Chapter 53 Silence War With Mother
Lila POV
Nico had placed another one of his T-shirts on the bed, which I pulled over my head.
He was standing by the window, back turned to me, still talking on the phone.
For a moment I allowed myself to see him as a man an attractive man who took care of his body.
His back was roped with defined muscles, broad shoulders insuring that he could intimidate almost anyone.
The jeans he wore were stained with patches of red, the blood only making him seem more dangerous…darker. But that darkness no longer scared me the way it did. In fact, I felt drawn to it.
My own darkness, which I tried to suppress and hide for so long was reaching for his, needing it like I needed air to breathe.
He moved, and the tattoo on his back seemed to move with every muscle. For the first time since this all started I was finally able to make sense of the man.
The tattoo was his art, his design, and also the image of what he carried inside him every day the image he now carried on his back, that moved with him.
Nikolai name was inked with intricate, beautiful calligraphy letters, while nico name was bold, broken, and bleeding into the flames. He loved his brother, but hated himself.
There was a single crack in the headstone right at the top of the cross. The flames that engulfed the cross from the ground were blood red, angry shades of orange, its only goal to destroy while his name suffered its wrath.
To others it would seem morbid and grim, but to me it was beautiful. That image was a reflection of his soul. The crack, the flames, the red it was everything he thought he was.
But after what happened, him killing his own flesh and blood to save me, now I knew that something resplendent inside him was waiting to be set free.
He just never had a reason to find the beauty he suppressed without even realizing it.
“Please…hurry. I don’t know how much time we have.” nico hung up, and tossed the phone on the bed. His jaw ticked, every muscle in his body pulled tight.
“Fuck!” His fist hit the wall, and I flinched at his furious outburst. Guilt bombarded me, joining hands with the fear that already threatened to consume me.
Nico was losing everything. His entire life was on the line, all because of me. Why? Why would he do that? Why would he risk himself for me?
Nico turned to face me, blood coating the knuckles of his right hand. I remained still. I might see him in a completely different light now, but I still had a lot to learn about the darkness he carried with him.
“Why are you doing this?” My voice sounded hoarse and uncertain.
He fell back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling. “I don’t know. Right now I don’t know anything.”
I believed him. I believed that he wasn’t sure why he was saving me, just like I wasn’t sure why the thought of being rescued and going home no longer appealed to me.
I shifted from one leg to the other. “How long before Damon comes looking for us?”
“It’s not Damon we need to worry about.”
“Your mother?”
“Yeah.”
My body had been strong long enough. With shaking legs I sat down on the bed. “She really hates me.”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. I saw it the night in the dining hall when she wanted to slice her blade across my throat.
Her deep rooted hatred for me was everywhere her face, her eyes, the way she fucking breathed. I could see that killing me was the only way for her to get relief from the ghosts that tormented her.
“Is she going to kill me?”
The mattress dipped behind me, but I didn’t turn toward him. “She will want to, yes. But it’s not that simple.”
I snorted. “It sounds real simple to me.”
“We have rules, lila. Laws of our own that we have to abide by. I’m the Boss, head of this family, and no matter what happens she can’t go against me.”
“And Damon?”
“He’ll challenge me especially since I’ve spilled blood of my blood.”
I couldn’t fight the shudder that wracked through me. “Will he win?”
“He might.”
I turned to face him. “He might?”
There was a long pause before he finally answered, “There’s a big possibility that he will win, yes.”
“Because he’ll have your mother’s support.” It wasn’t a question . I knew she’d support anyone who could guarantee her my head on a plate.
“Yes.”
I closed my eyes, my stomach twisted tighter than a vice. “And then? What happens then?”
Another pause, this time more deafening, a shattering silence. I heard him inhale. “Then I’ll join my brother in Hell.”
A tear slipped down my cheek. “And I’ll be right there next to you.”
His phone rang, the sound making me jolt. I turned around as he reached for it, and when he looked up at me with apprehension in his eyes, I knew who it was.
He answered, putting the phone on speaker.
“mother.”
“nico, what the Hell are you doing?”
“I’m doing what needs to be done.”
“By saving that wretched woman? The woman who is responsible for your brother’s death?”
“Who says I’m saving her?” His eyes met mine, and I swallowed hard.
“How else can you explain killing rex and assaulting your own brother?”
“Incentive.”
“Excuse me?” Her voice raised, and I could hear the anger that occupied every part of her soul.
“lila. I’m using her as an incentive.”
I narrowed my eyes and softly whispered, “What are you doing?”
He placed his finger in front of his mouth, silencing me.
“Incentive for what?”
“The truth. I’m tired of being lied to, and I want the truth.” His eyes never left mine.
“About what, nico? What are you talking about?”
He stood up from the bed. “What are you hiding, Mother?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Nico. Now stop this madness. It has already gone too far.”
“No. I want the truth. I want to know exactly what happened to Nikolai.”
Silence.
Nico and I glanced at each other.
“This is your Uncle Lucas doing, isn’t it? He planted this seed of doubt inside your head.”
“Maybe he did me a favor.”
“nico, bring us the girl. Let’s put an end to this.”
My heart stammered inside my chest, the thought of being given to that woman causing me to choke on my own goddamn breath.
“Tell me the truth, and I’ll bring her to you. Then you can do the honors of ending all of this.”
Fear ransacked my insides, but nico placed his hand over mine. With serious eyes and a finger in front of his mouth, telling me to keep quiet, he squeezed my hand.
The other end of the line was silent, and nico looked down at the phone.
“mother?”
“Yes. I’m here. Is she with you?”
“She is.”