𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✔️

♡ Chapter 32 ♡

~ Nic POV ~

I stood face to face with Hades.

When I really look at him, I can see a slight resemblance in our facial features. His jaw is strong like mine, and we have the same shaped nose. 

I fight the urge to want to smoke a cigarette. 

"She's dead," I tell him, gesturing to Celeste behind me. "You can go feel her pulse, if you want."

He stands there, staring at me, with his hands in his pocket. He keeps a poker face on, to hide what he's thinking. But, father like son, because I do the exact same thing.

The air feels heavy as I wait for his answer. But I keep my face blank, and unreadable.

He looks around me, to look at Celeste. Hunched over and body limp, no signs of life are visible.

Then, Hades gives me a quick look up and down. He shakes his head, keeping his hands in his pockets, "No. I believe you."

He seemed like he didn't want to risk feeling her pulse, because he'd have to walk close to me. And that seemed to scare him. 

"So, where's the money I was promised?" I ask in a little bit of an aggressive tone. "Didn't spend the past month making her fall in love with me for no reason. Pay up."

The corners of his mouth slowly turned up in a smile, a slight laugh escaping his throat. But I kept standing with my arms crossed.

"You know, we really are quite alike, Nicollo," he speaks, his words making me clench my teeth. "Perhaps all those years ago, I made a mistake by leaving. We would've worked well together."

"Spare me the tears and happy birthdays," I roll my eyes. "Just give me the fucking money."

My reaction made him laugh to himself.

"It's being transferred to you right now," he tells me. "You knew that I had given her the exact same plan, yet didn't say anything?"

I found the napkin she wrote on in that diner, and instantly pieced together that she was given the same plan as me. 

I thought it was perfect. She was my biggest enemy. She stabbed me and left me for dead, and then agreed to this mission to not only just kill me, but to betray me.

So I stole her plan. I used her own plan against her.

And it worked. 

"Didn't think it was relevant," I shrug. "But. Why the fuck did you give us both the same plan, knowing only one would die?"

That was the one part that I could never wrap my head around. I understand him wanting Celeste dead, because not only did he kill her entire family, but she was his biggest competition. People went to her for hits, rather than his men.

And I understand him wanting me dead. I've been after him for years, and he has been trying to kill me for years.

But why give each other the exact same plan?

"Well, Nicollo, that really is the question, isn't it?" he tilts his head with a smirk. He removes his arms from his pockets, and I keep staring at him, waiting to hear his explanation. "You and Celeste always were my biggest enemies - but can you imagine the shock on my face the day she missed the security camera in the room? To find out that the faceless assassin was a girl whose family I murdered for her brother being after me? It was quite the surprise."

I knew he fucking killed them. And he talks about it with a goddamn smile.

"But, since you two were my biggest enemies...hearing that you were still alive, got me concerned," he continues. "I knew that you two were the best assassins in Italy. If you two worked together to kill me, I knew my death would be likely in that situation. But now, with only one of you...I know you can't kill me alone."