Page 83 of Madness & Mercy
Nico goes still.
“Controlling how?” His voice is a blade now, slicing between syllables.
Got you.
“He likes his people desperate.” I glance down at my arm, absently brushing near the healing wound. “He didn’t like that I left. Didn’t like that I stopped answering his calls.”
Nico steps in, his fingers wrapping around my forearm, not rough, but steady.
“Did he touch you?”he murmurs.
I look away, just for effect. Then quietly, I murmur, “it doesn’t matter.”
His grip shifts to my chin now, forcing my eyes to meet his.
“Thehellit doesn’t,” he growls. “Did that fucker put his hands on you?”
I let my face answer for me. Keep it subtle; tight jaw, slow blink, one breath too sharp.
He sees what he wants to see.
And I don’t feel bad about it.
Because the thing is? It’s notalla lie.
Ididwork for Braga. Not as a private investigator, obviously. As a hitman. And he made my life a living hell.
He broke bones like it was sport. Left bruises that never quite healed. Half the scars on my back arehisdoing.
So when Nico’s lip curls and he lifts the gun again, aiming straight between the guy’s busted eyes, I almost let him pull the trigger.
Almost.
But then I grab his wrist.
“Don’t.”
His head snaps toward me.
“You really want tostop me,piccolino? After this bastard shot at you?”
“I want you to be smart,” I say, my voice low but firm. “Don’t do something reckless and get yourself killed. This guy?” I nod toward the chair. “He’s not the real problem. He’s just another one of Braga’s disposable fucking tools.”
Nico takes a sharp breath in. His trigger finger twitches, then stops.
“Give meone good reasonnot to blow his fucking brains out right now.”
I hold his stare.
“Because Braga’s using him the same way he used me. You kill him now, and Braga just sends another. And the next one won’t miss.”
The silence between us goes sharp and violent.
Eventually, he lowers the gun, just a little.
“This isn’t over,” he mutters.
“No,” I agree. “It’s just the beginning.”
