Mag-log in“You seem to be having way too much fun with this than I am, little one.” I stated watching him keenly, my eyes never leaving his face. “Well, yes I am. And you can’t blame me for that now, can you? Because once again, I am being dragged into your mess. Even though I don’t want to be a part of it. He answered, tilting his head to the side. “I never wanted this to happen to you Nicholas, I really didn’t. But now isn’t the time to reminisce on the past. We should be talking about the next step. We should be talking about making sure you and your brother are safe because that is a priority.” “And what about you? What are you going to do about your rival?” “I don’t want you to worry about Nikolai. He may think he has found my weakness and wants to use it against me, but what he doesn’t know is that you are not just my weakness. You are more than that. And I don't sit back when someone messes with what is mine. So right now I don’t want you to worry about anything. I’m going to
Before I could respond, his brother came out of the room.“Nick, you are back. I didn’t hear you come in.”Nicholas’s eyes flickered briefly from mine to his. “Who is this and what is he doing here?”“Oh, him? He said he’s a friend of yours so I asked him to wait for you since you won’t be staying long,” Leo responded, carrying the bags off the floor to the kitchen.“Seriously! Leo, that is a very foolish thing to do. You can’t just open the door to strangers who claim to be my friend. What if he’s a serial killer or a kidnapper or something?” Nicholas shot back, tone rising as he walked to the kitchen.“I know. I know I’m sorry. He just seemed really nice and I guess I got excited to see a friend of yours. Someone other than Jamie, of course.”“Leo, I’m not joking. This is serious. What if something happened to you? Friends harm each other, you know. Not to talk of strangers.”Leo chuckled, nodding in agreement. “Yes, Nick, I know. And I am sorry. I promise it will never happen again
“Are you threatening me, Nikolai?” I demanded, turning around to face him fully. “You do know that is not a wise thing to do.”He laughed, the sound low and amused, as if I had just cracked some joke. “Threaten you? No way. It’s pointless doing that. All I did was ask a simple question. Would you really let that innocent boy take the fall for your mess?”I scoffed in disbelief, pinching the bridge of my nose really hard. “Nikolai, my patience has a limit, and right now it is wearing thin. If you so much as touch a hair on that boy’s head—”“Oh, relax, Alessandro. If I wanted to, I would have. Since I already know where he lives.” He cut me off abruptly. “But that isn’t my intention, you see… right now. I am just focused on getting to know him. You know, getting to understand what’s so special about him. If you must know, I have all the time in the world to touch him so I’m in no hurry. Who knows, it might happen soon enough.” He chuckled again, slipping his hands into his pockets, eye
Alessandro’s POV After hearing everything Bianca said, I could barely keep it together. So by morning, I got into my car and made my way down to Nicola’s house. I had no clear plan. I had no idea what I was going to say to him. I had no idea how I was going to act toward him. All I knew was that I felt responsible for what happened to him, and what sucks more was that I couldn’t bring myself to tell him about it. I knew it was selfish, but seeing with my own eyes that he was okay, was my own way of trying to feel less guilty. When he opened the door, the sight of him nearly knocked the air from my lungs. He looked sick, tired, and stressed. Dark circles under his eyes, shoulders tense, the kind of exhaustion that sleep alone couldn’t fix. I knew I was the last person he expected or wanted to see. So when he rejected my help and said I shouldn’t come back here, it felt like a blade was driven straight into my chest. I deserved it. It’s not like I was expecting some form of leniency
After a while of sitting in silence, he finally looked at me.“Fine,” he said at last. “But just for now. You promised if anything like this happens again. Or if he comes here again, threatening you, I’ll be the first one you call. Okay?”I nodded in agreement, giving him a weak smile. “I promise. You’ll be the first person I’ll call if anything happens.”“Alright then.” He leaned back slightly, studying me. “So what about Alessandro? You said he came by earlier today.”I stood up and headed to the kitchen, needing something to do with my hands. I opened a cabinet, then closed it again without taking anything out. “He said he wanted to check in on me. ApparentlyI had no idea I looked like shit in the morning, so when he slightly touched my forehead and saw I had a fever, he didn’t want to leave until I was okay. So he helped cool it down by applying a towel on it with cold water repeatedly. That’s it. That’s all that happened.”“Hmmmm. And why didn’t you object? I mean, if you want no
“What? No fucking way.” Jamie gasped, and I could imagine his eyes turning into big saucers.“Yep. Fucking way,” I said, leaning back against the couch. “Apparently, he decided to check in on me. Like it was so weird I didn’t even know what to say. Heck I didn’t even know how to act, coupled with the fact that I had a shitty night last night at the club.“Last night? What happened last night?” Jamie cut in, eagerly.“You know what? I’ll explain everything when you get here. So be quick about it.” I added the last part then dropped the call before he could fire off another round of questions.I sent a message to Naomi next, thumbs moving on autopilot. Almost immediately her reply came through.*It’s fine, Nick. Make sure you take care of yourself. And take as much time as you need. I need you back here like nothing ever happened.*I snorted softly to myself, dropped my phone on the couch, then headed to the kitchen as my stomach grumbled—a reminder that I had not had anything to eat al







