“I still can’t believe I’m out for the season. Senior fucking year.” He all but growled the words.
“I’m so sorry,” I choked out.
“Yeah, that makes two of us. Marchetti, is he—”
“Gone,” Scott rushed out. “Won’t show his face in Verona County again anytime soon if he knows what’s good for him.” I felt Scott drilling holes into the side of my head, but I didn’t acknowledge him. I was too busy trying not to fall apart.
“What do you remember about that night?” Scott asked my cousin.
“I don’t know, man. It’s all a little hazy. The two of you were fighting...”
“He came at me out of nowhere. I was talking to Arianne and he just attacked me.”
I smothered a whimper. That’s not how it happened at all. Nicco was defending me, he was protecting me. But I knew the truth would only fall on deaf ears so long as Scott was here. He and Tristan were best friends, and there was no love lost between my cousin and Nicco.
“First he breaks your finger and then he comes after me. The guy is a psycho—”
“What did you say?” I finally looked at Scott.
“Which bit?” He smirked.
He knew exactly which bit I was talking about, but he was going to make me repeat myself.
“He broke Tristan’s finger?”
“You didn’t know?” His smirk twisted into a devious grin. “At the party a few weeks back.”
“He really did that?” I asked my cousin who nodded.
“He and his guys grabbed me and dragged me out to the workshop. Fucker took a hammer to my finger.” My stomach washed with disbelief.
“He didn’t... he wouldn’t...”
“It’s only what I’ve been trying to tell you, baby. Niccolò Marchetti is a monster.”
“But why would he do that?”
I knew he and Tristan didn’t see eye to eye, but breaking his finger? It made no sense.
“Why do you think?” My cousin said coolly. “Because he wanted information. He wanted to know if my cousin, the Capizola heir, was really attending MU.” Tristan didn’t sound mad this time... he sounded resigned.
I didn’t know what to feel.
I knew Nicco wasn’t inherently good; he was a mafia prince for God’s sake. I’d watched as he’d beaten Scott to a bloody pulp and then lashed out at Tristan in a fit of rage. But underneath the mafioso was someone who was fiercely protective of those he loved, loyal to a fault. So not knowing what he’d previously done to my cousin felt like a betrayal somehow.
“What’s wrong, baby?” Scott trailed his fingers down my shoulder. “Finally realized the kind of person Marchetti really is?”
I didn’t look at him, but I felt his disapproval, heard the smirk in his words.
“Lay off her, jackass,” Tristan said, throwing me a sympathetic glance.
A seed of hope took root in my chest. Maybe my cousin wasn’t gone after all.
“I’m so happy you’re awake,” I said again, as if that erased the awkward conversation of the last few minutes. “Has the doctor said anything about when you might be able to leave the hospital?”
“They need to run a few more tests, keep an eye on my vitals for a couple of days.”
“Excellent news,” Scott said. “You might be able to make the engagement party.”
Suppressing a shudder, my eyes fluttered closed. When I opened them again, Tristan was watching me, his lips pressed into a thin line. I gave him a weak smile, and his gaze narrowed. He sensed something was wrong, but he didn’t ask.
“The team is in good hands,” Scott launched into an update about the Montague Knights and I let my thoughts drift.
There had been plenty of opportunities for Nicco to tell me about him hurting Tristan.
Yet, he hadn’t.
My cousin said it was when Nicco was seeking information on the Capizola heir. He didn’t know it was me back then, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it would have changed the outcome if he had.
Nicco lived by a code, I knew that. He was groomed for a life I would never understand. But it didn’t make me love him any less. Just as him discovering I was the Capizola heir didn’t make him love me any less.
Our fate was decided the second I came across him and Bailey in that dark alley.
Nicco saved me that night.
I just hadn’t banked on him setting me free too.
“Okay, Tristan.” A nurse breezed into the room. “You need to get some rest.”
“I guess that’s our cue,” Scott said. “Take it easy, man, and we’ll see you soon.” The two of