It looks beautiful.”
“Yes well, looks can be deceiving.”
I glanced up at him. “You don’t like the view?”
“I don’t like the memories.”
“Which memories?”
He sighed, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck. “It doesn’t matter. Come on, I have a party I need to get back to.”
“Nikolai? You don’t like the memories of Nikolai?” I pried while he pulled me away from the window and toward the door.
“Now is a good time for you to shut up.”
“I bet the two of you played for hours in that garden when you were little.”
He tugged me hard against his chest, angry eyes glaring down while he tightened his grip on my elbow. I flinched.
“Do not speak of things you know nothing about.”
“I miss him too.” There was no rhyme or reason for me saying those words, but I wanted, no, needed him to know that even though the Nikolai I knew wasn’t the real Nikolai, I still missed him. In a way, I mourned him too now that I knew he’d been dead all these months.
“You know nothing of my brother. The Nikolai you knew was a lie.”
“Which only aggravates my wounds even more, the fact that the person who told me day in and day out that he loved me lied to me from day one.”
“That makes you a fool.”
I lifted my chin. “I might be a fool for trying to love someone even though he lied to me, but at least I’m not blaming anyone else for my pain.”
A slow smile crept up at the corners of his mouth. “Do you think because of what happened in the shower that you know me? That it changes things? That you now have the right to pry into details of my life?”
“That’s not”
You are the reason I hate the fucking memories and you are still the woman who will pay for my brother’s death,” he leaned down closer“with her life.”