Page 29 of Kiss of Ruin (Brutal Empire)

She watches me for a moment, eyes searching my face. I can’t read much in her eyes with the wall she put…noIput between us. Her head begins to shake, then she grabs the hold of the table and stops.

“Fine. Talk, but as soon as your done pack your shit and go.”

That’s better than I hoped for. I reach my hand out to shake hers in agreement. She’s cautious at first. Her grip is strong when my fingers wrap around her soft skin. I try to hold her hand longer, but she snatches hers away.

She waves her hand in the air wanting me to begin. I pull in a deep breath and begin.

“I know I hurt you before you left New York.”

She wraps her arms around herself, while her eyes fill with tears. Every inch of me wants to reach across the table and hold her. Protect her from the harm that I’ve caused. She’ll push me away again and I’ll lose the small amount of ground I’ve gained.

“I didn’t want to, but I needed to get you out of New York.”

She lifts her head and stares directly into my eyes. “Why?”

I run my hand down my face, remembering the look on Carlos’ face when I told him she’d been taken. The hardness in his eyes. The cold way he dismissed her life. It didn’t surprise me, rather it was exactly what I expected. My reaction wasn’t.

“The night you were taken by Elena, Carlos and Andreas wanted to leave you there. Believed your life was nothing more than collateral damage.”

“They weren’t willing to begin a war over me?”

A sigh leaves my lips. “Yes.”

* * *

Scarlett

I suck in a sharp breath. Hearing that you were meant to be left for dead is very different than suspecting it. Since I woke up in the hospital and remembered how everything had played out that night, deep down I knew that Carlos and Andreas had been willing to let the DeLuca’s have me. Otherwise, when I climbed from that window, I would have seen more than Nico on one of Luis’ motorcycles waiting for me. If they had really wanted me back, they would have sent more than a dozen men. One man on a motorcycle does not a rescue make.

“But I couldn’t leave you there. You and I both know that a war was coming no matter what we did.”

Unwinding my arms I force my back straight. I won’t let Nico know how much his words affect me.

“So then why bother coming to get me at all? Elena and Lorenzo used me as justification to start that war. Leaving me there may have kept them from starting the war.”

“You don’t really believe that. They would have dumped your body on one of our doorsteps and hoped Carlos and Andreas started the war for them. They already tried once when they chased us on the highway.”

“But no war would have started. You just said they were ready to leave me for dead.”

“Don’t be so sure of that. The head of the Romero family had just been put in the ground and now his widow was killed by a rival. They might have been able to hold the war off a little longer, but eventually calls for revenge would get too loud, and they’d have to retaliate.”

Nico slumps down in the chair. I want to believe everything he’s saying. He’s given no indication that he’s lying to me. Even his posture is wide open and honest. So, why do I feel like there’s something I’m missing? Something he’s not telling me.

“Maybe. That still doesn’t explain what happened after I woke up. You left me completely alone in that hospital. Even if you weren’t going to stay with me, you took away the people who could be my rock.”

His eyes drop, but not before I see the pain in them. “Carlos and Andreas were threatening all of us. They were fucking furious that I’d been sloppy. Had allowed you to even get anywhere near the DeLuca’s.”

“You didn’t allow me to do anything.,” I argue. “I made those decisions all on my own.”

“You think they believed that after they found out we were sleeping together?” My heart recoils at the way he says it like a casual affair or a one-night stand. “They believed I was so blinded by the sex or our relationship that I missed what you were keeping from me. I argued to have you come here. A place you could heal and stop being a distraction. That leaving Luis’ widow to his fate wouldn’t sit well with the other families we’re involved with.”

“You didn’t miss it. I hid it from you. I refuse to let anyone stop me from saving Frankie.”

“Frankie will be the downfall of us all if we’re not careful.”

“None of this explains what you’re doing here. Why you didn’t tell me Elena was still alive?” I shiver when memories of that cold basement room wash over me. “She’s two steps ahead of me because she knows all about me and I have been left in the dark thinking she’s six feet under.”

He stands up and moves around the table, leaning on the edge in front of me. He doesn’t try and touch me, and this time I don’t try and get away. “I told you before, I’m here because I love you and there’s no way in hell I’m letting you go. I need you by my side.”

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