Page 78 of Boardwalk Queen

"Yeah. But some people are convinced we're the problem with Atlantic City." Nico rolled his broad shoulders against the leather chair. "Probably true. But fuck em'."

"Has your dad said anything about the engagement to you?"

Nico sighed. "He's not happy with me. That's for fucking sure."

"What happens now that Vittoria canceled the engagement?"

"We'll be at war with the Vitales again. They have stronger ties to the Zabatino family, which means they’ll come for us again.”

I “slid my arm across his neck. “Johnny Z took some of Stefan's girls from the club."

He nodded. “Stefan got them back. But it’s not the end with Johnny Z. He’s been sending his associates to our casino to cheat."

"The card counters we watched… Were those Johnny Z's guys?"

"Probably." Nico turned me so I was sideways on his lap. "Dante broke their legs and sent them back to their boss."

My eyes widened. "Your brother is pretty violent."

"I'm no saint, baby." He rose from the chair, setting my feet on the floor. "I've killed a lot of men."

He clutched my shoulder and led me out of his office.

"How many people have you killed?"

Nico chuckled. "Why so interested in that?"

"I want to know more about you. Even the dark and dirty parts. Nothing about you scares me."

"I don't know," he confessed. "I lost count after my twentieth kill."

"Twenty?"

He grabbed my hand and led me down the hallway. "It's a lot more than twenty. I was maybe twenty-three when I stopped counting."

Nico was almost thirty.

Fuck.

"How old were you the first time?" I asked when we were sitting at the bar stools in the kitchen.

"Seventeen."

No emotion.

No regret.

The Nico I knew was different, yet he was also a cold-blooded killer.

"Did they deserve it?"

He nodded. "All of them. We don't kill innocents. Death is a means to an end, not something I enjoy."

"Dante does."

"My brother loves it."

Someone knocked on the front door.

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