Page 41 of Ruthless King

ENZO

“Nico fired me,” I say, nursing my drink. That bitch got the better of me. I found her with a knife hidden in her room, and she turned it back on me. The bitch is smarter than I gave her credit for.

“I heard,” Andrew replies, sitting down across from me. The moment Nico fired me, I came to Andrew’s house straight away. If there’s anyone else I know who’s just as suspicious of Aurora as I am, it’s Andrew.

“I think she’s trying to kill him.”

Andrew raises an eyebrow. “And you saw the knife?”

“Yes. I ripped it right from her hands. But, of course, when Nico comes in,I’mthe one holding the knife. Not her. She said I came in to attack her, and Nico believed her.”

“Of course, he did. He’s pussy whipped.”

I scoff. “How can he trust her? She’s a stranger to him.”

“Nico wanted a wife. He didn’t care about anything else despite my objections. You’re certain Aurora is trying to kill Nico?”

“Why else did she have a knife in her room?”

“Protection?” Andrew offers. “She’s a young women married to a Mafia man, after all. Maybe she thought it would offer herself protection from him.”

“Why are you trying to see things from her perspective?” I shift around in my seat. “You hate her just as much as I do.”

“I’m just trying to offer an alternative option. Because the other option is Nico married a woman who’s trying to kill him. But we can’t go after Aurora. If we do and hurt her, Nico will kill us. He’s already showing signs of possessiveness over her. If we’re going to go after Aurora, we need proof she’s trying to hurt Nico. All you did was find her with a knife. She wasn’t attacking him, was she?”

I sigh and take a large gulp of my whiskey. “No. She wasn’t.”

“Exactly. It’s your word against hers. Nico will believe her word. He already has by firing you. We need proof that she wants to hurt him.”

“How are we going to get it?”

Andrew’s smile makes my skin crawl. “Don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”

AURORA

After another day spent alone, I decide to go to Nico, finding him in his office, bent over his desk, his head in his hands.

“Hey,” I say, slowly approaching him. “Are you all right?”

“I should be asking you that.” He drops his hands, sighing.

“Enzo didn’t hurt me. I’m fine.”

“But he tried. Which means I’ve had to spend all of today vetting my other guards. I don’t want any of them to try and hurt you.”

A flash of guilt courses through me. Nico doesn’t want me to get hurt while I’m trying to find a way to kill him.

After Enzo caught me with the knife, I promptly put the knife back, and I haven’t picked it up again. So, I’m back to square one on how to kill Nico.

If I even want to kill him, that is …

“You’re kind,” I say.

“You sound surprised.” He grabs my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine.

“Can you blame me?”

“Not really.” He stares at me intently. It’s so easy to lose myself around Nico. “I care for you, Aurora. Even within the short time I’ve known you. I know I don’t show it much, but I want to. I want to take you out on a date.”

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