Page 70 of Niccolaio Andretti (The Five Syndicates)
“Your turn!” I remind her.
“I-I c-can’t. Can’t. S-stop. Laughing,” she gasps between bursts of sweet, innocent laughter.
I accidentally drop my tablet onto the mattress when I hear a deep voice mock, “You ate your aunts for breakfast?! My love, aunts should only be eaten at dinner time. Uncles are for breakfast!”
“I gotta go,” I say to Mina while she bursts into another fit of laughter.
“Bye, Minka!” She shouts, “Bye, Niccolaio!”
After Niccolaio says bye to her, I end the video chat and turn off the television. For the seventh time since Niccolaio gave me the tablet, Mina and I were watching French daytime soaps together.
Instead of subtitles, we decided the first time we did this that it would be more fun to guess what the actors were saying. Guessing turned into making random and ridiculous things up, and now this is a fun game I look forward to every day.
I was surprised when Niccolaio joined in for the first time a few days ago. Now, I’m used to it, but I still don’t understand why he’s doing all of this. I’ve been pushing it out of my mind, because it’s easier not to think about it, to continue to villainize him.
Instead, I’ve been focusing my attention on studying for my LSATs and talking to Mina every day. Sometimes, I’ll get Jax something to eat, but Niccolaio usually deals with him, which I’m thankful for. That basically means that, for the first time in a long time, I can relax and take some much-needed time to gather my sanity again.
And in the back of my mind, I know that I owe this opportunity to Niccolaio.
It’d be so much easier if he gave me more reasons to hate him. Yeah, he still speaks with way more assertiveness than I’m used to, but I’ve come to realize that it’s part of his charm. And yes—Niccolaio is charming.
Dangerously so.
Which is why, as he loosens his tie and approaches me, looking way more attractive in a tailored suit than should be legal, I make sure I have my defenses up.
I clear the lust out of my throat and say, “I didn’t hear you enter.”
He smirks and arches a brow as if to say, duh.
I roll my eyes. “Did you find Naz’s getaway driver?”
He shakes his head. “From the video footage we got from street cameras, we traced his car back to a building in Brooklyn, but we didn’t get any decent resolution images of his face. I sat with a Romano sketch artist today to do a mockup of his face.”
“And then what?”
“Vince is distributing the sketch to all of his contacts by the end of the week. Hopefully, it’ll turn up some new leads. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. It’s safe to assume the driver is just one of many people after me.”
I nod. “But he’s the only one who we know for certain knows about me.”
His eyes darken, and his voice is serious when he says, “I won’t let anything happen to you or Mina.”
My breath catches in my throat at the simmering promise in his words, and I don’t know what to make of them. He doesn’t have to protect me. He owes me nothing. Nothing that happened is technically his fault, yet… I’m starting to think Niccolaio is a decent guy under all that bark—and bite—of his.
So, I stare him right in the eyes and say, “I believe you.”
And I do.
Truly.
The storm in his eyes clears at my words, and he takes a seat on the bed beside me. “I have a favor to ask.”
My brows raise. “From me?”
“No, from Jax.”
I snort unattractively, and we both turn towards Jax, who is—finally—passed out on the floor. Aside from when I get to talk to Mina, my favorite time of day is when Jax is asleep. Unfortunately, the guy has more energy than the Energizer bunny. He sleeps just four hours a day and is up the other twenty.
It’s exhausting to deal with.
