Kingdom of Sin

04 | Elora

After the strange encounter with Cin, Nico insisted on accompanying me on a grand tour to the kitchen.

I haven't ate anything since yesterday afternoon. It was safe to say I was feeling ravenous.

"I'm assuming everything went well," Nico said.

"Well, I'm still alive," I replied, chuckling slightly. "So I'm guessing that's a good thing."

Nico chuckled. "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

He didn't elaborate and I didn't question him either.

We were walking down another long hallway, side by side, only the light footfall keeping us company. It served as a nice distraction to really reflect on all the undoubtedly reckless decisions I'd made in the last twenty-four hours.

I had managed to get kidnapped by a pea-brained crook, agreed to be part of some seemingly elaborate and highly illegal scheme and also allowed a nefarious stranger to persuade me into stealing information in exchange for my life

I felt like I had made a deal with the devil.

A handsome devil.

Nico had ended up walking ahead of me and abruptly halted, almost making me crash into him.

He turned to me and gave me a serious look.

It was probably the first time I'd seen him where he wasn't making a joke out of my situation.

"I'm warning you before we go in here. The men in this place are dangerous and armed," his face hardened, "They are loyal to no one but Cin. They can bark and they will bite."

"You really know how to make a girl feel calm, Nico."

If he was aware of my sarcasm, he didn't show it.

"Stay close to me. They won't mess with you if they see you're with me."

"Awfully confident are you?"

"I can kill every man in this room before they even have a chance to blink. Skills like that do wonders for my self-confidence."

He gave me a final look before opening the door and extending his arm as a gesture for me to go first.

"Meet the family, Cara."

The dining area was bustling with men in suits, some noticeably armed with weapons and some armed with dangerous smiles. Every head spun around at the sound of Nico's announcement.

The sudden silence was suffocating and I could feel my heart beginning to race slightly at all the attention.

Hesitantly, I stepped into the room. Nico followed closely behind.

He brushed past me and left me to follow after him, attempting to avoid eye contact with anyone in the room.

Nico stopped at a round table of roughly eight men with two empty seats and lowered himself into one of the vacant chairs.

I followed suit.

Nico was wearing a large smile as he looked around the table, seemingly oblivious to the other tables that were still staring at us with curious expressions.

They looked like they had never seen a woman here before.

"Buonasera, gentleman. We have a guest dining with us tonight," he nodded towards me, "Elora is a special guest of the boss."

The table was quiet for a few moments before a blond guy across from me smiled.

"Sei molto Bella, Cara."      (You're very beautiful, dear)