Page 67 of Nicoletta
“You have to understand, if I had told him the truth in the beginning, he never would’ve married me, and you would’ve had a much different life.”
“Right.” My mother thinks I’m agreeing with her, when in reality, I can’t help seeing the irony.
“None of that matters anymore.” She points to the designer bag at her feet. “But this does, and there’s at least five more in the shed.”
“And you want my club’s help,” Bolt says.
“Yes,” Aurora says like he’s stating the obvious.
“And what do the Royal Bastards get out of it?”
“The money.” She shrugs like she’s talking to a child.
Bolt’s eyes narrow. “All of it?”
“Yes.”
“Let me get this straight.” Bolt leans in. “You want my club to go up to your L.A. mansion, grab the rest of the duffels stuffed with cash, then keep it.”
“I don’t know what you are not understanding? I get the off-shore accounts, and you and Nicoletta get the cash.” She nods to the bag. “This one alone probably has at least two hundred thousand, and the others are larger.”
“Please tell me you didn’t fly commercial with all this money?” I ask.
“Of course not. I chartered a private plane.” Aurora frowns. “I always knew Clark was involved in something shady, but human trafficking? He deserves to rot in jail penniless.”
“On that, we agree.”
CHAPTER 24
BOLT
Three days later, all gears are in motion, workable for the most part, with plenty of room for change. No matter how many ways Manny showed us the diagram of the Williams’ mansion, or how in detail Nicoletta described the property—none of us have ever been there.
“I may have been shot, but I haven’t been sidelined. You need me on this, just the way you needed me at Riviera.”
I lean over to tie up my boots. “Forget it.”
“If you just let me come along, I can guide you,” Nicoletta says for the fifth time.
“And for the last time, that’s a hard fuck no.” I wave my hand over her. “Today is the first day you’ve been outta bed, and there’s no fuckin’ way I’m bringing you on a night mission that could very well go to hell.”
“Fine.” She crosses her arms and winces.
I point to her. “Exactly my point. You can’t even make a simple movement without pain, and I’m gonna let you sneak around in the dark.”
“Let me?” Nicoletta’s eyes bug out.
“Bad choice of words, but the answer is still no.” I motion to her laptop. “Manny has it set up so you can watch everything from there while we communicate through our earpieces.”
“There’s not gonna be too much to see. Aside from you guys, no one should be there.”
“You’re still gonna be a big help guiding us in and around.”
“I suppose,” she concedes ‘cause I ain’t budging on this decision.
“I have to say, you really are pulling off the spy vibe.” She motions to my black jeans, t-shirt and the black face mask I’m holding. “Kinda sexy.”
“Don’t look at me like that, or I’ll never leave.” I glance at my phone. “Time to hit it.” I lean down, giving Nicoletta a deep kiss.
