Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 57

NICHOLAS

I'd been restless ever since I visited Eduardo.

It was easy to tell when false bravado was in play, but the things I saw in his eyes when he spoke? All fucking real. Either that, or he was a damn talented actor.

Time was ticking for me.

Not even Hettie's funeral was enough to temporarily take my mind off the shit going on in my life. If anything, it made the turmoil growing inside of me worse.

This was why I hated funerals.

I sat through the whole thing, stiff as a board as a distant family member wailed. Another joined in, and soon, we had a choir of mourners who I was damn sure had never spoken a word to Hettie when she was alive. Fucking pretenders. They were even showing up Maria with the show they put on, and that was saying a lot.

Maria had invited a few guests, and luckily for them, they'd all been smart enough to avoid me. All I could think of was how much I was fucking up. Fishing out the traitor should have been easy for me, not this tedious cat-and-mouse game that left me on edge.

'Cat and mouse game, you say,' the spiteful voice crawled into my ear, his distaste for me clear in the tone. 'You're not just a puny, little pussycat, are you, Niko? Rossis are warriors. They hunt and they strike. They never let their enemies have the upper hand. Rossis are always in control. You're supposed to be a lion. Unless, of course, I was right all along and you never belonged. You're not worthy of the Rossi blood coursing through your-"

'Enough,' I hissed mentally, shutting the voice out. The voice always knew when to creep in. It was like it could smell my fears and failures from a mile away, and it enjoyed mocking me for each of them. He'd have mocked me and called me a lousy leader had he been here, and I would do or say nothing because he was right. He was always right.

Giselle remained at my side, surprisingly quiet, a somber look plastered on her face the entire time. This was unfamiliar territory to her. The deaths and the blood related to dealing with the Family were things she hadn't quite experienced in the past, but she kept a brave face on, shoving down every thought she had about the whole situation.

She turned to look at me for the fourth, fifth time? I'd lost count. I knew she could sense something was wrong, but she didn't ask. At one point, she even squeezed my hand like she was silently offering her support, even though she had no idea what was troubling me. Of course, I fucking squeezed back, reassuring her everything was fine.

The funeral finally rolled to an end, and I immediately jumped to my feet, itching to leave and scrub the death and sorrow off my skin. With each step further away from the cemetery, I felt like I could finally breathe even as my heart screamed at me to go back and say hi to her after all these years. I wanted to, but I... couldn't. Couldn't muster up the courage, and it made me sick to my stomach, and utterly annoyed at myself

What type of son was I? What did she think about me? Was she annoyed at me, too?

I'd driven today, so I promptly climbed into the driver's seat, waiting for Giselle to join me in the car, but to my surprise, the door to the driver's side opened, and a familiar blueberry scent wafted into my nostrils.

I turned in the seat so I was sitting sideways with my legs on the ground. I didn't think twice before I pulled her down on my thigh, wrapping an arm around her waist to draw her into my chest.

We sat there wordlessly with my hand caressing the small of her back. The dull chatter of the crowd sounded like it was coming from a different planet. It was just... us. Warning bells danced in my head, reminding me we were never truly safe out in the open like this, but I couldn't bring myself to pull away from her. Instead, my arm tightened even further around her.