Keeping his bride

Nicholas

M Y PARENTS RETURNED from their anniversary trip a few hours ago. Benito confessed everything the moment they stepped foot onto the property; and now we’re all gathered in the common room, facing the wrath of my father.

“How the fuck could you do this, Nico?” my father asks as he paces the floor and runs a hand through his short, dark hair. I’ve never seen him so upset before. Well, at least not with me. His gray eyes, the same color as mine, pin me to the spot I’m standing. “Why the fuck would you think it was a good idea to go after Carbone on your own? What the hell was going through your goddamn mind?” he yells, anger seeping out of his every pore.

I glance around the room at my mother, Benito, my sister Aria and my best friend and Aria’s bodyguard, Renato Bianchi. Everyone is quiet with a solemn look on their face. No one is coming to my defense, nor do I expect them to. I know I fucked up. I fucked up majorly, and now I have to face the consequences of my actions.

“I know we all want Constantine put behind bars…or dead, but you can’t do it alone!” my father exclaims.

I stand with my hands in my pockets, staring down at the floor while my father scolds me. He’s totally right. I went behind his back and could have gotten myself hurt or worse. We’ve discussed in the past about tracking Constantine, but he probably never wanted me to the be one to actually do it.

I wasn’t even going to raise any suspicions with Constantine at the party; just get close enough to him to plant a tracker on him. But all those plans went right out the fucking window when I saw his son beating on a woman, who ultimately turned out to be Selina. My Lina.

“And then you ended up murdering Constantine’s only son. Do you know what kind of hell he will bring down upon this family when he finds out it was you?”

“Aldo erased all the security camera footage,” I start, but my father doesn’t let me finish.

“Yeah, from the mansion. But what about all the neighboring buildings? What about traffic cams? You think

Constantine can’t get his hands on all of that footage?” “I was careful!” I plead with him.

“You were careful,” he scoffs with a shake of his head. “You have no idea the trouble you’re in right now. You have no idea what kind of danger you’ve just put your family in!” he practically screams, causing my sister to jump.

I look over at her, and she quickly steels her spine and meets my gaze for only a split second while she worries her bottom lip between her teeth. God, she looks like a younger version of our mother. They share all the same features even down to the same chestnut brown hair and amber eyes.

Renato stands stock-still at her side, not moving, not even looking like he’s affected by my father’s yelling. Hell, my father has probably yelled at him so much that it doesn’t even bother him anymore.

My mother suddenly speaks up. “Now, Luca, Nico told us he had no choice in the matter when it came to Carbone’s son,” she says in an attempt to placate my father. She is the only one who can calm my dad down when he gets like this.

“I didn’t,” I explain to both of them. “He was hurting Selina. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn’t intervened? He probably would have killed her.” I can still remember the sounds of her sobs as Gino took his anger out on her in that room. Those sounds will haunt me for the rest of my life. “I did what I had to do,” I tell him vehemently, standing my ground. “And I’d fucking do it again.”

My father stops pacing and looks to me. “I just wish you would have waited. Going after any Carbone is dangerous.”

“Too dangerous,” Benito agrees from the corner, his large muscular arms crossed in front of his burly chest as he leans against the wall.

I knew he would take my father’s side. I’m just glad he’s not yelling at me too at this point. “I didn’t have a choice,” I tell them vehemently. “I just wish it would have been Constantine and not his son. That bastard needs to be taken down like the dog he is,” I spit out, seething.

“Yes, in due time. But you can’t just rush him without having an army prepared first. You could have been killed regardless of which Carbone you went after!” my father says in a deep rumble, his temper threatening to boil over.

The whole room is quiet while my father begins to pace the floor again. I swear he’s going to make a hole in the carpet soon.

I know deep down it was a stupid idea going after Carbone on my own. It’s just I’ve hated him for so long, given our family history with him, and I knew that party was my chance to finally do something for the greater good. I couldn’t just take that opportunity for granted. My goal that night was to get intel on Constantine. What I didn’t expect was his son to be in his place at that party, but I’m glad he was because the sequence of events all led me right to Selina.

And knowing now that Constantine must have had Selina in his clutches for a period of time infuriates me. When she’s in her right mind, I’m going to have a lot of questions for her. I want to know exactly how she came to be under his radar and for how long. There are too many missing pieces of her puzzle, and I need to figure them all out to get a look at the bigger picture.

