He wasn’t a skinny six-three either. Nope. He filled out his entire frame with hard muscle you could see from the way his shirt draped down his torso. Not to mention, all Benetti Family members were required to stay in shape. That’s why Michael had a home gym at his place.
And if his body wasn’t to die for, in itself, Nico had a face made for fantasizing. He had thick dark brown hair, cut short on the sides, but was kept casually long on top. His face reminded me of Roman perfection with grey eyes that popped out between thick, long lashes. His eyes were actually pretty when you thought about it.
The crazy thing, though? Even though I was almost accosted, discovered I had a guard, watched as said guard dropped two guys without so much as breaking a sweat, and heard him threaten to kill the guys, nothing shocked me more than when Nico had addressed me as ‘baby’. Even more shocking? The way my stomach dropped, and my body tingled when he did it. When I asked him about it, he had just told me to get used to it, and I found myself not objecting overly much.
After Nico walked me to my dorm, he told me he would be in touch tomorrow, kissed my cheek and stood on the stoop until I went inside.
And now I was calling my brother on my secret phone.
“Hey,” he said, answering on the third ring.
“Nico Rossi,” I said, cutting to the chase.
Michael let out a deep sigh over the phone. “What happened?”
“No way, Mike,” I countered. “Tell me everything I need to know about Nico Rossi.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Mia,” he argued. “Something had to have happened for you to find out about Nico. What happened?”
I knew that tone in his voice. I wasn’t going to win this round. “I was walking home from the library and…uh, a couple of guys wouldn’t let me…by to get to the dorms.”
“And?” There was a dark bite to his question.
“Nico came out of nowhere and took care of it. Of them,” I explained. “He took their phones and their wallets, and he said he was going to take them to you and let you decide what to do about them.”
“He’s probably on his way here,” he mumbled.
“Where’s, here?”
“The Emerald.” I knew The Emerald was one of Ciro Mancini’s clubs. He owned four of them, The Emerald, The Diamond, The Sapphire, and The Ruby. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mike. I promise.”
“Okay,” he replied. “But I’m going to go see you tomorrow.”
“How about we make a date for this weekend?” I offered instead. “I’m bogged down with classes all day tomorrow.”
“We’ll see,” he muttered. “Depends on if Nico’s story matches yours.”
“Seriously?”
Michael ignored that. “And did you have your mace?” he asked, making me grind my teeth.
“What is it with the damn mace?” I asked, exasperated.
“It doesn’t do you any good if you can’t get to it, Mia,” he said, repeating the same thing he’s told me over, and over again.
“I know,” I whined like a child.
“And what the fuck were you doing walking back to the dorms at night alone?”
We were getting off topic, but I knew he wouldn’t relent until I answered his questions. Michael was a Pitbull like that. “Justin offered to come back to the library and walk me, but I just figured by the time I texted him and waiting for him to meet me, I’d be home by then.”
“You’re killing me, Mia,” he grumbled. It wasn’t the first time he’s uttered those words to me, so I ignored it.
“Now, Nico Rossi,” I said, bringing us back to the real topic at hand.
“He’s your guard.”
“That’s it? That’s all?” I asked incredulously. He knew what I was asking, and he was just being obstinate.
“What do you want to know, Mia?”
“Everything, Michael,” I retorted.
“Okay,” he sighed in extreme dramatic fashion if you asked me. “One, Nico Rossi, is twenty-six, has been working for the Benettis since he was fourteen. He was groomed by Ciro Mancini but did work for both Ciro and Salvatore’s crews. That is, up until two years ago, when he was given a permanent assignment.”
“He’s worked for the Benettis since he was fourteen?”
“Mia, Nico Rossi’s been your shadow since you were eight, and he was fourteen,” Michael clarified. “You were his first job.”
“What?” I gasped.
“He was hired to look after you when I couldn’t,” he continued. “Back then, it wasn’t much because I tried to be with you as much