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Those intense blue eyes stare me down for a minute. It feels very long, that minute. He has the ability to suck you in with his gaze. It makes me nervous. Because I have no way of telling what he’s thinking.
When he finally replies, his voice is low, and I get the feeling he’d rather not say his name. But he does.
“My name is Nicolas. But you can call me Nico, princess.”
“Don’t call me that,” I snap. Everyone calls me a princess, and I hate it.
Nico raises a dark eyebrow. “What would you prefer I call you?”
“Aurora. My name is Aurora.”
“All right Aurora,” he states, leaning backward in his cell, the picture of control. He says my name like a threat. There is absolutely nothing normal about this boy. He’s the one in the cell and yet, I’m the one feeling like I’m cornered. “Are you going to help me?”
I really shouldn’t. I should run away. Get out of here and have the guards lock the doors behind me. My father won’t kill him now. I doubt he even remembers his existence. The danger to his life has passed. If I request that he be let go, he probably will be. But I don’t leave.
I stay put because there’s something about Nico that calls to me. It’s the unnatural darkness within him. It feels familiar yet frightening, and I want to get closer to it.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask.
And with those words, I’m pretty sure I have sealed my fate. Nico smirks, like I’ve played right into his hands. And I can’t help a shiver.
Maybe I should have let my father kill him.
CHAPTER 2
NICO
Present Day
Amethodical twist and turn. A pattern. A clear goal.
It’s simple, smart. Most people spend their entire lives making things so complicated that they begin to lose track of the means to get what it is they truly need.
But I’m not most people. I’ve never been most people. There’s always a clear path to victory. And more often than not, I’m walking that path. And if the path doesn’t exist, I make sure to carve it out. I’ll stop at nothing to get what I want.
Not just what I want though, what I’m owed.
I step out of the car, my eyes going over the stillness in the area. We’ve only just arrived at the docks to get ready to accept a shipment. There are three vans behind my car, filled to the brim with my men. They begin to get down one by one, and I can tell by the determination in their expression that they’re prepared for any eventuality. Which is good because there’s an uneasy feeling brewing in my gut.
Something’s wrong.
My senior guard, Vladimir, moves to stand at my side. He’s built like a giant, with stacks of muscles. He has been my right-hand man for several years. I know for a fact he would offer his life for mine in an instant. Most of my men would. Loyalty like theirs can’t be bought. It’s earned.
“Take some of our best men to the other side of the marina. Be on the lookout,” I order.
Vlad looks sideways at me. “Expecting trouble, sir?”
The shipment gets here in twenty minutes. We arrived early to scope out the location and ensure that the deal went off without a hitch. We’re on high alert because the shipment is from one of our allies who’s been kicking up trouble these past few days. If anything goes wrong, he might take it as an opportunity to declare an open war. And the Don really won’t like that.
“I always am,” I murmur. “Just go, Vlad.”
He hesitates for only a second before walking backward and relaying my orders. A minute later, some of the men disperse following Vlad. Once he’s gone, another one of my closest guards steps forward.
“Tell Khalil to keep the car running,” I say to Danny. “Actually, tell all the men to keep their cars running.”
Danny grins like a little girl on Christmas morning. He pulls out his gun from his holster, his hands twitching.
“Who are we killing, boss?” he questions.
