Chapter 51 Mine to protect
Nico POV
I had to come back.
Thank God I came back.
I was on my way to my bedroom when I accidentally dropped the sheets of paper that burned my fucking hand.
The anger and rage that buzzed through my body was so strong, it surpassed the fury I felt when I found out that my brother had been murdered.
And I knew why. I knew why I was so consumed with intense indignation…because my jealousy was fueling it.
When those sheets scattered around me, one of them caught my eye the one that lila was now clutching in her hand.
Her very last drawing was one of me, with my scar.’
That was the moment I realized that there was no decision to be made. There never was. I had no fucking choice but to protect her, no questions asked.
I rushed back to her room only to find rex on top of her, his cock in his hand, seconds away from claiming what was mine.
I reacted.
With nothing but red clouding my vision, I took out my gun, aimed…and pulled the fucking trigger. And God forgive me, but when rex lifeless body fell limp, half of his fucking skull splattered against the wall, I savored the moment.
This was justice. This was retaliation, vengeance, payback and all because my actions protected something worth protecting. Her.
I stared at her. She was shaking, her left eye bruised and cut, blood trickling down her cheek. All this time I saw her as vulnerable, trapped between these four walls. I was so wrong.
She was never vulnerable, just scared, yet strong. But right now, this woman in front of me, she was vulnerable. Seconds from being raped then having a man’s brain matter all over her face, I saw that all her strength had finally left her, leaving her helpless, defenseless, but not weak. Never weak.
I pulled my shirt over my head and gently wiped her face clean. “This is probably the world’s most fucked up question right now, but are you okay?”
She didn’t stop shaking. “Yes.”
“Liar.” I tilted her chin to lift her face toward mine. “When will you accept the fact that your body can’t lie to me?” Softly I traced my thumb across the bruised skin next to her eye. Fuck, if I could kill that son of a bitch again I would.
“What the fuck?”
I closed my eyes when I heard his voice, and knew that we were screwed.
“nico, is that…is that rex?”
I turned to face Damon who was standing by the door staring at rex corpse.
“Yes.” I moved in front of lila.
Damon shocked face turned pale. “What happened?” Confused eyes found mine.
Oh boy. Here we go.“He was trying to rape lila. So I had no choice.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You shot him?”
“Yes. Like I said, I had no choice.” I straightened, my instincts expecting the worst.
“What the fuck, Nico? Why would you fucking shoot him?”
I slowly eased my arm back curving it around Lila hip my number one concern, protecting her.
“I told you, he was trying to rape lila. So I had to act.”
Damon pushed both hands through his hair, looking back down at rex dead body. “Holy shit. You fucking killed him.”
It’s when Damon looked up at me with sudden wicked resolve in his eyes that I knew the shit was about to hit the fucking fan.
“You killed rex because he wanted to rape that slut? She’s going to die anyway, nico. Why the fuck protect her by killing your own goddamn cousin?”
“damon, I need you to stop.” I stepped back, forcing lila to move. I wanted her protected between me and the wall. “What rex was trying to do was wrong.”
A manic laugh rumbled from the back of his throat. “Wrong? Who the fuck made you judge and jury?”
“I’m the boss, Damon. Rex was sticking his nose into shit it didn’t belong.”
“By wanting to fuck her? He wasn’t hurting anyone.”
“He was hurting her!”
The second the words left my mouth Damon eyes grew wide, and I knew he had figured it out.
“She’s hooked her claws into you, too, hasn’t she?”
My heart raced, my mind spinning, trying to figure out how to get Lila out of here.
“It’s not that simple, Damon.”
“Not that simple? I’m pretty fucking sure the fact that you blew half of rex head off simplifies this quite a lot.”
“Things changed.”
He snorted. “What things?”
“Everything.”
His dark brows slanted inward as he frowned. “Oh my God. You fucked her, didn’t you?”
I couldn’t answer him. Damon was a loose cannon right now, and I had to tread lightly if I wanted to keep him from blowing.
“Listen to me, Damon. I think Mother is lying to us. She’s been acting strange, and Uncle Lucas”
“Uncle Lucas?” He narrowed his black eyes. “Tell me you’re not fooled by that old man.
He’s been out to ruin our mother for God knows how long. You know how he tried to turn Dad against her.”
“Did he? Or was he simply seeing something none of us could?”
“Oh my God. She’s really done a number on you, hasn’t she?” He peered over my shoulder at her, and I shifted trying to block his view. By now my body was against hers, and I could feel how she trembled. Fuck, I really needed to get her the fuck out of here.
“damon, calm down.” I held my hand out in front of me, and slowly started to step to the side, my other hand guiding lila to follow. “I need to get lila out of here.”
“What?” He straightened, and balled his fists. “You’re kidding right?”
Another few steps and the door came closer and closer. “I’m serious.”
“Fuck!” His loud voice boomed through the room, and I felt lila jerk behind me. “rex was right. You don’t have the fucking balls to lead this family.
No wonder Dad spent all his time training Nikolai, and ignoring you. He saw it too, the coward that you really are.”
His words were like a punch to the gut, but my need to get lila to safety overshadowed my need to retaliate.
Every instinct I ever had came together in one giant need to protect what was mine and Lila Falcone was mine, whether she wanted to be or not.
Damon stepped closer, spite and malice emanating from him like deadly threats. “I’m sorry, brother, but I can’t let you take her anywhere.”
“damon, I don’t want to hurt you.”