Travo appeared consistently in Vincenzo’s book when they visited Nikolai. He’s also seen here in the earlier chapter titled “Mental Health Break.” My heart goes out to Manuel & Sergei’s family. And Nikolai, of course. Xoxo. 💋
Nikolai ⟿❂⟾7 Years Ago ⟿❂⟾The words hung in the air for a moment, and I stared at her, trying to decide if I'd misheard her or if the weed was laced with something. "What?""You heard me." Her voice was quiet but steady. "I want you to touch me."I laughed. I couldn't help it. "Absolutely fucking not. I'm not doing that. You look like you're 16."Her jaw dropped. "I'm almost 19!" "Exactly," I shot back, pointing at her. "You're a child. I don't find you attractive, plus you look like a boy who just entered puberty. Your chest is too flat and you're not curvy." All that was a lie, but she didn't have to know. Her face turned red—not from embarrassment, but anger. "You're just 22! The age gap isn't even that big!"I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms. "I'm a man. I've done things. Seen things. Lived a life you couldn't even imagine."She crossed her arms, mimicking me. "Oh, I know. You've killed people, smoked weed, and done all kinds of illegal shit. My mom warned me ab
Nikolai ⟿❂⟾7 Years Ago ⟿❂⟾She's a witch. That's what she is. Not the cauldron-and-broomstick kind, no. She's worse. Because somehow, she has me doing things I swore I'd never do. Like breaking every damn rule my father drilled into me since I could walk.Right now, I'm hiding a girl in my house.If my father finds out, I'm screwed. Not "go to your room" screwed. More like "dragged to an abandoned warehouse to have a 'life lesson' with a crowbar" screwed. And if he doesn't kill me, she's got a death sentence waiting for her."Seriously, man, when's the last time you got laid?" Russel's voice cut through my thoughts like a rusty blade.I blinked and glared at him. "Did I say something?""Nope." Kegan, my cousin and occasional pain in the ass, smirked. "But you've got the look of a guy who needs a good slap…preferably with a pair of thighs."Russel leaned back lazily, his Sea-green eyes flicking to a girl spinning around the pole in the center of the club. "You're not wrong. But let
Chapter 106⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾"I don't know what to do," I admitted. It was the first time I'd ever said those words to them. The first time I'd let them see me this useless.Manuel's hand found my shoulder, grip firm despite his injury. "We need to get you out of here and get you patched up. That shrapnel needs attention before it kills you.""Maybe it should.""Bullshit." Kegan's voice cut through my self-pity like a blade. "You think these men died so you could sit here feeling sorry for yourself?”"How bad is it?" I asked. "The damage.""They killed nine of our men.”"We need to get you out of here," Kegan said, standing up and brushing off his shirt. "This place is going to be crawling with cops and feds. It's only a matter of time before—""I'm not going anywhere," I said flatly."The hell you're not." Kegan's voice took on that tone I remembered from childhood, the one that meant he was done fucking around. "You're bleeding, you're probably running a fever, and you look like you
Chapter 105⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾I could no longer feel my legs. Maybe it was from sitting in the same spot for too long.Still, I sat there, in the wreckage of what used to be my father’s prison, surrounded by the bodies of men who'd trusted me to keep them alive. The silence was deafening after all the gunfire and shouting. Just me and the dead and the slow drip of water from a broken pipe somewhere in the darkness.Every moment from that day she walked back through the door was playing on repeat in my head. That little red dress she wore, makeup smeared across her face, looking so fragile and broken. “I didn’t think you’d be—” she'd whispered, and I'd been so fucking relieved.What had she been about to say though? Awake? Waiting? Here?That was the setup. The moment they hooked me.She came back the next fucking morning too. Stared into my eyes and told me she wanted to stay. And I'd believed every goddamn word. Brought her inside, gave her protection, gave her a place in my world.
Chapter 104⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾"Thank you, darling," The man in the gear said, his voice carried clearly over the settling dust and distant alarms. "You did perfectly."Now that I heard it, his voice sounded familiar. I turned, following his gaze, and the world tilted sideways.Sylvia was stepping out from behind the spot I’d shoved her in for cover. But she wasn't running toward me or the exit.She was walking toward him."What—" The word died in my throat as I saw her face. Tears streaming down her cheeks, her whole body shaking with sobs, but her feet kept moving. Away from me. Toward the enemy."I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice broken like glass. "I'm so sorry, Nikolai. I didn't want this. I never wanted—""Sylvia." My voice sounded like it was coming from underwater. "What are you doing?"The left handed bastard pulled off his mask and I froze again. Kaine. That left handed fucker I'd been hunting for days was the same one that had cost me two men. The bastard was smiling.I di
Chapter 103⟿❂⟾Nikolai⟿❂⟾The bastard was playing chess when we walked in.Of course he fucking was. Two years in a concrete tomb, and he still thought he was running the game. The pieces were arranged like he'd been in the middle of a match with himself—white and black locked in some eternal battle that existed only in his twisted mind."Oh, look,” he said without looking up, he moved a pawn forward with a maniac smile. "My disappointment of a son finally crawls back into the light."I didn't respond. Couldn't trust myself to speak yet. The sight of him always did this—brought back the taste of blood and the sound of my mother’s screams. Behind me, I could feel Sylvia's nervousness, her fingers ghosting against my back like she was anchoring herself to me."How long has it been?" he continued, studying the board like it held the secrets of the universe. "Two years of leaving the man who gave you everything down to your last name rotting down here, and this is what you bring me?" Hi