Page 36 of Dance of Ruin

I blink at him. "Please?—"

He steps closer. “What the fuck did Ijust say?”

Before, on that rooftop, he had an edge to him. But even then, even after I’d watched himkill someone, he wasn’t like this.

Now, he doesn't just look angry.

He looks like he fucking hates me.

“What. A. Fucking.Scandal,” he hisses viciously through his teeth. “So, here’s how this is going to work. You belong to me now, Naomi.Entirely."

My brain short-circuits, the walls of my reality closing in from every side.

“I—” My lips move, but no sound comes out. I take a shaky breath, trying again. “Why…Why are you doing this?” I finally croak.

Something ripples in Nico’s eyes, turning them from icy blue to an almost amethyst, vengeful darkness.

“Someone tried to hurt my family the other night.”

I nod weakly. “I—I heard. How’s Bianca?—”

“That person wasyour father.”

No.

The world tilts and shifts under my feet. A roaring sensation fills my senses, clanging in my ears and pounding through my body to the point where I almost double over as the breath rushes out of my lungs.

“That…” I shake my head side to side, dazed. “That’s?—”

“I’m not sure I can conveyexactlyhow little interest I have in hearing the wordimpossibleright now.”

My lower lip trembles before I capture it with my teeth, my pulse jumping madly under my skin.

“If you truly think that’s an impossibility, I’d say you might not know Daddy Dearest as well as you think you do. If at all.”

The cold sensation I feel dragging down my spine speaks volumes. And loudest, it speaks one thing:

What he’s sayingdoesn’tsound impossible.

Horrible? Yes. Appalling? Absolutely.Nearlyimpossible for me to wrap my head around.

Not completely, though.

A chill ripples over my skin as I hug myself protectively.

“But Daddy Dearest just got himself Secret Service protection, which makes going after him personally more than a touch difficult for me.”

Nico steps closer, blowing smoke out of the corners of his lips as his eyes, still purply-blue, eviscerate me.

“So I’m not going to go after Leonard. Instead, Naomi, I’m going to ruinyou.”

He pulls a small card from his pocket and hands it to me. I barely even feel it when it slips into my hand. Then I glance down to it and see an address scrawled in tight black letters.

"Tomorrow. Eight a.m. sharp. Wear something pretty."

He leans in, his mouth near my ear.

"And remember," he whispers, "you’re mine now. Myproperty. Am I clear?”

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