Chapter 33 Unexpected news
Nico POV
Reluctantly my cousin backed down and straightened the lapels of his suit jacket, glared my way with a promise that we weren’t done, then made his way down the hall.
Muscles relaxed, the tick in my jaw eased, yet my fist remained balled and the anger still simmered. “I don’t trust him.”
Uncle Lucas smiled. “I don’t think anyone trusts rex. The key is to just always keep your eyes open whenever he’s around, make sure that what’s yours is protected at all times.”
I narrowed my eyes staring at him with confusion. “Like what?”
Uncle lui shrugged. “Like whatever you deem as yours.”
“Which in this case is?”
He feigned a look of ignorance. “I have no idea. But I’m sure you do.”
Shifting from one leg to the other, feeling agitated and annoyed, bordering on losing my shit after the whirlwind of fuck-ups this night has conjured so far, I rubbed the back of my neck rather than punching my fist into the damn wall.
“Tell me, Uncle Lucas, you jumped in to save the day three times tonight. Why?”
He cocked a brow. “Three times? I only know of two.”
The knowing look he gave me proved that he knew exactly when the third time was…back in the goddamn bathroom when I was a split second away from kissing lila lips raw which would have been a bloody catastrophe.
As if it wasn’t enough that I had my fingers inside her, then jerking off while she watched, I wanted to completely devour that delicious looking mouth of hers. I was such a greedy bastard.
“Listen, Nico,”he stepped closer l“I know this is all hard on you, but”
“What gives you the idea that this is hard for me?”
He snorted. “Stop the bullshit, Nico. You’re not made for the curse of the new role you got shoved into overnight.”
Bitterness coated my tongue. “So you agree with rex that I don’t have what it takes to be the Boss?”
“I do, yes. But not for the same reasons.”
Newly lit anger flared fiercely inside my chest. I’ve always been fond of Uncle Lucas, even though he can be annoying as shit sometimes, but right now he was pissing me off.
“Mind enlightening me as to what your reasons are?”
He stepped closer, not caring that I was close to combusting with anger, putting him in the line of fire.
“You are a lot of things, Nico. But you are not the ruthless monster your mother is trying to turn you into.”
I recoiled. “My mother?”
“Yes, your mother. She has poisoned you with her hate, infected you with her need for revenge.
All this anger, this rage, and need for retaliation you’re feeling isn’t yours. It’s hers.”
I held up my hand. “Stop. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He stepped forward, stupidly not backing down placing him right in the middle of the ring of fire. “Your mother has always been a master manipulator”
“I will not let you insult my mother in front of me.”
“Are you telling me that you’ve never suspected your mother of influencing the people around her into doing her bidding?”
I gave a step back, afraid that the rage currently simmering inside my veins would erupt. “She’s my mother.”
“Yet she’s hardened you, putting you in this impossible situation.”
“There is nothing impossible about this situation. I’m in charge of avenging our family.”
“No!” He blurted out, and I was momentarily stunned by how enraged he sounded.
“That’s what she wants you to think, that you’re doing right by our family, when in fact you’re only doing right by her.”
No longer backing down, I stepped forward. “There is nothing wrong with doing right by my mother. She is my flesh and blood.”
“She might be your flesh and blood, but she’s deceiving you with her lies, and you are too wrapped up in your need to please her, to prove to everyone that you can fill your father’s shoes. And you know what?”
Biting the inside of my mouth, I glowered at him, not saying a word.
He gave a step back. “You can’t fill your father’s shoes, because you are not him. You are not your brother.
You are you, and all this”he held his arms out wide“is not you. This is not the life you want for yourself, which is why this role will kill you before you’ve had the chance to prove to everyone that you’re a ruthless leader, a coldblooded killer.”
My blood ran cold. Every word that came out of his mouth struck me like a punch to the gut. “What do you mean she’s lying to me?”
Uncle Lucas straightened. “I’ve already said too much. But what I will say is that you need to figure out for yourself what is right for you, and stop focusing on what is right for everyone else.
Right now you’re letting your mother control you, and you need to control your own life. Look what happened to your brother because he allowed her to control him.”
Bewildered and confused, I launched forward and grabbed him by his collar. “I will not let you stand there and insinuate that my mother had something to do with Nikolai death.”
“That’s not what I’m doing at all. Nikolai death was because of his own stupidity and lack of a fucking spine.
If he had the balls to live his life by his own rules, he would still be breathing today.”
He jerked out of my hold and turned to walk down the hall.
Holy shit, what the fuck was he saying?“Uncle Lucas, come back here. We’re not done.”
“We are…for now. If you have questions I suggest you ask your mother.”
Without looking back he strutted down the hall leaving me utterly confused and enraged. A thousand and one questions rolled through my head like credits of a goddamn horror movie.
What did he mean by all that? By insinuating that it was my mother’s control over Nikolai life that killed him? It was the fucking Falcone that pulled the trigger, not my mother.
It was because of the woman back in that room that my brother now lay ten feet below the ground, his corpse rotting, turning to dust like he never even existed.
Suddenly my mind was spinning out of control, my thoughts flowing in a thousand different directions. Uncle Lucas was a lot of things, but I’ve never known him to be a liar. It’s because of his raw honesty that he annoyed most of the family.
I glanced at the door behind me, then back down the hall which leads to the dining room. I couldn’t allow an old man’s opinion to cloud my judgment and that’s all it was, an old man’s opinion.
There was no proof, no substantial evidence that what he said had any merit.