Vengeful Matrimony | ✔️

Chapter 63

GISELLE

"I was made when I turned eleven," Nicholas said out of the blue, drawing my attention away from the magazine in my hands.

We were in his jet, and words couldn't describe how beautiful and expensive it looked. Black buttery soft leather seats with gold accents here and there. I hadn't explored the entire jet yet, but Nicholas informed me there was a cabin and mini-kitchen/bar at the back.

As I said, expensive.

When he realized he had my attention, Nicholas continued. "It was a scary experience."

I frowned, dropping the magazine on my lap. "Isn't eleven too young?"

Why would his father let that happen?

Who was I kidding? His father was a depraved bastard who didn't care about anyone but himself.

"Normally, yes, but it wasn't under normal circumstances. There was a break-in. Mom had told me to hide in my closet before the intruders got to my room. Before she could find a hiding spot, they broke down my bedroom door. I can still hear her screams as they dragged her out of the room. Even though she told me not to leave my room, I knew I couldn't stay put while they hurt her, so I came out of my hiding spot and followed her screams to the living room downstairs." He looked down at the table in front of him, swallowing hard, like it was hard for him to continue the story.

"Niko, you don't have..."

He shook his head at me. "I want to. There were two of them," he continued. "One of them had my mother on the floor with her hands pinned behind her back. I was young, but I wasn't stupid. That position wasn't promising. I knew he was going to rape her. The other one had a gun pointed at my father's head, so he was useless. Before that, I'd stopped by my father's office to grab the gun I knew he kept there. This was one time his lessons paid off. I knew the basics of handling a gun, but I'd never shot one before.

"Father didn't care about what they were going to do to Mother. He told them to 'keep the bitch'. He said he didn't give a fuck what they did to her. He said he was going to turn a blind eye to what they did if they took my mother and never turned back." His grip on his glass tightened. I feared he might break it and hurt himself. "Mother looked up, and she saw me. Her eyes were filled with defeat and unshed tears as she discreetly gestured for me to run away. I... I couldn't. I knew if I didn't do something, I'd lose my mother forever.

"So I lifted the gun. It was heavy as fuck, but I shot. Fell on my ass from the force of it." When he looked up from his plate, his eyes were lifeless, sending goosebumps down my arms. "I missed. The bullet didn't hit whom I intended it for. It ended up hitting the other guy in his dick. Father took advantage of the distraction and shot the guy who was going to rape my mother. Being the self-centered fuck he was, Father thought I'd killed the other guy for him. He didn't know I missed. He called his brothers and all the made men, and they gathered for the ceremony.

"You have to spill blood for your capo to be made." Nicholas chuckled bitterly. "And I did. I took the Omertà at the ceremony. Father was proud of me and over the moon with joy. I hated myself that night. I couldn't even console my mother, and I had a bunch of old men telling me how proud my heroic act of saving my father made them.

"I spent over seven years of my life perfecting my shot. I promised myself I'd never miss again, and I never have. I've killed every mark I intended to, but what good did that do? The woman I honed the skill for died before I could use it to save her years later. Fucking useless," he spat, inflections of self-hatred in his tone.

"Niko." His name came out as a broken sob, and I realized I'd been silently crying while he told his story.

"You wanted to hear about my demons, didn't you, dolcezza? I'm telling you," he said with a sardonic smile, twirling his whiskey in his tumbler absentmindedly. "Are the voices in your head quiet yet?"