Page 77 of Forever Mine

Nicolas sighs and reluctantly nods. Monica growls as she lunges at him. “You bastard! You deserve everything coming for you!”

I catch Monica before she can claw his eyes out before looking at him.

“Now, Nicolas, tell me who sent you here. I know it wasn’t you.”

“How would you know that?” he asks belligerently.

“I heard you on the phone with someone. Telling them you had Monica right where you needed her and that you needed more time to get further. Explain.”

He stares up at me and shakes his head, so I push my fingers into the side of his obviously broken nose.

“Fuck! That fucking hurts!” he seethes.

“I’ll do more if you don’t start talking,piço.”

“If I talk, I’m a dead man,” he mutters.

“You’re a dead man either way. Talk. What does the Bianchi family want with Monica? Ties to her family?” I ask.

Nicolas sighs and gingerly sits up. “Wrong family.”

“The Russo family?”

“No. I mean, the wrong family is after her.”

“I don’t follow.”

“I’m not working for my family. Not anymore.”

“Who the fuck are you working for, then?”

A car comes screeching to a halt on the street, and a man in a suit steps out.

“Not another word! Nicolas, I’m advising you not to answer any more questions. Officer, is this a detainment?” the man says as he looks at Liam. Fuck. How did he lawyer up this fast?

“No, not a detainment. We aren’t even sure what happened here,” Liam says.

“My client appears to have had his face smashed in. Anyone like to explain that?” the lawyer sneers. My right hand is in Monica’s hands, and I feel her gently rubbing my knuckles. Myqueridais trying to ensure they don’t appear bloody if the lawyer asks to see them. I cough to cover the smile threatening to erupt on my face.

“He showed up like this,” Nathan says from the porch steps. “Right, Monica?”

She nods before we all turn to Nicolas.

“You must have gotten beat up before getting here, right, Marcus?” I say strongly as I stare at him. His eyes narrow for a moment.

“My name is Nicolas. I don’t know a Marcus,” he says.

“Our mistake,” I respond. “Someone named Marcus tailed my woman here. Must have driven off before you showed up. You should get your face looked at. Looks like your nose is broken.”

Nicolas glares at me as his lawyer helps him stand up. “Yeah, guess a guy didn’t like me hitting on his girl at a bar earlier. Definitely wasn’t you.”

“Definitely wasn’t me. I’d have hit you much harder had you gone after my woman.”

Monica giggles quietly and presses her face against my arm.

“It was interesting meeting you, Nicolas. I hope to never see you again,” she says quietly. Nicolas looks at her before nodding. Now that his attorney is here, we’re back to square one. Other than him saying it wasn’t his family after Monica, we didn’t learn much tonight.

“Can we go home,tesoro?” Monica whispers, her eyes looking up at me lovingly.

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