Page 33 of Kiss of Ruin (Brutal Empire)

Eventually we manage to pull ourselves off the floor and clean up. My energy is drained. Nico convinces me that food is the answer to rebuild my strength for later.

I pull on the dress from earlier, while Nico goes up to his room upstairs to get dressed since all of his clothes are upstairs. I fix my hair and make-up and meet him in the study like he asked.

When I arrive, I find Isabel and Pedro waiting for us. I arrive before Nico. One look from Isabel and she’s out of her seat, wrapping me in a hug.

“I knew you’d understand once he told you the truth.”

I lean back. “You know about us?”

“Not until this morning. We knew he felt something for you but didn’t know anything about what happened until I he told us earlier.” She steps back and takes my hand, bringing me over to the couch. “I’m just so happy to see you really happy.”

Nico walks in at that moment, his eyes moving from his mom to me. I don’t know what there is to see, but Nico doesn’t seem to have that problem. “I see you’ve already got the story out of Scarlett.”

“I didn’t need to. One look at her face I knew.”

Nico comes and takes the seat on the other side of me. He takes my hand in his and faces his dad.

“I’m happy for you, son.”

“But…” Nico starts. “What did you find out?”

He steeples his hands in front of him on the desk. “The DeLuca’s flew a few of their cronies down here last night. We were able to get a plate from the security footage and with a little help from one of our friends the rental service gave us the information we needed.”

He slides a piece of paper across his desk. Nico walks over and picks it up. “This looks like one of the motherfuckers I’ve seen with Lorenzo.”

“Are they trying to bring the war to the other parts of the Romero business?”

Nico looks back at me with murder burning bright in his eyes. “No. From what we’ve been able to gather, Lorenzo wants to take control of the Romero empire, which Elena wants too. She just wants it to come at the hands of your death.”

I should be upset, even scared. Any of those would be normal reactions to hearing that someone is trying to kill you. This time, it doesn’t even faze me. I’ve known there’s going to be a showdown between me and Elena at some point. Only one of us is coming out of it alive.

“I’m sorry, Scarlett. We’ll increase security until this can be dealt with,” Pedro offers.

“It’s not your fault. Her fixation is all about Luis. I’m sorry I brought the war to your home.”

Nico stalks over. “You didn’t bring anything here. That crazy ass bitch did. Tomorrow, I’m going to find out what I can about where they’re staying. I can guarantee that they won’t be seeing the moon rise tomorrow night.”

Nico storms out of the room, rage emanating from every line of his body. I move to stand when Isabel rests her hand on my shoulder. “Let him cool down. He’s not used to loving anyone besides his father and I enough to care about what happens to them. He’ll come back when he’s calmer.”

“Okay. I’m going to back to my room to wait for him before dinner.”

She pats my hand. “I think that’s for the best.”

I stand and look at Pedro. “Thank you for not keeping me in the dark about this.”

He inclines his head at me. “We don’t keep secrets from our family here.”

I know he means the current situation, but it suddenly feels like there are so many more meanings to his words. I give him a brief smile and turn for the door.

Nico may need to calm down, but I know what actually needs to be done. I won’t have Nico risking himself for me again. This is my problem and I’ll solve it.

I reach my room and lock the door behind me. It kills me to lock Nico out once again. This is not a conversation he can ever know about.

I pick up the phone and dial Carlos. It only takes one ring for him to answer.

“Scarlett, to what do I owe the pleasure?” This time I see his false charm for what it is.

“I know how to deal with Elena DeLuca. Can you meet me here in Miami tomorrow without speaking to Nico and I’ll explain.”

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