“He’s probably on his way here,” he mumbled.
“Where’s, here?”
“The Emerald.” I knew The Emerald was one of Ciro Mancini’s clubs. He owned four of them, The Emerald, The Diamond, The Sapphire, and The Ruby. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Mike. I promise.”
“Okay,” he replied. “But I’m going to go see you tomorrow.”
“How about we make a date for this weekend?” I offered instead. “I’m bogged down with classes all day tomorrow.”
“We’ll see,” he muttered. “Depends on if Nico’s story matches yours.”
“Seriously?”
Michael ignored that. “And did you have your mace?” he asked, making me grind my teeth.
“What is it with the damn mace?” I asked, exasperated.
“It doesn’t do you any good if you can’t get to it, Mia,” he said, repeating the same thing he’s told me over, and over again.
“I know,” I whined like a child.
“And what the fuck were you doing walking back to the dorms at night alone?”
We were getting off topic, but I knew he wouldn’t relent until I answered his questions. Michael was a Pitbull like that. “Justin offered to come back to the library and walk me, but I just figured by the time I texted him and waiting for him to meet me, I’d be home by then.”
“You’re killing me, Mia,” he grumbled. It wasn’t the first time he’s uttered those words to me, so I ignored it.
“Now, Nico Rossi,” I said, bringing us back to the real topic at hand.
“He’s your guard.”
“That’s it? That’s all?” I asked incredulously. He knew what I was asking, and he was just being obstinate.
“What do you want to know, Mia?”
“Everything, Michael,” I retorted.
“Okay,” he sighed in extreme dramatic fashion if you asked me. “One, Nico Rossi, is twenty-six, has been working for the Benettis since he was fourteen. He was groomed by Ciro Mancini but did work for both Ciro and Salvatore’s crews. That is, up until two years ago, when he was given a permanent assignment.”
“He’s worked for the Benettis since he was fourteen?”
“Mia, Nico Rossi’s been your shadow since you were eight, and he was fourteen,” Michael clarified. “You were his first job.”
“What?” I gasped.
“He was hired to look after you when I couldn’t,” he continued. “Back then, it wasn’t much because I tried to be with you as much as possible. But as things changed, and we got older, Nico started shadowing you more.”
“Wait.” If I heard him correctly…“You said, up until he was given a permanent assignment two years ago. Why is he still shadowing me, then?”
“Because you’re his permanent assignment, Sis,” he divulged. “Ciro and Luca agreed that college didn’t provide a routine enough structure. Since you could take any classes you wanted, when you wanted, they felt better if eyes were on you at all times.”
My mind was ringing with the implications of his words. It was shocking to know that Nico’s been a part of my life for so long and I never noticed, but to find out he’s been a part of every single portion of my life was…distracting.
“There’s something else.”
“What?” he asked.
“When he said he was going to hand over those two guys to you, he said he was handing them over to you because he didn’t have the right to avenge me yet. What did he mean?”
“You didn’t ask him?”
“No,” I admitted. “At the time, I was still reeling from everything that was going on. But, then…”
“Then, what?”
“Well, he called me ‘baby’,” I told him. “At first, I thought it was just a casual endearment he threw out there but coupled with the comment about not having the right to avenge me yet…well, it made me wonder.”
“Goddamn it,” Michael muttered under his breath, but I still heard him all the same.
“What’s going on, Mike?”
“The fucker was supposed to wait until you graduate with your degree.”
“For what?” I asked, my voice damn near a shrill in his ear. “What’s going on?”
The line was silent for a few seconds before Michael made up his mind to tell me what Nico meant. “About a year ago, Nico came to me and asked me for permission to date you, Mia.”
“What?!” Oh, my God!
“I told him he had it, but he had to wait until you graduated from Sterling before getting into anything too serious,” he went on. “I didn’t want you getting distracted from your studies.”
“Mike…that’s…that’s crazy,” I blurted out.
“Maybe,” he allowed. “But you, my dear sister, are Nico Rossi’s future girlfriend.”
Well, hell.
Chapter 5
Nico~
College really was bullshit.
Wednesdays were the worst. They were Mia’s heaviest class days, and her latest class didn’t end until past five o’clock. From there she usually went to the library, but not today.
Today we were going to talk.
I was leaning up against the alcove that led into the building where all the labs took place. Mia was a creature of habit, so I knew she’d be exiting the east entrance because it was the fastest way to the campus library.
She came walking out of the building doors with her friend, Justin Abernathy, and one of Justin’s friends, Gretchen Hillman. I knew her name like I knew everything else. If it was anything or anyone that came near Mia, I knew about them.
Mia’s steps faltered when she saw me straighten to my full height. Once I made my appearance known, I was hard to miss. Justin and Gretchen stopped alongside Mia.
“Nico,” she acknowledged, sounding resigned, and I didn’t like it.
“Mia,” I returned.
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Gretchen piped up. “Mia, aren’t you going to introduce us?”
That snapped Mia out of her stupor. “Oh, uh…yes. I’m sorry.” She glanced at her friends and then me. “Gretchen, Justin, this is Nico. Nico this is Gretchen and Justin.”
I angled my head in a slight nod. “Nice to meet you both.”
Justin kept glancing between me and Mia, and I didn’t blame him. He was her closest friend and should know something about me. Gretchen was just casual, so she was irrelevant.
“It’s nice to meet you,”
