Page 86 of Taming Nikki

“Hunting. That asshole went after my sisters. He’s going to die.”

His silence wasn’t really surprising. This wasn’t like me. I never wanted to pull the trigger. It wasn’t my style. But slow suffering wouldn’t make my sisters feel safe again. As much as I liked to draw it out, I wasn’t going to wait around this time for Henderson. He was going to regret coming for my family.

“No. You’re not going after a fucking shooter, Nikki. Tell me who he is and let me handle it.”

I scoffed. “Not on your fucking life, Vitale. This isn’t your problem. It’s not my papa’s problem. It’s mine. And I’m going to be the one to handle it.”

“You aren’t a fucking killer! Nikki, I–”

“No!” I snapped. “I don’t need your help! This was my fault and I’m going to be the one to fix it. He came for my sisters!”

I could hear the restrained fury in his voice, barking at people in the background to suit up and get moving. Not that it mattered. He could posture all he wanted, but I wasn’t giving him shit. This one was on me.

“I’ll get you your freedom.”

That made me pause, and my foot eased off the gas a little. “What?”

“You let me take care of this. I’ll tell your papa the deal is off and let you go. You’re not a killer, Nikki. I don’t care if it was my enemy or yours. Give me the name. I’ll handle it.”

A war went off in my head on if I should give in to him. I wanted to deal with this myself. Henderson made it personal, and I didn’t need a man to rescue me. But Vitale still held a lot of power over me. Our deal, as much as I wanted to believe it was true, was only between me and him. My papa could easily decide to ignore it and sign me over to him anyway. And even if he didn't, there was no guarantee that Papa would give me up if Leo backed off. There was a reason he’d kept me around all these years, and I doubted it was because of my charming personality. He was waiting for something to be worth it.

I could run. That was the plan, anyway. But I risked losing everything I had. My sisters, my uncle, my cousins. Maybe even my brother. They’d know to look for me with him. And they might use him against me to keep me where they wanted me. This was the Cosa Nostra. They didn’t waste time with bullshit sentiment. If they wanted me to give in, they’d do what was necessary to get me in line. Papa had been kind so far, but if I ran, it was possible he’d lose his patience with me.

“Nikki, please.”

My eyes darted back and forth, and I slowed even more. It was almost a guarantee that Henderson would die today. He pissed off not only me, but my family and Leo’s when he went after us. That’s two mafia bosses looking for him. I wanted it to be me. I wanted to be the one to teach him a lesson, but I was being an impulsive idiot if I went in alone.

“I want to go with you.”

“No. It’s not fucking safe.”

“Leo–”

“No, Nikki. I’m not giving on this one. Give me the name. Let me take care of it. And I’ll get your papa to back off.”

I gritted my teeth, glaring at the road in front of me. I wasn’t far from Henderson’s house. I could ignore Leo, walk straight into the place, and shoot him between the eyes. He wouldn’t see me coming. No one ever expects me to pull the trigger. He’s probably prepping for me to–

A shot went off and the back passenger window shattered, making me jump and duck my head. The car swerved as I jerked the wheel, slamming on the gas again to get away.

“What the fuck was that?” Leo bellowed.

“Time’s up. I can’t take your deal. Looks like Henderson is coming to me.”

ChapterThirty-Nine

LEO

I heard the gunfire,heard the screech of the tires, and my heart stopped in my goddamn chest.

“What the fuck was that?” Leo bellowed.

“Time’s up. I can’t take your deal. Looks like Henderson is coming to me.”

Fuck. I raced towards my car, but I had no idea where the hell I was going because Nikki was giving me absolutely nothing. My worst nightmare was right in front of my goddamn face. Nikki made it clear that this was her enemy, not one of mine. Her brazenness finally caught up to her and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to protect her because I didn’t know where the hell she was.

“Tell me where you are.”

I could hear the shots popping off in the background, the panicked edge to hear breathing. She was in over her head because she decided to go chase down an asshole all alone.

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