Omerta

Chapter 11

         It was unfair how attractive Nico looked being shirtless and with such low hanging sweatpants. The V line of muscles were a temptation to follow. I've said this several times and still I'm looking. My hands reached out to him again and traced the design of black ink up his forearm to his thick bicep and across his broad shoulder to his firm chest and long neck. He said nothing and didn't pull away. He just watched. "Do you have any tattoos?" he finally said, which snapped me out of my tracing his skin. I blushed. 

"No, I don't." His eyes scanned my bare legs and what he could see of my arms in the t-shirt I was wearing. "A clean canvas, huh?" he asked, but the underlying tone was borderline seductive. He had me clenching my thighs together for a second time. With the tips of his fingers he ran them lightly up the flesh of my thigh, but only half way. I released a heavy breath at the touch of him.

        I finally snapped out of this strange trance that had come over me and realized this was the man who just killed somebody. He's the reason why I'm feeling this way. And it's like he saw the change in my expression, because he sat up further and turned cold again. I didn't know what to say to him and my mind panicked and said the first thing that came to me. 

"Why did you lie about getting me my art supplies?" This threw him off and his brows furrowed in confusion. "I didn't," he lied again. "So, not only are you a killer but you're also a liar" my mouth moved without my permission and the words came out. Nicolas's jaw clenched and he shot up from his once lax position.

        "So quick to judge," he spat. "I think I have a right to. You made me witness your cruelty" I continued. "Cruelty? You know that man would've actually raped you given the chance and then he would decapitate you. That's what those cartel scum do. Man or woman they don't care. We at least have principles we try to follow," he gritted out. I shivered at the reminder of what that man had said to me. 

"He gunned down one of our men in the street and had his family been with him they'd have been killed too. Justice was served" he stood, so I did the same. "How doesn't that weigh on your conscience? You pulled a gun on an innocent the other day in the kitchen just to prove a point. You are cruel," I reminded him. "Fine, I am cruel. So what?" He challenged me. I groaned in aggravation and turned away from him. He turned me back harshly so that I was facing him again.

        "You hug your daddy like he's a saint. What do you think he was like when he was around? What do you think he's like in prison? Don't be so naive and not acknowledge that every man you love in your life is just as cruel as I am. Your father, your uncle, all your cousins, and your little Russian boyfriend. Every single one of them. I'm just the only man who's never tried hiding it from you. Welcome to the real world," he bumped past me, but now it was me who grabbed him to turn him back. 

"You're lying!" I shouted, forgetting the late hours. He laughed right in my face, but humorlessly.

"God, you're as naive as I thought. They did you no favors by coddling you. If anything it'll hinder you somewhere in the very near future," he told me. He took a step closer which sent red flags up around me. He was towering over me now and his dominance in that moment was powerful. Making my heart pound in my chest. 

        When he took another step closer I instinctively put my hands up to his hard abs to keep him standing where he was. To maintain the small gap between us. Even with me holding him where he was it didn't stop him from leaning down slightly until his lips brushed over my temple. He was sure to bring his mouth all the way down to the shell of my ear. 

"Open your eyes baby girl," he whispered to me in that gritty voice.

Nico slowly brought his hand up, brushing my hair away from my face and behind my ear. I was frozen in place feeling both his fingertips grazing my cheek and ear. With his lowered head his breath could be felt down the side of my neck. When he pulled away I could feel the absence of his body heat, which had just previously consumed me. With a smirk he eyed me over one more time. Nico took his lip into his mouth and lingered only a second before leaving.