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“What’s got your panties in a twist?” he asks.
Nico glances toward him with a glare. “Stop hovering around her. In fact, don’t talk to her at all.”
The “her” in question is me, in case that wasn’t clear to anyone. Adrian smiles, clearly amused. But he wisely doesn’t say anything in reply.
“We’re leaving,” Nico says to me.
I arch an eyebrow at his tone, but I don’t argue. I’ve wanted to leave for hours. Ever since I got here, actually. I feel like I’m under a microscope. They’re all watching, waiting. Nico stands beside me, placing a hand on the small of my back as he leads me out of the room. I look toward Camila and offer her a smile in lieu of a goodbye. She’s standing beside her husband and her uncle Marco.
I don’t miss the angry look Nico throws their way as we leave. We step outside the mansion, and I take my first deep breath in hours, glad for the fresh air. He and I wait for the car to be driven towards us. Once it is, he helps me inside, and then we leave.
The car ride is stifling as we head over to my apartment building. Nico doesn’t say a single word and Vlad and Khalil who are in the front take the cue from their boss. I try my best to stay silent as well, I really do. But quiet spaces drive me crazy. They make me uncomfortable.
So when I can’t take it anymore, I turn to the man at my side and say what’s been on my mind since we left the compound.
“You’re not allowed to kill Camila,” I tell him.
She’s one of the last parts of my former life that I still care about. And he’s obviously angry at her. When Nico gets mad, people die.
He shoots me a sideways glance before facing forward.
“Don’t worry. I can’t kill her now even if I wanted to,” he says, voice hard.
“What does that mean?” I ask curiously.
He looks at me like he’s considering telling me, then he seems to change his mind.
“Nothing. Mind your business, mi vida,” he says instead.
I make a face. “You’re so annoying.”
“And you’re still incapable of staying silent,” he retorts, irritation in his tone. “Old habits die hard?”
I hate that he remembers that. That he still knows that about me. Instead of replying, I cross my arms over my chest before facing forward, intent on not saying another word until we arrive home. It isn’t until minutes pass that I realize that I might have actually given him what he wanted. Silence.
The bastard used reverse psychology on me. Damn him.
After that, I stay quiet out of spite. When Khalil parks the car, I’m more than ready to step outside. Nico stops me by placing a hand on my arm.
“Hold up,” he murmurs.
“What now?”
“You did well today, Aurora,” he informs me. “Well done.”
And I hate the way my chest rises at the praise. I shouldn’t care that he noticed I did my utmost best or that he felt the need to praise me.
“Whatever. I’ve decided to consider this whole thing my own personal challenge. I don’t back down from challenges. I win them.”
“You do that,” he says with a short nod. “Danny will be here later this week to help move your stuff to the compound.”
I fall silent at that. I really don’t want to move into that house. And at the same time, it’s intriguing. When I stepped through the threshold today, I was hit with a wave of familiarity and nostalgia. I had to fight the urge to go in search of mine and Lucia’s old bedrooms. To walk through the hallways and find my favorite spots. The house holds a lot of pain, but it’s still the place I grew up in. I was fairly shocked to realize that it still felt like a home.
“Fine,” I state. “Is that all, your highness?”
“Dial back on the sass,” he cautions. “Good night, mi vida.”
I inwardly groan. I hate that nickname so much. And yet, I can’t complain when he calls me that because I know the significance. The only difference is that once upon a time, he used to have so much warmth in his tone when he said it. Now, all I can sense is a wall of ice behind the words.
