Page 98 of Reckless Royalty

“You’re out of your goddamn mind,” I snap, my hands balling into fists at my sides. “You don’t just use Cat to get over Chiara. Do you have any idea what you’ve done to her? To Connor? To all of us?”

“I know,” he says quietly, his voice breaking. “I know I fucked up. It was an asshole move, and I hate myself for it. But I didn’t know how to reject her, Mihai. I didn’t know how to stop.”

The vulnerability in his voice throws me off, and for a moment, I don’t know what to say. This is Nikolai, the cold, calculating bastard who’s always two steps ahead of everyone else. Seeing him like this, broken and raw, is like seeing a stranger.

“And now?” I ask, my tone unforgiving. “What about now, Niko? Because you didn’t just hurt Cat. You’ve shattered whatever trust Connor had in you. You’ve torn apart the brotherhood we’ve built. So tell me—what the fuck are you going to do to fix it?”

He lets out a humorless laugh, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know if I can fix it,” he admits. “My father’s already spoken to me and I’ve never seen him so disappointed. That’s worse than any beating Connor could’ve given me.”

I study him for a moment, trying to gauge how much of this is genuine. Nikolai might be an asshole, but I’ve known him long enough to recognize when he’s being vulnerable. And right now, he’s wide open.

“You still see Connor as your brother?” I ask after a moment.

His head snaps up, his expression pained. “Of course I do. I fucked up, Mihai. I know I did. But that doesn’t change the fact that I’d take a bullet for him in a heartbeat.”

“Then act like it,” I say sharply. “Own your shit, Nikolai. Face the consequences and figure out how to make this right. Because if you don’t, you’re going to lose all of us.”

He nods slowly, his jaw tight. “I’m trying, man. I really am. But every time I think about what I’ve done, I just... I don’t know how to undo it.”

“You can’t undo it,” I say bluntly. “But you can start by being honest. With Cat. With Connor. With everyone.”

He lets out a shaky breath and I see the resolve settle in his eyes. “Thanks, Mihai,” he says quietly. “For not... you know, finishing the job.”

I smirk, shaking my head. “You think I came here to beat the shit out of you? Trust me, I wouldn’t stop at a black eye.”

He actually chuckles at that, the sound dry and humorless. “Noted.”

“Mihai?” He calls out as I turn to leave, his voice hesitant.

I glance back, raising an eyebrow. “What?”

“Please don’t tell G,” he says, his tone pleading. “About Chiara. I don’t want to make this worse than it already is.”

I study him for a long moment before nodding once. “That’s your secret to tell, Nikolai. But don’t make me regret keeping it.”

He nods, his expression grateful but weary. “I won’t.”

I leave and make my way back to my suite, the heavy conversation with Nikolai still weighing on my mind. The guy’s made a mess—there’s no sugarcoating it—but at least he owned up to some of it. Whether or not he can fix it… well, that’s on him now.

When I step inside my suite, the silence wraps around me like a blanket. I can still smell Maddy on my pillows and my cock gets the message. I lean back and let out a breath before pulling out my phone.

I don’t even have to think about who I’m texting. My fingers fly over the screen.

Me:

Goodnight, baby.

God, I’m whipped.

I find myself scrolling through her social media again, then my smile starts to fade. My thumb hovers over a post she made months ago—a photo of her with her mother and sister, all of them beaming at the camera. The caption reads: “My whole world.”

My chest tightens as I scroll further, seeing post after post of her life before everything fell apart. It hit me then—she came to our estate three days after they died.

She never got to say goodbye to them.

Of course she didn’t. Everything happened so fast—Santiago’s death, the ambush, being swept into our world. She didn’t even have time to grieve, let alone properly say goodbye.

It’s not fair. None of this is fair. She’s been robbed of so much, forced into a life she never asked for.

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