news to me. I knew Arianne didn’t want Nicco fighting at L’Anello’s, the club where the underground fight ring happened every weekend, but it was a part of him. You couldn’t just switch off the blood thirst, the hunger. I knew that firsthand.
Memories of what I’d done that night didn’t diminish over time, they only burrowed their way deeper, infecting my soul like poison.
Just then, the buzzer rang. The way all the blood drained from Arianne’s face I knew without asking who it was.
“Crap, she’s early.” Guilt glittered in her eyes. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“Why the fuck would it be a problem?”
It was Nicco’s turn to quirk a brow in my direction. Ari rolled her eyes and left us alone as she went to open the door.
“What?” I snapped.
“Nothing.” Nicco searched my face for answers I didn’t have.
I felt her before I saw her.
Nora Abato.
The only girl I’d ever let see past my stone-cold exterior.
And the one girl I couldn’t ever get close to again.
“The view was amazing.” Ari and Nora chatted as they came into the room. “God, Nor, it was perfect.”
“Nora.” Nicco welcomed her with open arms and they hugged. “It’s good to see you.”
“I hear you treated my bestie like a Princess.”
“Queen,” he corrected. “I treated her like a Queen.” His eyes found Arianne and the two of them shared a longing look.
“Okay, okay, I know you’re newlyweds, but knock it off,” Nora let out a strangled laugh, “or I’ll need to take a cold shower.” Her eyes flicked to mine, but I immediately dropped my gaze, unwilling to acknowledge her.
“Wow, nice to see you too,” she said thickly.
“We’re going to head out,” Nicco filled the beat of awkward silence. “Luis and Alexi will be right outside. Order whatever you want, I left my card on the nightstand.” He cupped the back of Arianne’s head and pulled her in for a kiss.
Nora’s big doe eyes drilled holes into the side of my face, but I didn’t look at her.
I couldn’t.
If I looked at her, I’d remember, and if I remembered… well, it wouldn’t end well for anyone.
My fist clenched against my thigh as I stood up. “I’ll wait outside,” I grumbled. Nicco was tongue deep in Arianne, and Nora was right there…
I tried to tell myself I didn’t care. That the fact she’d found me in bed, hungover with some blonde draped over me like a cheap rug, didn’t matter. We weren’t anything to one another. I’d made no promises to her. It was just sex. Mind-blowing, hot as sin sex.
That’s all it was.
Nora didn’t say a word as I stalked out of the apartment and down the hall. I didn’t stop until I crashed through the door and pulled out my smokes. It was a nasty habit, but it calmed me a little.
Two minutes later, Nicco found me. “You need to quit that shit,” he grumbled.
I inhaled one last hit and dropped the butt, dragging it into the asphalt with my boot. “My car is down the street.” He followed me, climbing into my Pontiac GTO without another word.
He was quiet.
Too fucking quiet.
And I knew he was gearing up to rail at me. Sliding into the driver’s seat, I ran a hand through my hair.
“Are we going to talk about what happened?”
“Nope.” I jammed the key in the ignition.
I wasn’t entirely sure which part he wanted to talk about, but either way, it had been weeks. If I’d have wanted to talk, it would have happened by now.
I didn’t want to talk. I wanted to forget.
“Enzo,” Nicco sighed. My eyes slid to his. “Maybe if you just talked to her—”
“Not going to happen, cous. It is what it is. I would have only disappointed her in the end.” Because I wasn’t wired right. Because somewhere along the line, I’d got skipped when they were handing out all those happy fucking emotions.
Because deep down, I knew a woman would only bring me drama and distractions I didn’t want or need.
“You had your reasons,” he said.
“Nic, she found me in bed with some blonde, there’s no coming back from that.” I didn’t even remember what happened that night. But I remembered Nora’s face as she stood in the doorway.
My chest squeezed, but I ignored it. It was better this way.
She was too good for this world.
Too fucking good.
Nora believed everyone could be saved, that everyone wanted to be saved.
But I wasn’t looking for redemption…
Because my soul already belonged to hell.
“Nicco, figlio mio.” Uncle Toni grabbed