Page 22 of Ruthless King

He’s sitting so close to me, looking at me with those intense eyes and handsome face. For a moment, I forgot who Nico is. He’s not a scary Mafia man. He’s just a man who secretly loves country music.

“All right,” he says. “I’ll make more of an effort.”

“Thank you.”

After sharing a smile, we go to bed. I lie there, looking at the ceiling, feeling proud of myself. I don’t need to seduce Nico to get him to like me.

I can just talk to him, and maybe then he’ll fall for me.

And maybe then I’ll be able to kill him.

Over breakfast, Nico asks me more about my family.

My fork is halfway to my mouth. When I thought about talking more with Nico, I didn’t realize he would ask me that, but I should have.

“Both your parents are dead, correct?” he asks, taking a bite of his omelet.

I flinch slightly. Enzo stands by the table, and I feel his gaze digging into me. “Yes. For a while now, but I still miss them. What about you?” I ask, trying to change the subject. “What about your parents?”

Nico is older than me, but he’s not an old man. He has to only be in his thirties. “My pop and mom have been dead since I was eighteen. That’s when I became this.” He motions to himself. “I took over the business and have been running it ever since.”

“That must have been hard. At only eighteen.”

“You’re … what? Twenty?”

“Yes.” It’s strange. Nico married me without even knowing exactly how old I am. I still don’t know how old he is. This truth stuns me.

“You were a child when you lost your parents. That couldn’t have been easy either.”

“You’re right. It wasn’t.” I feel the oncoming tears hit my eyes, and I quickly blink them away.

Nico’s stare intensifies before he nods and picks up his phone. “I have work to attend to.” He gets up. “Finish your breakfast. You can go shopping today if you want. Enzo will take you.” He pauses by me, hesitating like he wants to say something or touch me. I’m not sure which.

I meet his gaze, but then he turns away before I can understand what he was trying to do.

And just like that, Nico is gone.

Beatrice’s words enter my head. I need to seduce him. I thought the key would be talking, and I know that takes time. But Nico barely conversed with me.

I need to do something to really capture his attention and make him fall in love with me.

I need to do what Beatrice said.

I tell Enzo I don’t want to go shopping, and instead, I spend the day reading. Nico has a large library to choose books from. At least Enzo leaves me alone in the library, so I get some peace.

A part of me anticipates Nico coming home and us having dinner together. I’m not sure why, though. I hate him.

At least, I think I do.

But once we he returns home, he doesn’t join me at dinner. Instead, he heads straight for his office. More work. It’s always about work.

No wonder he just wanted a wife based on looks. He’s too busy to care about a relationship.

So, I need to get him to care.

I slip on one of the slinky nightgowns Beatrice made sure I brought with me. It’s white and innocent but still sexy. I feel like a girl playing dress up in it.

With a deep breath. I enter Nico’s office. My body is practically shaking, but I have to do what I have to do to get him to like me. To get him to trust me.

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