Page 50 of Stricken

For now, though, we have a body to dispose of and a secret to keep. And the sun will begin to rise soon.

"Put the glass in the laundry bag, then rinse it with bleach in the sink," I instruct Nico as he rises to his feet to sweep up what's left of my decanter. "We'll get rid of it along with the corpse, but it's best we do not leave any DNA on it.”

"Okay." Nico nods without any further questions and does as I say while I turn my focus back to the dark, sticky pool staining the bedroom carpet. Armed with resolve and cleaning supplies, I finish up erasing traces of the night's gruesome events.

I'll have Ivan get rid of the carpet, but not tonight.

Once done, I rummage through my closet and grab a change of clothes for us.

"We'd better not walk out of here looking like extras from a horror flick," I mutter. "Have to change now and then again once we dispose of the body."

Nico's lips twist into a humorless smile. "Trying to avoid questions from the paparazzi, Vlad? I thought all publicity was good publicity in your world."

I snort. "I prefer to keep my face off the front page of the true crime rags. Thanks."

By 4 AM, the overnight building security guard goes on break, just as predicted. Nico and I hoist up the macabre bundle and make our exit, the service elevator descending us into a silence that feels almost mundane after the chaos upstairs. The parking lot greets us with eerie tranquility, not a soul in sight as we load the body into the back of my SUV.

"What about the security cameras?" Nico asks, glancing around warily as he slams the trunk closed.

"Ivan will handle it. I'll make the call once we're on the road."

Nico's eyes narrow. "You sure it's smart getting him involved? I thought the point was to keep this under wraps."

"Ivan is solid. He will not ask questions or say anything." I pull the driver's side door open, then pause. "Besides, he doesn't need to know the specifics. As far as he's concerned, this is just another loose end that needs tying up."

"Trust me my family knows tactics to press people for information if he's ever caught."

"Ivan's torture proof. People who have nothing to lose don't talk. In any case, he will not get caught."

"My uncle warned me not to mess with the Russians," Nico comments, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Too late now."

The city dissolves into darkness as we leave it behind. The open desert unfurls before us. An unmarked grave for an unnamed victim. How fitting.

Nico sits rigidly in the passenger seat, staring out into the waning night. I can practically hear his mind churning.

Strange, the risks a person will take to keep a secret.

Is this really about self-preservation? Or something deeper? The questions gnaw at me as the miles slip past.

Who am I really protecting here? My empire? My reputation? I'm not the one bound by the shackles of tradition and judgment.

No. If I'm being honest with myself, I didn't do this for me. Yuri's corpse could continue rotting in the ground for all I care. Let the whole story about me and the spare Italian prince come to light. There's no one to tell me what to do anymore. No one to fear.

But Nico... His whole world would crumble. And somehow, that thought makes my chest constrict.

I glance over at him, his face tired in the passing flashes of highway lights. In this moment, with the weight of our actions hanging between us and the desert looming ahead, one thing becomes crystal clear.

Somewhere along the line, against all reason and logic, I started to care about what happens to Nicola Morelli.

CHAPTER16

NICO

The adrenaline still pulses through my veins like a serpent's venom as I sit in the passenger seat of Vlad's SUV, my heart a thunder behind my ribs. The night's violent encounter in Vlad's apartment replays in my mind, an endless loop of terror and shock. I've never had anyone try to kill me before—the feeling is as alien as it is petrifying, an icy hand gripping my throat. I've heard of it from Father and Uncle and other Morelli family members. I hoped it would never happen to me.

Sadly, it did.

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