Kill her. It’s so easy. So perfect. Kill Nicky now.
She stared at the gun that I just realized I was pointing at her. “On the boat, I thought your plan was threatening to rape me if the Lanzas didn’t bring Lina to you.”
That’s not enough. That would never be enough. Kill. Her. Now.
“But you want to hurt Lina now, too. You want to ruin her more than you want her. This is your revenge. You’re gonna kill me and rub it in all their faces.” A sob escaped her. “But it’s not just me you’re killing, Leo.”
My gaze dropped to her belly. Right where she stood, Lina told me the same thing, except she wasn’t trying to save her life or knock some sense into my head. She was telling me to kill her so I’d live with the pain of knowing I murdered my baby brother just like Seppi killed my unborn sister.
“She didn’t know she was pregnant,” I mused.
“What?”
“Lina…she couldn’t have known she was pregnant and said what she’d said. No mother would have.”
She gulped. “You still didn’t kill her when she told you, even though you knew she might be lying.”
But you’re gonna do it now because fuck them all. They all betrayed you. Each and every single one of them.None of them deserved to live a single moment without pain that would last a lifetime.
“But you know I’m pregnant, Leo. I’ve never begged anyone in my life since Frank Baldi, with whom I learned begging didn’t do you any good, but I’m begging you,youof all people, Leo. I’m begging you not to kill my baby.”
“You…you were gonna betray me like the rest of them.”
“I know. And I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” I lowered the gun despite the shrieking voices. “But you don’t need to beg me to spare your baby, Nicky. I’d never kill a child. No matter who its parents are or what they did.”
Her eyes fluttered closed as she let out a long sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“Begging, a fake apology and a thank you. It’s nice to see you grovel. Do you think your sister would do the same?”
Her face changed in a second, humility replaced by resent. “Do you want me to beg and grovel for my sister, Leo? Because I’ll do it as much as you like until you’re satisfied and let her go.”
A loud snort burst out of me. “Aren’t you tired of taking the heat for everything she fucks up?”
“She’s my little sister.”
“Then I guess you won’t mind doing this. Strip.”
Resent turned into fury. “Go fuck yourself.”
“Would you ratherIdid it?”
“Give it your best shot, you piece of shit, and see if you get to keep your hand.”
“I’d like to keep my hand, so I either uncuff you so you can strip by yourself or I can cuff you to a table, where the best you can do is spit at me, and do the honors”
“I’m not gonna get naked for you, you sick fuck.”
“For fuck’s sake, you think because I won’t kill you I won’t be able to bring you to your knees. I wasn’t asking, Nicole.”
“I’m not gonna do it, and I’m not gonna stay another second here. You’re gonna give me those Goddamn keys now and let me go or I’ll—”
“You’ll what? You think you can say no, fight me off and run? Do it.” I cleared the way for her, grabbed the first chair I found and sat. Fuck I was beat. Time for another one of Ravenna’s magic pills.
“I will. Toss me the keys.”
I did it, and she managed with her teeth and deft fingers to set her wrists free. The metal clinked on the floor, and she started for the front door.