Page 48 of Sugar Baby
“Yes,” Nico says eventually. “I’m in love with her. But I know my place.”
He brushes past me and climbs in the van, not giving Quinn a chance to reply. I hastily follow, not eager to be on the receiving end of whatever is going through Quinn’s mind right now. He will be furious, I’ve no doubt. Nico is a dead man walking.
“Where to?” Luca asks, breaking the uneasy silence.
Nico pulls out his phone and texts it to Luca. “There.”
He nods and pulls away.
“You’re in so much shit,” I comment, just to say something in the awkward silence.
He shrugs. “Living without her is worse than death, so if he kills me, it will be a welcome relief.”
“Jesus,” Atlas remarks. “Dramatic, much? Must be that Latin blood making you all theatrical and shit.”
Nico's furious gaze bores into Atlas’s head, but he takes it on the chin.
“You know there’s another one of you, right?” Nico comments casually, but it’s so well placed to aim right for the balls, it knocks us both off our game.
“What?” I spit out. “Are you being a complete dick?” I just can’t even. Not today.
Nico shakes his head smugly now that he’s drawn the attention away from his impending death by angry, protective Daddy.
I turn to Atlas. “Did you fucking know?”
He shakes his head. “No. A third? For fuck’s sake.”
“How do you know?” I accuse Nico. “And why did no one tell me? I had a right to know I had family, real fucking family out there.” It’s fired up my demons, and they aren’t happy. I could have escaped my shit life if I’d known. Maybe one of my brother’s adoptive parents could’ve taken me in.
Nico sighs. “I have only recently discovered this. Quinn doesn’t know. His name is Trent Cavendish. He works for a government agency taking down…certain people.” His gaze becomes evasive, which piques my curiosity.
“Cavendish,” I murmur. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out he’s led a charmed life. It looks like he got the golden ticket out of that ditch we were left in.
“Why are you telling me now?” I ask, leaving Atlas out of this.
“Because we are going to his house in the country. It’s where Enzo has Sophia.”
“They’re working together?” My anger boils up. It’s bad enough that I find out there is a third, wealthy brother, but to find out he is also a douche that abducts women is just the icing on the rage cake. I’m gunning for a takedown, and he is now at the top of my list. Blood or not, he isn’t family.
“Seems so.” Nico appears perturbed by this fact, so it’s not something he was aware of, which is good, or I’d beat Quinn to the killing.
“Here’s the plan,” I bark out, my business head firmly on my shoulders now. “Nico, you are injured, there’s no getting away from that fact, so you will be responsible for making sure Sophia gets out of the house and into the van quickly and unharmed. Atlas, if you’re actually in this to help, then you need to tell me now.”
“Helping,” he says with a sigh. “What else am I going to do?”
Ignoring him, I continue, “You and Franco will be my backup. I’m going in all guns blazing, and I don’t give a flying crap who gets hurt in the process. If Sophia is the only one in that house that makes it out alive, then that’s fine by me,” I growl.
“And me,” Nico responds.
I give him a firm nod and pull out the big metal box from under my seat. I fling the top open and pull out a handgun and a hunting knife that will gut a deer with no issues. I kick it over to Nico, who pulls out similar weapons and then Atlas, who gives it some thought. In the end, he decides on a pair of silver blades that will slice through anything like warm knives through butter.
“You like to get your hands dirty?”
“Don’t you?”
I give him a slow smile in confirmation, and he returns it.
It’s the first time I’ve felt like he’s my brother, one of my triplet brothers.
