Page 82 of Forbidden Whispers

Johnny was holding the gun; his swarthy face held a sneer as he looked Noah and Maggie up and down.

Nick the Knife stood between the two beds. Nick stared at Noah, metal glinting off the slim knife that he was expertly flipping around in his hand in a way that almost seemed like an art form. There was a clear bite wound on the arm of his knife-wielding hand, and Noah wondered if it was from when Boon had attacked the man yesterday.

“So glad you could join us,” Nick said with a sarcastic twist to his lips; he tilted his head in mock welcome. “Have a seat.” His white scalp gleamed in the lamplight where the shape of the knife was shaved into the hair on the side of his head.

When they didn’t move, Nick stepped forward and roughly shoved Noah, causing him to stumble. “I said, sit down. On the floor. Both of you.”

Barely containing his anger, Noah sank to the floor of the hotel room, and Maggie followed suit. Noah moved his body slightly in front of hers, uncertain of what Nick intended to do next.

“Now that the gang’s all here, we can finally put an end to all of this,” Nick said. “And I’ll finally get what’s rightfully mine.”

“Rightfully yours?” Valentina spat out. “You’ll never get away with—” The rest of what she’d been about to say was lost as Nick violently backhanded her across the face. She fell across the bed and Eric moaned, struggling to rise.

“Don’t even think about it,” Johnny said, flicking the gun in his direction before returning it to point at Noah.

Noah doubted Eric could do anything if he tried. He was in bad shape. In addition to the cuts and bruising covering his body, it looked as if one of his arms was broken.

“What do you mean, get what’s rightfully yours?” Maggie said.

Nick’s eyes flicked down to her. “Exactly what I said.”

“Prison time?”

Oh man, Maggie. Don’t push him. Nick’s eyes narrowed and Noah tensed in preparation to jump him if he made a move toward Maggie, but Nick stayed put.

“No, Matches by Maggie,” Nick drawled. “I mean getting what Papa Dom originally promised me, before everything got all screwed up.”

“And what exactly is that?” Noah asked, although he already knew the answer from their previous conversation with Valentina and Eric. But he wanted to stall for time in order to try and figure a way out of this.

There was a crazed light in Nick’s ice-blue eyes, making him seem even more dangerous than he had in any of their other encounters. And there was something unsettling about the way he moved, one minute twitchy and the next like a prowling wildcat trapped in a cage. Noah wondered if he was on something.

“Even before I was a made man, I always gave Papa Dom my unfailing loyalty. I’ve done whatever he asked of me without question. And in reward for that loyalty, I was promised her.” Here he flicked the knife in Valentina’s direction. “Along with the promise that she and I would co-rule the Partnership together when the time came.”

“But then,” Nick’s face twisted in fury, “Papa Dom changed the plan. ‘It’s for the good of the organization, Nick,’” he said, his tone turning petulant. “‘There’s been too much bloodshed in the family, Nick. We all have to make sacrifices, Nick.’”

Nick swore and in a lightning move, threw the knife hard against the motel room wall. It stuck there, the shaft vibrating with the impact. He walked slowly over to it and pulled it out. His eyes fixated on the sharp blade, seemingly entranced for a moment before he began to flip it back and forth again while he spoke.

“I could tell the old man was getting soft in his old age. But like a fool, I agreed to go along with his plan. Because loyalty is everything to me.”

Valentina snorted at this, and he took a menacing step toward her. Noah marveled at the woman’s audacity as she stared him down, certain she was pushing him too far. But this time Nick held back and instead began pacing about the tiny room.

“But then, I find out what a liar she is.” Nick jabbed the knife toward Valentina again. “The daughter of the boss, the one he’s chosen to take his place, has no concept of loyalty. She lied to him about her supposed bachelorette party. So, I do like Papa Dom asks. I track her car here, determined to bring her back to do her duty. But instead, I find her partying and hanging all over you.” This time he points the blade in Noah’s direction.

Then Nick tapped the flat of his blade against his temple. “So, now I’m thinkin’...Who is this guy? Is he from a rival gang? A professional assassin? I admit it. For a while, you had me. Our sources couldn’t find out anything about either of you beyond your cover stories. Nothing made any sense.”

Nick stared hard at Noah. But Noah said nothing, his mind working furiously. He thought he could successfully sweep Nick off his feet from his seated position, but that still left Johnny holding the gun.

“I still can’t believe that you called the cops on us at the hospital,” Nick said, glancing at Valentina again.

“You’re welcome,” Valentina said with a cold smile.

Nick stared at her hard for a long moment, then gave a small shrug, a satisfied smile curving his lips. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. Because after trailing these idiots all weekend,” here he indicated Noah and Maggie, “we finally got lucky. Thanks so very much for leading us here, by the way.” His tone was mocking. “Honestly, I’m not sure we would have ever found Valentina without you two, don’t you agree, Johnny?”

Johnny gave an affirmative grunt from his post by the door, his small eyes glittering.

“Once you two left here this morning, we paid our own visit to these two lovebirds,” Nick continued, his expression hard. “Surprisingly, they didn’t want to talk at first. But after quite a bit of...er, persuasion, we finally got the whole story.

“It wasn’t just that the bachelorette party was a lie. But everything Valentina’s done has been a lie. And she was about to commit the ultimate betrayal.” Nick shook his head, clearly incredulous.

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