Chapter 4 Chapter 4
I knew otherwise I’d just fuck something up again. “Hey, Sis, feeling any better?” I looked around, but her room was empty. The bathroom too. I went into our living room, searched our whole wing, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. I went to my room, grabbed my phone, threw on a shirt and went back into her room while calling Sam. The second he picked up, I yelled into the phone. “Where the hell is she? I’ll be there in five—” I cut myself off when I saw a little note on her desk with my initials on it, clearly her handwriting. I heard Sam saying something, but I didn’t react. “Nicolai, I know you’re probably worried because I left alone, but you don’t have to be. I’m out with an old friend. I just wanted one more night to live. One night before I belong to him. I’ll be back before Father notices, I promise.” I stared at her words. One night before I belong to him. I felt something tear inside me. Not loud. Quiet. Like silk being ripped slowly. “Sam?” I muttered. “Yeah? What’s going on, man? Say something!” “Listen, she’s in the city. With a friend. But if you don’t find out exactly where in the next ten minutes, I’ll break your jaw, got it?” “Nico, I—” “Just do it.” I walked down the hall, past my mother and Vito, toward the armory—a room I’d avoided like the plague for four years—muttering to myself over and over, “Gods, please let her be okay,” like a mantra. The door creaked as I shoved it open. The metallic smell of oil and old blood hit me immediately, like it had been waiting all these years to welcome me back. My fingers trembled slightly as I ran them over the familiar cold metal of the racks for the first time again. Every weapon had its place, like a macabre museum of my past. I stopped in front of the Glock with the engraved barrel. My name, more a warning than a reminder, no idea why my father had to show it off like that. I didn’t take it. I didn’t want to go back to being someone Selena would be afraid of. Instead I grabbed the old Sig, compact, clean, efficient. And a second magazine. I checked both, then went to the garage, to my SUV. I had a pretty good idea where she was, and Sam’s call just confirmed it. How could Selena be so careless? She’s known for years why she can’t go out without our security, and now, of all times, she puts herself in danger like this. I just couldn’t understand why she was throwing her life away like that. I’d promised her I’d find a way to protect her from him. It only took half an hour to get there, but it felt like hours. When I finally arrived, I walked up the stairs to the business floor to get a better view. I spotted her quickly at the bar with Michelle, who clearly didn’t give a damn about how Selena was doing and was letting some guy, who looked more like a gorilla than a human, harass her. I forced my way through the crowd in seconds, shoved Michelle aside and pulled my sister to me by the arm, when a massive, meaty hand closed around my shoulder. “Hey, kid, the lady and I were talking, so beat it.” I turned around, pulling Selena behind me. She slurred a “thanks” in my ear. “Looked different to me. And here’s a tip: shut your mouth before I help you with it. I’d rather not get on her bad side.” “You think you’re something special, kid?” He stepped closer. The guy stank of sweat, cheap beer and way too much terrible cologne. Fuck, I really had no patience left for guys like him tonight. “Hey, you idiot, she’s marrying Alessandro De Luca tomorrow. So if you’re attached to your dick—which I strongly assume you are—you should let us go right now. Otherwise he’ll rip it off himself.” The guy blinked. Slowly at first. Then he understood. “Wait… De Luca?” His voice cracked. “Shit…” I nodded, very calm. “Yeah. And you know what? I’m her brother. So imagine what I do to people who put their hands on her.” His eyes dropped to my hand, hanging loose at my jacket, right next to the gun. He backed off without another word. Like someone who’d just narrowly escaped death without quite realizing how. I had just gotten Selena, way too drunk, out of the club and was damn relieved we weren’t on enemy territory. I let her lean against the wall while I searched my pockets for my keys and listened to her on the verge of tears. “Nic, I’m so, so sorry. Please don’t be mad at me.” “Fuck, Sis, I’m not mad. Gods, I was scared for you. We don’t have personal security for nothing, you know that. And as if that wasn’t enough, you had to pick Michelle of all people. Any of your other friends would have been better and at least watched you a little.” “I know… I was just… I just wanted one more time…” Her voice broke. She didn’t just sound drunk, she sounded lost. Like a little girl who’d wandered into a world that was never built for her. Before I could say anything else, I heard an engine rev. A black car with tinted windows and no plates rolled by, way too slowly. In a fraction of a second hell broke loose. Loud gunshots cracked through the street. I tried to shield my sister with my body and stepped in front of her. Three fast shots and screaming passersby, but what hit me hardest weren’t the bullets tearing into my lower abdomen, it were my sister’s screams. When the car screeched around the corner and sped off, I turned around. My own pain didn’t matter. The bullets that hit me had gone through and into her. I caught her just before she collapsed. Somehow I finally had the keys in my hand, no idea how, but I managed to get her to my car and lay her on the backseat. I drove way too fast, breaking at least fifty traffic laws, but I got to the nearest hospital quickly while Selena grew quieter and quieter in the back. I stormed into the ER, shouting for help, Selena in my arms. Two nurses ran toward us, but they were too slow for me, I shoved one aside and laid her on the gurney myself. “She’s been shot. Lower abdomen, at least two hits, she’s lost a fuckton of blood.”