“Well, there’s no going back now and changing things. We have to deal with what has been done,” my father decides, stopping and then turning towards the rest of us. “Gino Carbone is dead. Constantine will no doubt find out who killed him and come for our family. We need to start preparing for the inevitable.” He makes a point to look at my sister when he announces, “No one leaves the house without permission. And if you do leave, I want you to always have at least four guards. No exceptions.”

Benito and my mother nod in agreement while Renato stays quiet.

Aria folds her arms across her chest and glares at me. “So, we have to change our entire lives because Nico screwed up?” she asks, fuming.

“Yes,” my mother and father say at the same time.

“What about your connections with the feds?” I suggest. “Can’t they do something about Constantine?”

“He was already released from prison on a technicality. We would need all new evidence to build a case against him again. Carbone has moved most of his operations overseas where the feds can’t reach him.” My father shakes his head. “No, there’s nothing they can help us with at this point.” He sighs and scrubs a hand down his face. “I wish you wouldn’t have gotten involved in Carbone’s business, son.”

“Well, I don’t regret what I did because I finally found Selina,” I tell him with anger lacing my voice.

My mom puts a hand on my shoulder and pats gently, trying to calm me down. “I know you never stopped loving her,” she says softly.

She’s right about that. Not a day has gone by where I haven’t thought about Lina. A void has been in my life for ten years. And having her back in my world seems like an impossible dream. One that I don’t want to wake up from if she suddenly disappears again.

“How is she?” Mom asks.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.

“She’s resting. She had some broken ribs, a punctured lung…” My voice trails off as my hands curl into fists at my sides. “There’s a laundry list of things wrong with her,” I say, my voice hoarse and weary. Fuck, I don’t think I’ve slept more than a few hours since she arrived.

“Well, she’s in a good place for recovery. With the doctors, nurses and therapists on staff here, I’m sure she’ll be better in no time,” she assures me.

Years ago, my parents turned their home into a compound complete with staff and top-of-the-line security. They have been involved with taking down a lot of human trafficking rings, and sometimes the feds couldn’t place all the victims in homes or shelters. My parents took a lot of people in over the years, rehabilitated them, and made sure they had a much better chance at life by the time they left.

They are saints. Well, for the most part. I mean, my father is still a mafia boss and deals in illegal activities and routinely gets his hands dirty. And, you know, there’s that whole pesky business of occasionally murdering people. But I think the good mostly outweighs the bad, to be honest.

They have saved a lot of people from terrible fates.

Selina was just one of the many souls that they tried to save. And if it wouldn’t have been for her mother, Selina would have stayed here and lived out her days in peace. We have no idea what happened after she left here, and that just adds to the never-ending pile of questions I have for Lina when she’s feeling better and actually lucid.

“I’m glad Selina is safe now,” my father says, even though he still looks and sounds grumpy as hell.

“Me too,” I agree.

Just then, the heavy door swings open, banging against the wall. We all turn in unison as Selina stumbles into the room. I can hear the wheezing coming from her chest as she looks at me, her eyes narrowing as she accusingly spits out, “You!”

Before I can even react, she collapses onto the floor, gasping for breath. I rush to her side, but she’s already unconscious. Her breathing is labored and the high-pitch wheeze coming from her mouth scares the hell out of me. “Call the doctor. I think her lung might have collapsed again,” I tell them before picking her up in my arms.

With her limp body carefully cradled against my chest, I jog out of the room and up the steps. I race down the hallway with her in my arms. I spot the nurse, Sarah, coming out of a doorway with a caddy full of medical supplies in tow. She looks stunned to see us.

“What happened?” Sarah calls after me as I enter Selina’s bedroom and carefully lay her down on the bed. “I didn’t even see her walk out,” she says with a shake of her head in disbelief. “She had pulled her IV out, and I was just getting some things to clean her up,” she explains.

“It’s not your fault,” I assure her. Sarah is supposed to be taking care of Selina, not guarding her. “They’re calling for the doctor. Try to keep her comfortable until she gets here,” I inform Sarah, stepping back so that she can do her job.

My hands rake their way through my hair as I go to stand by the window. A million things are running through my mind as I pull at the ends in frustration.

The way Selina looked at me, it was as if she despised me. I mean, I did kill someone in front of her. I’m sure she fears me. But what if she never gets over that fear…or worse – what if she hates me?

She obviously has no idea who I am. Hell, she might not even remember me. Maybe I created some sort of fantasy in my head about our time together when, in all actuality, it meant nothing to her.

No.

I decide right then and there that none of that matters. I don’t care if she doesn’t remember me. I don’t care if she even fucking hates me for a while. I will win her trust back no matter what it takes. I still love her. I never stopped loving her. And I’m not giving up on her.