Page 63 of The Viper's Wife

Nico shifts, and in the corner of my eye, I see the silver flash of a gun.

“Nico, please,” I whisper, holding his arm. I might not love Stefano, but I still don’t want to see him get shot.

“You’re running my patience, Stefano. Now go do as you’re told.”

Stefano pales, glancing from the gun to me with wide eyes, before bolting from the room, his friend trailing behind.

Once the door shuts behind them, Nico releases me and steps away, the heat of his body disappearing from my back.

I’m almost too scared to turn toward him, but I do anyway, fixing an empty look to my face.

“If you needed money so badly, I would’ve given you some,” he says coldly. The guy who laughed and teased me at our café date is gone.

This is the real Nico. Cruel and remorseless as he tucks a gun into his waistband.

Blood roars in my ears. I wish he’d just hit me and get it over with. I hate anticipating his next move.

“Why are you doing this?” he asks, a hint of false vulnerability slipping in.

Like that. I hate when he talks to me like that, voice soft like he cares.

“To remind you who I am.” My voice sounds calmer than I feel. “An Aceto.”

A beat. Then, helaughs. “You’re as much Aceto as I am Matassa.”

“That’s cute.”

Anger flashes in his eyes. He scoffs and scrubs a hand over his jaw, his body tense with the pent-up energy of a caged tiger.

“We’re not doing this.” He snatches my wrist. “Come on. We’re going home.”

I wrench against his grip. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I’m in the middle of my shift.”

Nico scoffs, before swinging me and shoving me up against the nearest wall.

The air whooshes out of my lungs.

“What the fuck do you need to dance for, pretty girl? Daddy’s allowance run dry?”

I’m cold. Freezing with anxiety and anger. “You’re so fucking ignorant. Not all of us can make easy cash like you, stealing and threatening people. I need to eat. I pay rent.”

Nico blinks. “What?”

The rising tension between us crashes to a halt.

The club’s music, softer in this room, croons in a woman’s voice tolove me in the dark.

His amber gaze sharpens. “What the fuck does that mean? You live with your parents. Why do you pay rent?”

“Because they charge rent.”

“And you pay for your groceries?”

“Not if I can’t earn the money.”

Pity softens his features, and I nearly shut my eyes against the sight.

More than anything, I can’t bear his understanding. I hate when he acts like a real person with me.